Differential Association Theory Essay

1. Differential Association theory would explain the burglar’s behavior by first looking at their social structure. Their social structure can affect everything; it can influence their close relationships, open them up to objective opportunities and could be seen as the main attribute that affects their learning process in behavior. A. Most of the people in these interviews are poor, young males with similar social structures. Growing up on the streets and in bad neighborhoods can influence the interactions that each of these people will have. These interactions can result in definitions favorable to crime because these people are beginning to surround themselves and interact with people who are already doing illegal actions. (Hagan, p.89). In the article it gave an example of how a group of friends may be doing coke and once it runs out someone in the group, that has developed their own belief in what’s right and what’s wrong, suggests doing burglary in order to get some money for more coke. A new person within the group may feel pressure in continuing in order to maintain their status and relationship with the members in the group. Here they are learning new attitudes and accepting new values that are favorable to crime (Hagan, p. 89). The behavior being learned is that burglary can help with any immediate needs and together they rebel against the law. The new member may now start to change what they believe is right and wrong and could begin acting in more frequent illegal actions. These burglars have the belief that burglary is okay because it is a matter of â€Å"day to day survival†. This shows that they have their own interpretation on what they think is right and wrong which is a learned definition favorable to crime. In the interview Wild Will proved this theory by describing that when he is in need of money he thinks to himself, â€Å"How do I know how to get money quick and easy?† He at one point had to have learned that an immediate fix to a bump in the road, which is justified in his mind, is to perform a burglary. Larry Harris would agree when he says that it is just something you have to do to get by. Neither of these men views burglary as something wrong but as something you do in order to survive. B. When it comes to the techniques that people learn in committing crime several burglars said that it is something that you just get better at over time. Wild Will stated that when he goes to rob a house he likes to stake out the house and call it in order to see if someone is home. This may have been a technique he had picked up from  someone else that he went and did a burglary with. Several participants in the interview confessed that if they had a friend that had a burglary set up that they would be willing to do it with them if given the offer. This is an incident where you could say that a person may have the opportunity to learned new strategies and techniques that have worked for someone else in the past. Another technique that gets learned on the streets is the ability to maintain and develop status. One of the participants shared that it is mandatory to be perceived as â€Å"hip†. People on the streets learn through interactions with each other what it takes to be hip and be seen as someone with high status. 95% of the participants confessed that they spend the money that they steal on things that give them the image of â€Å"high-living†. During the interview several things were revealed as things to do in order to gain that high status. These burglars can learn these techniques such as doing drugs, having sexual partners, the right styles and brands, and a car and car accessories, as things to pursue in order to gain that respected status in the street culture. C. It is already made clear that these burglars live in poor neighborhoods and are living on the streets which give them more objective opportunity than someone that is in a nicer well off neighborhood. Due to their neighborhood, it exposes these burglars to people that are promoters to committing crime (Hagan, p.90). Most of these men have also admitted that they are â€Å"too lazy† to maintain a real job so sources of income are limited within the household. Because of this most of these participants say that they are acting on illegal action, like burglaries, in order to gain money for food and clothing for their family. As for subjective opportunities not everyone would look at something as an opportunity to commit a crime but Larry William says it best in his interview when he is describing what he does when he is in need for money, â€Å"There it is! There’s the house†. He automatically looks for a target and sees it as an opportunity to immediately fix his problem whereas another person wouldn’t think of that as an option. Another subjective opportunity that these burglars have is the fact that their social bonds are also partaking in these acts and so they have multiple opportunities in performing a burglary when they are present with more opportunities given by their friends.

Importance of College Education

Student Name: Student Identification Number: Course Number and Title: ENG110. 6. 3 Achieving Academic Excellence Assignment Number and Title: Writhing Assessment 5_06 Date of Submission: April 10, 2013 The importance of a college education to me will allow me grow professionally as well personally. Obtaining my degree will benefit me by helping me get the proper education to help further my career I chose in Human Resources. It will open a whole new world for me and allow me to grow. I can obtain my degree which is very important because I want to be financially stable and have a career in Human Resources.College will open doors and provide me with better opportunities than just having a high school diploma. Having a college degree for me would help me achieve what I want and where I want to go. That is to have a stable job and have a decent income coming in so I can live comfortable. One of my reasons for me to go back to college is my only son. He is thirteen now and I am hoping to get my degree before he graduates out of high school. I want him to have a positive role model to look up to. I want him to understand what a college education can provide to him if that’s the path he chooses after high school graduation.My lifelong goals sent me back to school so I can better my life and show my son what a college degree can take you. I’m hoping it will help me get a better job so that I will be able to provide for myself and my son. According to Mr. Scott Reed â€Å"with a definite, step-by-step – ah, what a difference it makes! You cannot fail, because each step carries you along to the next, like a track†. One can be more competitive in the growing job market. Having a college degree is going to help me pursue what I want and will help me grow personally and professionally.I chose to further my education at Ashworth because of the flexibility of taking classes online and being a full time mom and having a full time job, Ashworth made it possible to go back to school. In this day and age it’s hard to get a good paying job or having a career without obtaining a college education. By achieving a college degree I will have improved my chances of acquiring a great paying job in Human Resources. Bibliography Successstories. com 2011 http://www. successories. com/iquote/author/4072/scott-reed-quotes/1

Business Outsourcing Functions Management †Myassignmemthelp.Com

Discuss About The Business Outsourcing Functions Management? Outsourcing is the process in which a company came into contract with another third party company to perform their function that can be done in the company itself. Most of the companies are using this process so that they can make their focus on other core activities of the company that needs more attention (Arias-Aranda, Bustinza and Barrales-Molina, 2011). Outsourcing results in contract between the two companies. The one company pays the other company to perform one of their functions. The process of outsourcing can only be successful if both the companies and the parties get ready to have mutual consent. There are many processes that can be outsourced which are not so important to be conducted in-house. Thus outsourcing those functions helps the company to invest their time and money solely on the activities that provides them large profit. The major objective of this project is to analyse the advantages and disadvantages of business outsourcing functions. This is because outsourcing not only provides benefits but can also be harmful for the companies. Understanding the basic advantages and disadvantages from outsourcing helps the company to take better decisions. This study focuses on analysing the factors that support outsource and factors that are negative for outsourcing. This study helps in understanding the basic concept of outsourcing and the reasons behind the same. This study can also provide the information about the factors that causes the organization to outsource some of their functions along with its advantages and disadvantages. The scope of the project is that the study can be used by the companies to make their outsourcing decisions by reducing its harmful effects an also allow the readers to analyse the disadvantages before outsourcing. Outsourcing has become the major trends in the companies these days. This is the technique that helps the companies to transfer one of their functions to another company. This has helped in generating job opportunities or the people at large scale. Human resource is the major function that has been outsourced in most of the companies these days. This is because it is not the core activity of the organization (Lee and Choi, 2011). There are other functions that can be outsourced such as accounting functions, customer support functions; marketing functions etc. It is required by the company to ensure that the company they are choosing for outsourcing their function should be reliable. The company should contact the prior clients of that outsource company to take the reviews. Making the legal contract is another important requirement in order to have legal relationship with the outsourced firm. This is because legal interaction between the companies binds both the companies with some ob ligations that cannot be breached by them and no company can exploit each other. A company should contact all the companies that outsource the area that the company is looking for. This is to identify the availability of the companies. This information helps the company to bargain with the outsourcing firms. Investigation should be conducted for the outsourcing company so that any flaws of the company can be identified. The contracts should be made with all the clauses that are required (Gewald and Dibbern,   2009). Outsourcing is the tool that is not only about legal contract between the companies, but it also involves trust and information sharing among the companies who came into contract. This relationship can be beneficial for the both the organizations. Some of the advantages of outsourcing the business functions are: (Appendix 1) Reduction of cost: If any company outsource any of the function, they get specialists to work from them. Keeping those specialists becomes costly for them in their own companies because they may not be required every time. Hiring them can be expensive for the firm. Outsourcing firms can be used for the purposes as and when required. This reduces the operating cost of the company (Lin, Pervan and McDermid,   2007). The outsourcing firms are comparatively cheaper as well. The reason behind the low cost of outsourcing organizations is economies of scale. As the outsourcing firm conducts the single operation at high scale thus per unit cost of operations becomes low. Concentration on core activities: every organization has some core activities that directly provide them profit. Outsourcing allows the organization to concentrate on those core activities.   The organizations outsource some of the support activities to the specialist third party organizations and provide their full concentration on the major activities and functions. This helped them to improve their core activities so that they can earn more revenue (Kremic, Icmeli Tukel and Rom, 2006). The companies have to divide their time and money to all the activities of the company. If one or more activities can be outsourced than the main activities or functions of the company can be prioritize.    Increased flexibility: Removal of the support activity departments from the company results in conversion of fixed cost into variable cost. Flexibility can be increased in the organization such that the services from the outsourcing organization can be availed according to the demand. It is easier to close down the contract then to close down the whole department from the company. It also helps in cist saving because it is not necessary that all the services or the functions of the company are active whole year (Belcourt, 2006). Suppose if the company needs a legal advice from the advisor than it is not necessary for the fir to hire a legal advisor in the company but can contact the legal counsellor at the time of requirement. This saves the money of the company as it needs not to give salary to the legal advisor the whole year. Quality service:   As discussed that the outsource firm are specialists in their functions. Thus, outsourcing one of the functions to the third party firm provides quality services to the companies. On the other hand, if the company conduct that operation in their own firm then it requires them to have knowledge about that function along with the person or the employees to handle such functions. It may be possible that they fails to hire such efficient human resource and the function get affected. Outsourcing not only provides benefits to the companies but some of the harmful effects are also faced by the companies because of outsourcing. This is because the whole function is being handover to the different company and it is very important to identify the There are many disadvantages of outsourcing the functions as well. Some of them are discussed below: Loss of jobs: As the company outsource one of its functions that mean the people or the employees who were earlier working on that function has to leave their jobs. This results in bad image of the company as the employees cannot trust the company for job security (Harland, Knight, Lamming and Walker,   2005). This also leads to bad publicity of the company and can increase the employee turnover as the employee cannot fell safe at the company. Quality issues: As far as the company’s internal functions are considered, it has been analysed that these functions can be evaluated and monitored by the company’s management time to time. But, these functions if outsourced from another company then the company does not have the access to monitor the same frequently. Thus, the contract of outsourcing should be made with the policies that allow the company to monitor the working of the third party timely. Customer resistance: it is very difficult to rely on third party for some kind of work such as customer support. Most of the companies outsource their customer support function to third party (Harland, Knight, Lamming and Walker,   2005). This may lead to issues such as the executive does not understand the foreign access or the language. Customers may resist dealing with the third party and needs specialists to resolve the issue. Loss security: It is the major risk that the company faces in order to outsource the function. This is because outsourcing also requires the company to share some of their private information to the third party company. Sharing of information is a biggest threat to the loss of security. It is required by the company to have legal contract with the security clauses that the company can take any legal action if the third company practice any of the unethical and illegal action by leaking the private information or sharing it to any other competitors. Ethical concerns: it is required by the company to have ethical relationship with the third party company. Even the third party company also has to maintain such ethical relationship with the company. This can be a major risk when a company comes in contract with the outsource firm.      Difficult to reverse: If a function of the company is outsourced, it becomes very difficult for the company to establish it back in-house in the company. This is because breaching or breaking the contract from the outsourcing firm requires cost and implementing the process again in the organization also requires large amount of cost (Mani, Barua and Whinston, 2010). Reversing the outsourced process requires the company to invest a lot in hiring, establishing system, training etc. as all the systems and the functions in the organizations are inked with each other thus implementing a new function back to the company results in disturbance to all the other function as well. Outsourcing affects the company in both the positive as well as negative way. It is very difficult to deal with such situations. The companies have to take many initiatives to have secure outsourcing because the thus party that is selected outsource the function can misuse the information provides to them in order to make the function effective and efficient. Outsourcing at the one hand helps the company to reduce its cost on the other hand raise many risks of security. Any information if released or leaked by the third party may results in great harm to the company. Thus making the legal contract is a very important part of this process. It has been concluded from the above discussion that outsourcing is the process used by the company in order to save the cost of extra activities that can be outsourced frim another company which is specialised in the same area. This helps the company to reduce its cost and get efficient work from the specialised people. It also helps the company to have flexibility of using the services. The company can use the service at the time of requirement and pay according to that. there are some other disadvantages of outsourcing functions of business such as focus on the core and major functions of the company, reduction in the overall cost, saving time and energy, etc. along with all these advantages, the company which outsources their functions also have to deal with some of the disadvantages and risks. The major risk is security. This is because the company has to share their internal information with third party thus trust is the major element of outsourcing relationship. Some of the ot her disadvantages that the company faces are ethical issues, legal breaching of the contract, inefficient working of the third party, leak of information, loss of trust by the employees, lack of monitoring etc. Arias-Aranda, D., Bustinza, O.F. and Barrales-Molina, V., 2011. Operations flexibility and outsourcing benefits: an empirical study in service firms.  The Service Industries Journal,  31(11), pp.1849-1870. Lee, J.N. and Choi, B., 2011. Effects of initial and ongoing trust in IT outsourcing: A bilateral perspective.  Information & Management,  48(2), pp.96-105. Gewald, H. and Dibbern, J., 2009. Risks and benefits of business process outsourcing: A study of transaction services in the German banking industry.  Information & Management,  46(4), pp.249-257. Lin, C., Pervan, G. and McDermid, D., 2007. Issues and recommendations in evaluating and managing the benefits of public sector IS/IT outsourcing.  Information Technology & People,  20(2), pp.161-183. Kremic, T., Icmeli Tukel, O. and Rom, W.O., 2006. Outsourcing decision support: a survey of benefits, risks, and decision factors.  Supply Chain Management: an international journal,  11(6), pp.467-482. Belcourt, M., 2006. Outsourcing—The benefits and the risks.  Human resource management review,  16(2), pp.269-279. Harland, C., Knight, L., Lamming, R. and Walker, H., 2005. Outsourcing: assessing the risks and benefits for organisations, sectors and nations.  International Journal of Operations & Production Management,  25(9), pp.831-850. Mani, D., Barua, A. and Whinston, A., 2010. An empirical analysis of the impact of information capabilities design on business process outsourcing performance.  Mis Quarterly, pp.39-62.

Research critique Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Research critique - Essay Example For purposes of this analysis, the following article, â€Å"Why do students fail to disclose health problems?† will be analyzed. As a means of doing this, the basic premises of the research will be reviewed, weighed, analyzed, and a level of inference drawn. Moreover, the author will seek to lay out the basic statements and findings and analyze them in such a way as to seek to agree or disagree with the findings that have been presented. To the piece’s credit, the title directly expresses to the reader the type of study which will therein be undertaken. Such a point may seem superficial; however, the fact of the matter is that a large number of studies will delve directly into the subject matter without taking the time to ensure that the potential reader has a firm explanation of the topic in a way that even a laymen would understand (Skinner 2011, p. 4). As such, the piece in question clearly and succinctly lays out the topic before moving on to describing the research which will be performed, measured, and interpreted. Likewise, the reader is introduced to the rational for performing such a study within the opening lines as well as within the abstract to the piece itself. This rational is based upon the fact that the given level of dishonesty is hurting the academic process itself and should sought to be understood as a means to better hone the process as well as determine to the extent that the dishonesty is currently taking place. In much the same way, the article begins by utilizing a well written abstract which details the way in which the measurements and the study will proceed (Ryan 2007, p. 740). This is of course done as a way to further provide the reader with a level of detail of specificity as well as clear aim with regards to the means whereby the study will be carried out, measured, and inferred upon (Marshal 2005, p. 56). Though this analysis of the piece will find fault with certain aspects of the study, the fact remains that with regards to the specificity of the abstract and/or the title, both have been done in a way that necessarily helps the reader/potential reader to understand the full scope of the work that is about to be engaged upon. In much the same way, the authors themselves are credible as they are professionals within the field and have provided a level of scholarship on other related topics in the past. This prior scholarship and publication helps to give the authors a degree of credibility when attempting to understand, analyze, and dissect the given piece in question. With respect to the methodology for the study that was presented within the case in question, it was both qualitative and quantitative. Due to the fact that respondents were tabulated and outcomes were drawn from this tabulation, the research took on a decidedly quantitative approach; however, at the same time, levels of expression were gleaned from the individual interviews which were also reported within the research. The com bination of both forms of data helps to make the research more thoroughly grounded rather than simply exclusively reliant on one form or the other. With respect to the quantitative and qualitative data itself, the following brief paragraph will discuss the means by which

APN Leader Interview Project Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

APN Leader Interview Project - Essay Example These competencies are essential behaviors for all Nursing Practitioners. They are necessary for the practitioners to face complex challenges in the translation of knowledge that is rapidly expanding into the function and practice in the health care environment that is also rapidly changing. Nurse Practitioners have skills, knowledge, as well as abilities that highly essential to the independent clinical practice. They acquire the competencies through patient care experiences that are mentored, analytic skills, and advanced knowledge of health care system. The Doctoral –prepared Nurse Practitioners get to apply their knowledge in scientific foundation in the quality care practice, they also have the ability to apply their acquired skills in technology and also in information literacy. Practitioners engage in practice inquiries where they improve health outcomes, health policy as well as health care delivery (Joel, 2013). There are also areas of increased skills, knowledge, and expertise that includes collaboration, advanced communication skills, leadership, complex decision making and the health care business. Upon completion of NP program, the practitioners fully possess the nine core competencies that are not based on or determined by population focus (Joel, 2013). The nine Nurse Practitioner Core Competencies are; scientific foundation competencies, leadership competencies, quality competencies, practice inquiry competencies, technology and information literacy competencies, policy competencies, heath delivery system competencies, ethics competencies, and independent practice competencies. The Nurse Practitioner (NP) in this case critically analyzes evidence and data for the improvement of advanced nursing practice, integrates knowledge from a combination of sciences and humanities that are within the nursing science context and translates research and knowledge in order to improve the processes and outcomes. The NP also gets to develop

Game Programming Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Game Programming - Assignment Example What A* does is generate and process the successor states in a certain way. Whenever it is looking for the next state to process, A-star employs a heuristic function to try to pick the best state to process next. If heuristic function is good, not only will A-star find a solution quickly, but it can also find the best solution possible. Brief Description:: The A* algorithm maintains two sets or ordered lists OPEN and CLOSED. OPEN list keeps a track of those nodes that need to be examined. CLOSED list keeps track of those nodes that have already been examined. Initially, OPEN list contains just the initial node. Start with initial node and insert it in ordered list OPEN list. Create a list CLOSED. This is initially an empty list. Each node 'n' maintains the following: g(n) = the cost of getting from the natal node to 'n' h(n) = the estimate, according to the heuristic function, of the cost of getting from n to the goal node. f(n) = g(n) + h(n); intuitively, this is the estimate of the best solution that goes through n. If OPEN is empty, exit with failure in algorithm. Select first node on OPEN. Remove it from OPEN and put it on CLOSED. This is node 'n'. If 'n' is goal node, exit the program. The solution is obtained by treating a path backwards along arcs in the tree from the node to n. Expand node n. This will generate successors. Read the list OPEN according to heuristic and go back to step 4. Each node maintains a pointer to its parent node, so that later on the best solution if founded can be retrieved. If n is goal node then we are done with solution given by backtracking. For each successor node n, if it is already in CLOSED list and the copy there has an equal or lower 'f' estimate,...Thus, the depths of the graph are first examined. For DFS, a stack can be maintained to keep a record of all the visited nodes, to ease the backtracking process. Given a suitable problem, we represent the initial conditions of the problem with an appropriate initial state, and the goal conditions as the goal state. For each action that is performed, generate successor states to represent the effects of the action. If this continues, at some point one of the generated successor states is the goal state, then the path from the initial state to the goal state is the solution to the problem. What A* does is generate and process the successor states in a certain way. Whenever it is looking for the next state to process, A-star employs a heuristic function to try to pick the best state to process next. If heuristic function is good, not only will A-star find a solution quickly, but it can also find the best solution possible. For each successor node n, if it is already in CLOSED list and the copy there has an equal or lower 'f' estimate, we can safely discard the newly generated n and move on. Similarly if n is already in the OPEN list and the copy there has an equal or lower 'f' estimate, we can discard the newly generated n and move on. If no better version of n exists on either the CLOSED or OPEN lists, we remove the inferior copies from the two lists and set n as the pare

I met my student advisor Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

I met my student advisor - Research Paper Example This was because I was still studying the university requirement courses; I had opted to do this so I could experience university academic life as well as improve in my communication skills as well as English. Furthermore, I wanted to explore my options, and I have been auditing classes and trying to gather information about the courses. He said that was a wise thing to do since one should not make a decision without thinking about it at first. Mr. Adams then asked what I really wanted to do with my life and what I liked to do with my free time. I told him that I loved soccer and reading, however, above all my past times, I loved listening to music most. Furthermore, I had taken a few classes in the introduction to music composition, and I enjoyed them immensely. Mr Adams then suggested I major in scinec engineering. He explained that then, I would be able to give back and help those behind if I got a good job me as well inspire them by setting a good example. Mr Adams then told me t hat to qualify as a scinec engineer I had to have some basic knowledge in music, and this was easy since I had studied music extensively before I joined the university both during and after high school. He, however, stressed that apart from music and sound, I must have achieved excellence in math’s, engineering and physical science since the discipline had little to do with music in general and a lot to do with minute aspects of sound from a highly scientific point of view. From a laptop and some fliers, Mr Adams showed me some of the coursework that I could expect to cover before I could qualify in this branch of engineering Acoustics and aerodynamics as well as ultrasonic and noise control. He also showed me profiles of some of the schools alumina who had graduated in the same field; many of them were successful sound engineers and had gone on to become very famous in their fields of expertise. He also told me about the various career choices open to successful graduates of the same these included Residential architect acoustic consultant, and concert hall acoustical designer as well as soundproofing consultants. He showed me pictures of the Walt Disney concert hall, which he considered an epitome of acoustic engineering, he explained to create such a building, one need the assistance of sound engineers, as well as architects. He told d The experience was very illuminating and I intend to pursue scinec engineering up to a masters and PhD level, because of the inspiration as well as objective advice from Mr. Adams. When I told him of my dream to become a pilot, he said that I should not abandon the dream. He explained that all I had to do was to wait until I got my degree and then I could get my certificate through a flying club, or even though the school, which offered the same, then I can embark on accumulating enough flying hours so I could work as a commercial or recreational pilot. A negative aspect of the whole thing was that I would have to choo se which field to specialize in since if I become and engineer and pilot, I will have to choose one in the future. They both required a lot of time for one to specialize and excel which will be an issue if I pursue both. However, I decided I would take time to decide that later when I had both options possibly after graduation. I aspire to become a great and famous person; I believe that for me to do this it is important I embark on a career path that I liked with intrinsic motivation. Mr Adams told me that this way, I would be

Using A Range of Channels as Part of an Integrated PR Campaign Essay

Using A Range of Channels as Part of an Integrated PR Campaign - Essay Example From this paper it is clear that  the public relations is an activity that is carried out intentionally, with a particular plan for achieving a result. It is representative of a continuum of activity and inculcates the two-way communication process where the organization will take steps that are in the interests of both the organization and the target group. The fact that public relations is dependent on publics is a very critical factor for the success of the company. The public gives reputation to the company and a commercial, governmental or any other organizational raison d'à ªtre. According to the Chartered Institute of Public Relations in the UK, regards public relations as the activity carried out for the purpose of generation of goodwill and mutual understanding between the company and the public.This study outlines that  reputation helps the company to embed itself in the market and gives it an edge over other rivals. Furthermore, journalists, regulators, employees, cus tomers and suppliers can have a strong influence on the organization. They all possess some view or perception regarding the organization. These perceptions are necessary to take into account by the organization since they will affect the decisions they taking regarding consumption of the products of the organizations and carrying business with it.  As a result, public relations encompasses several aspects of marketing such as public information, investor relations corporate communication or customer relations.

Globalization Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 16

Globalization - Essay Example It is all about the monumental structural alteration occurring in the procedures of production and distribution in the global economy. This requires the existence and development of an information and communications infrastructure that is advanced and based on a proper communication system as well as better methods of dissemination of information. Globalization has brought about a shift in the traditional balance of power between nations in the global arena in that it has broken many barriers that restricted the movement and reach of people through networking and has given more power to distinct entities to influence both markets and the nation-states thus producing a super-empowered individual (Gilbert 173). Beyond all numbers, globalization has at least three impacts to all countries that embrace it in that it leads to fast economic growth, reduction in poverty and increasing more job opportunities. It pulls the countries out from their detachment into the competitive world that leads towards new collaborations and unity thus greatly reducing the distance and isolation that exists in the world into a global village making life extremely easier and comfortable. One of the most crucial advantages of globalization is that it has led to the generation of very many employment opportunities to the unemployed as well as income generation to the people in the host country as the migration of people has become easier thus leading to even better jobs opportunities. Similarly, globalization has expanded the capabilities of people to increase their ability to lead long and healthy lives, that has enabled them to cultivate and make good use of their talents thus affording them lives of dignity and self-actualization. This is done by increasing the stock physical capital, new technologies, changing institutions, altering incentives among others (Marmolejo 103). The formation of employment and opportunities to acquire

Impact of Social Class on Australians’ Life Chances Essay Example for Free

Impact of Social Class on Australians’ Life Chances Essay Sociologists will define class as categories in the society which are based on income, status, or the way they are viewed by the society. A Marxist analysis on the other hand features on the level of influence an individual has on the means of production. Matthews (2007) further defines a capitalist class which he says that it is the class that owns and controls most of the productive capital in the society. He says that in Australia, this class amounted to 5 % of the entire population in the year 1998. Theories have been developed about class that has resulted to numerous and conflicting ideas and researchers had to shift from using class as a theoretical framework for research. The dismissal of class analysis of various societal institutions as dogmatic, and ideological led McLaren Farahmandpur to state that â€Å"matters of class power are sanitized and its powerful effects on the life chances of working-class students is denuded or made invisible,† (Pearce, Down Moore 2008, para. 2). In Australia, about two thirds of the population is in the working class. These are people whose only productive asset is the ability to work. They sell their labour power to their employers who can range from the state, individual capitalists among others, in order to receive a wage which will enable them make ends meet. Another popular class is the middle class which can be said to be composed of individuals who own small businesses. They rely on their own labour power to produce output. They are however being driven away and into bankruptcy by large capital firms. There still exists the ruling class; they carry more social weight and power than the rest of the citizens. They have a direct influence on economic policies being developed in the nation. They support politicians and government, politically and financially. The state can also be categorized in this class as it is responsible for making and implementation of the law (Matthews 2007). Impact to Education There exists inequality in the access of university education, underachievement in education correlates negatively with the social class. Children from low-income families have limited access to educational resources. Their parents rarely get enough time to help them with their day to day challenges at school as they are so much occupied in their work places. They work even over time in order to sustain their families. Some parents in the working class lack education and therefore they would be of little help to help their children in doing their homework, they would also not be in a position to afford employing tutors and this affects their children’s education (Taylor Fraser 2003). Expectations on the working-class students are that they should conform to the middle-class. They thus seek to achieve this status and power mostly not for their own gain but in order to improve the life chances of others in the similar background. They are more focused in giving back to the community in which they originated rather than seeking their improvement in form of class status. A strong sense of solidarity is evident in these students as they have an increased desire to use their qualifications and professional status to achieve a better life for themselves and others who are like them. They have a passion to bridge the gap between the two classes which they believe that a lot has still to be done as the inequality gap is too large (Lins-Dyer Nucci 2007). The discriminatory education system has unquantifiable damages that are done to individuals and the society at large. People have been left behind in the system, others have been discouraged while yet a quite good proportion has been excluded from the system. It would not be unrealistic to claim that social and economic damage is being done through educational discrimination. When â€Å"Professor Janet McCalman analysed the places where those in the Australian who’s who 1988 went to school,† it was clear that these leaders in business professions and politics went to the older private schools (Moorhouse 2010, p. 1). McGregor (1997), views being in the working-class as being equal to being underprivileged, he asserts that people in this class earn and own less, their access to life privileges is minimal as they have poorer education and other goods from the society. In general, the opportunity that they have for good life is such minimal that with a very small degree of error, we can claim that equal opportunity does not exist in Australia. Impact to Health It is no wonder that health outcomes really vary with the social class. The characteristics of different social classes can be depicted by a view on Morbidity and mortality rates. The lower class shows a greater array of lower mortality rates and greater health problems (Greig, Lewins White, 2003). These differences are very clear and distinct at birth and throughout the human life cycle. Henry (2001) identifies domains in which health disparity issues differ by the social class. They include psychological domain which contains norms habits, and behavioural intentions. The other is listed as behavioural constraints which include economic resources and situational effects. Physical influences that include physiological stress, genetic dispositions and environmental conditions Behavioural constraints involve barriers that prevent one from engaging in health promoting behaviour. These inhibitors are listed by Henry (2001) as economic resources and situation constraints. Economic resources inhibitors are financial limitations that prevent individuals from obtaining health facilities goods, while situational constraints are factors that limit the access to these health facilities. They range from lack of adequate health facilities in the community, poor transportation or lack of proper time management in the utility of such services. Physical influences on the other hand are the conditions which impact physiological health directly. He groups them into environmental conditions, physiological stress and genetics A decline in the health is observed as one move down the classes. The middle class  Public awareness and educational programs can be developed to ensure that health equality is maintained. Social class has taken a critical point in the studies of health, the coronary heart disease for instance had been considered as a disease for the upper class. On the other hand, the lower class (working-class) have been found to have prevalent lower life expectancy, higher mortality rates and increased mental disorders. Inequality in income brings about psychosocial stress which is a factor that increases the mortality rate; it has become apparent that mental illness prevalence has been found among the working class. A direct relationship has been identified to exist between poverty and increase in emotional disturbance. This has led to an increase of psychiatric disorders, drug and alcohol dependence on the working class (Murali Oyebode 2004). According to The Demography of Medical Schools, 59% of applicants in medical school usually come from high social classes. This makes us suspect that a discriminatory rule is being used in the medical institutions. However, admissions procedures in these schools seem to favour certain social classes in comparison to others. Requirements such as previous experience in a hospital are being considered for some medical school administration. This curtails the number of students enrolling to such schools as it proves cumbersome to attain such qualifications for most people in the working class. The access to opportunities has been limited for many students and this explains the reason why such patterns of students’ enrolment are being reflected (The Medical News 2004). The nature of the working class has really changed in Australia with over 65% of the work force being employed in the white-collar jobs. In fact if by defining the working-class as those who have not attended university education, then it can be said that Australia has graduated to the middle-class. It is surprising to note that the vast majority of white-collar jobs holders are part of the working-class. They have less control of their work which is even lower than that of blue-collar workers, consequently implying lower wages (Castles 1994). It is very clear that in Australia class has direct consequences on lifestyle. It affects the access to education and status attainment. A child raised in middle-class is more likely to end up in this middle class and the trend would be similar for a child raised in the middle-class. As we move up the social class, we are able to meet better health, education and other social facilities, which are transmitted to children. The trend thus seems to be perpetuated to future generations. A research conducted by Taylor and Fraser (2003) indicates the existence of a gap between children living in the different classes. The working class end up having stress in Parents relationships as they are unable to provide impeccable opportunities for their children. Children have in fact confessed that class is a factor that lead to social seclusion in academic life, and a contributing factor for educational disadvantage. Life’s chances are in this case affected by the mere fact that one belongs to a certain class that is either favoured or not by circumstances that prevail in the society. In Australia the government together with other institutions should be concerned and implement policies that would narrow the gap that exist between the various social classes. Such policies should focus on issues of adequate family income which will ensure that families have adequate resources to cater for the needs of their children and provide adequate opportunities for them, the welfare of workers should also be taken care of to ensure that each worker gets adequate time to attend to the family needs. In the school setting, policies should be developed to ensure that educational disadvantage has been reduced, and the cost of public education to be maintained as low as possible, to offer equal opportunities for children in all classes.  Affordable assistance should be accorded to specific children with learning difficulties in order to enhance excellence at all levels (Taylor Fraser 2003). Conclusion In conclusion it is very clear that Australia is faced with inequalities and other factors that enhance or inhibit opportunities that are available to children growing in this nation. There exists a challenge which should be looked at by all the policy makers in private and public enterprises, in order to ensure that the life chances of the children are not affected unfairly by the mere fact of belonging to a certain class.

History of Primary Education Reform 1871-1904

History of Primary Education Reform 1871-1904 1. Siam in the Expansion period 1905 1934 In the preceding chapter, we considered the foundation period of primary education reform from 1871 to 1904, particularly in relation to ethics instruction. In this chapter, we will consider the second period of reform the expansion period. This period, extending from 1905 to 1934, embraced the last five years of King Rama Vs reign (1905 1910), together with the reigns of Kings Vajiravudh (or Rama VI, 1910 1925) and Prajadiphok (or Rama VII, 1925 1934). These were eventful years for Siam, witnessing the rise of a new political class, the countrys entry upon the international stage through its participation in the Great War and the League of Nations, the effects of the Great Depression, the abrupt transition from absolute to constitutional monarchy in the revolution of 1932, and the abdication of the reigning monarch Rama VII in 1934. ‘Goodness, beauty and prosperity will be with them throughout their lives if they have acquired education.'[1] These words from Rama Vs decree of 1871 sum up his vision of education, including its moral dimension. As we have seen, he began by ‘modernising education within the palace, but by the end of his reign had embarked on the expansion of educational opportunities to people of all classes throughout Siam. Early in the expansion period, the subject of Ethics was added to the primary curriculum, its content comprising essentially a course in Buddhist morality. This reflected the anxiety of Rama V that the people would lose touch with their ethical and spiritual roots in Buddhism a possible undesirable side-effect of his own attempts modernise (which meant, in effect, to ‘secularise) the education system. At the start of the foundation period, Rama Vs most pressing educational concern had been to produce more highly qualified and competent administrators to staff the offices of his government. By the end of his reign, however, the realisation was growing that a modern state needed not just a literate bureaucracy but also a diversely skilled workforce capable of supporting a productive and diversified economy. Thus, by 1913, King Vajiravudh (Rama Vs son) had proclaimed two national educational goals: to broaden the scope of public education beyond the art of reading and writing, and to educate the people for productive vocations.[2] Attempts to develop basic education on these lines, and even to provide opportunities for higher education, continued through the reign of Prajadhipok (Rama VII: 1925-1934). In 1932, however, a coup took real power from his hands, leaving him as a figurehead. Nevertheless, the cause of public education was taken up vigorously by the new national government. Article 63 of the 1932 Constitution stated that ‘all educational institutions must be under the State and more than half of the population will complete primary education by 1942.'[3] The revolution had been carried out in the name of democracy, but the revolutionaries were uncomfortably aware that the Siamese people had little notion of what would be required of them in a parliamentary state. Thus Siams the school system found itself charged with an additional task to educate citizens for democracy. Before focusing on the changes made to education in the expansion period, we must explore more fully these aspects of the historical context.[4][5] 1.2. Politics and Administration 1905-1934 (B.E. 2448-2477) Faced with the advance of western colonialism, King Rama V had embarked on a radical program of modernization of Siamese society. Only a ‘modern Siam could preserve its independence and identity against Western power. But modernisation was a long-term strategy. In the short term, it was necessary to play for time by cultivating friendly relations with the colonial powers, in the hope of forestalling any confrontation that might lead to the loss of territory or sovereignty. Accordingly, Rama V signed a number of unequal treaties, granting extraterritorial rights to European citizens, and even gave up some of his dominions to assuage the imperial appetites of Britain and France. From 1894, Rama V carried out a major administrative reorganization, putting in place a system which still forms the basis of public administration today. Administration was decentralized to regional and local authorities (Monthons) under the power of the Interior Ministry. Each region comprised a number of provinces (or towns), and each province a number of districts and villages. The head of each region was a Lord-Lieutenant, or sometimes a Viceroy, who was invested with full power to administer his area under the provisions of the Royal Decrees promulgated from time to time. Governors and district officers were appointed in all rural areas. Bangkok was exempted from this system, as the king remained its supreme head, although he delegated this power to the Metropolitan Ministry.[6] Taken as a whole, these measures were successful both in maintaining the countrys independence throughout the turbulent years of the Western colonial threat and in providing a foundation for the modern system of government.[7] [Was this the local government system that inherited responsibility for the local schools in 1935, after the failure of the local committee system was acknowledged?] 1.2.1. King Vajiravudh (1910 1925) At the death of Rama V in 1910, his son Prince Vajiravudh succeeded to the throne as Rama VI. The first Siamese monarch to receive an education abroad, Vajiravudh had attended Sandhurst and Christchurch College, Oxford, spending nine years in England before his return to Siam in January 1903.[8] As king, Vajiravudh continued the process of nation-building and administrative reform begun by his father. By this time, the educational initiatives of the previous reign were producing actual improvements in the quality of governmental administration. Junior officials were better qualified and more capable. In addition, at the elite levels of government, many of the kings brothers had, like the king himself, completed studies in Europe in a range of fields including natural science, finance, public administration, military science, and diplomacy. They were able to bring this expertise to their leading roles in government. As a result of the high importance attached to it by the crown over two reigns, government service acquired a prestige that made people prefer it to other occupations. In the expansion period, the government increasingly saw that this tendency was not wholly beneficial to the broader development of Siams society or economy.[9] Peoples aspirations needed to be channelled in the direction of economically productive work. Meanwhile, the upper echelons of the growing bureaucratic class had become part of a new social elite. There were two other strands to this elite: the officers of the new standing army, and the business class that had emerged since the Bowring treaty opened up Siam to free international trade in 1855. Together, these three groups formed a new ‘political class that increasingly resented its exclusion from power. As we will see, this sense of exclusion ultimately found expression in the revolution of 1932. Vajiravudh, however, was more preoccupied with Siams fortunes in the international arena than with creating a fairer distribution of power within the kingdom. If Siam was to stay independent, its people had to be made patriotic and ready to fight for their nation. Accordingly, from the beginning of his reign, he tried to promote nationalistic feelings in Thai men and boys, and to develop military discipline and training. To this end, he founded the Boy Scout Organization in 1909. Boys were encouraged to join the scouts, where they learned to be patriotic, to obey rules and orders, and to sacrifice themselves for their country.[10] In 1911, a Senior Scouts Corps was established and became, in effect, a territorial army. As we will see, scouting activities were also eventually incorporated into the school curriculum. Thus, these patriotic and military virtues became part of the ethics that the school system tried to inculcate. Another step in the same direction was the creation of the ‘Wild Tiger (Sua Pa) Corps in 1911. The name was borrowed from the group of men who kept watch on the frontiers of Siam. These Wild Tigers of the past were believed to have embodied qualities such as hardiness, patriotism, piety, fearlessness, and devotion to the king, combined with deep knowledge of both nature and warfare all the qualities, in short, that Vajiravudh wanted to promote among Siamese manhood in his own day.[11] World War I provided Siam with an opportunity to test its new military prowess, and to raise its international profile. Vajiravudh prudently maintained neutrality through most of the war, but in July 1917 he decided that the time had come to demonstrate Siams progress towards modern nationhood. He entered the war on the side of the Allies, sending an expeditionary force of 1,200 volunteers to Europe. Shortly after entering the war, Vajiravudh also changed the national flag, abandoning the motif (introduced by Rama II) of an elephant on a red ground, and replacing it with the Siamese tricolour, which remains in use today. The choice of red, white and blue was a shrewd gesture of solidarity with Siams war allies in particular the colonial powers, Britain and France which had flags of the same three colours. The deeper significance of the flag, however, was as a symbol of the new consciousness that Vajiravudh wanted to create in Siam and for which education was to be an important instrument. The Siamese (still, in reality, mainly a nation of subsistence farmers, living in remote villages, most of whom had never seen a foreigner, or read a newspaper) had to be made more aware of their Siamese identity; they had to be made to feel a patriotism that transcended local loyalties, and become willing to fight or make sacrifices for their country. The new flag communicated this duty. It had five horizontal stripes (from top to bottom: red, white, blue, white, and red). The red stripes stood for the nation (and for blood spilt in its defence), the white ones for religion (the moral purity of the Dhamma), and the wider blue band in the centre occupying one-third of the total area symbolized the monarchy. The monarch would be a focus for patriotism, crystallising a vague sense of belonging into a specific obligation. In this way, loyalty to the monarchy became part of ‘ethics that were cultivated in the school system. Vajiravudhs efforts to play the part of friend to the colonial powers met with some success. Upon the defeat of Germany in 1918, Siam participated in the Versailles conference and became a founding member of the League of Nations. Having thus achieved a presence in the international arena, Siam began to renegotiate the unequal treaties of the two preceding reigns. In 1920 the United States became the first country to give up special trading privileges and extraterritorial rights, except in certain cases.[12] But growing international esteem could not stop growing discontent at home, which was in fact being fuelled by education. By this time, not only members of the royal family were being educated abroad. Some members of the foreign-educated elite brought radical political ideas back with them when they came home from Europe. At the same time, Siam itself was becoming more exposed to western culture, as the growth of literacy created a minority market for newspapers and literature. Western novels and romances were translated, and film screenings were common in Bangkok by the time Vajiravudh came to the throne in 1910. Ideas of freedom and equality were part and parcel of this cultural influx.[13] At the same time, the conspicuous wealth and unrestrained power of the royal family began to provoke resentment. The behaviour of Vajiravudh, an aesthete who loved display, tended to fuel this ill will. His coronation in 1910, a grand affair attended by royalty from Europe and Japan, swallowed no less than 8% of the national budget. This and other extravagances, such as his enthusiasm for palace-building, soon got him into debt, necessitating a foreign loan. For all Vajiravudhs intellectual sophistication, such habits made it difficult for him to command the same respect as his father. A challenge to absolutism began to take shape in Siam among the new political class.[14] Even before Vajiravudh, Rama V had been confronted with the question of whether to share his power. As we have seen, he resisted the suggestion that he move towards a more constitutional form of government in his lifetime. However, he realised that this resistance could not last forever. Shortly before his death in 1910, he stated to ministers his wish that the Crown Prince Vajiravudh should introduce a constitution and a parliament when he eventually to the throne.[15] When that time came, however, Vajiravudh did no such thing. In 1912, two years after Vajiravudhs accession, a group of junior army officers, exasperated with absolutism, plotted a coup detat. Their plan was discovered before it could be implemented and the leaders were imprisoned. However, the attempt forced Vajiravudh to recognise the vulnerability of his position. At first, he attempted to enter into dialogue with the critics by giving lectures and writing articles for the press (something that his education and literary ability qualified him to do), sometimes under the concealment of pseudonyms.[16] For example, in Klon Tid Law (‘Mud on Wheels), he argued that the main obstruction to the development of the kingdom was the lack of competent people: the implication was perhaps that Siam was not ready for democracy yet. But by 1916 the king had lost patience. Giving up on dialogue and experimentation, he opted for repression. He began by closing down certain newspapers on various pretexts, and in 1923, (after some years of hesitation prompted by fear of western criticism), he enshrined censorship in law, prosecuting many publishers and closing many presses. Yet even now, realising perhaps that history was against him, he equivocated by showing some willingness to move towards constitutional government. As late as 1924, he stated that: If people really want a constitution, and if it is well intended, then petition for it. I shall not hold any grudges against anyone for doing so. I shall consider the pros and cons of the petition. I myself think that it is better to have a constitution, and feel that for one person to hold absolute power is not judicious.[17] However, any further steps that he might have taken towards constitutional government were cut short. After ruling Siam for 15 years, Vajiravudh died of blood poisoning in 1925 at the early age of 44. King Vajiravudh deliberately ignored the current tradition that each reigning ruler usually set up one royal monastery by turning his attention to setting up an educational institution instead; he had Vajiravudh College established under his patronage. [This might go better in the later section on religion. It might suggest that the influence of Buddhism faded a bit in Vajiravudhs reign.] 1.2.2. Prajadhipok (Rama VII) 1925-1934 King Prajadhipok, officially named Rama VII, came to the throne in 1925. He promulgated many new laws such as the Land Expropriation Act 1928, the marriage law amendment 1930, etc. [Something should be said about the significance of these laws. Otherwise, the reader learns little from these statements.] All of these laws were thoroughly scrutinized [by whom?] and were strictly adhered to by the populace, which positively affected the country [This sounds too blandly positive and uncritical see my ‘advice.] [Also, I think you need to say something about Prajadhipoks policies on education and Ethics instruction. If he simply continued the policies of Rama VII, you need to say so explicitly. ] Prajadhipoks plans were upset by two great events. The first was the Wall Street crash of 1929, which triggered the Great Depression. Siams economy, like that of many other countries, was hit hard, and this fuelled the grievances of the political class. This dissatisfaction led to the second great event of the reign the 1932 coup detat, which compelled Prajadhipok firstly to accept a constitutional form of government, and then to relinquish power altogether by abdicating.[18] As we shall see, the 1932 revolution also had an impact on the development of education, which thereafter was geared to the process of democratization. [19] Even before the coup, Rama VII himself was aware of the dangers inherent in absolute monarchy. Intellectually, to some extent, he accepted the necessity for change. However, he proceeded too cautiously and slowly. Two years after his accession, he created a Supreme Council and the Committee of the Privy Council as means of broadening participation in decision making. Unfortunately, both these bodies were packed with members of the royal family and the aristocracy, and so did nothing to appease the frustrations of the political class. Like his two predecessors, Prajadhipok took the view that Siam was not ready for an elected legislature. It would be unfair to dismiss this as a convenient rationalisation for maintaining absolutism. Prajadhipok was not the only sceptic on the question of whether democracy could work in Siam. In 1926, Francis B Sayre, an American advisor originally hired by Vajiravudh, was consulted by Prajadhipok on a variety of pressing political questions, including democracy. Sayre later recorded his advice as follows. Discussing these issues with His Majesty, I had to point out the inherent dangers. In Siam there was no middle class. The Siamese peasants took little or no interest in public affairs but lived their simple lives in secluded rural districts. To set up a legislature and clothe it with real power overnight without an educated electorate to control it would be likely, I suggested, to invite trouble and possible corruption. Power uncontrolled was almost bound to breed corruption†¦ As I talked with him I felt the utter sincerity of the new monarch and his real desire to lead Siam modern nationhood.[20] The revolution of 1932 was not a mass uprising; no crowds were rallying in the streets. It was a bloodless coup conducted by leading elements of the new political class, eager to seize a share of power. Sayres view that there was no widespread popular demand for democratic institutions at this time is corroborated by the contemporary account of the Bangkok Times: There was no evidence that the masses took any part in the recent demonstration. The discontent of several salaried classes, especially of the officers of the Army and Navy, clearly counted most in the movement. At the same time a contributory cause is to be found in the extension of education in Siam since the middle of the nineteenth century. King Rama VII introduced western methods and technique to the country and the numbers of Siamese students trained in Europe increased. And [these classes of] educated officials, administrators, and officers having once been formed, it was only a question of time and opportunity before they demanded a share in the government of the country.[21] The coup was staged by a group calling itself the Peoples Party. All of them were of the ‘commoner class (khun nang), in other words from outside the ranks of the aristocracy. The ringleaders had begun their conspiracy five years before, in 1927, when they were students in Paris. Their western education had given them a keen sense of the inadequacy and backwardness of Siamese absolutism in the light of current Western democratic ideas. Pridi Banomyong, the leader of the Peoples Party, articulated its aims in six principles: 1. To guard independence in every way to ensure the security of the nation. This included independence in politics, the courts and the economy. 2. To preserve internal security and reduce internal strife. 3. To guarantee the economic well-being of the people, by creating full employment. 4. To make all citizens equal, so that princes and commoners had the same rights. 5. To grant all citizens freedom and equality, provided it did not conflict with the preceding principles. 6. To assure every person of a full education. Acquiescence in the coup was not the only option available to Prajadhipok. Elements of the large armed forces would probably have remained loyal and fought the revolutionaries, had he given the command. However, he wanted to avoid bloodshed, and in principle he had long recognised the need to share power to some extent. He therefore agreed to the Peoples Partys demand for a constitution, hoping to maintain a position of leadership within a constitutional framework. Accordingly, on 10 December 1932, he signed Siams first constitution, ending 700 years of absolute monarchy. This was a major turning point in Thai history, and despite the many constitutions that have followed, the fundamental principles laid down in 1932 remain the same today. Behind the scenes, however, Prajadhipok and leaders of the royalist cause struggled over the next few years to retrieve as much as possible of royal power. There were counter-coups and some limited military confrontations. At one point, Pridi Banomyong, the leading theoretician among the revolutionaries, was briefly forced into exile. Steadily, however, the balance of power shifted to the revolutionaries. In 1934, Prajadhipok sailed to Europe, ostensibly for medical treatment. Long-distance negotiations failed to reach a compromise. In 1935, apparently despairing of the situation, he abdicated. Even today, the 1932 coup remains controversial. Some historians have criticized Pridi and his party for failing to follow their six principles, while others have suggested that the principles themselves were inappropriate to the place and time. Still others have argued that the principles were good, but were misunderstood or misapplied by subsequent rulers, especially Sarit Thanarat, the eleventh Prime Minister, (1959-1963) who in theory was a devotee of the principles, but whose actual rule was a byword for tyranny and corruption.[22] I would agree with his opinion that the six principles should be developed as a network system not separated apparently and also they must be adapted according to the change and the context of time. On balance, however, there is considerable agreement that the move towards democracy in 1932 was premature. Some have gone so far as to blame Rama VII for being too fainthearted in his absolutism, arguing that he should have fought back more decisively against the new elite in the interests of the nation as a whole. As Sayre had grasped, the great majority of Siamese people at this point had no notion of democratic principles, and their participation in any democratic process could at best be passive. They could not discern the difference between absolute and constitutional monarchy. As for the coup leaders themselves, if their understanding of democracy lacked depth, their grasp of the real needs of the people was arguably just as weak.[23] To quote Sayre once again: Students returning from England or France or America often were unhappy and disturbed, with half-baked ideas about democracy and human liberty; they wanted Siam to adopt Western forms almost overnight, as if these were but outward garments. Many felt that Siamese culture was out of date, and their minds seethed with modern, western ideas, often superficial and misunderstood. [24] 1.3. The economy and public finances in the expansion period Although the Siamese economy grew overall through this period, trade was mostly in the hands of foreigners. According to modern government estimates, as much as 40% of the income generated by Siamese trade in this era went abroad.[25] Under the terms of the Bowring agreement, still in force at this time, Siams power to tax foreign businesses was narrowly circumscribed. [26] In 1918, in the aftermath of the World War, the entire world was facing economic recession. Siams balance of payments was in deficit from 1920 to the end of Vajiravudhs reign in 1925. Faced with falling revenues and the consequences of his own earlier extravagance, Vajiravudh was forced to make repeated cuts in government expenditure, and this increased his unpopularity among the military and the bureaucracy, which bore the brunt of the cuts. This situation repeated itself a few years into the next reign. From the onset of the Great Depression in 1929, Rama VII found himself obliged to make cuts in public expenditure. He felt obliged to excuse his action to military officers on February 5, 1931, thus: I fully realize that people who are the victims of the reduction program will be in deeper trouble since it is difficult for them to find other means of livelihood. I consequently feel extremely heavy-hearted and most sympathetic for those who have to leave. If I had other ways in which I could shoulder the burden, I would do everything for them but, as it is, I have no alternatives. [27] However, King Rama VII also encouraged and promoted the cooperative system by promulgating a law governing cooperatives in the year 1928. He commented, â€Å"Farmers who have limited capital but wish to pursue the same aims should form a cooperative so that they can mutually help one another in order to accumulate greater wealth †¦Ã¢â‚¬ [28] Thus the great paradox of the ‘expansion period of education reform was that the states finances, which were essential to fund the expansion of education on the scale intended, were actually in crisis through most of the second half of the period. 1.4. Culture From the reign of Rama IV, many aspects of Western culture were absorbed into Siamese life. As Europe was providing the model for progress in government, economics, and technology, its cultural influence could not be escaped. In some cases change was spontaneous, but in other it was imposed from above by the king. One of the most visible changes was in people style of dress. King Rama V decreed that when he appeared in state, the officials attending him should not dispense with their upper attire. To appear ‘topless would look barbaric to foreigners.[29] Thai women had traditionally kept their hair short and worn a waist-cloth with the end pulled between the legs and tucked in at the back. Now [When, exactly?] they started wearing skirts, grew their hair longer, and wore it in various Western styles. Other examples of royally imposed cultural changes include the introduction of an official calendar and the use of surnames. On the model of the Christian system of dating, Vajiravudh decreed the use of a calendar commencing from the death of the Buddha (the Buddhist Era, abbreviated as B.E.), which he introduced with effect from 1st April B.E. 2455 (A.D. 1912). He also required everybody to have a surname. This was an innovation, as there was no tradition of family names in Siam. In order to comply, most families had to invent surnames for themselves (in some cases, the king obligingly provided one for them!) Even today, although surnames appear on official documents such as passports, they play little part in social interaction: even prominent individuals, including politicians, are usually referred to and addressed by their first name. [all this is interesting, but can you develop it to indicate any specific impacts that the western cultural influx had on your main subject, i.e. p rimary education and ethics instruction?] Yet alongside this Westernisation of culture came a growing official concern to preserve Siamese traditions. King Rama VII established a Royal Institute to manage the Royal City Librarys activities, investigate literary works, administer the national museum, catalogue and preserve ancient sites and objects, and to maintain Siamese arts and handicrafts. 1.5. Religion/Buddhism Throughout the expansion period, the Siamese monarchys traditional support for the textual basis of Buddhism and Buddhist studies was maintained. Vajiravudh promoted the study of Buddhism in the Thai language. Several texts on Buddhism in Thai, compiled during the reign of his father, were already extant, and many writers contributed more during his own reign, especially his uncle Prince Vajirayan, the Supreme Patriarch. Prajadhipok convened a council of monks under the chairmanship of Prince Jinavara Sirivatthana, the Supreme Patriarch of his reign, for the purpose of checking the contents of the 39 volumes of the Tripitaka (the Buddhist scriptural canon) that had been printed in the days of Rama V, comparing it to editions of the Tripitaka from other Buddhist countries. Revisions were made, and a new text, known as ‘the Siam-Rath edition, was printed in 1927.[30] Prajadhipok took an interest in improving the education of children in Buddhism. He once said, ‘The teaching of Buddhism to children in Siam has not been satisfactory. Children must be taught to understand morals when they are very young. Religious texts for them should be written in a way that they easily understand.'[31] To remedy the situation, he established at his personal expense a foundation (which still exists today) to make awards to the winners of regular competitions for the best literary work in Thai on Buddhism. The winning texts were published and distributed to children on Visakha Bucha Day. The position of Buddhism in Siam, and the role of the king in relation to it, were preserved in the 1932 Constitution, which stated that ‘the king must be a Buddhist and the upholder of Buddhism. The role of monks in the modernised school system peaked and began to wane during the expansion period. Although Rama V had clearly seen the need for professional lay teachers, he seems also to have envisaged that monks would indefinitely continue to play a part in modern education. This was part and parcel of his belief that ‘there exists no incompatibility between [the] acquisition of European science and the maintenance of our individuality as an independent Asiatic nation.'[32] As David Wyatt has put it, Rama V believed that ‘Traditional institutions [such as the] Buddhist monkhood†¦ could, without creating copies of Western institutions, be bent to new ends that in essence were not so very different from the ideals of Buddhist Siamese civilization.'[33] During the first part of the expansion period, practical necessity also contributed to the continuation of the monks role in schooling. Modernisation was still in its early days, and the shortage of trained lay teachers obliged the government to continue to rely on the services of monks. Indeed, as late as 1909, we find the government issuing instructions to local authorities that monasteries which had not hitherto made a contribution towards public education should be encouraged to take part in the general endeavour. However, the aim was to produce specially trained lay teachers, and it was inevitable that these would replace the monks in the long run. After all, the monastic sangha was an entity in its own right, with its own agenda and prestige. Monks could never be so amenable to state control as a body of state-trained and state-paid professional teachers. For this reason, from 1915 onwards there was a steady decrease in the total number of monks teaching in schools, even though the number of monasteries being used as school buildings continued to increase for a while. While discussing the role of religion in the new system, we must also note that, although Christianity as a doctrine had little impact on the development of Siamese education (there were relatively few converts), Christian organisations contributed significantly to its growth. It pioneered the modern system of public education in offering Western Education to the kings and his children in the reign of King Rama IV and V. History of Primary Education Reform 1871-1904 History of Primary Education Reform 1871-1904 1. Siam in the Expansion period 1905 1934 In the preceding chapter, we considered the foundation period of primary education reform from 1871 to 1904, particularly in relation to ethics instruction. In this chapter, we will consider the second period of reform the expansion period. This period, extending from 1905 to 1934, embraced the last five years of King Rama Vs reign (1905 1910), together with the reigns of Kings Vajiravudh (or Rama VI, 1910 1925) and Prajadiphok (or Rama VII, 1925 1934). These were eventful years for Siam, witnessing the rise of a new political class, the countrys entry upon the international stage through its participation in the Great War and the League of Nations, the effects of the Great Depression, the abrupt transition from absolute to constitutional monarchy in the revolution of 1932, and the abdication of the reigning monarch Rama VII in 1934. ‘Goodness, beauty and prosperity will be with them throughout their lives if they have acquired education.'[1] These words from Rama Vs decree of 1871 sum up his vision of education, including its moral dimension. As we have seen, he began by ‘modernising education within the palace, but by the end of his reign had embarked on the expansion of educational opportunities to people of all classes throughout Siam. Early in the expansion period, the subject of Ethics was added to the primary curriculum, its content comprising essentially a course in Buddhist morality. This reflected the anxiety of Rama V that the people would lose touch with their ethical and spiritual roots in Buddhism a possible undesirable side-effect of his own attempts modernise (which meant, in effect, to ‘secularise) the education system. At the start of the foundation period, Rama Vs most pressing educational concern had been to produce more highly qualified and competent administrators to staff the offices of his government. By the end of his reign, however, the realisation was growing that a modern state needed not just a literate bureaucracy but also a diversely skilled workforce capable of supporting a productive and diversified economy. Thus, by 1913, King Vajiravudh (Rama Vs son) had proclaimed two national educational goals: to broaden the scope of public education beyond the art of reading and writing, and to educate the people for productive vocations.[2] Attempts to develop basic education on these lines, and even to provide opportunities for higher education, continued through the reign of Prajadhipok (Rama VII: 1925-1934). In 1932, however, a coup took real power from his hands, leaving him as a figurehead. Nevertheless, the cause of public education was taken up vigorously by the new national government. Article 63 of the 1932 Constitution stated that ‘all educational institutions must be under the State and more than half of the population will complete primary education by 1942.'[3] The revolution had been carried out in the name of democracy, but the revolutionaries were uncomfortably aware that the Siamese people had little notion of what would be required of them in a parliamentary state. Thus Siams the school system found itself charged with an additional task to educate citizens for democracy. Before focusing on the changes made to education in the expansion period, we must explore more fully these aspects of the historical context.[4][5] 1.2. Politics and Administration 1905-1934 (B.E. 2448-2477) Faced with the advance of western colonialism, King Rama V had embarked on a radical program of modernization of Siamese society. Only a ‘modern Siam could preserve its independence and identity against Western power. But modernisation was a long-term strategy. In the short term, it was necessary to play for time by cultivating friendly relations with the colonial powers, in the hope of forestalling any confrontation that might lead to the loss of territory or sovereignty. Accordingly, Rama V signed a number of unequal treaties, granting extraterritorial rights to European citizens, and even gave up some of his dominions to assuage the imperial appetites of Britain and France. From 1894, Rama V carried out a major administrative reorganization, putting in place a system which still forms the basis of public administration today. Administration was decentralized to regional and local authorities (Monthons) under the power of the Interior Ministry. Each region comprised a number of provinces (or towns), and each province a number of districts and villages. The head of each region was a Lord-Lieutenant, or sometimes a Viceroy, who was invested with full power to administer his area under the provisions of the Royal Decrees promulgated from time to time. Governors and district officers were appointed in all rural areas. Bangkok was exempted from this system, as the king remained its supreme head, although he delegated this power to the Metropolitan Ministry.[6] Taken as a whole, these measures were successful both in maintaining the countrys independence throughout the turbulent years of the Western colonial threat and in providing a foundation for the modern system of government.[7] [Was this the local government system that inherited responsibility for the local schools in 1935, after the failure of the local committee system was acknowledged?] 1.2.1. King Vajiravudh (1910 1925) At the death of Rama V in 1910, his son Prince Vajiravudh succeeded to the throne as Rama VI. The first Siamese monarch to receive an education abroad, Vajiravudh had attended Sandhurst and Christchurch College, Oxford, spending nine years in England before his return to Siam in January 1903.[8] As king, Vajiravudh continued the process of nation-building and administrative reform begun by his father. By this time, the educational initiatives of the previous reign were producing actual improvements in the quality of governmental administration. Junior officials were better qualified and more capable. In addition, at the elite levels of government, many of the kings brothers had, like the king himself, completed studies in Europe in a range of fields including natural science, finance, public administration, military science, and diplomacy. They were able to bring this expertise to their leading roles in government. As a result of the high importance attached to it by the crown over two reigns, government service acquired a prestige that made people prefer it to other occupations. In the expansion period, the government increasingly saw that this tendency was not wholly beneficial to the broader development of Siams society or economy.[9] Peoples aspirations needed to be channelled in the direction of economically productive work. Meanwhile, the upper echelons of the growing bureaucratic class had become part of a new social elite. There were two other strands to this elite: the officers of the new standing army, and the business class that had emerged since the Bowring treaty opened up Siam to free international trade in 1855. Together, these three groups formed a new ‘political class that increasingly resented its exclusion from power. As we will see, this sense of exclusion ultimately found expression in the revolution of 1932. Vajiravudh, however, was more preoccupied with Siams fortunes in the international arena than with creating a fairer distribution of power within the kingdom. If Siam was to stay independent, its people had to be made patriotic and ready to fight for their nation. Accordingly, from the beginning of his reign, he tried to promote nationalistic feelings in Thai men and boys, and to develop military discipline and training. To this end, he founded the Boy Scout Organization in 1909. Boys were encouraged to join the scouts, where they learned to be patriotic, to obey rules and orders, and to sacrifice themselves for their country.[10] In 1911, a Senior Scouts Corps was established and became, in effect, a territorial army. As we will see, scouting activities were also eventually incorporated into the school curriculum. Thus, these patriotic and military virtues became part of the ethics that the school system tried to inculcate. Another step in the same direction was the creation of the ‘Wild Tiger (Sua Pa) Corps in 1911. The name was borrowed from the group of men who kept watch on the frontiers of Siam. These Wild Tigers of the past were believed to have embodied qualities such as hardiness, patriotism, piety, fearlessness, and devotion to the king, combined with deep knowledge of both nature and warfare all the qualities, in short, that Vajiravudh wanted to promote among Siamese manhood in his own day.[11] World War I provided Siam with an opportunity to test its new military prowess, and to raise its international profile. Vajiravudh prudently maintained neutrality through most of the war, but in July 1917 he decided that the time had come to demonstrate Siams progress towards modern nationhood. He entered the war on the side of the Allies, sending an expeditionary force of 1,200 volunteers to Europe. Shortly after entering the war, Vajiravudh also changed the national flag, abandoning the motif (introduced by Rama II) of an elephant on a red ground, and replacing it with the Siamese tricolour, which remains in use today. The choice of red, white and blue was a shrewd gesture of solidarity with Siams war allies in particular the colonial powers, Britain and France which had flags of the same three colours. The deeper significance of the flag, however, was as a symbol of the new consciousness that Vajiravudh wanted to create in Siam and for which education was to be an important instrument. The Siamese (still, in reality, mainly a nation of subsistence farmers, living in remote villages, most of whom had never seen a foreigner, or read a newspaper) had to be made more aware of their Siamese identity; they had to be made to feel a patriotism that transcended local loyalties, and become willing to fight or make sacrifices for their country. The new flag communicated this duty. It had five horizontal stripes (from top to bottom: red, white, blue, white, and red). The red stripes stood for the nation (and for blood spilt in its defence), the white ones for religion (the moral purity of the Dhamma), and the wider blue band in the centre occupying one-third of the total area symbolized the monarchy. The monarch would be a focus for patriotism, crystallising a vague sense of belonging into a specific obligation. In this way, loyalty to the monarchy became part of ‘ethics that were cultivated in the school system. Vajiravudhs efforts to play the part of friend to the colonial powers met with some success. Upon the defeat of Germany in 1918, Siam participated in the Versailles conference and became a founding member of the League of Nations. Having thus achieved a presence in the international arena, Siam began to renegotiate the unequal treaties of the two preceding reigns. In 1920 the United States became the first country to give up special trading privileges and extraterritorial rights, except in certain cases.[12] But growing international esteem could not stop growing discontent at home, which was in fact being fuelled by education. By this time, not only members of the royal family were being educated abroad. Some members of the foreign-educated elite brought radical political ideas back with them when they came home from Europe. At the same time, Siam itself was becoming more exposed to western culture, as the growth of literacy created a minority market for newspapers and literature. Western novels and romances were translated, and film screenings were common in Bangkok by the time Vajiravudh came to the throne in 1910. Ideas of freedom and equality were part and parcel of this cultural influx.[13] At the same time, the conspicuous wealth and unrestrained power of the royal family began to provoke resentment. The behaviour of Vajiravudh, an aesthete who loved display, tended to fuel this ill will. His coronation in 1910, a grand affair attended by royalty from Europe and Japan, swallowed no less than 8% of the national budget. This and other extravagances, such as his enthusiasm for palace-building, soon got him into debt, necessitating a foreign loan. For all Vajiravudhs intellectual sophistication, such habits made it difficult for him to command the same respect as his father. A challenge to absolutism began to take shape in Siam among the new political class.[14] Even before Vajiravudh, Rama V had been confronted with the question of whether to share his power. As we have seen, he resisted the suggestion that he move towards a more constitutional form of government in his lifetime. However, he realised that this resistance could not last forever. Shortly before his death in 1910, he stated to ministers his wish that the Crown Prince Vajiravudh should introduce a constitution and a parliament when he eventually to the throne.[15] When that time came, however, Vajiravudh did no such thing. In 1912, two years after Vajiravudhs accession, a group of junior army officers, exasperated with absolutism, plotted a coup detat. Their plan was discovered before it could be implemented and the leaders were imprisoned. However, the attempt forced Vajiravudh to recognise the vulnerability of his position. At first, he attempted to enter into dialogue with the critics by giving lectures and writing articles for the press (something that his education and literary ability qualified him to do), sometimes under the concealment of pseudonyms.[16] For example, in Klon Tid Law (‘Mud on Wheels), he argued that the main obstruction to the development of the kingdom was the lack of competent people: the implication was perhaps that Siam was not ready for democracy yet. But by 1916 the king had lost patience. Giving up on dialogue and experimentation, he opted for repression. He began by closing down certain newspapers on various pretexts, and in 1923, (after some years of hesitation prompted by fear of western criticism), he enshrined censorship in law, prosecuting many publishers and closing many presses. Yet even now, realising perhaps that history was against him, he equivocated by showing some willingness to move towards constitutional government. As late as 1924, he stated that: If people really want a constitution, and if it is well intended, then petition for it. I shall not hold any grudges against anyone for doing so. I shall consider the pros and cons of the petition. I myself think that it is better to have a constitution, and feel that for one person to hold absolute power is not judicious.[17] However, any further steps that he might have taken towards constitutional government were cut short. After ruling Siam for 15 years, Vajiravudh died of blood poisoning in 1925 at the early age of 44. King Vajiravudh deliberately ignored the current tradition that each reigning ruler usually set up one royal monastery by turning his attention to setting up an educational institution instead; he had Vajiravudh College established under his patronage. [This might go better in the later section on religion. It might suggest that the influence of Buddhism faded a bit in Vajiravudhs reign.] 1.2.2. Prajadhipok (Rama VII) 1925-1934 King Prajadhipok, officially named Rama VII, came to the throne in 1925. He promulgated many new laws such as the Land Expropriation Act 1928, the marriage law amendment 1930, etc. [Something should be said about the significance of these laws. Otherwise, the reader learns little from these statements.] All of these laws were thoroughly scrutinized [by whom?] and were strictly adhered to by the populace, which positively affected the country [This sounds too blandly positive and uncritical see my ‘advice.] [Also, I think you need to say something about Prajadhipoks policies on education and Ethics instruction. If he simply continued the policies of Rama VII, you need to say so explicitly. ] Prajadhipoks plans were upset by two great events. The first was the Wall Street crash of 1929, which triggered the Great Depression. Siams economy, like that of many other countries, was hit hard, and this fuelled the grievances of the political class. This dissatisfaction led to the second great event of the reign the 1932 coup detat, which compelled Prajadhipok firstly to accept a constitutional form of government, and then to relinquish power altogether by abdicating.[18] As we shall see, the 1932 revolution also had an impact on the development of education, which thereafter was geared to the process of democratization. [19] Even before the coup, Rama VII himself was aware of the dangers inherent in absolute monarchy. Intellectually, to some extent, he accepted the necessity for change. However, he proceeded too cautiously and slowly. Two years after his accession, he created a Supreme Council and the Committee of the Privy Council as means of broadening participation in decision making. Unfortunately, both these bodies were packed with members of the royal family and the aristocracy, and so did nothing to appease the frustrations of the political class. Like his two predecessors, Prajadhipok took the view that Siam was not ready for an elected legislature. It would be unfair to dismiss this as a convenient rationalisation for maintaining absolutism. Prajadhipok was not the only sceptic on the question of whether democracy could work in Siam. In 1926, Francis B Sayre, an American advisor originally hired by Vajiravudh, was consulted by Prajadhipok on a variety of pressing political questions, including democracy. Sayre later recorded his advice as follows. Discussing these issues with His Majesty, I had to point out the inherent dangers. In Siam there was no middle class. The Siamese peasants took little or no interest in public affairs but lived their simple lives in secluded rural districts. To set up a legislature and clothe it with real power overnight without an educated electorate to control it would be likely, I suggested, to invite trouble and possible corruption. Power uncontrolled was almost bound to breed corruption†¦ As I talked with him I felt the utter sincerity of the new monarch and his real desire to lead Siam modern nationhood.[20] The revolution of 1932 was not a mass uprising; no crowds were rallying in the streets. It was a bloodless coup conducted by leading elements of the new political class, eager to seize a share of power. Sayres view that there was no widespread popular demand for democratic institutions at this time is corroborated by the contemporary account of the Bangkok Times: There was no evidence that the masses took any part in the recent demonstration. The discontent of several salaried classes, especially of the officers of the Army and Navy, clearly counted most in the movement. At the same time a contributory cause is to be found in the extension of education in Siam since the middle of the nineteenth century. King Rama VII introduced western methods and technique to the country and the numbers of Siamese students trained in Europe increased. And [these classes of] educated officials, administrators, and officers having once been formed, it was only a question of time and opportunity before they demanded a share in the government of the country.[21] The coup was staged by a group calling itself the Peoples Party. All of them were of the ‘commoner class (khun nang), in other words from outside the ranks of the aristocracy. The ringleaders had begun their conspiracy five years before, in 1927, when they were students in Paris. Their western education had given them a keen sense of the inadequacy and backwardness of Siamese absolutism in the light of current Western democratic ideas. Pridi Banomyong, the leader of the Peoples Party, articulated its aims in six principles: 1. To guard independence in every way to ensure the security of the nation. This included independence in politics, the courts and the economy. 2. To preserve internal security and reduce internal strife. 3. To guarantee the economic well-being of the people, by creating full employment. 4. To make all citizens equal, so that princes and commoners had the same rights. 5. To grant all citizens freedom and equality, provided it did not conflict with the preceding principles. 6. To assure every person of a full education. Acquiescence in the coup was not the only option available to Prajadhipok. Elements of the large armed forces would probably have remained loyal and fought the revolutionaries, had he given the command. However, he wanted to avoid bloodshed, and in principle he had long recognised the need to share power to some extent. He therefore agreed to the Peoples Partys demand for a constitution, hoping to maintain a position of leadership within a constitutional framework. Accordingly, on 10 December 1932, he signed Siams first constitution, ending 700 years of absolute monarchy. This was a major turning point in Thai history, and despite the many constitutions that have followed, the fundamental principles laid down in 1932 remain the same today. Behind the scenes, however, Prajadhipok and leaders of the royalist cause struggled over the next few years to retrieve as much as possible of royal power. There were counter-coups and some limited military confrontations. At one point, Pridi Banomyong, the leading theoretician among the revolutionaries, was briefly forced into exile. Steadily, however, the balance of power shifted to the revolutionaries. In 1934, Prajadhipok sailed to Europe, ostensibly for medical treatment. Long-distance negotiations failed to reach a compromise. In 1935, apparently despairing of the situation, he abdicated. Even today, the 1932 coup remains controversial. Some historians have criticized Pridi and his party for failing to follow their six principles, while others have suggested that the principles themselves were inappropriate to the place and time. Still others have argued that the principles were good, but were misunderstood or misapplied by subsequent rulers, especially Sarit Thanarat, the eleventh Prime Minister, (1959-1963) who in theory was a devotee of the principles, but whose actual rule was a byword for tyranny and corruption.[22] I would agree with his opinion that the six principles should be developed as a network system not separated apparently and also they must be adapted according to the change and the context of time. On balance, however, there is considerable agreement that the move towards democracy in 1932 was premature. Some have gone so far as to blame Rama VII for being too fainthearted in his absolutism, arguing that he should have fought back more decisively against the new elite in the interests of the nation as a whole. As Sayre had grasped, the great majority of Siamese people at this point had no notion of democratic principles, and their participation in any democratic process could at best be passive. They could not discern the difference between absolute and constitutional monarchy. As for the coup leaders themselves, if their understanding of democracy lacked depth, their grasp of the real needs of the people was arguably just as weak.[23] To quote Sayre once again: Students returning from England or France or America often were unhappy and disturbed, with half-baked ideas about democracy and human liberty; they wanted Siam to adopt Western forms almost overnight, as if these were but outward garments. Many felt that Siamese culture was out of date, and their minds seethed with modern, western ideas, often superficial and misunderstood. [24] 1.3. The economy and public finances in the expansion period Although the Siamese economy grew overall through this period, trade was mostly in the hands of foreigners. According to modern government estimates, as much as 40% of the income generated by Siamese trade in this era went abroad.[25] Under the terms of the Bowring agreement, still in force at this time, Siams power to tax foreign businesses was narrowly circumscribed. [26] In 1918, in the aftermath of the World War, the entire world was facing economic recession. Siams balance of payments was in deficit from 1920 to the end of Vajiravudhs reign in 1925. Faced with falling revenues and the consequences of his own earlier extravagance, Vajiravudh was forced to make repeated cuts in government expenditure, and this increased his unpopularity among the military and the bureaucracy, which bore the brunt of the cuts. This situation repeated itself a few years into the next reign. From the onset of the Great Depression in 1929, Rama VII found himself obliged to make cuts in public expenditure. He felt obliged to excuse his action to military officers on February 5, 1931, thus: I fully realize that people who are the victims of the reduction program will be in deeper trouble since it is difficult for them to find other means of livelihood. I consequently feel extremely heavy-hearted and most sympathetic for those who have to leave. If I had other ways in which I could shoulder the burden, I would do everything for them but, as it is, I have no alternatives. [27] However, King Rama VII also encouraged and promoted the cooperative system by promulgating a law governing cooperatives in the year 1928. He commented, â€Å"Farmers who have limited capital but wish to pursue the same aims should form a cooperative so that they can mutually help one another in order to accumulate greater wealth †¦Ã¢â‚¬ [28] Thus the great paradox of the ‘expansion period of education reform was that the states finances, which were essential to fund the expansion of education on the scale intended, were actually in crisis through most of the second half of the period. 1.4. Culture From the reign of Rama IV, many aspects of Western culture were absorbed into Siamese life. As Europe was providing the model for progress in government, economics, and technology, its cultural influence could not be escaped. In some cases change was spontaneous, but in other it was imposed from above by the king. One of the most visible changes was in people style of dress. King Rama V decreed that when he appeared in state, the officials attending him should not dispense with their upper attire. To appear ‘topless would look barbaric to foreigners.[29] Thai women had traditionally kept their hair short and worn a waist-cloth with the end pulled between the legs and tucked in at the back. Now [When, exactly?] they started wearing skirts, grew their hair longer, and wore it in various Western styles. Other examples of royally imposed cultural changes include the introduction of an official calendar and the use of surnames. On the model of the Christian system of dating, Vajiravudh decreed the use of a calendar commencing from the death of the Buddha (the Buddhist Era, abbreviated as B.E.), which he introduced with effect from 1st April B.E. 2455 (A.D. 1912). He also required everybody to have a surname. This was an innovation, as there was no tradition of family names in Siam. In order to comply, most families had to invent surnames for themselves (in some cases, the king obligingly provided one for them!) Even today, although surnames appear on official documents such as passports, they play little part in social interaction: even prominent individuals, including politicians, are usually referred to and addressed by their first name. [all this is interesting, but can you develop it to indicate any specific impacts that the western cultural influx had on your main subject, i.e. p rimary education and ethics instruction?] Yet alongside this Westernisation of culture came a growing official concern to preserve Siamese traditions. King Rama VII established a Royal Institute to manage the Royal City Librarys activities, investigate literary works, administer the national museum, catalogue and preserve ancient sites and objects, and to maintain Siamese arts and handicrafts. 1.5. Religion/Buddhism Throughout the expansion period, the Siamese monarchys traditional support for the textual basis of Buddhism and Buddhist studies was maintained. Vajiravudh promoted the study of Buddhism in the Thai language. Several texts on Buddhism in Thai, compiled during the reign of his father, were already extant, and many writers contributed more during his own reign, especially his uncle Prince Vajirayan, the Supreme Patriarch. Prajadhipok convened a council of monks under the chairmanship of Prince Jinavara Sirivatthana, the Supreme Patriarch of his reign, for the purpose of checking the contents of the 39 volumes of the Tripitaka (the Buddhist scriptural canon) that had been printed in the days of Rama V, comparing it to editions of the Tripitaka from other Buddhist countries. Revisions were made, and a new text, known as ‘the Siam-Rath edition, was printed in 1927.[30] Prajadhipok took an interest in improving the education of children in Buddhism. He once said, ‘The teaching of Buddhism to children in Siam has not been satisfactory. Children must be taught to understand morals when they are very young. Religious texts for them should be written in a way that they easily understand.'[31] To remedy the situation, he established at his personal expense a foundation (which still exists today) to make awards to the winners of regular competitions for the best literary work in Thai on Buddhism. The winning texts were published and distributed to children on Visakha Bucha Day. The position of Buddhism in Siam, and the role of the king in relation to it, were preserved in the 1932 Constitution, which stated that ‘the king must be a Buddhist and the upholder of Buddhism. The role of monks in the modernised school system peaked and began to wane during the expansion period. Although Rama V had clearly seen the need for professional lay teachers, he seems also to have envisaged that monks would indefinitely continue to play a part in modern education. This was part and parcel of his belief that ‘there exists no incompatibility between [the] acquisition of European science and the maintenance of our individuality as an independent Asiatic nation.'[32] As David Wyatt has put it, Rama V believed that ‘Traditional institutions [such as the] Buddhist monkhood†¦ could, without creating copies of Western institutions, be bent to new ends that in essence were not so very different from the ideals of Buddhist Siamese civilization.'[33] During the first part of the expansion period, practical necessity also contributed to the continuation of the monks role in schooling. Modernisation was still in its early days, and the shortage of trained lay teachers obliged the government to continue to rely on the services of monks. Indeed, as late as 1909, we find the government issuing instructions to local authorities that monasteries which had not hitherto made a contribution towards public education should be encouraged to take part in the general endeavour. However, the aim was to produce specially trained lay teachers, and it was inevitable that these would replace the monks in the long run. After all, the monastic sangha was an entity in its own right, with its own agenda and prestige. Monks could never be so amenable to state control as a body of state-trained and state-paid professional teachers. For this reason, from 1915 onwards there was a steady decrease in the total number of monks teaching in schools, even though the number of monasteries being used as school buildings continued to increase for a while. While discussing the role of religion in the new system, we must also note that, although Christianity as a doctrine had little impact on the development of Siamese education (there were relatively few converts), Christian organisations contributed significantly to its growth. It pioneered the modern system of public education in offering Western Education to the kings and his children in the reign of King Rama IV and V.