Role of Teacher Essay Example for Free

Role of Teacher Essay Introduction Quality of education is a relative and dynamic term varying from contexts to contexts and time to time. In a changing world driven by technological advancements, quality defined yesterday may not be valid today or tomorrow. Therefore, it is essential to discuss the concept and define and redefine quality of education with the passage of time. Quality of education is desirable even in countries where all the children are enrolled in schools for basic education because education has to allow all students to enhance their potentials in cognitive, psychomotor and affective domains. Most of the policy makers overlook qualitative aspects of education instead they focus on quantitative aspects of it. Links between qualitative aspects of education and society are strong and so is important teacher’s role in bridging the two in a way that students can play effective role in society. 2. Quality education includes but not limited to: healthy learners; healthy environment; healthy content; healthy process; and healthy outcome. Since access to education has been a major problem in SAARC Region, quality of education provided is also emerging as a major challenge. High dropout rates in most of the member states also neutralise the effect of growing enrolment in primary education. Several policy initiatives have been taken in this regard but in the absence of well developed school-based process there is a considerable distance to go before achieving quality education for all. Additionally, different segments of societies undergo different educational experiences causing social stratification which is an unhealthy sign for the communities in the region. 3. Improving quality of education has always been emphasized alongside education for all at national, regional and international forums such as the World. Education Forum in Dakar held in 2000. Similarly various articles of the Convention of the Right of the Child highlight the right of everyone not only to get education but education of high quality. All the declarations by the international communities and goals set by United Nations regarding education also emphasize quality of education provided to the masses which can only be achieved through effective teaching and learning process, regularity and punctuality of students and their long stay in schools. 2 4. Teachers play crucial role in imparting quality of education. They are the role models and have greater impacts on the personality development of students. Education is a unique activity and the relationship between teachers and students can not be undermined for achieving quality of education. All that needed is to bring about educational reforms to allow well educated teachers to improve and develop their work in the classroom. 5. Teacher quality mostly determines quality of education in an educational setting. Some of the teacher quality dimensions include: 1) Command on the subject matter; 2) Pedagogical skills; 3) Reflective attitude and critical thinking ability; 4) Professional commitment and dedication; 5) Administrative skills; 6) Effective communication skills; 7) Greater flexibility; and 8) Respect for pluralism and diversity. The purpose is not to confuse teachers with so many roles and responsibilities but to make them aware of the prerequisites which they need to effectively accomplish this moral activity. 6. Knowledge of what has been in the field of quality education worldwide and regionally will provide a useful background for policy makers, midlevel functionaries and ultimately the teachers to improve the educational standards in the region. Providing only access to educational facility without quality will not suffice the need to get productive citizens and capable human capital. Quality has to be an integral part of the whole educational process. The workshop titled â€Å"Improving the Quality of  Education: Role of Teachers in Achieving Quality in Education in South Asia†, being organized in Bangladesh by the SAARC Human Resource Development Centre (SHRDC) Islamabad, will give an opportunity to the participants to share their experiences and knowledge with the experts of the field to improve their understanding of teacher’s role in achieving quality of education. The workshop will assess the best practices in the achievement of quality education within the region and globally that will have implications for future educational initiatives in South Asia. Objectives of the Workshop 7. The main objective of the workshop is to explore the current situation of quality of education with respect to teacher’s role and develop strategies to improve quality of education in future. More specifically participants will: i. ii. iii. Discuss country specific information and statistics during country report presentations; Discus the best practices on providing quality of education regionally and worldwide; identify the areas where teachers can play effective roles in promoting quality education in the region; SAARC Human Resource Development Centre, Islamabad Pakistan 3 iv. v. vi. Analyze the effectiveness of teacher education programmes in the region; Evaluate the progress made by member states in achieving quality of education; and Suggest modalities for teachers, policymakers and other stakeholders to achieve quality of education in SAARC Member States. In this regard the workshop specifically seeks to answer the following questions in a SAARC countries’ educational scenario: †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ What are the policies in place to improve quality of education and what type of policies would be required to respond to the combined challenge of expanded access and quality improvement of education? What new skills are demanded of teachers to better perform their duties towards improving quality of education? What roles school administrators can play in preparing teachers to cope with the challenge of quality of education? How can the training of teachers be improved? Why is the teaching profession not attracting the best candidates and what could be done in this regard? Approach 8. The workshop will be interactive and participatory in discussing concepts and sharing of ideas. Experts from SAARC Member States will make presentations on various aspects while discussion will take the agenda forward. The environment thus created will be participant friendly in all respects. There will be a number of facilitators explaining themes, highlighting the connections, theories and practices related to quality of education and role of teachers in it. Groups may prepare their reports and present their findings before the participants. The SHRDC will prepare the workshop report later on. Methodology 9. To achieve the workshop objectives, a number of methodologies will be used including lectures and demonstrations, peer work and group work. Resource Persons will arrange activities according to the nature and requirement of their respective themes to make the topics comprehensive and interesting for the participants. After each presentation, there will be a question-and-answer session in which participants will ask questions and/or give their inputs in relation to the topic under discussion. Emphasis will also be given to the group work in which participants are expected to come up with SAARC specific suggestions and recommendations about teacher’s role in achieving quality of education in the region. SAARC Human Resource Development Centre, Islamabad Pakistan 4 Expected Outcome of the workshop 10. It is expected that participants will develop replicable template models of teacher training and suggest modalities for achieving quality of education in the SAARC member states. Suggesting such models of teacher preparation for achieving quality of education would be the most desirable outcome. As a group of professionals they are expected to come up with particular suggestions and recommendations on the theme. Participants 11. About 28 participants (3 participants each from Afghanistan, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka and 7 from Bangladesh) are expected to attend the workshop. Participants’ profiles include the following: a) Mid-level policymakers/functionaries, trainers/professionals, teachers from government, semi-government organizations and NGOs working in the field of Education specially those who are working at the grass root levels; b) Researchers and scholars; and  c) Civil society, NGOs, Donor and Private Sector Representatives. Logistic Support: 12. Free boarding and lodging will be provided to the participants/Resource Persons. Moreover, pick drop service will also be provided. Date and Duration 13. The workshop is of three days duration w. e. f. December 26-28, 2011. Venue of the Workshop 14. Institute of Educational Development, BRAC University, RD. 2, House 113/A, Niketon, Gulshan 1, Dhaka, Bangladesh. Contact Persons Mr. Rehmat Wali Khan (Focal Person), Education Officer SHRDC, Islamabad Ph: +92-51-9255387, Cell: +92-344-2312524 E-mail: [emailprotected] com SAARC Human Resource Development Centre, Islamabad Pakistan 5 Dr. Erum Mariam (Focal Point in Bangladesh), Director, Institute of Educational Development, BRAC University, RD. 2, House 113/A, Niketon, Gulshan 1, Dhaka Ph: 880 2 9881265 Ext. 2212 Email: erum. [emailprotected] net Dr. Riffat Aysha Anis, Director SHRDC, Islamabad Ph: +92-51-9255159, Fax: +92-51-9255160 SAARC Human Resource Development Centre, Islamabad Pakistan.

National Security: At What Price Essay -- Argumentative Persuasive Ess

National Security: At What Price Never has information played a more important role in society than it does today. The advent of the Internet has made the distribution and collection of information easier and faster than ever before. Today, the Internet is used for communications, shopping, management, and even financial transactions. Despite the slowing economy, recent years have seen a large increase in Internet usage by corporations, and research indicates that this trend will likely continue. Figures gathered by eMarketeer indicate that Internet based commerce will reach as high as $2.4 trillion by 2004 (B2B). With easy access to information from anywhere on the globe, safeguards must be taken to protect sensitive data from falling into the wrong hands. These measures include passwords, protected networks, and secure connections. While much has been accomplished in the area of network security, data encryption remains the most fundamental layer of protection. The goal of data encryption (or cryptography) is to render information unreadable to all except an authorized user (one who knows the password, also called the key). While there are many encryption algorithms and techniques, most involve the use of a "private key" which is the mathematical value that decodes the information. Without the key, a hacker has a chance of one in several trillion to correctly decode the information, making encryption a very effective method of data protection. While encryption fills a critical role in personal and corporate security, the technology can also be used by criminal and terrorist organizations. The same systems that protect your credit card number online can also be used to organize covert operations in safety.... ... Wired News. March 31, 2002 <http://www.wired.com/news/print/0,1294,46816,00.html>. McCullagh, Declan. Senator Backs Off Backdoors. October 17, 2001. Wired News. March 31, 2002 <http://www.wired.com/news/print/0,1294,47635,00.html>. Quotations. n.d. FreedomWriter.com. March 31, 2002 <http://www.freedomwriter.com /quotes.htm>. Schwartz, John. "Disputes on Electronic Message Encryption Take On New Urgency." September 25, 2001. The New York Times Company. February 28, 2002 <http://www.nytimes.com/2001/09/25/technology/25CODE.html?pagewanted=print>. U.S. Encryption Policy. February 28, 2002. Center for Democracy and Technology. February 28, 2002 <http://www.cdt.org/crypto/admin/>. U.S. Policy on Encryption Should Protect Our Right to Privacy. n.d. Americans for Computer Privacy. February 28, 2002 <http://www.computerprivacy.org/about/>.

Industrial tour Essay

Last Thursday, the 17th of January year 2013, we went to EPZA and FCIE for our industrial tour. We visited the companies Macro Wiring Technologies Co. Inc., NSG Pilipinas NM and KLT Fruits Inc. Let me discuss to you my insights for each company. First off we have the Macro Wiring Technologies Co. Inc. They manufacture Wire Harnesses and Assemblies and is the main supplier of the APC company. Their mission is to be the Top Mind choice of customers in providing products and services and is committed to deliver on time with quality products defined by their customer. They vision their company to be a progressive manufacturer of Wire Harnesses and Assemblies for export and domestic markets in an environmentally friendly, economically, viable and globally competitive industry. Additional to that, they aim to provide more jobs to Filipinos. Since they are the major supplier of APC, they do not practice advertising. Though they subcontract with other local companies, they say that these companies were obtained as their client through word of mouth (referrals). Their raw materials are imported from China, Taiwan, US, UK and other countries. They use the JIT (just-in-time) as their delivery system. They only have one plant which is located at EPZA Rosario Cavite and they earn in dollars which is forecasted to be around 14M for this year. They operate 24/7 with 2 shifts. According to Ma’am Joan, the production head, most of their workers are students from NCST and are trained for a maximum training of one week. The second company, on the other hand deals with glass mats, glass fibers and PG separators. The company is Pilipinas NM (under NSG) that is located in FCIE. Their slogan is â€Å"Let’s raise our individual sensibility for quality to grain customer’s trust.† This company is 100% Japanese owned and started its operation dated back on July 1, 1995. There are 120 employees for their 35,763 square meter factory. Their products are for export though there is a 10% supply locally. Most of their clients are from Taiwan, India, China, Turkey and a lot more. The factory that we went to is in charge for the manufacturing of the products. They receive orders and complaints but for the sales and promotions, they have what they call a middle-company (like a middleman) so they are not fully aware of the advertising and other promotions their company is practising except that they know they join business/industry exhibits. The same goes for the delivery; the delivery of the products depends on sales agents. They said that the volumes of orders are seasonal. The same as the first company, since their products are for export, their sales as in dollars. The last company we went to is the KLT Fruits Inc. Established in 1984, KLT Fruits, Inc. manufactures tropical fruit purees, concentrates, red bean jams as well as preserves for markets in the US, Japan, Asia- Pacific, Europe, and the Philippines. They pride themselves by not only providing quality products but by also rendering technical services such as client product formulation, client process parameters, and new product development. Through their knowledge of the industry, production know-how, and our commitment to quality, they are able to establish life-long partnerships with their clients. Their team of experts and skilled associates guarantees the best customer service and more importantly, products of the highest quality. Their production process is fully automated. There is what they call a central unit where only one person manages the entire process. The other employees are into packaging and other manual process needed before and after the production. Their sales are by container which is about 20 tonnes per container. And just like the first company, they do not have any advertising practices though they join expos or exhibits like the second company. Most of the partnerships of KLT are foreign companies located abroad and again, they earn in dollars too. The basis of their pricing, just the same as the first two aforementioned companies, are the raw materials, manufacturing, production and overhead costs which also dictates their market percentage. After discussing each of the information shared to us by the companies we went to, I’ve noticed a few things they all have in common. 1. They are exporting their final products because most of their clients are foreign. 2. They do not do advertising. 3. Each of them has a focus: quality (Macro Wiring Technologies Co. Inc.), safety (Pilipinas NM), and long-term relationships (KLT Fruits Inc.) 4. They are a major supplier of a company. 5. Their company has only one plant. Upon knowing these similarities, I was able to realize that there really is a huge difference of business-to-business from business-to-consumer in terms of sales, promotions, and relationships. I understood that in business to business, management is more focused in building relationships with large accounts rather than trying to persuade other small-medium enterprises because targeting and serving the large companies yield greater profits. Another learning I had from the tour is that in b2b, selling isn’t just about knowing who your customers and what your objectives are. But one must also understand each of the process the product goes through and the delivery system the company uses so that when conflicts arise, the management will then be able to create solutions faster. Why? Well, since business to business rely more on business relationships, then it is a must to deliver a good and competitive customer/client service. Business to business marketing is really quite confusing for we have been focused with consumer marketing for almost four years. But after being able to personally witness and hear the process, the strategies and operations of the manufacturing companies we have been to last Thursday, I had a clearer view of b2b.

Optimal Kitchen Upper Cabinet Height

Although not stipulated by building codes, standard construction practices set ergonomic standards for the dimensions of kitchen cabinets, their installation heights, and even space for your toes. These measurements are based on studies suggesting the optimal dimensions that create the most comfortable working spaces for users. They are sometimes altered for special needs--such as a kitchen customized for users with physical limitations--but in the vast majority of kitchens, these dimensions will be followed closely.   Standards for Upper Cabinets in Kitchens The upper wall cabinets in kitchens almost always are installed so the bottom edge of the cabinet is 54 inches above the floor. The reason for this is that 18 inches of clearance between base cabinets and uppers are regarded as the optimal working space, and with base cabinets generally 36 inches high (with countertop included) and 24 inches deep, upper cabinets beginning at 54 inches provides the desired 18-inch clearance.   These distances are shown to be ergonomically practical for anyone over 4 feet tall, and optimal for an average user 5 ft. 8 inches in height. With the standard upper cabinet 30 inches tall and 12 inches deep, a 5 ft. The 8-inch user will be able to reach all shelves without a step stool. Anyone shorter may need a step stool--or the assistance of a taller family member--to easily access upper shelves.   There are, of course, some exceptions to these standards. The specialty wall cabinets that fit above a refrigerator or range will be installed higher than other upper cabinets, and may also be deeper than the standard 12 inches.   Varying the Installation Heights These installation standards can be varied slightly to match the needs of users, although this is limited by the dimensions of stock cabinets. A family with members 5 ft. 5 inches or shorter might, for example, install base cabinets at 35 inches above the floor, then leave a 15-inch working space and install the upper cabinets starting at 50 inches above the floor rather than the normal 54 inches. A family with very tall members might install cabinets slightly higher for convenience. These small variations are within the accepted range, and will not dramatically affect sale potential of your home. However, you should be cautious about more glaring variations to normal design standards when customizing a kitchen, as it may make your house hard to sell in the future.   Handicap Accessible Kitchens More dramatic variation in height standards can be necessary for homes or apartments used by those with physical disabilities, such as people confined to wheelchairs. Special base cabinets may be purchased or built that are 34 inches or lower in height, and upper cabinets can be installed on the wall much lower than normal in order to allow wheelchair users to reach them easily A newer innovation is electrically operated cabinetry that raises and lowers the upper wall cabinets, making them easy to use for both physically challenged and physically able family members.