Second Assignment PS 321 Introduction to Political Economy

Second PS 321 Introduction to Political Economy - Assignment Example In political science, it simply implies the level of actors at which a researcher will aggregate the data. In any study, the choice of actors or the unit of analysis has a bearing on the final generalization that is given by a study. In this perspective, the emergence of fallacies on the conclusion of a study will be as a result of not properly identifying the unit of analysis. In a study about the geopolitics of a country, for instance, the focus of the research could be trade relations. The selection of the actors in this study due to the interest and ideas about the actor could lead to a level of complications like cross referencing or fallacies (Babbie 2013). This article examines the possible set of units that relate to a research question about the geopolitics of China and its international partners in trade. Specifically, the units of analysis that relate to the research are discussed in details. It also observes the relevance of the units of analysis that will be selected for the investigation on the topic. Depending on the research question and the motivation of the researcher, the development of the appropriate actors or even the units of analysis could be difficult or just impossible. In this case, the use of cross-referencing is used to create a correlation of the available information to the unit of analysis that has been selected. The difficulty in obtaining the data about the unit of study may also lead to the absence of this ambiguity which seldom happens, the choice of the unit of study is simplified. Problems like the ecological fallacy that results from using data that is meant for a group to make generalization is avoided. In the case of geopolitical analysis of China and the trade relations, the major unit of analysis is the country which is China. This choice is provoked by the fact that much of the data that will be collected on the topic for purposes of analysis will have to do

Relation between Media and Culture Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Relation between Media and Culture - Essay Example The researcher asserts that the mass communication takes place in a particular people at a given time in a particular location. Perhaps there must be something that dictates such a people to be together. The researchers found out that those people stay together work together because of sharing common ideas and expressions, which he terms as a culture. The researchers discovered that such media has to affect the way such people in a community live or express themselves, which is an impact on culture either positively or negatively. Culture is defined in simple terms as expressed and shared morals, attitude, observes and philosophies in a given group of people.The second article is entitled â€Å"the implied audience in media and cultural theory† By Sonia Livingston.The article generally gives a view that the media has to a bigger extend globalized culture more especially the world is taking on the western culture. The article is focusing on the contemporary of the mass media, s uch as the Internet, satellites, and television that can send a message and received by almost everyone in every corner of the world. The researcher asserts that if the world did not have such a mass media it would be difficult to transmit such Western culture to the rest of the world. The researcher cites some examples such as Nike shoes, rock music or Coca-Cola drinks. The researcher also talks of an international communication theory and research, where he introduces cultural imperialism from the western world to the rest of the world.

Developing Teamwork in Project Management

Developing Teamwork in Project Management To achieve stated goals and objectives people in organizations work in teams. These teams go through various stages. The extent to which project leadership success or failure, relates to the stages of teams formation, in the pursuance of these goals and objectives are not clear cut as past researches have given divided opinion and bringing other factors in contention. This assignment will introduce the concept of team formation and project leadership and critically discuss the extent to which the stages of team formation relate to the success or failure of project leadership. Introduction To critically evaluate how the stages of team formation relate to the success or failure of project leadership, Tuckmans team building model which explain the five forming, storming, norming, performing and adjourning stages of the team formation (please see appendix 1) and Blanchards situational leadership model which explain the four leadership styles that a leader should adopt during the team development situations will be evaluated as the team behaviour and leadership style can be clearly seen in these two models. Tuckmans model emphasis that as the team develops, the leader changes leadership style. At the forming stage a successful leader follow a directing style which is similar to telling phase described in situational leadership model, at the storming stage leader coaches their team to come out from the conflict which is similar to the selling phase of the situational leadership style model, at the norming stage the leader facilitates its team to develop standards which is s imilar to the participating phase of the situational leadership model, at the performing stage leader delegate task to the members and almost detached which is similar to the delegating stage of the situational leadership model. Tuckmans team building model Blanchards situational leadership model Discussion The different stages of team building and their relation to the success or failure to the project leadership are explained as follow: Stage 1 Forming: At this stage the team initially formed, the team members meet each other; identify the purpose of the team, terms of reference and its composition. Team members endeavor to test each other, establish their personal identity and create an impression within the group with most consideration given to structure of the team, code of conduct, objectives, individual roles and responsibilities. If the team is more diverse, it is more difficult for the team to maneuver through as this stage takes longer. Therefore, in the formation of multicultural teams it is a particularly sensitive stage as it is characterized by commonality, courtesy, caution and confusion. To take the team to the performing stage leadership is crucial. Team members will not be comfortable if there is lack of clarity. If a leader could not direct the team members effectively, team would not able to reach the next stages of the team formation; therefore this stage does impact the success or failure of the project leadership. When team members truly consider that they are the part of a team, generally this stage is complete. Member competencies needed: Leadership competencies needed: Asking open-ended questions Maintaining equity and being fair Listening without making assumptions and judgments Helping the group to articulate its purpose and overriding goal Observing group patterns of communication Facilitating discussions Using inclusive communication patterns Intervening to include all Disclosing ones needs appropriately Stage 2 Storming: This phase of team development is typically marked by conflict between team members, criticism and tension. Conflict arises due to the competing approaches to obtain the groups goals, disagreements over responsibilities and appropriate task related behavior. Team members might disagree about who should be leading the team and how much power the team leader should have and can result in redefining of the teams overall goals and specific tasks. Team members are likely to individually decide their level of commitment to the group tasks and extent, to which they like the team tasks, therefore may resist the control imposed by the team. At storming stage the team members may begin to withdraw, therefore this stage relates to the success or failure of the project leadership. If leaders coach their teams effectively, teams can proceed to the next stage. Therefore this stage is a critical stage for the group survival and effectiveness as the conflict harms the team progress and negatively affects some interpersonal relationship. When teams control is no longer resisted by the team members and everyone in the team agree about who will lead the team, this storming stage is completed. Member competencies needed: Leadership competencies needed: Using inclusive language and behaviors Establishing an agreed-upon work plan Managing emotional expression Using mediation skills Giving and receiving feedback appropriately Using diverse methods of feedback and conflict transformation Stage 3 Norming: At this stage norms and expectations about what different members are responsible for doing are realize and develop as the team delineates task standards, develop intra group cohesiveness and establish standards, rules and regulations. Team members really start to feel their belongings to the team and the development of close ties with other team members. Therefore this phase of team development is characterized by: commitment, collaboration, cooperation and cohesion as team members attempts to mutually agree upon objectives and goals, accept different opinion and try to open exchange of information. Feeling of belongings and friendship to team, help to work towards team goals. At the norming stage the leader facilitates and enables their team to establish the standards and reach to the performing stage. By the end of this stage, standards to guide behavior in the group are agreed by the team members. This stage is similar to the participating stage of the situational leadership model. If the leader does not participate to establish standards, the team may develop their own standards and norms which may me contrary to the project overall objectives and lead to the project leadership failure. At this stage the major decisions are normally made by the team members jointly and the minor decisions may be delegate to the individuals. Member competencies needed: Leadership competencies needed: Demonstrating support on task and in relationships Reinforcing high standards for task Recognizing individual and cultural differences in how appreciation is shown Coaching where needed Stage 4 Performing: This is the stage at which real work is done, team members know their role and duties and performing their work according to the expectations. Team members concentrate on the achievement of common goals and objectives. Sometime it can take long to reach to the performing stage, in most cases when they are self-managed work teams. Team members make progress towards common goals and feel comfortable working within their roles. This phase is marked by consideration among members, creativity challenge and group consciousness. At this stage the team morale is high and team has a good ability to focus on the task as relationship issues have been resolved. At the performing stage the team may produce another successor leader. At this stage the team members does not need assistance and instructions, but they need delegated tasks from the leader. Therefore at this stage leader delegates, observes and almost detach, this stage is similar to the delegating stage of the situational leadership model. This is the main stage where actual work will take place; delegation of wrong tasks to wrong person may lead to project leadership failure. Member competencies needed: Leadership competencies needed: Adapting and changing Establishing a process for incorporating change and renewal Including new members Sharing leadership Stage 5 Reforming or Adjourning: At this stage a task force teams disbands after the fulfillment of its goals or due to poor performance. But some teams are permanent (ongoing work teams), therefore may not reach to the adjourning stage and often remain to the performing stage. This final stage can be characterized by communication, closure, compromise and consensus. The adjourning phase is not the main task of developing a team, but this stage is very relevant to the team members. Stage Leadership Activity Forming Direct the team and establish objectives clearly by negotiating ground rules. Storming Establish process and structure, and work to smooth conflict and build good relationships between team members. Generally provide support, especially to those team members who are less secure. Remain positive and firm in the face of challenges. Explain forming, storming, norming and performing idea for people to understand why conflicts occurring, and that things will get better in the future. Teaching assertiveness and conflict resolution skills. Norming Help the team take responsibility for progress towards the goal by arranging a social, or a team-building event. Performing Delegate as far as possible. Once the team has achieved high performance, the aim now is to have as light a touch as possible by focusing on other goals and areas of work. Adjourning When successfully achieved the objectives time should be taken to celebrate the achievements. The above table clearly depict the relation between the stages of team formation and successful project leadership, the reverse will mean failure. 4. Conclusion Teams are formed because they can achieve far more than their individual members can on their own, and while being part of a high-performing team can be fun, it can take patience and professionalism to get to that stage. Effective team leaders can accelerate that process and reduce the difficulties that team members experience by understanding what they need to do as their team moves through the stages from forming to storming, norming and, finally, performing. Successful project leadership should realize that not all teams and situations will behave in the way depicted by Tuckman. However, in using this approach, the leader should not attempt to force situations to fit it but make sure that people dont use knowledge of the storming stage as a license for boorish behavior. There are some drawback with Tuckmans team formation modal as it does not talk about the time teams do spend and should spend in different project and external environment does not take into account. Paper 2 Critically evaluate of the dynamic between Task, Team and Individual as related to managing a project successfully. Abstract People in organizations work in teams in achieving stated goals and objectives. The extent to which project success relates to the management of task, the individuals and the teams formation in the pursuance of these goals and objectives are not of equal proportion and need to be well judged and balanced by the leader. This assignment will use John Adairs Action Centre Leadership model to related the dynamic between task, individuals and team; critically discussing the extent to which these three needs are related to the management of a successful project. Introduction One person cannot handle whole project, he/she need other individuals an effective team to successfully complete the project. An effective team is a team who has high commitment, is highly appreciated by upper management, is always ready (adaptive) to change open to new ideas and always achieves its goals. Bailey and Cohen (1997: 4) considers a team as a collection of individuals who are interdependent in their tasks, share responsibility for outcomes, see themselves and are seen by others as an intact social entity, embedded in one or more larger social systems and who manage their relationships across organizational boundaries. Adairs Action Centred Action (ACT) model will be used to find the dynamic between task, team and individual as relate to managing projects successfully, as this model identifies three core interrelated functions, which explain the management and leaders core management responsibility. These three core function consist task: achieving the teams goal. team: developing and building your team, so that its ever more effective. individual: helping individuals develop their full potential in the workplace. Discussion Davis (2001) identified three factors, which can determine whether the team is effective or not, such as: The people (individual) within the team: Effective team determining factor for individual aspect include personal job satisfaction, low or no conflict and power struggles, having job security, appreciation by management and mutual trust of colleagues. The organizations rules and culture: includes the people do thinks and believes of the individuals. The tasks to be completed: including appropriate leadership, team involvement in decisions, appropriately skilled team members, challenging work, goals and objectives. According to Davis (2001) it is easy to appreciate the impact of organizational rules and job tasks on each other and on people (individual), but it is much more difficult to understand the impact of individual-related factors on other factors of successful teams of a successful project. Individual related factor such as trust is a major component in forming an effective working team that achieves results. Leaders/ managers are primarily responsible for creating trust. Adair (1997) describe the best leaders is who balance the task, team maintenance, and individual needs. Balancing task, team and individual Adair found that effective leaders pay attention to three areas of need for members of the team: those relating to the task, to the team itself and to individual team members with emphasis on variation with all three interdependent variables. Teams can be more effective for making decisions effectively and quickly than the traditional hierarchical structure according to the large body of research (Thompson 2008). As group members come and go, due to turnover, promotions, hiring and other reasons; therefore resulted over time change in teams, goals, group tasks etc (George et al. 2008). Teams can be classified on the basis of size, organizational level, composition, potential contribution to organizational performance, objectives, permanent versus temporary. According to Colloquia et al., there are 5 general types of teams such as work teams, management teams, parallel teams, project teams and virtual teams. Leadership is the ability to affect human behaviour to accomplish a mission, the act of influencing people to set and achieve goals (McGraw, 2009). Great leaders are visionary people who are able to achieve results using people. They exhibits authority in themselves and exhume confidence in their team members. Some leaders are democratic, allowing team members to express their opinions. Some are dictatorial, explaining what they want from their teams to the team members to execute. All styles have opportunity and challenges and may be used in certain circumstances. Team leaders must also realise that there are different types of human traits that can be exhibited among team members. These traits rarely have advantage over others as they are complementary. It is the duty of an effective team leader to identify the trait in individual members of his or her team and know how to use the qualities to advantage. All these traits have the qualities which effective team leaders can exploit and none is better than the other. Tasks are those activities that need to done in order to achieve the desired goals and outcome. Leader can help to facilitate these tasks by planning the work, allocating the resources, checking performance and reviewing progress. Team maintenance relates to maintaining good relation and building team spirit, training the group, maintaining discipline. Individual needs can be satisfied by attending to personal problems, training the individual, giving them status and praise, meeting their needs and reconciling conflicts between group needs. To achieve the task, management should make it clear who is going to do what, proper delegation of responsibilities, everyone is clear about the objectives, is adequate authority delegating to the team, are working conditions right for the group, have the time planned affectively, who will cover the absent person, is there adequate resources to complete the tasks. In building and maintaining the team, management should make it clear is the size of the team is correct, are the right people working together, are the rules seen to be reasonable, is the team motivated to achieve the tasks, is the conflict dealt properly, does the team accept the objectives do the team knows about the expected standards of performance. In developing the individual, management should make it clear that have the targets been agreed and quantified, does the individual know about their contribution to work, overall result, does the individual got sufficient authority to achieve the task delegate to them and has adequate provisions been made for retaining and training team members. According to the Hackman (1987), there are 3 primary definitions of team success, and these relate to the task, social relations, and individuals. A successful team completes its task. While completing the task, team members develop social relations that help them work together and maintain the team. Teamwork should help to improve an individuals social and interpersonal skills. Mullins (2010:369) suggests that the action taken by the leader in any one of these area of need will affect one or both of the other areas of need with the ideal position been the complete integration towards the achievement of all three. However, building the team and satisfying individual needs are considered to be part of leadership whilst achieving the common task involves the process of management. According to Robbins (1998) Individual behavior have key variables, which make up individual difference. Every individual has their own attitudes, personality, values, talent, ability to learn, motivation factors, perceptions. Different nature of these variables (attributes) make individual different. Attitude is the judgment an individual make about events and people. This judgement can be positive or negative. Basic values influenced attitude and attitude affect the individual behaviour. Sometime attitudes can change, while values are unlikely to change. Values: Values are the general belief about what is good and bad. Values affect the individual behavior and attitude and difficult to change. Personality: Individual act and behave in a particular way, which called personality. Personality can be learned and inherited. Talent: Talent means the intelligence and ability of the individual. Level of persons talent will depend on how those people perform their job. Ability to learn: This is related to the change in behavior based on experience and getting new ideas. Motivation: Motivation means willing to do something with inspiration, not by force. Different individual have different motivating factors, such as money, name and fame etc. According to Bowditch et al the motivation of team members of joining a team, strongly influence cohesiveness of the team and the members productivity. Perception: Different people give different meaning to what they see around them; therefore people perceive things in different ways. By Knowing about individual differences leaders can understand why individual respond differently. Leaders should appreciate that it is difficult to change values, therefore they may be try to change attitude. As attitude affect behavior, which affect job performance and motivation. The key learning point from these different factors is that if leader want to get best from their team he should appreciate that individuals need to be treated differently. There is also Myer-Briggs model (1956) which effective team leaders have to contend with. This model is about personality types. Myer-Briggs identified four ways people differ from each other. These are: the way they think; the way they view; the way they feel/perceive and the way they see things. Team diversity include language difference, cultural difference, background difference, qualification difference, class, age, sex and experience also have effects in a team which the leader must manage. Mckenna and Maister draw attention on the importance of group leader establishing trust among the group by helping them understand the behaviours that build trust (Cited in Mullins, 2010). Successful project management will require the following list of common tasks for each of the three management responsibilities so that leaders will balance their resources appropriately. Task:Â  Establish deadlines for project tasks, and explain the quality standards expected. Team:Â  Ensure that everyone in the team has the skills and training to accomplish the final goal Individual:Â  Help define each individuals role within the team and agree the tasks they are responsible for. Task:Â  Clearly state the final goal of the team. Team:Â  Monitor team relationships, and resolve conflicts where necessary. Individual:Â  Appropriately praise and reward individual team members for their contribution to the team. Task:Â  Ensure everyone understands the resources, people, and processes that they should be using Team:Â  If team will be working in smaller teams, appoint a leader for each team, and ensure that he/she is effective and properly trained. Individual:Â  Ensure that one on one time is spent with each member: identify their strengths and weaknesses, their needs, and any special skills they can bring to the team. Task:Â  Create a detailed plan for how the group is going to reach their final goal. Team:Â  Work on keeping the team motivated with high morale. Individual:Â  If any team members seem to be lagging behind, coach them until they are back on track. Task:Â  Identify the purpose of the team and communicate team members. Team:Â  Identify the style the team will be working in (very formal, relaxed, etc.) Individual:Â  Ensure each team member has the skills to perform his or her role successfully. Give regular feedback on the teams performance. 4. Conclusion Leaders have many responsibilities when it comes to managing their teams. And, its easy to get so focused on one area that the others slip by the wayside, leading to an unbalanced, poorly-functioning group. ACL model states that leaders must balance the actions they take across all three key areas if they want their project to succeed. The areas are interdependent; if a leader focuses too much on one area and neglects the other two, then the group will experience problems. The leaders do not necessarily have to divide their efforts equally across these but balance according to the situation and over time. Using a tool like Action Centered Leadership can help any leader stay on top of the most important responsibilities, and keep the group working efficiently, happily, and productively. John Adairs simple Action-Centered Leadership model provides a great blueprint for leadership and the management of any team, group or organisation. Good managers and leaders should have full command of the three main areas of the ACL model, and should be able to use each of the elements according to the situation. Leaders who are able to achieve the task; building the team and develop keeping the right balance, gets results, builds morale, improves quality, develops teams and productivity, and is the mark of a success. References and Bibliography: Adair, J (1997), cited in Management Extra Leading Teams; page 43 Bailey and Cohen (1997), cited in Halverson B. Claire; Trims S. Aleel: Effective Multicultural Teams-Theory and Practice, page 4 Belbin R. Meredith: Team Roles at work; 2nd Edition, page 122 Belbin, M. (2004) Management Teams Why They Succeed or Fail? 2nd Edition. Oxford: Elsevier Butterworth-Heinemann. ISBN 0 7506 910 6. Colquitt A., Jason; Lepine A., Jeffery; Wesson J., Michael: Organizational Behaviour (2nd Edition) Daniel Levi: Group Dynamics for Teams (2nd Edition) page 20 George M., Jennifer; Jones R., Gareth; Understanding and managing organizational Behaviour (5th Edition.); 2008 Harvard Davis (2001), cited in Management Extra Leading Teams; page 7 Hondon (2002), cited in Managing People in Organizations Contemporary Theory and Practice by Dr Jeremy Adams. Making the team: a guide for managers / Leigh L. Thompson. (3rd Edition) Mullins J., Laurie (2010): Managing and Organizational Behaviour (8th Edition), Marx, K. and Engels, F. (1947) The German Ideology. New York: International Publishers. Oyedele, O (2010) Team Management: Lessons from the Leadership Styles of Successful Team Managers, Glasgow Caledonian University, June 2010 Robbins (1998), cited in Management Extra Leading Teams; page 7 Thompson, L. (2008). Leading high impact teams. Team leadership survey from the Kellogg School of Management Executive Program. Evanston, IL: Northwestern University, cited in Making the team: a guide for managers/ Leigh L. Thompson. (3rd Edition)

Essay --

Philip Covarrubias Covarrubias 1 Fire 100-30 Friday 1300-1550 12-06-2013 Communications Center My name is Philip Covarrubias, and I’m going to be talking about the communications center. The Communications center, a facility where dispatchers work, is the place where most emergency agencies receive 9-1-1 calls for emergency assistance, such as the fire departments, police departments, and EMS agencies. There are many communications centers throughout the United States and in other countries. In the United States, they are divided by counties. Depending on how large the county is, it will determine how many facilities will be running. In every communications center dispatchers work with a computer system called computer-aided dispatch (or CAD for short). Dispatchers started working with these computers in the early 1970’s, and as they became more known, agencies began adopting theses computers. The function of the CAD system, using the enhanced 9-1-1 system, is to quickly find the lo...

Liberalism in Zambian Governance

Every country worldwide is ruled with certain rules and regulations which whether accepted or not by the preponderance, are still accepted as right. Thus, the aim of this essay is to elaborate on the various forms of liberalism, discuss on each of them, and explain while giving clear examples which one of them has been prominent in Zambia from 1991 to present day. It will begin by defining the main concepts; then the forms of liberalism shall be presented and discussed. Thereafter an analysis of which form of liberalism has been pursued by the Movement for Multiparty democracy and the Patriotic Front in the ruling of the country of Zambia shall follow. A conclusion will then be drawn from the main body. Liberalism has been explained or defined in many ways. It comes from the word liberal, which implies freedom. Therefore if incorporated in the aspect of human life, liberalism means an ideology that advocates for gradual reform in the different aspects of a human life, for instance, social, political and economic aspects. According to Doyle (1986:2), â€Å"liberal resembles a family portrait of principles and institutions, recognizable by certain characteristics, for example, individual freedom, political participation, private property, and equality of opportunity. † From generation to generation, different forms of liberalism have emerged due to various reasons. Classical liberalism is said to be perhaps the oldest form of liberalism, which according to historians, emerged in the 16th, and 17th century though became prominent in the late 19th century. Some of the major pioneers of this type of liberalism were John Locke, David Ricardo and Adam Smith. Classical liberalism hence is said to uphold a French ideology laissez-faire which literally means â€Å"to allow. † When applied to classical liberalism it advocates for non-state participation in the affairs of its citizens, (www. cambridge. org). To sum it up, classical liberalism advocates for â€Å"limited government, protection of personal freedoms, and free markets, they rely on rules of thumb derived from experience,† the Policy (2009:15). Classical liberalism has been criticized heavily that it only benefits the few elite. This led to the emergence of Social liberalism in the mid 19th century. The word in the center of social liberalism is â€Å"equity†. This is where each individual has equal opportunities in society and benefits equally from the economic activities of the state. There is common ownership of means of production and goods are produced not for private profit making but for the benefit of society. Thus, in summary, Social liberalism advocates for equal opportunity, for self realization by the citizens and improvement in social status of everyone with the state as the major player. It is said to be â€Å"committed to individualism but includes protecting individuals from acts of omission as well as commission,† the Policy (2009:16). Another type of liberalism is Political liberalism which focuses on the freedom of citizens in the participation of political activities without interference or hindrance by the state. This type of liberalism was mainly pioneered by John Harsanyi and John Rawls, (Policy, 2009). According to the Policy (2009:4), political liberalism emphasizes that â€Å"everyone has an equal opportunity to hold political office and to influence the decisions made in the political sphere. Green liberalism is liberalism with a notion of sustainable growth. It focuses on preserving the environment even in the midst of growth. Steinberg (2012:1) emphasizes that â€Å"green liberalism is the idea that market forces combined with individuals all doing their part can save the planet. † Though supported by many, this type of liberalism has be en criticized that it is not logical in that for development through liberalism to occur, nature or primary goods are involved hence their exhaustion is inevitable. Neo-liberalism, another form of liberalism, is regarded as a re-introduction of liberalism. Various proponents and scholars have alluded that Neo-liberalism was first coined by the German economists who were trying to compare it with classical liberalism. Boas and Gans-Morse (2009), clearly state that neo-liberalism is both in rejection of laissez-faire policies and emphasizes on humanistic values. Neo-liberalism supports free market trade, private capitalism and private property while it reproves government intervention or interference. This type of liberalism is likened to classical liberalism though it â€Å" goes even further than classical liberalism in that its ultimate goal is to create a world where political action is governed entirely by the free market, so that all decisions are unbiased and fair,† (www. ehow. com). The Neo-liberal policies were and still are widely advocated by International Monetary Fund and World Bank, (struggle. ws). The policies advocated by Neo-liberalism have been criticized in that there is usually unequal distribution of development within a country. Privatization measures are said to benefit the foreigners more than the local people. Even though the IMF and World Bank emphasize that these measures would help improve the welfare of the vast majority, it has been argued that privatisation is characterised with corruption, trade is controlled by the super powers which has seen to the market being populated with cheap imported goods and hence discouraging local producers. These policies are said to only benefit the few elite, (Simutanyi, 2009). Zambia is a landlocked country in the southern part of Africa which after being colonized by the British, gained its independence in 1964. After independence the country had its first president Dr Kenneth Kaunda, leader of the United National Independence Party who according to scholars saw to the rise of autocracy in the country. Thus the country was turned into a one-party state where the state controlled a major part of the economy. Some of the characteristics of Kaunda’s rule include â€Å"a system of terroristic police control; control of all means of effective mass communication, control of all means of effective armed combat,† (Phiri: 2001,2). Since the main aim of the government was to ensure equity, therefore it can be right to say that during that time, Zambia was under Social liberalism, (Simutanyi, 2006). Due to the many shortcomings of the UNIP government for instance the food riots, foreign debt, economic decline and social disintegration, the Multi-Party Movement for Democracy which was headed by Fredrick Chiluba took over leadership and adopted the Neo-liberal policies. There was â€Å"independent rational attitude, free expression and the promotion of private self-interest over general system,† (www. ambiastruggle. com). Sorabjee and Bourne (1996:27), stated that when MMD was elected, there were major changes in the country such as â€Å"privatisation or liquidation of state enterprises, the relaxing of import controls and of investment regulations and barriers, removal of subsidies and other protections, and freer regime in agriculture and manufacturing. † These policies were â€Å"implemented lar gely at the insistance of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank,† House (1991:2). Since the economy was and still is mainly dependant on the mining sector, many mines were privatized so as they can be more productive and efficient. According to Simpere (2010:7) â€Å"under the influence of its lenders especially the World Bank and following the election of a new government in 1991, Zambia decided to dismantle and privatize its mines. † The mines were not the only state-owned enterprises privatized but many other companies, approximately two-hundred and sixty three (263) companies were taken over by foreigners. This happened between 1994 and 2004, which was predominantly during the reign of the MMD precisely Chiluba and Levy Mwanawasa, (Simutanyi,2006). There was also the liberalization of foreign exchange and import. â€Å"Since late 1991, Zambia has fundamentally changed its trade and economic policy. The trade regime has been considerably liberalized and there has been substantial decentralization and deregulation in other spheres of economic activity,† (www. wto. com). The dominance of neo-liberal economic programs in Zambia promised fast and sustainable economic growth, where Adam Smith’s invisible hand comes in play that the majority of the poor would benefit, (Zambian Economist, 2007). Thus the MMD fully adopted the Neo-liberal policies and the government enacted economic and political liberalism in the country. The Patriotic Front led by President Michael Sata is the current party in government in Zambia. It was elected into power in 2011 during the tripartite elections held in Zambia. It is not clear whether the state under the current government is undertaking a neo-liberal type of governance or a socialist. Some spectators have argued that due to the move of the Patriotic Front to join the Socialist International, the country seems to be heading into the direction of a socialist state, (www. zambia. com). Even though this is so, the Patriotic Front government has corrected the misunderstanding that they shall continue to advocate for socio-economic liberalism spearheaded by neo-liberal policies as was stated in their manifesto, (m. lusakatimes. om). Nothing much has, in reality changed during the past twelve months of the Patriotic Front’s rule as compared to the twenty year rule of the MMD. Companies are still privatized, trade liberalism still exists, democracy still prevails and the existence of property rights exists as well. The country of Zambia still values the foreign investors and their relationship with other capitalist societies with whom they enjoy the benefits of trade liberalism. Therefore, neo-liberalism as proven above has been the dominant type of liberalism in Zambia from 1991 to present day. Even with the consequences of neo-liberalism such as increase in the poverty level, increased debt, uneven development, Zambia continues to boast of being one of the most liberalized states in Southern Africa. In conclusion, liberalism has been a major player in determining the role of the state in Zambia, hence among the many types of liberalism Neo-liberalism has been adopted by the country of Zambia to spear-head its development. What is not certain is, if it were not for the government being pressured by the IMF and the World Bank, would it have, on its own adopted the neo-liberal policies or it would have continued as a social state?

Importance of Art Education during Childhood Essay

Since more than two decades researchers have been discovering affirmative relationships between arts education and cognitive improvement in children. Gardner (1983) has claimed an affirmative relationship between arts and intellectual (Clark & Zimmerman, 2004). There are multiple advantages of arts education that range from the improvement of vocabulary and math competence, to the improvement of spatial reasoning. Today arts education is given much more importance than previously, when it was thought to be a lot of fluff. Art is not simply an extra subject in education; it is necessary to learning. When students learn about the visual arts, they get a view of the rich and fascinating world around them. This teaches them theirs as well as others history and customs. Art leads to a cultivation of expressiveness, imagination and originality along with critical thinking and analytical competence. It has been stated by the art educators that children as young as three years of age consistently use their imagination in different ways (Golbeck, 2001). The children studying about art expand their capabilities to consider meanings and to make assessments and decisions. Through comprehending and creating art, a student can learn how to work collaboratively with others and also how to put in effort to attain an objective. Also, art education helps in making a major contribution to the enhancement of the child’s capabilities to tackle with the abundance of visual indications obtainable to him and to comprehend and utilise these visual indications (Anway & McDonald, 1971). The enhancement of such competencies and qualities allows for making children better learners along with helping them to feel good; that is, it creates self-worth. It is a world where concepts and data are usually conveyed visually, and the children are required to learn the way they can consider and ascertain the sense of the pictures and also how they can use them so as to convey their own concepts. These talents and qualities are considered essential for individual success as well as America’s improvement.   In spite of this several schools have reduced their budget in art programs since the last decade and this has resulted in some schools providing with almost no art education (Prentice, 2000). These schools are not offering their students with the chance to improve their talents that are so essential if they are to succeed in a competitive fiscal setting in such an ethnically varied, visually adjusted world. Teaching Art Enid and Laura Zimmerman say that there are three standpoints of art teaching that have affected art education for youngsters since the last five decades. The first point is that a child’s piece of art is an expression of the natural internal procedures of improvement. The second point is established on a cognitive improvement attitude, and it concentrates on children’s building of general knowledge concerning the world. The third point is that art education leads to a promotion of self-improvement in order to allow the children to absorb themselves relative to the community they live in. According to Gardner (1980) when adults offer the youngsters with the kit, materials and support, their natural art capabilities develop. The adults should not be directly interfering with the children so as to develop their natural capabilities (Schaffer-Simmern, 1948). Infants and preschool children rather prefer to explore colors, feel and type of materials and express thoughts, concepts and insights. These are fine objectives for them. They value the procedure more than the end result. After completion of the work by a child, the teacher or parent should talk to him about it instead of simply praising him. This allows for learning more about the artwork and how the child thinks. Also, the instructor can put down points on paper and, if the child allows, fix it to the child’s work. Plus, the artwork should be dated. That allows the instructor to keep a track of the youngster’s improvement. Visual arts can be a source of advantage to children of all ages. From a kid’s first rate motor skill development to a teen’s expressive enhancement, the arts can prove to be a much efficient training and managing means. A person does not have to be absolutely knowledgeable on each and every procedure or have to purchase extremely costly equipment in order to bring in the arts to a kid’s life. Straightforward product selection and child focused examination can direct initial creative attempts. Children’s Motivational Beliefs about Art Art classrooms offer with distinct motivational tests. Even though kids usually take pleasure in the hands-on exercises which are part of most of the curriculum and they without reluctance involve themselves in the delegated projects, it is quite often hard to get them to put in all their efforts, to make their â€Å"hurried production† more detailed and improved. Many a times young students are overheard talking about who is good at art and who is not, which is mostly themselves. Usually with age kids become pessimistic concerning their art capability (Flannery & Watson, 1991; Gardner & Rosenstiel, 1977). The necessity of motivation in order to maintain children’s interest in art is accentuated by the usual weakening in self-esteem and interest in art which the kids start displaying during middle childhood. This weakening is linked with the children’s idea that their production should fulfil the principles of traditional practicality and that they do not possess the abilities of accomplishing this (Flannery & Watson, 1991). Nevertheless, comparable deteriorations in self-assessments of capabilities are commonly perceived in various subjects (Stipek & Maclver, 1989), and also the progressive weakening of student’s encouragement as they advance through school. In goal theory the advice is implied that teachers motivate students to follow individual imaginations of mastery more willingly than to work to impress outside assessors. This is a problem for regions like visual art where students should bear in mind the ultimate receiving of their performance (imaginative production) by an audience even as they try to focus on self-enhancement and mastery. This matter poses a problem to the art teachers who should make every day choices concerning the degree to which they will try to motivate students by emphasizing grades and the chance for exhibit of work. Art teachers are also caught up with the fact about whether art contests raise children’s concentration on spirited performance to the disadvantage of their assignment involvement and ability improvement. Parents and Art Education Parents can help their children in art education and not just rely on the institutions. They can encourage the children’s involvement in art when at home which can be done by encouraging art programs in the nearby society and also by assisting in making a decision as to how the school can teach the art. Parents can also turn out to be important speakers for developing art programs at schools. Parents can work along with the school staff, with the members of art societies, and also with other people. In this way they can ensure that art is being given a significant position in their children’s education plus in the society. There can be PTA meetings held that would emphasize on the importance of art education. In this way parent awareness concerning art education will be built. A very significant step that parents, and even rest of the people, can take is to back up education leaders and officers so as to sponsor the addition of art education in the syllabus. Every person can lead to a difference if he contacts these persons.