Beliefs About Students free essay sample

It is undeniable that the beliefs about students and education have a profound impact on what is taught and how it is taught, just as the beliefs about life have a profound impact on how individuals live their lives. Educational beliefs are revised and refined and over time becomes stronger as they seem to serve us well and prove to be true. Thus, these beliefs ultimately become our philosophy of education. It is possible that every student that enters a classroom can succeed. However, in order for them to accomplish this, teaching should be student centered.Students should be encouraged to understand and appreciate their uniqueness and to be accountable for their learning and behavior. According to Ornstein and Hunkins (2004) Perennialism relies on the past; especially the past asserted by agreed-on universal knowledge and cherished values. Dunn (2005) also agreed that Perennialism is the oldest educational philosophy and is therefore traditional. It is believed that students are vessels to be filled and disciplined in the proven strategies of the past. We will write a custom essay sample on Beliefs About Students or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page This philosophy is supported by the realist philosopher John Locke, who was of the belief that at birth the mind is a blank sheet of paper on which the teacher could write knowledge (Tabula Rasa). According to the essentialist viewpoint, there are certain basic or essential knowledge, skills and understandings that students should master in order to function successfully in the society. These are reading, writing, computing and in today’s world, computer skills. Plato, who was the father of idealism, believed that both male and female are equal and should be educated equally.Therefore, the curriculum is the same for everyone and planning to execution of lessons are dominated by the teacher. However, one should not forget that these beliefs are teacher centered and tend to be more authoritarian and conservative and emphasize only the values and knowledge that have survived through time. Learning occurs through experience, Therefore students should be allowed to develop cognitively through experimentation and to reach their own personal potential instead of being shaped into a specific mould.Dunn (2005) cited Immanuel Kant who agreed that knowledge is rooted in the experience of mankind and can only be achieved by an active and exploratory mind, rather than one that is passive and receptive. Carl Rogers also believed in experiential learning. He believed that unlike academic knowledge, experiential knowledge is required to meet the needs of the learner in order to complete important real-life tasks such as learning to drive a car. Every student is different, no single set of learning outcomes is appropriate for all students.Thus a set curriculum will not be suitable for all. Students should be able to determine what they need to study with the guidance of the teacher. This will help them to arrive at their own understandings. Jean Sartre, a leader of existentialism believed that man’s responsibility is vested in man himself. He further stated that people are entitled to be human with dignity and is a human only when he or she is entirely free and accepts responsibility for his freedom. You may be led to believe that students are blank slates and learn based on mainly academic knowledge that has been tried, tested and proven and that all humans are equal and should be educated equally. However, do not ignore the fact that students are taking to the classroom, their own ideas and materials rather than receiving material in class as it is given. Students restructure the new information to fit into their own cognitive frameworks. In this manner, they actively and individually construct their own knowledge. They also are different thus, the same rigorous curriculum will not work for all students.From these facts one may conclude that in order to help students reach their full potential and gain the knowledge and skills that they will require in their daily lives as a democratic citizen of our society, the student centered approach to how students learn must be practiced. Therefore it is recommended that teachers facilitate students instead of being fountains of wisdom. The teacher should help students in their pursuit for knowledge and also help them acquire the communication, problem solving and critical thinking skills which will enable them to be life-long learners.

What Did They Have in Common?

What Did They Have in Common?A lot of people get this question, 'Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln, what did they have in common?' In this essay, I will explore the similarities between these historical figures and try to answer the question, 'What did they have in common?' The most common answer is something like, they both believed in self-sufficiency. That sounds right but, I think what really makes them special is their willingness to speak truth to power. I will use Frederick Douglass' life as an example.I think you can draw some of the same conclusions as you see in Frederick Douglass' life. Like Douglass, Lincoln had worked long and hard to achieve his goals in life and he realized that things were not going to be easy. He had been unsuccessful in a couple of past attempts and he was no longer willing to take the failures personally.He was not a 'lover of success' and when things did not go his way, he took it personally. He had been successful at some jobs and those jobs helped him to be financially stable. He was not willing to give up on himself. His spirit was strong, and he felt that he would succeed at anything he put his mind to. He was also willing to be a catalyst for change.When he challenged others for how they were treating their slaves, many people were offended, especially if the people were on the upper levels of society. Lincoln came down hard on these people for their behavior and he made them feel ashamed. He was also the first president to live with a family of slaves.Many people were able to look at Lincoln's behavior with admiration. He was not afraid to challenge those in power. That is another thing that separates Frederick Douglass from Abraham Lincoln.Douglass was a man who lived in the big city. He had always had more access to power than others. He did not believe that slavery was a problem and he felt that all was well. He also believed that things would change for the better so he was not willing to speak out about injus tice.He, like Lincoln, was not afraid to speak the truth to power. Many in power have refused to hear and believe the truth in this country. They are trying to silence those who challenge their power and authority.We have not heard the truth from the past generations. So it is up to each of us to speak truth to power and no one is silenced. We need to continue to create a nation where we can all believe in the goodness of our nation.

To Kill A Mockingbird - Atticus Finch Essays - To Kill A Mockingbird

To Kill a Mockingbird - Atticus Finch Atticus Finch was a man who fought for what he believed in. He was always the one who stood up for what was right, not what the more popular thing to do was. Atticus has a lot of courage to do what he did for Tom Robinson. Atticus looked past the racism that was in the courtroom where Tom was being accused of raping a woman and he stood up for him. Atticus believed in equality amongst people and he thought that the court was not being equal. Atticus taught his daughter Scout and his son Jem to be a good person and to treat everyone equally. He believed that success was not just winning, but instead just trying to fight for a good cause. Even if you failed, Atticus believes you were successful. Courage was something Atticus definitely had. He was the only white man in town that would stand up for Tom Robinson because he knew it was wrong to accuse him. Atticus once said that you should still fight even when you know your beaten. He didnt just go with the popular opinion that blacks were bad, instead, he gathered up his courage and fought against the court. He knew that he was testifying against an all white jury and that he had no chance to convince them that Tom was guilty, but he knew that it was right to at least try. He believed that every little thing you do that is right will eventually add up and help the cause. Atticus was a man who did not believe in racism. He had grown his kids up telling them that racism was not right. He taught them that everyone was equal. Scout and Jem were still influenced by racism in the public though. Atticus noted how in the court there was no way for a black man to win against a white man when its the white man who gets to have the decision of what happens. He knew that in the court room, racism was everywhere. Black men had no chance of wining and it was always the white man who would win. No matter how good of a case Atticus gave the jury, it was still racism that came out on top. If Atticus Finch ever treated anybody unequally than there was a good reason. He was always for equality. He believed that all men were created equal and blacks shouldnt be treated badly for nothing. Equality was something that Atticus thought should be with everyone no matter where. The Jury and the Judge both treated Tom Robinson unequally and Atticus was frustrated over that. Family was always something that Atticus took pride in. He loved his family with all his heart and he would do anything for them. Atticus had 2 children, Jem and Scout. Jem was the older of the 2 and was a boy. Scout was younger and was a girl. Atticus believed that he was a failure as a father sometimes. He tried very hard to be a good one but always seemed to think he could have been a better one. Atticus would put family first before anything else. Not many people think that if you lose a battle then you were not successful. Atticus did not think this, he believed that being successful was only to try to do something for a good cause. He once said that as long as you try you will always be appreciated and will always be successful in his point of view. Even if you lose what you were fighting for, you are still successful because you tried for what you thought was right. Atticus did not win the case with tom Robinson but he still believed that he was successful. Atticus was successful because he did what he thought was right, and doing that had to help something out in a good way. Atticus Finch is a successful man. He is a courageous man who does not believe in racism. Equality is what he believed in and taught his family that equality is stronger than racism. Atticus fought in a court case for a black man. In this time blacks were strongly

Analytical Essay Sample on Peter the Great and His Effects on Russia

Analytical Essay Sample on Peter the Great and His Effects on Russia Czar Peter Romanov I also known as Peter The Great took many actions as being the absolute ruler of Russia, Peter impacted Russia positively and negatively through westernization and opening Russia to the west. Overall peter had a positive effect on Russia. Peter’s main goal as Czar of Russia was to westernize his country, He realized that Russia should be westernized to ensure its independence, which was a positive impact Peter had completed. Already fascinated by mechanical inventions, he studied government and ways of the West. He modernized the calendar, simplified numerals, and the Russian alphabet. To make sure Russia had contact with the West, Peter captured the east shores of the Baltic Sea from the Swedish and built a new capital named after himself named St. Petersburg. Peter managed to modernize Russia without borrowing money from the country, so Peter imposed heavy taxes on the citizens, because European men usually were clean shaven, he even taxed Russians wearing beards. All of the taxing that Peter imposed was a negative action he had taken. Peter’s positive actions towards the government were a good thing he did, he had three reforms of government. Local government, which towns were allowed to elect their own government officials. Provincial government, Russia was divided into 8 guberniia, each of the guberniias were lead by a Gubnator who had all of the power in his guberniia. Central government, the central government advised Peter, Peter thought that these reforms of government helped in the modernization of Russia. Another positive thing Peter did was build a church, the Peter and Paul Cathedral, not only was it a place for the people of St. Petersburg to pray, but it was also used as a fortress to protect the area from a possible attack from the Swedes. It was the first church in the city made out of stone, the church stood 404 ft. tall being the tallest building in St. Petersburg. All of the Russian emperors are buried in the church from Peter the great to Alexander III. In conclusion I think that Peter I had a positive effect on Russia, from westernization to his reforms of government, some of Peter’s ways are still used in modern Russia till this day.

Clinical Immunology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Clinical Immunology - Essay Example On the other hand clinical immunology is the branch which is more important in applied medicine because it deals with those diseases which come into being due to malfunctioning of the immune system. Malfunctioning can be due to dysfunctional immune system or due to any abnormal malignant growth in the cells of immune system. The value of immunological mechanism in pathogenesis and transmission of disease is reflected in the context of prophylactic immunization or the therapeutic manipulation of immune response. These intellectual and practical considerations have created a pathway to establishment of new discipline called clinical immunology (Denman, 1981 pg.277). The diseases which cause malfunctioning of the immune system fall into two subtypes which are the autoimmune diseases and the immunodeficiency diseases. Autoimmune diseases are the ones in which our defensive immune system starts attacking are own body. Best known examples of autoimmune diseases are myasthenia gravis, Hashimoto’s thyroiditis and rheumatoid arthritis. Immunodeficiency diseases occur when the system cannot give proper response after foreign insult. Chronic granulomatous diseases are common immunodeficiency diseases. The most common and lethal immunodeficiency disorder is AIDS. Human immunodeficiency virus affects the body of the affected individual and starts competing with the normal cells of the body (Stern, 1981 pg.206). Another modern intervention the field of clinical immunology is dealing with is transplant rejection. Clinical immunologists work day in and day out to prevent transplant rejections which may occur if the host’s body rejects the tissu e that is being transplanted (Murphy, Porett and Turka, 2011 pg.39). Our immune system is our very own army. Its two arms, acquired and inate provide us with protection against internal and external insults. These insults can be lethal. With

Why are house prices in UK subect to large cyclical variations Essay

Why are house prices in UK subect to large cyclical variations (750words) - Essay Example Normally, the fluctuations in housing prices are related with economic activity. When economic activity heats up in any economy, the real estate sector start to respond to this change also by showing a tendency to adjust prices upwardly however, when the economic activity slows down the housing cycle start to show greater variations too with prices of most of the housing units started to decline. However, what is also important is the fact that numerous research studies also suggested that the increase in pricing of housing   units is also linked with the location of the housing units. The so called momentum and reversion of the cycle of housing prices is therefore not only linked with the economic activity but also with the location of the housing units.(Capozza et .al. 2002). As discussed above that one of the main reasons for increase in the cyclical patterns of housing prices is related with the economic activity therefore in order to clearly assess the cyclicality of housing prices, it is of great importance that the impact of economic activity on housing prices shall be studied first. When economic activity picks up with lesser inflationary pressures, the real income of the households increase therefore there is always a general increase in the disposable income of individuals. With the increase in income levels, the standards of life increase also and people start to prefer more luxurious housing than their current housing therefore the general increase in demand for housing units increase thus putting pressures on prices to increase. However, when the economic activity slows down and due to inflationary pressures or other economic variables, the decrease in income level put downward pressures on the prices. UKs economic performance, over the period of time, has considerably improved. UKs real GDP increased, on average, by

Machievelli Biography Essay Example for Free

Machievelli Biography Essay Machiavelli lived during the Renaissance era of the Medieval times. In this time period many concepts and ideas were being reborn, including the Christian faith. He lived during a time period in which the people of the time thought of the Black Plague as a symptom of judgment upon the sinfulness of the land. These same people began to scourge themselves in order to express their sorrow and therefore remove God’s judgment laid upon them. Although Machiavelli lived long after the fall of the Roman Empire, he lived in an Italy that had evolved into a war-torn battleground between the city state dynasties. There were conflicts between the French and Spanish for the control of land. Machiavelli lived in a time of growing political powers and a Christian community that was adapting and changing according to the claims of the Reformers. Machiavelli had a goal: he sought to create a dichotomy between ethical Christianity and the Ethical demands of political rule. The 15th and 16th century world focused on theologically reforming the Church. Many reformers of the time and before Machiavelli’s life, including the 14th century reformer John Wycliffe, wrote on how the papacy of the Church had grown far too powerful. During Machiavelli’s life St. Francis was teaching the commoners about Jesus, and the commoners began relating to Christ. The Church was not only effected by the reformers and the teachings of St. Francis, but it was also effected by itself; it was hurting itself. The church fought against the reformers, condemning them as heretics; the church was threatened by the words of reform. Machiavelli lived among the Christians and like many of the reformers he was seeking a reform between the Church and the State. Essentially, Machiavelli writes to prove that being a moral ruler and a person are two separate ideas, in the case of extreme circumstances and, like Luther, there are two kingdoms independent of each other. Machiavelli probably wouldve been considered a think tank of his time and he believed that a ruler, or anyone may publicly state that they are Christians yet exhibit no real conviction. In the eleventh chapter of The Prince Machiavelli argued that Ecclesiastical principalities were to be desired because the people who inhabited them were governed by their own religious laws. Machiavelli viewed these laws as tools, tools to prevent unruly citizens within the principalities rather than to enforce outside rules. Machiavelli idealizes an idea completely different from the church, that politics is something that deals with facts and not abstracts, that it is a challenge to the notion of both Pope Gregory VII and Pope Innocent III’s â€Å"Divine Right to rule.†3 Machiavelli realized that the divine right to rule theory is nothing but a religious idea that does not work with the present state of man. Machiavelli also understood that human corruption and sin is an unending prob lem that rulers need to deal with. Machiavelli continues by suggesting that being a moral leader does not mean that one is a good leader as good leadership leads to order, stability, and public good. He claimed that when order, stability, and public good are threatened a ruler cannot risk limiting their actions by piety or virtue. Machiavelli believed that morals stood in the way of success, that rulers need to learn how to not be good, and be willing to kill. While the religious leaders saw Machiavelli as non-Christian and destructive, Machiavelli states that leaders need to administer necessary evils in efforts to maintain order and stability within their rule, that humans can be predicted through reason. The Church saw his political agenda as lacking in Christian ethics; however, his political reform lines up with Christian thinkers and with Christian ethics of generosity, compassion, and even the golden rule as we see in Saint Augustine’s and St. Benedict’s writings. An initial consideration of Machiavellis thoughts on generosity, we notice that he believes it is good to be considered a generous person, but that it is dangerous to do so. Although sounding contradictory to Christianity, Machiavellis reasoning lies in the Christian idea of doing the most good for as many people as possible. Machiavelli argues that being generous requires that the ruler imposes new ways of revenue collection and therefore make his subjects hate him and lead to a guarantee that no one will think well of him.1 Machiavelli makes a similar case for compassion, in that it is better to be seen as cruel then it is to be viewed as loving, if necessary. He asserts that as the head of an army a ruler needs to â€Å"be prepared to be thought cruel.† The same Christian idea can be used to explain his argument as before. In the words of Star Trek’s Spock, â€Å"the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few†. Machiavelli states that its more compassionate to impose harshness on a few rather than make use of compassion and risk chaos to take place.2 If we look back to St. Augustine’s The City of God 4 we learn that rulers and people are dominated by their own selfish lust for power, whereas in the City of God, which Luther also makes notions of in his Doctrine of The Two Kingdoms, people serve one another in charity. Under this assumption we see that men do not serve out of charity, but rather serve in a situation of do unto others as you would have done to yourself. Perhaps Machiavelli agreed with this view of Christianity. Machiavelli’s ruler never commits an act that they would not have done to themselves. I think the Machiavellian ruler loves their neighbor as much as themselves. Machiavelli sees the political field as a place for necessary evil. He believes, out of love, that some evil must take place in order to benefit the most people. Machiavelli saw the world he lived in as a two kingdom place, like Luther and St. Augustine did. He viewed human history for what it was, not what it could be; he saw people as evil and sick. Machiavelli’s picture of human history took into account the human equation, that we are sinful and therefore predictable, which he believes will lead to a better understanding of the future.