Issues Affecting Teaching and Learning

Issues Affecting Teaching and Learning The purpose of this assessment is to demonstrate an understanding of pupil learning in relation to learning theories and establish links between effective pupil learning and teaching strategies. In this essay, I will address the key issues that impact on effective teaching and learning strategies for learners of business studies in secondary school. In doing this, I will refer to my own experience and observations in the classroom and to lessons given as well as to objectives and evaluations. I will also refer to learning and pedagogical theories, curriculum, standards and policy documents that inform practice. I will use examples from two specific lessons, on profit and loss and personal budgeting and, from these examples, establish links between theory and practice. It is first of all useful to begin with an understanding of the curriculum expectations of the teaching of business studies and the changes that have occurred over the past thirty years and also in light of recent reforms that aim to â€Å"raise the education and skills levels of students by delivering a curriculum which gives life and social skills,† and prepares students â€Å"for a fast-changing worl d† (Department for Children, School and Family, 2008). Curricular knowledge, as well as subject and pedagogical knowledge are the â€Å"three important aspects† (Hammon, 2005, p. 26) a teacher needs to understand and master. The aim of recent reforms in the education of young people is to make â€Å"education more relevant to todays world.† As such, business studies and the core skills of ICT have become a priority in preparing young people for higher study and employment. This strong shift towards education as preparing students for employment, further study, and becoming citizens in a globalised world, demands that secondary education be used to foster the development of students in terms of their practical and vocational potential. This shift raises, yet again, all the great pedagogical questions (Jephcote and Abbott, 2005) which teachers may not be able to answer, but will nonetheless help in understanding the purpose of teaching business studies in the way informed by government policy and to guide teachers – both experienced and novice – in understanding why and how to best teach their subject. These pedagogical questions concern whether business, career and work-related education in schools should meet the demands and needs of the individual learners or of â€Å"society and economics† in general. These questions also consider whether schools should be concerned with changing society or â€Å"preserving the social order,† whether career and work-related education should be a vehicle for preparing good and morally responsible social individuals, and whether education should prepare learners for their life after school or simply teach students how to successful learners (Jephcote an d Abbott, 2005, p. 6). These questions seem to raise conflicting ideas and goals, but they are mutually supportive: learners who enjoy the learning experience for its own sake will also be able to better employ the concepts, facts and skills learnt beyond their schooling. In any case, the very basis of career and work-related education is founded on instrumental value, regardless of whether or not students students find any intrinsic value in it, any value in learning for the sake of learning, that is. In terms of instrumental value, employers have expectations that career and business education will provide them with a capable and skilled workforce. Students need to gain knowledge and skills that will make them somehow useful in society. Hence the strong shift in policy focus: in 2005, employers were less than satisfied with the level of business awareness that school leavers and graduates had brought to the workforce (Kelly, 2005, p. 21). But apart from employers, both parents and students themselves also hope to gain some instrumental value from their study of career and work-related subjects: they want to become successful at finding jobs. As far as the schools part in all of this, and by extension the teachers, there is a â€Å"legal responsibility† to provide opportunities for â€Å"careers education, work-related learning and enterprise and financial capability† at key stages 3 and 4 (Department for Education and Employment and Qualifications and Curriculum Authority, 1999). By thus understanding the focus of government policy and curriculum expectations teachers then need to find their own ways of improving student outcomes, all the while working within their preferred ideological or pedagogical frameworks and holding their personal beliefs about education and their role as teachers, while taking into account the preferences of students. In light of all this policy change and reform, teachers effectively become â€Å"agents of† decisions made by others, instead of controlling decisions that will impact on their classrooms (Cohen, 2005, p. p. 16). Teachers, instead of feeling threatened by this, find comfort and confidence in knowing exactly what is expected of them and their students. Policy, frameworks and standards provide an excellent scaffolding for teachers to develop their own teaching objectives within the strict framework. After all, when it comes to teaching, â€Å"the way you do it is just as important as what you do† (Kyriacou, 2001, p. 31). It is an acknowledged pedagogical trait that effective teaching of a given subject is influenced by a teachers confidence in the chosen teaching method and resources used as well as a clear understanding of the principles behind lesson objectives, just as much as it is the teachers subject knowledge and expertise. Similarly, effective learning is influenced by student confidence in the teacher and knowledge taught, as well as the freedom to learn via different learning strategies and the ability to control their learning process. A confident teacher will have a clear understanding of pedagogical frameworks and curriculum expectations and also be sensitive to student needs and preferential learning styles (Kyriacou, 2001). When it comes to teaching and learning business awareness, learners will often have to master quite new concepts, such as profit, cost, revenue and budget. As such, teachers might intuitively respond to this need by understanding their role as one in which they must â€Å"impart† or â€Å"transmit† the knowledge that they have about the subject to the students who do not yet have this knowledge. In fact, this understanding of teaching is in line with Wood (1997) who offers four ways of teaching in a type of hierarchy. The first, that of teaching as imparting knowledge, fits into an objectivist (Fox, 1983) understanding of knowledge as something that exists independently of the knower. The process of acquiring knowledge then, is simply one which involves learning something that already exists. According to Wood, as a teacher becomes more experienced, so too will their chosen mode of teaching become more complex. From the understanding of teaching as imparting knowledge, the teacher develops that understanding to teaching as preparing students to use knowledge, teaching as providing opportunities for students to explore different perspectives, and finally, teaching as preparing students to be reflective (Davies and Brant, 2006, p. 182). In the case of teaching profit and loss, a teacher, especially a novice teacher, might well see that these concepts already exist in the world business and the best way to deliver this knowledge to students is when they act as expects who impart this knowledge. This understanding of teaching was observed in a lesson on profit and loss (Appendix I). The lesson objectives were stated as thus: Students should be able to define profit and loss; Students should be able to explain the relationship between turnover, cost of sales, gross profit and net profit; Students should be able to calculate net profit and gross profit and make assumptions about the profitability of a business (Salbstein, 2001). The lesson aimed to impart information, facts and definitions about key concepts in profit and loss, via a traditional method of introducing the language and definitions on the classroom board for students to record in their books. Methods of calculation were also introduced. The teachers role i n this lesson was a central role as the main expert facilitator of the knowledge of profit and loss. Once the concepts had been given and discussed, students were directed to study in pairs on the computers by accessing an online lesson of profit and loss, which included an online quiz (Salbstein, 2001) to test student understanding of the concepts taught. This method is a type of information-processing method, whereby learners are presented with information and then asked to manipulate it, in this instance by quiz work, but also by re-wording learnt definitions and discussing concepts. According to Davies and Brant (2006, p. 121) this theory of learning is based on the idea that when learners learn new information is â€Å"processed and stored in the mind.† While this is suggested as an effective method for applied learning, this method is limiting because it treats all learners in the same way, disregarding individual preferences and learning styles. Another method, which is classic but limiting, is the method based on an understanding of learning as a behaviour that changes in response to environmental factors, such as positive reinforcement. This is Skinners behaviourist model. Learning based on this method suggests that each stage of learning be broken down into parts or steps and rewards given following successful completi on of each step. Davies and Brant (2006) suggest that this method is useful in teaching vocational and ICT-related tasks and skilled, but is limited because it does not provide a holistic view of learning and knowledge acquisition. The lesson outlined above, while presented in a comparatively limiting way, was not unsuccessful. This is because of the appeal of the ICT element in teaching, when students worked through the online tutorial. In evaluating the success of the lesson it was noted that students remained on task longer and were motivated to learn about the subject. ICT is an important and necessary element in career and work-related education when used to â€Å"complement teaching† (Jephcote and Abbott, 2005). ICT is more than merely a teaching tool and has the potential â€Å"empower† students by â€Å"liberat[ing] users from routine tasks† and also by making â€Å"accessible vast amounts of information† (Leask and Pachler, 1999, p. 4). In fact, current education policy in the UK stresses the importance of ICT in the classroom, simply because the increased use of technology â€Å"in all aspects of society makes confident, creative and productive use of ICT an essential skil l for lifeICT capability is fundamental to participation and engagement in modern society† (Department for Education and Employment and Qualifications and Curriculum Authority, 1999a, p. 1). As seen in the above lesson on profit and loss, students were able to locate further information in order to extend and consolidate their newly acquired knowledge of the subject being taught and were able to gain rapid and direct access to ideas and experiences from a wide range of people. In this case, the online tutorial was devised and designed by a teacher from another school. The results of this rather simply designed and planned lesson on profit and loss were positive and showed agreement with findings by Tomlinson (1981) who found that ICT increases motivation in students and increases their commitment to learning their subject. In fact, Tomlinson found that ICT enhanced the confidence and self-esteem of learners, as well as stimulating student determination to learn the subject, the amount of time spent on task, and the level of control over their own learning experience. All of these factors were seen in this lesson on profit and loss. But ICT is not just a beneficial tool for students, it is also a tool that the Qualified Teacher Standards expect teachers will use (Training and Development Agency for Schools, 2007) because it also â€Å"raises the profile† of teachers, makes teachers refresh their perspective on what they are teaching, and offers the potential for a variety of individual and group activities (Leask and Pachler, 1999, p. 5). Teachers should try to vary their teaching style as often as possible and exhibit â€Å"a knowledge and understanding of a range of teaching, learning and behaviour management strategies and know how to use and adapt them† (Training and Development Agency for Schools, 2007, p. 8) Teachers should bring in new tools and new ways to present information, and giving students as many opportunities to learn facts and skills in a variety of ways (Davies and Brant, 2006, p. 142) and this is because within any given class a teacher will encounter students with various learn ing styles. For example, visual learners, who enjoy learning with pictures, graphs, artefacts and videos; auditory learners, who enjoy discussion and listening to tapes; and kinaesthetic learners, who enjoy simulations and role play. Ideally, a subject will be approached using all of these methods in the classroom. Moving away from the information processing models which are learning theories that tend to attract teacher-centred learning styles, there are the learning theories that are more student-centred, and these are called experiential learning theories. The theory underpinning this experiential model is one that stresses the relationship between experience and learning. Each individual student, it is theorised, has collected a range of experiences about a phenomenon and it is this range of experience that is called upon to introduce a new topic. Davies and Brant (1999) discuss Kolbs learning cycle and note that lessons informed by the experiential theory begin with student experience and examples instead of teacher-imparted principles and concepts. Kolbs learning cycle begins with the teacher calling on student experience as a way of introducing a new subject. Next students are encouraged to reflect on their experiences, to make generalisations from their experiences and, finally, to act on this new knowledge (Davies and Brant, 1999, p. 168). This theory of learning was implemented in a lesson on budgeting (Appendix II). This lesson aimed to introduce the concept of budgeting and the wide range of costs that might be involved in advertising and promoting a product (which the students had designed in a previous lesson). The learning activity was to plan a promotional event to advertise and promote their product to the public. Students were expected to investigate the costs involved, generate data and produce a projected budget for the event. The role of the teacher in this lesson was to motivate students to discuss their own experiences of budgeting before they began the learning activity. As such, the teacher led a discussion about students spending habits over a typical week. The leading questions were: a) What do you spend your money on in a typical week? b) Do you spend more money during some parts of the week than others? Are there more expensive periods of the week? c) Do you keep track of your spending habits? Or do you just spend until your money runs out? d) Do you feel that you miss out on things youd like to spend money on because you have run out of money? (Appendix II; Mark Your Challenge 2008). It was after this discussion that the actual lesson activity was introduced. Students were asked to investigate where money might be spent in organising a promotional event. The teacher introduced the idea that an effective budget means that one must have good and clear knowledge of where the money might be spent. Students were directed to use the Internet, newspapers and magazines in order to gain background information about what such organising such an event might demand and were asked to present their prospective budgetary conclusions in a format they chose. The lesson ended with group discussion following presentation of student-group findings. This lesson was particularly successful, as students responded confidently. The underlying theory behind this method is strikingly different to the information-imparting and information-processing theory that informed the lesson on profit and loss. Here, knowledge was not understood to be something that the teacher had and that the students did not have, but rather, that the students themselves already knew something about the subject and could further their knowledge with teacher-led guidance. This understanding of knowledge is social constructivist one. Some factors involved in understanding this approach is that learners are essentially being introduced to new ways of â€Å"interpreting the world that has been constructed by academic disciplines or communities of practice.† For these new ways to become meaningful, the students needs to actively construct or reconstruct the knowledge in their own way, and this usually occurs by linking new knowledge to the real world, and to some real context, so as to bridge the gap between what is considered â€Å"school knowledge† and â€Å"everyday knowledge† (Davies and Brant, 2006, p. p. 170). Moreover, students need to do this via dynamic and meaningful social interaction. In fact, it is not enough to simply provide access to the environment about which they are learning, that is, through work placement or even business-related simulations and role-plays, but through authentic interaction with teachers and othe r students, as well as with experts in the subject they are studying. It was Piaget (1968) who stressed the importance of social interaction, because when students participate in discussion with others – peers or experts – Piaget found that they become stimulated to express content in their own language. By re-evaluating content on their own terms and with their own language, they are able to further develop their understanding of the subject taught. It is this social interaction, that enables them to process information learnt and make sense of the subject in an dynamic way, using their own language to articulate and reformulate what they have learnt. In this way, they are not just mimicking concepts, definitions and strategies learnt in the classroom but integrating what they have learnt about knowledge already constructed by a particular community – in this case the business community – and the success of this occurs when learners have experienced posi tive interactions. This understanding of the learning process also links to into what is called the â€Å"zone of proximal development† (Vygotsky, 1978). This idea refers to the understanding that what we already know gives us â€Å"access† to things we do not yet know, so long as there is some help from a guiding expert. In the case of the lesson on budgeting, students already had some knowledge of money spent and the practical use of budgeting to make sure that money does not run out. From this personal knowledge, a teacher can guide learners towards more complex knowledge about a business situation. In evaluating the success of the lesson on budgeting, this social constructivist approach proved to be very useful. In conclusion then, and in light of the importance placed on teachers having â€Å"high expectations† of their students (Training and Development Agency for Schools, 2007, p. 7), when designing lessons informed by various pedagogical theories and curriculum expectations, teachers can foster successful learning outcomes when they integrate their own knowledge of pedagogy, curriculum and subject and their own beliefs and expectations about the teaching and learning experience to produce successful educational experiences. The teachers high expectations of students were met with both lessons discussed above: the lesson on profit and loss with key concepts being delivered and then students encouraged to approach the subject using ICT activities, but also the lesson on budgeting which encouraged students to use their own personal experiences as a way into the lesson. Both lessons met the high expectations the teacher had of the learners and both teachers and students participated i n a fully educational experience which fostered an environment of trust and a strong commitment to learning. Appendix I Lesson plan: Profit and Loss Learning intentions: To introduce the concept of profit and loss and the related concepts of revenue and costs. To introduce simple verbal definitions and a mathematical equation in order to calculate and use the ratios of gross and net profit to understand a companys profitability. Resources: Teachers guided worksheet, and Internet tutorial and quiz (Salbstein, 2001). 1/ Lesson content: INTRODUCTION Time: 5 mins. Teacher: Teaching role, teacher-led. Begin lesson with a story to introduce topic of class lesson an to engage student. The topic is the concept to be learnt – that of profit and loss – and why it is important for business. The story: A business person runs a company which produces mp3 players. These products are sold so that the company makes more money that what the company spends. When a company makes more money than what is spent, we call this profit. Ask the question: Why would profit be an important concept in business? Students give their answers. Teacher confirms: Profit is an important idea in business because it shows us whether a business is successful (Salbstein, 2001). 2/ Lesson content: DEFINITIONS Time: 10 mins Teacher: Teaching role, teacher-led. Introduce key definitions and mathematical equations: Profit, Gross Profit, Net Profit, Revenue, Cost, Ratios. 3/ Lesson content: MAIN PART OF LESSON Time 35 mins. Teacher: Teaching role, guide. Student: In pairs, computer activity, student-led. Students now go to computers to proceed in pairs to complete an online tutorial on Profit and Loss Accounts (Salbstein, 2001). Each student pair is asked to check, compare and rewrite the definitions given by the teacher earlier with definitions given in the tutorial. Students complete the challenge quiz – record answers and and any concepts or ideas to be clarified. 4/ Lesson content: CONCLUSION Time: 10 mins Teacher: Teaching role, teacher-led. Student: group discussion activity. Students are asked how they well the participated in the online quiz and which questions they found challenging or sought clarification about. Students were asked if they reworked the definitions of issued at the beginning of class and asked to consolidate their ideas about why profit is important in business. Appendix II Lesson plan: Understanding budgeting. [This lesson plan is devised from, with slight adaptations, from the Mark Your Challenge 2008 Money Matters Lesson Plan]. Learning intentions: To introduce the concept of budgeting and to understand the variety of costs involved in planning a promotional event to market a student-devised product. Learning activity: To plan a promotional event to market a student-devised product and investigate the overall costs involved. To produce a budget for the project. Resources: Internet, teachers notes, personal experience. 1/ Lesson content: INTRODUCTION Time: 10 mins. Teacher: Teaching role, teacher-led. Student discussion activity. Begin lesson with a discussion about students general spending within a given week. Leading questions: What do you spend your money on in a typical week? b) Do you spend more money during some parts of the week than others? Are there more expensive periods of the week? c) Do you keep track of your spending habits? Or do you just spend until your money runs out? d) Do you feel that you miss out on things youd like to spend money on because you have run out of money? Students respond with their own knowledge based on personal experience. 2/ Lesson content: MAIN PART OF LESSON Time: 40 mins Teacher: Teaching role, teacher-led. Student group work. Teacher introduces learning activity. Students meet in groups to discuss the planned event and potential costs that might be incurred. Students are encouraged to think about all the ways in which money might be spent and to organise expenses into main areas of expenditure. Students are asked to present their data in their own format. 3/ Lesson content: CONCLUSION Time 10 mins. Teacher: Teaching role, guide. Student: In pairs, computer activity, student-led. Students present and discuss their findings and compare to other group findings. Students are encouraged to question their results and data and to compare and contrast differences with other groups. Bibliography Capel, S., et al. 2001. Learning to Teach in the Secondary School: A Companion to the School Experience. 4th Edition. London: RoutledgeFarmer. Cohen, L., et al., 2005. A Guide to Teaching Practice. New York: Routledge. Davies, P., and Brant, J., 2006. Business, Economics and Enterprise. London: Routledge. Department for Children, School and Family. 2008. 14-19 Reform [online]. Available from: http://www.teachernet.gov.uk/teachingandlearning/14to19. [Accessed: 2 January 2009]. Department for Education and Employment and Qualifications and Curriculum Authority, 1999a, Information and communication technology. London. [online] Available from: http://curriculum.qca.org.uk/ [Accessed: 2 January 2009]. Department for Education and Employment and Qualifications and Curriculum Authority, 1999b, Personal, social, health and economic education. London. [online] Available from: http://curriculum.qca.org.uk/ [Accessed: 2 January 2009]. Department for Education and Skills. 2006. An Integrated Approach to Teaching Key Skills in Business Studies and Information Technology – Case Studies. London: Learning and Skills Network. Dickinson, C., 2000. Effective Learning Activities. 2nd edition. Edinburgh:Network Educational Press Ltd. Fox, D., 1983. â€Å"Personal theories of teaching.† in Studies in Higher Education, 8(2), pp.151-163. Hammond, M., 2005. Next Steps in Teaching. New York: Routledge. Huddleston, P., and Oh, S.A., 2004. â€Å"The Magic Roundabout: Work-Related Learning within the 14-19 Curriculum.† in Oxford Review of Education, Vol. 30, No. 1, pp. 83-103. [online] Available from: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4127153. [Accessed: 2 January 2009]. Jephcote, M and Abbott, I., 2005. Teaching Business Education 14-19. London: David Fulton Publishers. Kelly, R., 2005. 14-19 Education and Skills White Paper. [online]. http://www.everychildmatters.gov.uk/_files/5E0841E69802CE6141F82801BC9F9BD6.pdf.[Accessed: 2 January 2009]. Kyriacou, K., 2001. Essential Teaching Skills. Cheltenham: Nelson Thornes. Leask, M., and Pachler, N., 1999. Learning to Teach Using ICT in the Secondary School. London: Routledge. Mark Your Challenge 2008. Money Matters Lesson Plan 2008. [online] Available from: http://www.tes.co.uk/article.aspx?storycode=3002443. [Accessed: 2 January 2008]. Piaget, J., 1968. Six Psychological Studies. London: London University Press. Salbstein, D., 2001. Profit and Loss Accounts. [online] Available from: http://www.teachnet-lab.org/london/dsalbstein/profit/index.htm. [Accessed: 2 January 2009]. Tomlinson, P. D., 1981. Understanding Teaching: Interactive Educational Psychology. London: McGraw-Hill. Training and Development Agency for Schools, 2007, â€Å"Professional Standards for Teachers: Qualified Teacher Status,† [online] Available from: http://www.tda.gov.uk/standards, [Accessed: 15 December 2008]. Vygotsky, L., 1978. Mind in Society: The Development of Higher Psychological Processes. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. Wood, D., 1997. How Children Think and Learn. London: Blackwell.

Marriage: Is It in Crisis?

Marriage in America Burin Bianca Ramirez October 11, 2012 Marriage: Is It In Crisis? In America, it is the traditional thing to do to get married to someone in order to spend the rest of your life with. Someone to go through the ups and downs of life with, someone to be there to support you no matter what, and even in most marriages someone to have children with and to create a family. All these are perfect examples of why people get married, so why wouldn’t you want all of these things in your life? Well society as we know it today is declining in all aspects including, economics, the work force, and even health care.It is no wonder why people have come to the realization that marriage is in crisis because of everything that is going on around us. In the articles I read, â€Å"The Marriage Crisis†, â€Å"Pimp My Bride† and â€Å"Few Good Men† there are different viewpoints and takes on my marriage is in trouble. The most important points I will be making and elaborating on in this passage about why marriage in in crisis today will be the realization people are coming to about a worthy marriage, how the media portrays marriage, and the economic and emotional state of marriage.While explaining these points we will ask ourselves, is marriage in crisis? In the earlier 1900s people were getting married for usually one reason: Stability. Times were hard back then and the only way people could make a living was if they had a â€Å"partner† to help out with a household/farm while the other spouse went out in the work force to earn a living and put food on the table. Having someone help you out with things at home makes things easier and that’s why they formed almost a business like partnership. In the article â€Å"The Marriage Crisis†, it explains the declining of marriage and the rising of cohabitation.This brings up my first point which is the realization people are coming to about a worthy marriage. In other words, people can now fend on their own, especially woman. Today, women have more rights and are able to participate in the work force just as much as men are. Woman are more independent now more than ever before and because of this they don’t need to force themselves in a marriage they don’t want to be in just so they are financially stable. This is why cohabitation exists. People want to know a person for a long time before they make any commitment and rush into a marriage without fully knowing the good and bad in a person.In addition to women’s rights, marriage is declining because women also have the power of education. Women are now getting degrees, making their own money (not having to rely on a man), and gaining a sense of personal fulfillment and to some women personal fulfillment is a lot more rewarding than fulfillment from a marriage. On the topic of marriage and society now, media comes into play. Technology has emerged excessively in the last decade, and w ith technology comes media. Of course there are many different sources of media but we’ll just focus of television.In the article â€Å"Pimp My Bride†, the author Judith Halberstam explains the world of marriage on reality television based program. She includes shows like The Bachelor, Average Joe, and Joe Millionaire. All these shows portray one message: how marriage is outside of normal society which includes financial responsibilities, children, families, work, and other outside conflicts that usually affect a normal relationship/marriage. Halberstam explains how these reality television shows are known as â€Å"survival of the cutest† where these shows are simply based on looks, although they try to mix in personality with it, it usually doesn’t work that way.Shows like The Bachelor are scripted programs that only get our hopes up and make us think that marriage is perfect and nothing gets in the way of that relationship. Well that is totally wrong. W hat they don’t show is how marriage really is outside of that program. Usually with these shows, once the couple returns back to reality and to their normal lives, the relationship rarely lasts because conflicts that normal couples go through are suddenly hitting them and they realize that the perfect relationship they had before is not going to work in reality.This is why it is important to realize that these are just shows and you need to be smarter than to believe that your relationship/marriage is going to be as perfect as the ones you see on television. Those shows are strictly for entertainment purposes. Stepping aside from reality television marriages, and their â€Å"perfect† relationships, there is a need to talk about the reality of marriage. Do people get married? Of course they do. Do people get divorced? Of course they do. Why?When you marry someone it is because at that time you can see spending the rest of your life with them, but things can change and p eople can change and if you can’t seem to accept those changes divorce is usually the answer to get away from that and that is perfectly okay. I am a firm believer that if you are not happy in your marriage you have the right to divorce. I understand the spiritual side of marriage and how that can be a process and that there needs to be an appropriate reason for an annulment but overall people still have the right to break off a marriage that isn’t happy anymore.Why spend the rest of your life with someone you can’t be fully happy with, that is just making yourself suffer and can affect you in many different ways. If you do get divorced, you can always remarry and hopefully find your soul mate. On the other hand, remarrying is not for everyone. In the article â€Å"Few Good Men†, we notice a focus on single low-income women and their views about marriage. In their eyes marriage is more of a risk than a reward because they feel that nothing is certain or p romised in a marriage.With all the hardships they already have to go through now, having a marriage in which the husband beats them, abuses their children, who is controlling, or is unfaithful is just not worth the risk, and they’d rather stay single and fend for themselves rather than depend on someone who is not suitable for them. Now, they are not saying that they wouldn’t marry a man; he just has to be the right one, and to be completely honest there aren’t a lot of those kinds of men left. Marriages in low-income couples are not likely to last because of affordability, respectability, trust and control.Low-income couples sometimes do not work out because they depend of both the husbands and wife’s income. If a husband were to lose or quit his job the amount of necessities they can afford is very little. And when you add children to a household with two parents but only one income in an already low-income marriage, there is only enough supplies to go around for the children and very little left for the one providing and the one that is jobless, in this case the husband, is the one that doesn’t get anything which leads to marriages falling apart.In communities that are low-income based you would think that people there would not take marriage seriously but that is not the case. Women in those communities think of marriage as a â€Å"sacred† thing and they take it seriously. They all want that big, huge wedding that is magical just like everyone else. So they stray away from marriage because they’d rather not have a marriage in which the partner doesn’t take it seriously enough and doesn’t meet their expectations. Trust is also a big reason why women in these communities aren’t getting married.They simply just cannot trust men enough to marry them. They explain that at the end of the day â€Å"men will be men† and engage in an outside affair with another woman, and they will not put up with someone who is unfaithful. They also cannot trust them with handling money. It is not fair to the hard working women who are trying to pay the bills when the husband is spending their money on junk when they should be saving up and keeping that money handy for their children. And lastly, women feel that they cannot trust their husbands with their children.In the communities that they live in things like drugs and narcotics are easy to get a hold of and the women fear that the husband could be exposing their children to drugs and sadly, even sexually abusing their children. These make up all of the characteristics as to why poor women don’t marry. Based upon the evidence provided by the authors and their articles, I do in a way think that marriage is in crisis. People have such high expectations in what they want their marriage to be like, and they should aim for something high. In everything that is going on in the world now, people are entitled to be in a happy marr iage.Now, I am not totally convinced that marriage is in crisis. For those that do get married usually do it for the right reason: to be with the one you love for the rest of your life. Those marriages, I feel, are not in crisis. They understand the true meaning of loving someone unconditionally and they want to be in a marriage. So I other words, those who marry and don’t take it seriously are the ones that have marriages in crisis, but those who value marriage as a scared union help me believe that a happy marriage is still out there and it can be something to look forward to.In conclusion, society view marriage is in crisis because of all the changes that are going on around us and how it affects the institution of marriage. Economics and the work force take a toll on marriage today and put a strain on some aspects of marriage. People realizing the worthiness of a good marriage and the expectations they have on marriage has affected the decline of marriage and couples foun d cohabitation as an alternative of marriage. Media has affected the institution of marriage immensely through the works of reality television and how they portray marriage in a â€Å"fantasy world† rather than the real world.And lastly, marriage in low-income based communities is declining because of characteristics such as affordability, respectability, trust and control. So in essence, is marriage in crisis? I believe there is not right answer simply because the marriages in which the couple does not take the union seriously does put the institution of marriage in crisis but the few marriages that are perfectly happy are the ones to look up to and strive towards later on in life.

Stalin- an Evil Dictator?

Stalin: Man or Monster 1. Source A shows Stalin as a man intent on destroying the prosperity of Russia and destroying its people. In contrast, source B is showing the opposite. Source A shows Stalin proudly presenting ‘the USSR’s pyramids’ made of the skulls of the people. He has a big grin on his face. Meanwhile, source B shows Stalin talking with the workers at a new power station. He is presented as wanting to connect with this people and caring by how he is taking with what is regarded as the lower-class when he is regarded as the most important person in Russia.Source C presents Stalin as the spirit of Russia and the symbol of power of Russia by how he is very large in comparison to everything around him which emphasises his power and strength as does the huge army around him. In comparison, source A shows Stalin as the symbol of the destruction of Russia because of the large quantities of human skulls with Stalin presenting them with a smile show how he is p lanning to destroy Russia which is the exact antithesis of source C. Source B and source C both show Stalin as pro the development of Russia.Source B shows Stalin in front of a brand new power station which shows that he is industrious and looking out for the people of Russia by improving their lives. Source C also shows Stalin leading the Russians to victory in the war and he is the subject of the poster which directly links him to all Russian success and power. Both of these sources put Stalin in a positive light. 2. Source D presents Stalin as a caring and brave man who is the only man in a position of power who cares for others because he talks about how he saved a man from drowning when others did not care.Although Stalin wrote it and therefore it is probably not factual but just propaganda, it still is useful as it says a lot about him. If this was made public then it can be argued that Source D was used as propaganda in order to win the hearts of the people after the war. It was written in 1945 so just after the war and the last sentence indicates that it was possibly used to get people on his side. Stalin says that ‘it seemed to me that the lack of concern our leaders show towards the people is the same as I met in far-off Asia’.The fact that he uses the word ‘our’ in relation to the leaders indicates that he was distancing the himself from the mistakes made and trying to say that he is just like anyone else. Also the reference to ‘Asia’ indicates he is trying be one of the soldiers as he had fought for Russia and that he is trying to sympathise with them after many millions of Russians died. However this last sentence could also be Stalin apologising for his mistakes with The Great Purges when 18 million people were sent to labour camps called Gulags of which 10 million died.This seriously weakened the USSR as many able people were taken away. Also he is trying to claim that he is very caring by using the story a bout a comrade being left behind in the floods. He says that ‘when asked where he was, they (other comrades) replied with no interest that he remained at the river’. This shows Stalin attempting to present himself as the only caring person in a position of power. This gives further evidence that Stalin believed he was a very caring person and good leader which can be argued as very arrogant as he never really showed this to his people when he was in power.In conclusion, Source D, although it is unlikely that it is true, says a lot of useful things about Stalin and what he was believed. It shows him as very arrogant as he may be trying to distance himself from the mistakes of his regime and also because he thinks he is caring when from historical evidence he was not. Also, if it was published which seems almost certain, it shows that he was a determined man as he tried to make sure his position was safe by using a propaganda story which is probably not true. 3. Both Sour ce E and Source F are written by people with very different views of Stalin.In Source E’s information it says it was published in ‘Pravda, the newspaper of the Communist Party’ whilst in Source F it says it was written by a man called Bukharin who ‘was a victim of Stalin’s purges’. This means that both are likely to subjective as the writer of Source F is anti-Stalin whilst Source E is pro-Stalin therefore not very reliable . Having said this, Bukharin’s view of Stalin is more likely to be correct as he was taken advantage of when Stalin was a candidate for Lenin’s position. Stalin took Bukharin’s side in the debate on the NEP in order to get rid of his main threat-Trotsky.Once he achieved this he used Trotsky’s argument to oppose Bukharin. This there for means that Bukharin has seen, firsthand, what Stalin’s actual character is. Source E presents Stalin as a very caring leader and an ‘inspired leaderâ €™. However, Source F presents him as the antithesis of this and a ‘devil’. Again based on historical fact, Source F is more likely to be accurate as history shows that Stalin was an evil man. For example the purges when 10 million people died. Source F is also very accurate in its description of Stalin’s feelings to others who are better than him. It says that ‘if someone speaks better than he does†¦Stalin will not let him live’. This is very accurate as Kirov, who got more applause than Stalin at the Seventeenth Party Congress, was murdered. There was a lot of talk of removing Stalin as leader, and Kirov seemed to be emerging as a popular alternative. Stalin is believed to have him murdered and also he sent many other leading communists to labour camps because he felt they were a threat. However Source F does have its limitations because it does not cover all aspects of Stalin’s personality because he was actually a very successful leader. And this is where source E has reliable information even if it is slightly exaggerated.Stalin got the Russian industry at its peak and his Five-year Plans, although they had disadvantages, were very successful. Pig iron production in 1927 was 3. 3 million tons but after the second Five-Year Plan in 1937 in was 14. 5 million tons. In the same time coal production went from 35. 4 million tons to 128 million tons. This shows that Stalin was actually very successful and this is reflected in some people’s opinion he was regarded as the greatest Russian leader to date. Source E agrees with this opinion as it says ‘generations to come will regard us as the happiest of people because we lived in the same century as Stalin’.This is actually very reliable as many people did believe he was a great leader and in terms of statistics he successfully industrialised Russia. Source E also talks about his ‘strength’ as a leader. This is also very accurate info rmation as his army were the ones who drove the Germans back into Berlin and finished off the war. In conclusion, based on reliability Source F is the more reliable as it shows the negative side of Stalin which is contextually correct as he shows it in his actions towards Kirov and other leading communists who some had said should be leader instead of him.Having said this, Source F portrays Stalin as only pure evil when he did do some positive things. This is where Source E has some reliable information as it talks about Stalin’s strengths even if the source is a bit melodramatic about it. 4. A leader of a country can be a strong and great leader and a monstrous tyrant. Stalin was a man who people had different views on and many felt feel into this category. Although he modernised Russian agriculture and successfully industrialised Russia he was also responsible for the death of millions of innocent Russians. Source B presents all that was good about Stalin in his rule.Its sh ows Stalin in front of a new power station talking with his happy workers. It presents him as industrious and caring for his workers. This is supported by historical evidence. He had many new flats buildings built for the working-class and from 1927-1937 electricity production went from 5. 05 thousand million kilowatt hours to 36. 2 thousand million kilowatt hours. This shows how he improved life in Russia. Having said this, historian SJ Lee said ‘there is evidence that he [Stalin] exaggerated Russia’s industrial deficiency in 1929’ and that the foundation of industrialisation were already there making his job easy.This could be factually correct as the Tsar had started industrialising Russia way back in 1905. Despite this Source B still presents Stalin as a very good leader and a caring man. Source C presents Stalin as the most important man in Russia and the leader of the Russian army as in the picture he is bigger than the whole army. This presents in a positi ve manner a not a monstrous tyrant but more of a militaristic leader. This is backed by the fact that when he was in power Russian won World War 2 for the allies with the final push into Berlin.The writing in the source is translated as ‘using the spirit of Stalin our army and country are faithful and strong’. This is very true as in the time of Stalin Russia were the biggest threat to the USA as the biggest power in the world. He also did become regarded as the symbol of Russian might by everyone. In 1925 the city of Volgograd was renamed Stalingrad to recognise Stalin’s role in its defence from the Whites in 1918-20. This source shows Stalin as a very powerful leader and the spirit of Russia and not a monstrous tyrant at all.Source E emphatically praises Stalin as ‘inspired’ and tells everyone that they were ‘the happiest of people because we lived in the same century as Stalin’. And this is not entirely rubbish. Although at points in his rule the Russian people were miserably as 18 million of them were in Gulags, for a lot of his rule only good things happened to Russia. Industry improved rapidly and Russia won a war in his time. Many regarded him as the greatest leader in Russia’s history. However it was written by a writer in the congress of soviets and therefore was closely linked to Stalin.This makes it likely that he wrote this speech in order to appease Stalin and get in his good books. This source portrays Stalin as a great man and leader who was the best leader Russia had had. It shows him as the antithesis of a monstrous tyrant. Source H talks only about the side of Stalin which was actually true: that he was a good leader and had an ‘iron will’. Of this there is no doubt as he did what he wanted. He was indeed a good leader and was always clear with his decisions as the source. However this source is certainly going to be pro-Stalin as it was written in Russia in his rule and was hi s biography.This shows that it therefore would not talk about the other side of his personality which was arguably a monstrous tyrant. However despite this, what source H is saying is not just lies and is based on truth. This source indicates that he is not a monstrous tyrant but a respected leader which is not wrong. Source D dissociates Stalin from the mistakes of the leaders in the war and also dissociates him from the great purges when millions of Russians died. It is also presenting him as one of the people by how it says ‘our leaders’.The use of the possessive adjective ‘our’ shows him not only distancing himself from the past mistakes in his rule but trying to connect with the people. Source D also shows him as a caring man as he looked out for his one missing comrade in the story. This source is not however really backed by historical evidence as he was not one for caring for individuals and in fact he was the one who on his own started the Great Pu rges and sent many to gulags. Also the fact that it was written by Stalin himself indicates that the story is almost certainly made up and only propaganda.However, taking the source for what it is, it shows that Stalin was a very caring man who was one the people. In actual fact he was quite the opposite. Source I is probably the fairest judgement of Stalin and his time in power. It separates Stalin’s great ability as a leader from his evil personality. The fact that it was published in Britain and in 1983 means that it is unlikely to have any reason to be pro or anti-Stalin. This source describes him as a ‘very skilled, indeed gifted politician’. This is a true statement as he very cleverly manipulated people and Trotsky’s underestimation of him to become leader over Trotsky.This shows a very good political mind and intelligence to outwit even the best politicians. Source I then concludes that Stalin was a not a good man and that ‘he had a dark and evil side to his nature’. This is also very true as he had many sent to Gulags in order that he would look powerful. Of the 18 million people sent to Gulags 10 million died. And he never officially conceded that he made a mistake and never said he regretted it. This shows a very sinister side to him which Source I correctly points out. Also he was evil in the way that he got rid of many artists and virtually destroyed the right to express freewill in Russia.This can only be the work of someone who is soulless and evil. In conclusion, although this source looks at Stalin’s positives, it still portrays him as a monstrous tyrant. Source A dwells on the negatives of Stalin’s rule. The ‘pyramids’ of skulls is a reference to the Great Purges when 18 million Russians were sent to Gulags of which 10 million died. This source also seems to show that Stalin does not care and in fact is very proud of his work. This is actually not complete rubbish as Stalin ne ver did publicly apologise or even say he regretted it.However, the fact it was published in Paris indicates that it may be a bit anti-communism as France was a country which did not embrace communism at all. Although we do not know when in the 1930s it was published- before, after or during the Purges- it is a very accurate source as many died due to Stalin’s policies. This source indicates that Stalin was a monstrous Tyrant. Source J literally describes Stalin as a ‘monstrous tyrant’. However, as oppose to saying he was a good politician but also a malevolent human being, it suggests that was corrupted by ‘absolute power’ which ‘turned a ruthless politician into a monstrous tyrant’.This gives another idea about Stalin’s personality. There was no doubt that he was a ruthless politician. For example, after using Bukharin’s argument to defeat Trotsky, he then turned it round on Bukharin and used that argument to disgrace him . However after Stalin’s decisions do not really show politics in them but more him being paranoid about his position and therefore doing acts of hostility. For instance, his decision to start ‘purging’ Russia of all people he thought were a threat to the state ( or a threat to his position†¦ ) did not show clever politics but more panic leading to monstrous acts.This source present Stalin as a man who may of been great politician in the past but then this ability of his turned into shear malicious tyranny. Source F concentrates on the dark side of Stalin’s personality. It says that ‘if someone speaks better than he does†¦ Stalin will not let him live’. This is debatably a very accurate description of Stalin as he was rumoured to have had Kirov, a communist who became very popular and some people thought should replace Stalin at the time, was murdered and many believe that Stalin was behind the murder.Stalin also sent many loyal Bols heviks to Gulags in the infamous ‘show trials’ for being traitors of the state. Although these people confessed, Stalin most probably forced them to confess by threatening them with death and the death of their families. He did this because he was scared they would take away his power. Having said this, this source is likely to be subjective as Bukharin, the writer of the source, was disgraced by Stalin in 1929. Also it is a very one-sided source as it says that Stalin was pure evil when he did do good things for Russia.To conclude, although it is slightly opinionated, Source F gives a fairly accurate account of what was wrong with Stalin and displaces him as malicious and as the devil. Source G points the finger at Stalin by accusing him of using ‘terror’ to defend communism. However, this source is almost certainly prejudiced against Stalin as Khrushchev, who said source G and became leader after Stalin, would have been trying to distance himself from the worst parts of Stalin’s rule by condemning him. Although, Source G does have some correct ideas as it says that Stalin was a ‘distrustful man’.This is an accurate description of Stalin as he had many sent to Gulags because he thought they were plotting against him. He also acted very suspiciously at the Potsdam Conference in August 1945 when in February that year at the Yalta conference he had been very united with the other allies. At Potsdam Conference he disagreed with the other allies about what to do with Germany, about reparations and over soviet policy in Eastern Europe, where Russian troops dominated. Truman, the USA president at the time, became suspicious of Stalin and his intentions, as did Stalin.This distrusted lead to the Iron curtain and the cold war. To conclude, Although Khrushchev was not likely to have praised Stalin in this situation, Source G is a very accurate description of Stalin and portrays him as untrustworthy character and malicious t yrant. In conclusion, the sources do not give a conclusive idea to whether he is a monstrous tyrant or not because five of them are anti-Stalin and 5 pro-Stalin. However, based on the fact that many of the Pro-Stalin Sources are either written by Stalin or as propaganda, the ources show that he more of monstrous tyrant. Also the sources which focus on his industrious nature and his successes in improving industry do not take into account how many people died in this process and that Russia’s industry had been improving a lot for the twenty years before Stalin came to power. In essence his job on that was made easy and some historians argue that this process would have happened just as successfully with any leader. A leader can be great at being a politician and be industrious yet still be a monstrous.My personal opinion is just that, that he was a great leader and politician however a very evil man and therefore a monstrous tyrant. Source I sums up Stalin as a person. It says Stalin is ‘very skilled, indeed gifted politician and one of the greatest political figures of the twentieth century’ however it also says ‘he had a dark and evil side to his nature’. This summarises perfectly Stalin’s life: he was a great leader of a country however he was still a very evil man and a monstrous tyrant.

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