The Inter Professional Practice In Social Work Social Work Essay

The Inter Professional Practice In Social Work Social Work Essay This essay will outline and explain why inter professional collaborative practice in social work is important. It will also examine key factors that help or hinder effective inter professional collaborative practice. It will explain why it is important that professionals work together and effectively as a team and the consequences that can occur when professionals fail to collaborate successfully. There has been a great deal of political and professional pressures for the development of inter professional collaborative practice. From the late 1990s onwards there were vast amounts of official documents to promote the importance of collaborative working within the health and social care sector. The 1998 social services White Paper Modernising Social Services (DoH, 1998) and The NHS Plan (2000) devoted entire chapters to the subject. It has been argued that inter professional working has advanced further in relation to services for older people than it has in relation to children and families. The Green Paper Every Child Matters (DfES 2003) recognised this and one of the main elements of this paper focused that improved collaboration was required so as not to repeat the tragic events of the Victoria Climbie case (this case will be discussed in further detail later in the essay). Government recognition suggests that many social problems cannot be effectively addressed by any given organisation acting in isolation from others. That is, when professionals work together effectively they provide a better service to the complex needs of the most vulnerable people in society. Inter professional collaborative practice involves complex interactions between a range of different professionals and is when professionals work together as a team to reach mutually negotiated goals through agreed plans. It is a partnership that can be defined as a formal agreement between the different professions who agree to work together in pursuit of common goals. Collaborative is defined as putting that partnership into operation or into practice. It involves the different professions working together and using their own individual skills instead of working in opposite directions to meet the needs of particular service users. It is suggested that when social workers and other professions work collaboratively the service user gets a better deal. Willing participation (Henneman et al, 19 95, cited in Barrett et al, 2005, p.19) and a high level of motivation (Molyneux, 2001, cited in Barrett et al, p.19) have been stated as vital aspects of effective inter professional collaboration. Social workers have certain ethical obligations to society that they must follow and this comes in the form of The British Association of Social Work (BASW) Code of Ethics and the National Occupational Standards for social workers. The Code of Ethics follow five basic values, Human Dignity and Worth, Social Justice, Service to Humanity, Integrity and Competence whilst the National Occupational Standards outline the standards of conduct and practice to which all social workers should adhere to. Whilst working in collaboration with other professionals, social workers should follow these Codes and Standards to ensure that the best possible outcome is achieved for the service user. In the past inter professional collaborative practice has been difficult with many disadvantages and that this has caused problems between the different professions involved. This has in the past led to catastrophic tragedies as in the case of Victoria Climbie. Shared accountability is important for effective collaboration and all professionals should be accountable. Each profession should support one another, not be seen as self interested and that no one profession is higher than another. Some of the problems that can occur are when there is not a logical distribution of power. Unequal power distribution can be oppressive (Payne, 2000, cited in Barrett et al, 2005, p.23) and can limit participation for some group members. Struggles for power are rooted in professional tradition and social difference. It is believed by some critics of social work that social workers have often been located in settings where they were considered as subordinate to other more established professional g roups (Brewer and Lait, 1980, cited in Wilson et al, 2008, p.401). Traditionally there have been difficulties within the medical profession and Cooke et al, (2001, cited in Barrett et al, 2005, p.23) suggests that general practitioners felt threatened by a redistribution of power and had problems letting go of their traditionally held power base. Social work in the past has been described as a semi profession and similar to nursing and teaching and not comparable to the learned profession of medicine or law as it does not have the required features of those professions (Freidson 1994). Payne (2000 cited in Barrett et al, 2005, p.23) identifies this as peoples capacity to get what they want. Power in inter professional collaborative practice should be shared and distributed and no hierarchy of power should exist. If some professionals see themselves as more powerful than another they are not meeting the needs of the service user. Being territorial and not sharing information and know ledge has long been a problem in inter professional collaborative practice. Molyneux (2001, cited in Barrett et al, 2005, p20) found that professionals who were confident in their own role were able to work flexibly across professional boundaries without feeling jealous or threatened. Professional adulthood was an expression used by Laidler (1991, cited in Barratt et al, 2005, p.20) to describe professionals who were confident in their own role to share information and communicate effectively with other professionals. These professionals do not feel territorial about relinquishing their knowledge and understanding to further enhance good inter professional collaborative practice. Stapleton (1998, cited in Barrett et al, 2005, p.20) suggests that a combination of personal and professional confidence enables individuals to assert their own perspectives and challenge the viewpoints of others. Open and honest communication is a vital and probably one of the most important aspects of inter professional collaborative practice. It requires professionals to take into account each others views, be respectful, dignified and to listen to each other without being highly critical of one another. Constructive criticism needs to be undertaken alongside constructive suggestions and encouragement and should take place at a time when other professionals are receptive. Active listening is an important skill. To be able to recognise and respond to what is being communicated is a fundamental skill. Professionals working collaboratively should demonstrate this verbally and non-verbally to each other. This is greatly helped if all concerned put aside the typical stereotyping of each others professions in order to hear and listen to what the speaker is saying. Keeping good eye contact and having good body language is just as important. It is estimated that approximately two-thirds of communic ation is non-verbal, i.e. something is communicated through body language by a body movement, a posture, an inflection in the voice (Birdwhistell, 1970, cited in Wilson, 2008, p.297). A breakdown in communication and the lack of sharing of information between the professions in the past have been major failings in inter professional collaborative practice for example in high profile child protection inquiries and this has led to tragic consequences. Effective systems of communication and knowing what information should be shared are essential not just between the professions but also between the service users. Trust, mutual respect and support are key features to inter professional collaborative practice. Trust was highlighted by many professionals as one of the most important factors in successful collaboration. When trust is absent professionals may feel uncomfortable and insecure in their role and this in turn can lead to defensive behaviour to counteract their insecurities. Stapleton (1998, cited in Barratt et al, 2005, p.22) suggests that trust develops through repeated positive inter professional experience and develops gradually over a period of time. Trust cannot be gained overnight so it is important for professionals working collaboratively to give one another time for trust to develop. When professionals feel valued, they feel respected. This can be achieved by actively listening to each other and having an insight into one anothers professions. Conflict between the professions can have a huge impact on the different professionals and service users. Loxley (1997, cited in Barrett et al, 2005, p.24) suggests that conflict is interwoven with collaborative practice. To counteract some of the problems associated with conflict it may be beneficial to all concerned to form ground rules. These ground rules could go some way to prevent and help the management of conflict and could include; open discussion and the obligation to be able to give each other honest feedback. Most importantly these ground rules need to benefit all parties involved. A great deal of emphasis is placed on social workers to critically reflect their practice. It literally means that social workers reflect on their practice before, during and after, thinking through tasks carefully. Other professionals may not do this in line with social workers beliefs of critical reflection or in the same way or see that reflection on their own practice is an important aspect of successful inter professional collaborative practice. To illustrate the above points a practice example will now be explained. The inquiry into the death of ten year old Victoria Climbie highlights the disastrous consequences when communication in inter professional collaborative practice fails. This child death case was fraught with communication breakdowns across the range of professionals associated with the case. In Lord Lamings report (2003) he draws attention to and illustrates lack of communication as one of the key issues. Victoria Climbie was failed by a system that was put into place to protect her. Professionals failed in this protection by not communicating with each other or with Victoria herself. One of the criticisms in the Laming Report (2003) was that none of the professionals involved in the case spoke to Victoria about her life or how she was feeling and suggests that even basic service user involvement was absent. There was an opportunity which is highlighted in his report that a social worker missed an opportunity t o communicate with Victoria by deciding not to see or speak to her while she was in hospital. It could be argued that if basic levels of communication with Victoria herself had been implemented, then more could have been achieved to protect her. It was not only a lack of communication with Victoria herself but a lack of communication between the professions that were investigated in the Laming Report (2003). Communication is equally important between the service user and the different professional bodies. Professionals are less effective on their clients behalf if they cannot communicate precisely and persuasively. (Clark, 2000, cited in Trevithick, 2009, p.117). For successful inter professional collaborative practice to work a combination of personal and professional skills are required, together with competent communications skills to enable the different professions to challenge the views of others. Recommendation 37 of the Laming Report (2003) states The training of social work ers must equip them with the confidence to question the opinion of professionals in other agencies when conducting their own assessment of the needs of the child. On at least one occasion, this did not happen when a social worker did not challenge a medical statement which turned out to be professionally incorrect which in turn led to the tragic eventual death of Victoria. Had the social worker challenged the medical opinion in this instance then it could be argued that more efficient communication and less confusion in the case may have saved Victoria. Alan Milburn (Hansard 28 January 2003, column 740, cited in Wilson et al, 2008, p.474), the then Secretary of State commented when introducing the Children Bill in the Commons that Victoria needs services that worked together and that down the years inquiry after inquiry has called for better communication and better co-ordination. Communication lies at the heart of high quality and successful inter professional practice and Victoria is just one case of when there is a lack of communication between the professionals and the devastating consequences that can arise. In conclusion, successful inter professional collaborative practice has many elements and all these different elements require that the different professions adopt them. Although inter professional working practice has been around for many years and is not new, it still needs to be continued, developed and incorporated into the daily work of all professions. When health and social care professionals from different disciplines truly understand each others roles, responsibilities and challenges, the potential of inter professional collaborative practice could be fully realised and many of the barriers alleviated, giving a more successful outcome to the service user.

Factors that influence individual and group dynamics

Factors that influence individual and group dynamics Introduction Organizational Behavior has become a challenging hot topic among many groups who are interested to study the individual and group behavior of people working as teams in organizations. The term organizational behavior may have many definitions. According to Debra (2008), Organizational Behavior is the study of individuals and their behavior within the context of the organization in a workplace setting. She describe it is an interdisciplinary field that includes sociology, psychology, communication and management. There are also views that it is not only the study of how organizations behave, but rather the study of individual behavior in an organizational setting. This includes the study of how individuals behave alone, as well as how individuals behave in groups. The purpose of this essay is to gain a greater understanding of those factors that influence individual and group dynamics in an organizational setting so that individuals and the groups and organizations to which they belong may become more efficient and effective. It also includes the analysis of organizational factors that may have an influence upon individual and group behavior. However the literature review help the author of this essay to realize that much of organizational behavior research is ultimately aimed at providing human resource management professionals with the information and tools they need to select, train, and retain employees in a fashion that yields maximum benefit for the individual employee as well as for the organization. Going beyond that this essay will discuss Leadership and change management aspects of organizational behavior. Author V.G.Kondalkar describes Organizational behavior is a field of study that investigates the impact that individuals, groups and organizational structure have on behavior within the organization, for the purpose of applying such knowledge towards improving an organizational effectiveness. There for organization behaviors can be discussed in different levels including Individual, group and organization structure. Individual Group Structure Studying these distinct different levels, may helps to understand the organizational behavior at a broader way so that it could see the different aspects at each level which the managers can use to facilitate their day-to-day job. Individual level of analysis At the individual level of analysis, organizational behavior involves the study of learning, perception, creativity, motivation, personality, turnover, task performance, cooperative behavior, deviant behavior, ethics, and cognition. At this level of analysis, organizational behavior draws heavily upon psychology, engineering, and medicine. Taking Google as an example to this, Google recruit individuals with best academic and analytical capabilities. By this they expect a knowledge organization. The individuals coming from this kind of back ground will naturally bring in a studious learning culture. There will not be an explicit necessity to motivate them towards learning. Their business is that they invent technologies specially related to internet. Business gets the competitive edge over its competitors by their innovations. To align this strategy they also recruit above kind of people. They always encourage an entrepreneur culture where they expect a flatter structure and less power distance between individuals. So that they expect ideas coming from bottom to up to generate always creative ideas. Individuals can be motivated by different means. Motivation towards expected behavior is where organization can most benefit. Herzberg came up with two factor theory where he define both implicit and explicit factors for motivation. Providing examples to the effectively of indirect motivating factors, organizations like Google offer 20% of their employees work time to involve in a project which each individual like. Given more facilities to child care, good food, health and entertainment Google wants to provide as many as intrinsic motivators. This was very successful as they fulfill the individual needs to a greater extent so that employees can involve their work with their Saul morality. It was one Einstein said people who work if it is just to avoid punishment or to gain the rewarding of good work as like in most religious teachings; they will address the morality of individuals. It is just the fear that makes that work done. There for this essay argue if organizations can really address the morality of individuals like what Google successfully did, they can have the most effective and pleasant work force. It was also highlighted in order to have a moral organization it should recruit people who are capable and self disciplined. On the other hand it will definitely need the support from organization Leadership and culture. However individuals form groups. In other words group behavior is influenced by individual behavior. But obviously group behavior has more power and has more strength. There for to have the best fitting group behavior for the organization it must have the right individuals. This individual behavior paves this essay to the way towards how an organization can best benefit the group behaviors. Group level of analysis At the group level of analysis, organizational behavior involves the study of group dynamics, intra- and intergroup conflict and cohesion, leadership, power, norms, interpersonal communication, networks, and roles. At this level of analysis, organizational behavior draws upon the sociological and socio-psychological sciences. When there are groups it is naturally the first thing come to mind is leadership. Organizations can have many different groups. Sometimes they can be formal and obvious many times they are informal. These groups plays a vital role in an organization as these groups can be treated as energy cells, which concentrate some pockets of power. These pockets are very important to determine the success of organization. On the other hand this is where organizational politics and leadership comes in. As far as organizations are concerned most critical decisions are coming from director board. For example these decisions can be approved only by majority. To make decisions effective and comes in to play they have to get the support of subordinates. As the research to Prof Robert Reich, he finds that many times the subordinates do not support to the logical accuracy of decisions, but they support to the personal traits or any other leadership traits. There most the time subordinates address issues with gut feelings. This is why group behavior is so important. If organizations can form groups which doesnt obey only to the gut feeling but put some effort to overcome mental resistances and come to some rational decisions; such kind of organizations do better in business. Richard trading, one local company once employed only board members from two families. At the board they always had this power struggle. But ultimately the board was introduced with professionals and the group started performs than never before. Because their group directors didnt stop to their gut feeling. This provides how group behaviors can be best effective to organizations. If an organization really focus on these group behaviors they can turn them in to their benefits. Most the time informal group behaviors seen bringing negativities to the organizations. But effectively used these behaviors can be used for organizations advantages. Human resources if managed well hold the key to the success of the organization. According to (Cranny, Smith Stone, 1992 ) human resources output is higher when the employee s function as a team than it is the case when employees do not work as teams . A synergetic effect is what results when organizations embrace team spirit. However creating functional and efficient teams calls for expertise, tolerance and a lot of motivation on the part of the organization. Teams enable employees to exploit their potential and therefore increase job performance. A team consists of members with diverse experience, skills and qualification. These diverse work group and synergy effects have contributed effectively to the organizations like Microsoft to gain competitive advantage by means of creativity and different thinking. It is accepted around the world that diverse work forces are helping to facilitate new idea generation and creativity. As understood the benefits of group behaviors to the organ ization enhanced through essence of diversification, companies like Microsoft earned best advantages. Microsoft in their web site acknowledges that they encourage synergy effects to the organization in the ways and means of diversity. Communication is also another area that organizations can vastly advantage of. Group and team theory of communication have also been studied to determine the best ways to form groups . The choice of communication model is driven by the target recipient . It is important for organizations to understand the dynamics of each form of communication which will enable them to send messages effectively .Communication being an integral part of human existence is the medium through which understanding is gained. In an organization , communication is important since it is the means by which people are able to work together to achieve common goals .Schermerhorn , Hunt , and Osborn (2005 ) defines a team as a formal group of people working together with an aim of achieving common goals . Teams are important in that, they improve performance in an organization , they enhance communication and they make an organization more competitive in that they draw from a wide range of talent . This paper look s at conflict resolution process in teams with an aim of analyzing how conflicts affect teams. Provided above this section of the essay argue that today organizations can best advantage if they effectively manage the effects of organization politics, synergy, diversity and communication at organizations group behaviors. Organization level of analysis At the organization level of analysis, organizational behavior involves the study of topics such as organizational culture, organizational structure, cultural diversity, inter-organizational cooperation and conflict, change, technology, and external environmental forces. At this level of analysis, organizational behavior draws upon anthropology and political science. But the evolution of political nature was described during the group level analysis. Diversity and Cultural level things will be discussed in the latter part. However this section mostly focuses in to the structural impact to the organization behavior. Structure in simple is the degree of complexity, formalization and centralization in the organization. Complexity is the degree of vertical, horizontal and spatial differentiation in an organization Formalization is the degree to which jobs within the organization are standardized. Centralization is the degree to which decision making in concentrated at a single point in the organization Provided above elements of structure it is obvious the structure may interact to people in terms of span of control and power distribution. As discussed before power is coming from others, or subordinates. The reason to power can be different. It can be informal like referent, expert, charismatic, or it can be formal Coming from position. Any way the correct planning of power may help organization to achieve their desired results. Elements of Organizational Behavior The organizations base rests on managements philosophy, values, vision and goals. This in turn drives the organizational culture which is composed of the formal organization, informal organization, and the social environment. The culture determines the type of leadership, communication, and group dynamics within the organization. The workers perceive this as the quality of work life which directs their degree of motivation. The final outcome are performance, individual satisfaction, and personal growth and development. All these elements combine to build the model or framework that the organization operates from. Cultural element A social system is a complex set of human relationships interacting in many ways. Within an organization, the social system includes all the people in it and their relationships to each other and to the outside world. The behavior of one member can have an impact, either directly or indirectly, on the behavior of others. Also, the social system does not have boundaries it exchanges goods, ideas, culture, etc. with the environment around it. Culture is the conventional behavior of a society that encompasses beliefs, customs, knowledge, and practices. It influences human behavior, even though it seldom enters into their conscious thought. People depend on culture as it gives them stability, security, understanding, and the ability to respond to a given situation. This is why people fear change. They fear the system will become unstable, their security will be lost, they will not understand the new process, and they will not know how to respond to the new situations. Individualization is when employees successfully exert influence on the social system by challenging the culture. But when challenging culture it must be careful because normally culture is seen as an iceberg to most management specialists. This nature of culture is very illusive and organization must best understand the culture if they are to do best in business. Cultural dimensions will be different from country to country and also from region to region, may be from organization to organization. This best explains why the same model may be success in one culture but not will be success in another culture. Models of Organizational Behavior There are four major models or frameworks that organizations operate out of, Autocratic, Custodial, Supportive, and Collegial: Autocratic The basis of this model is power with a managerial orientation of authority. The employees in turn are oriented towards obedience and dependence on the boss. The employee need that is met is subsistence. The performance result is minimal. Custodial The basis of this model is economic resources with a managerial orientation of money. The employees in turn are oriented towards security and benefits and dependence on the organization. The employee need that is met is security. The performance result is passive cooperation. Supportive The basis of this model is leadership with a managerial orientation of support. The employees in turn are oriented towards job performance and participation. The employee need that is met is status and recognition. The performance result is awakened drives. Collegial The basis of this model is partnership with a managerial orientation of teamwork. The employees in turn are oriented towards responsible behavior and self-discipline. The employee need that is met is self-actualization. The performance result is moderate enthusiasm. Although there are four separate models, almost no organization operates exclusively in one. There will usually be a predominate one, with one or more areas over-lapping in the other models. The first model, autocratic, has its roots in the industrial revolution. The managers of this type of organization operate mostly out of McGregors Theory X. These kind managers does believe that employees are not good, cannot work their own and should be kept under tight controls etc. The next three models begin to build on McGregors Theory Y who believe employees are capable, and they must be provided with good environment to work as a result they will work and produce good result. However each models has evolved over a period of time and there is no one best model. In addition, the collegial model should not be thought as the last or best model, but the beginning of a new model or paradigm. Change In its simplest form, discontinuity in the work place is change, (Knoster, Villa, 2000). According to Lord Buddha there is no certainty everything is subjected change. This will not only explain the uncontrollable and unexpected but eternal law of change, but also its describe change is unavoidable. There for organization also cant deny this truth. When the attitudes, expectation, trends and styles, change with people factor, the other PESTEL variables can also be change as a result. As a result facing change itself is become a big challenge for many organizations. However the researches evident that 70% of change processes are unsuccessful. Thus change is inevitable for organizations. Almost all people are nervous about change. Many will resist it consciously or subconsciously. Sometimes those fears are well founded the change really will have a negative impact for them. In many cases, however, the target population for the change will come to realize that the change was for the better. The pace of change is ever increasing particularly with the advent of the Internet and the rapid deployment of new technologies, new ways of doing business and new ways of conducting ones life. Organizational Change Management seeks to understand the sentiments of the target population and work with them to promote efficient delivery of the change and enthusiastic support for its results. There are two related aspects of organizational change that are often confused. In Organizational Change Management we are concerned with winning the hearts and minds of the participants and the target population to bring about changed behavior and culture. The key skills required are founded in business psychology and require people people. Provided the significance of peoples factor, as discussed throughout this essay it is ultimately peoples behavior which may affect the organizations behavior at the most severest context. There for it is only the effective leadership which can address these diversities of people behaviors may brings the most success to the organization. Following will discuss how leadership is best effective at todays organizational behaviours. Leadership and Organizational Behavior One can also argue that Organizational Behavior is the study and application of knowledge about how people, individuals, and groups act in organizations. It does this by taking a system approach. That is, it interprets people-organization relationships in terms of the whole person, whole group, whole organization, and whole social system. Its purpose is to build better relationships by achieving human objectives, organizational objectives, and social objectives. As you can see from the definition above, organizational behavior encompasses a wide range of topics, but ultimately its the leadership which can make determine the successful integration of all these variable to produce more optimum results. To begin with, the concept of organizational leadership, as described here, is not entirely new. For almost a century, various observers have glimpsed the self-organizing characteristics of groups, and their natural tendency, more or less of their own accord, to design and direct their own affairs. More than that, there have also been suggestions in the literature that leadership and authority are to be viewed as distinctly separate phenomena. In an intelligently managed organization, that leadership isnt a randomly operating process; its a propulsive force given motion by purpose, and by a joint effort to accomplish it. That is its natural tendency, its bias. But it is managements role to ensure that this organizational leadership has a substantive and meaningful core around which to form itself and to give it traction for advancing the organization toward its stated ends. Using these as a basis, organizational leadership can provide the functions of leadership to an organizationally beneficial degree that cannot be matched by individual charismatic leaders alone. It is also far more reliably focused on the organizations ability to accomplish its own purposes and ensure its own sustainability (rather than resulting in the perversion of those to the interests of senior executive leaders). Conclusion This essay critically analyses the effects of organization behavior in todays context by different aspects. It very clearly proves people are the key factor of the determination of organization behavior. Individual behavior will influence the group behavior. Formations of groups may crates pockets of power. Power can be formal or even informal. But the powerful personalities can influence more effectively the organization. Leadership is best effective where if organization gather many power groups around the personality which can thrive the business to the most effective direction. However organizations are always to change. People create resistive forces most the time to the change. Leadership is successfully useful to reduce the resistive forces to the organization change objectives.

Essay on Utopia - Disneys Utopian Community -- Exploratory Essays Res

Disney's Utopian Community      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The concept of utopian communities is a hot new commodity among major enterprises. The Walt Disney Corporation is currently marketing its own community called Celebration. Disney, known for creating worlds of fantasy through theme parks and movies tackles reality. According to architect Robert A.M. Stern, the idea behind Celebration is to "recapture the idea of a traditional American town, traditional in spirit, but modern in terms of what we know about how people live"(Oilande 1). Also, the town is "structured around the five cornerstones of life in Celebration: community, education, health, technology, and place"(Oilande 2). Celebration uses this concept to create a special utopian vision. Despite contradictions of artificiality, regulation, and price, Celebration is a good utopian vision because it has a sense of community, an outstanding educational system, and a credible health care system.    The notion of a artificial or theme park feel has come up as a possible concern. "The town resembles a movie set with the neat-and-pretty homes like facades"(Oilande 5). Disney is taking a community and making it a fantasy of the lost traditional suburb one would see on "Leave it to Beaver" or "Pleasantville". As one visitor of the new community stated, "the minute you drive into Celebration's property, Disney's visual magic takes hold. White fences reminiscent of Kentucky's Bluegrass Country, surround the property. Upon a closer inspection they prove to be plastic. And from a distance, the preview center looks like a classical mansion. It's not. It's a faà §ade. Behind the mansion door is a pre-fab"(Wilson3). This ideal is created in a conference room at a corporate office somewhere and it i... ...able: http://www.detnews.com/EDITPAGE/SAT1028/CANTOR.html. Cottrell, Kenny. Celebration: Frequently Asked Questions. Tuldp. Avaliable: http://www.tudlp.org/celebfaq.html. Disney. General Celebrations Facts and Figures. Available: http://www.primenet.com/~dbrady/oliande/celebfacts.html. February 1997. Hoffman, Derek. Review of Disney's Celebration. Avaliable: http://mason.gmu.edu/~dhoffman/week4.htm. 12 February1997. Lease, Daryl. Village theme for Disney: Wonderful World of Wal-Mart. The Free Lance-Star. Avaliable: http://.starweb.infi.net/columns/lease/dl032396.htm. 23 March1996. Oliande, Sylvia. A Visit to Celebration. Avaliable: http://www.primenet.com/~dbrady/oliande/celebration.html. 9&10 March 1997. Wilson, Craig. Celebration puts Disney in reality's realm. USA Today. Avaliable: http://www.sjsu.edu/faculty/wooda/usacelebration.html.

An Essay on Chan -- essays research papers

An Essay Answering Questions From the Assigned Text by Faure   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  This essay will attempt to answer questions coming from the Bernard Faure text assigned in class. The questions are as follows: How does Hu Shih’s approach to Chan differ from D.T. Suzuki’s? Why was the scholarship of the Japanese on Zen not objective? What does Faure mean by the teleological fallacy? What does he mean by the two alternative approaches he suggests: structural analysis and hermeneutics?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  How does Hu Shih’s approach to Chan differ form D.T. Suzuki’s? To answer this we must first recognize that Hu Shih emphasizes the historicism of Chan, meaning he places great importance on the historical aspect, while Suzuki aligns himself with the metaphysics aspect. Suzuki states that there are two kinds of people who can talk about Zen: The first(Suzuki), which is one who has a firm grasp on the concepts and greatly understands Zen, the other(Hu Shih), someone who is utterly unable to grab the concepts. Suzuki states that Hu Shih may know Zen historically, but that he does not actually know Zen. Suzuki says about Hu Shih that â€Å"it is not a historians business not talk about Zen.† Hu argues that ‘a historic approach to Zen cannot be reduced to the circumstances of its emergence and how it â€Å"transmits its situation of departure into a means to understand itself and others.’† Since Hu Shih is from the academic world , his approach to Zen is more factual, while ...

CA.S.T.ing a Light on Talent :: Drama Journalism Acting Essays

CA.S.T.ing a Light on Talent As play auditions got under way in Hillsboro, NH, the director asked Chelsy Starkweather,13, the first and youngest of the night’s auditions, to repeat her monologue, twice. At first, she hid behind a baseball cap and sat on a chair, something most play directors would forbid. But Justin Scarelli, 22, who founded Community Arts as a Stage for Teens (C.A.S.T.), knew how to draw out Starkweather’s confidence. She repeated her monologue, standing and one last time without her baseball cap. After her very last line on her third performance, Scarelli and Chelsy’s peers broke out in applause. The smile on Starkweather’s face proved that, at C.A.S.T., something special is happening. â€Å"This is a great way to let kids have a chance to act and learn to direct because school drama programs can be limiting,† Tom Ellsworth, 17, the student Chair of C.A.S.T. said. That something special was what Scarelli had in mind in the summer of 2004 after he helped direct a documentary about media literacy for Project Genesis, a nonprofit teen center and in Hillsboro. After spending the summer with the teens, he saw their creativity grow; he also noted that their desire to learn more about directing and the arts grew as the weeks went on. By the time the documentary was finished, Scarelli spoke with Deborah Whitaker-Duncklee, a youth counselor who runs Project Genesis, about the possibility of extending the summer media project throughout the year. â€Å"During the summer everyone got to see creativity as something tangible,† Scarelli said. â€Å"We wanted to bring what we were doing into school drama programs.† Scarelli and Whitaker-Duncklee found that schools were not receptive to their ideas, so they decided to start a program through Project Genesis. The only problem was money. After speaking with Peter Brigham, the director of youth services in Hillsboro, Scarelli put together a proposal for his program and began to search for funding. â€Å"I didn’t have any [creative] guidance so I wanted to be able to give that to the kids,† Scarelli said. â€Å"But it’s very hard to get financial support.† As of December 4, 2004, Brigham’s budget for youth services in 2005 is $60,000 with counseling services, or $40,000 without. That money is distributed throughout Hillsboro and nearby Deering, NH, for all youth-oriented programs and is used up rather quickly. While the budget does not assign a specific amount of money to each service provided, this budget ultimately needs outside assistance.

Human ecology Essay

As it is evident that the earth is in the verge of being overwhelmed by pollution and destruction and the only way to alleviate this is for humanity to â€Å"go green† or be more earth friendly. If I were given the money to do so, I would practice â€Å"go green† living. For starters, the car I would purchase would be a Honda Civic Hybrid. Hybrid cars are the alternative to cars that consume fossil fuels – main contributors to global warming and pollution. With the Honda Civic Hybrid, one does not have to give up style and luxury in order to give way to be more earth-friendly as the fuel it uses is hybrid or a combination of natural gas, gasoline electric hybrid and natural gasoline. On the other hand, I want to build a house in a dune as this does not need cooling, hence, there would be no need for air conditioning. It should also be facing south, towards the sun in order to utilize the sun and its heat. The house must also have a cistern that will capture rainwater which will be used for flushing toilets and watering the lawns. Furthermore, it must be built with pine or from wood coming from sustainable forests – trees that grow quick. Since the house is facing south and utilizing the sun’s heat, it is good to add solar panels on a recycled rubber roof to provide heating through coils in the floor. The sun’s solar power can also be used to power the appliances inside. It is still possible to splurge on appliances; although in order to save electricity, the appliances inside the house must be energy efficient especially the air conditioner, water heater, furnace and refrigerator. For entertainment, cable television will do and a CD player for some music.

Bottle Biology

Bottle Biology Project I made a two-layered bottle ecosystem. In the bottom layer, there is an aquatic ecosystem. In the aquatic ecosystem, there is one organism; a goldfish. In the top layer, there is a land ecosystem. There are many plants and other pudding flowers. This is a good example of two organisms from different ecosystems. There were not as many steps as I thought there would be involved in building the bottle itself. First I emptied out two two liters of pop. I then cut off the tops of both bottles, and threw out one of the bases.In the leftover base, I poured water, aquatic gravel, and a fake plant for the fish. I then put the fish in it’s new happy home. In order to feed him, I cut out a flap leading to the water that I can put fish food in. After that, I began working on the top layer. I placed one of the tops, with the cap still on, about half an inch into the original base. I taped it securely into the base, to ensure that the whole upper layer would not crush the fish. Then I put my plants into the half-built top layer. After that I placed my second bottle top on top of the base, creating another funnel.I taped the top securely on, finishing the bottle. I can screw and unscrew the cap whenever I need to give the plant water. Both the fish and plant do not need much caring for. The plant needs a little bit of water every day, and the fish needs food about twice a day, but that is not nearly what I thought it would take to maintain these organisms. I enjoyed this project; it was very interesting to make two small ecosystems. If I had the chance to do it again with two different organisms I would definitely do it. ———————– AJ Keith 5/19/11 Period 3