Transnational Corporations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Transnational Corporations - Essay Example The transnational companies have huge incomes and can practice more power than the individual states across which they work. The organizations ‘command colossal budgetary assets, have tremendous specialized assets, and they have broad worldwide reach’ (CSIDS, n.d, p.1). It has been noticed that the consolidated income of General Motors and Ford is bigger than the all out Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for the nations in Sub-Saharan Africa (Ward, 2003). Similar insights and realities apply to other goliath vehicle enterprises on the planet and the individual economy of specific nations. It at that point beats rationale in the sort of impact that these transnational organizations can have on the territorial and worldwide economy. All things considered, the transnational partnerships have critical market power (Ietto-Gillies, 2012). They assume noteworthy jobs and they have negative and positive effects on the neighborhood, local, and worldwide improvement issues. This paper centers around the jobs that the TNCs play in forming the worldwide economy and the huge effects that have been seen from the transition to go worldwide. The mastery of these huge companies in various segment of the world economy is outlined. The effects of the TNC Significant advancements have been recorded in the remote direct speculations by the transnational enterprises since the 1980s with the TNCs taking various structures (Lundan, 2011, p.640). Critical increments have additionally been seen in the value of the FDIs. For example, the all out worldwide remote direct interest in 2002 added up to about $651bn (CSIDS, n.d). The created countries are the significant home nations for the remote direct speculators and the nations get a great part of the returns from the ventures. Much writing is accessible that attention on the effects of TNCs on the nations of origin (the created countries) and the written works reason that the surges in Foreign direct speculations relates decidedl y with the net efficiency in the nation of origin (Sauvant, 2008, p.229). To the creating countries, the outside direct ventures give the biggest wellspring of outer account to the home economy (CSIDS, n.d). In any case, it is as yet begging to be proven wrong with respect to whether the transnational organizations help in building up this immature countries or the companies are simply in quest for their advantage and couldn't care less about their negative effects on the general public. In as much as the associations might be viewed as wellsprings of assets to the beneficiary countries, it is likewise advantageous to take note of that the associations are out to look for benefits. Endeavors to have a condition of harmony between these two clashing jobs (a benefit looking for association and wellspring of assets to the beneficiary nation) lead to blend of negative effects of the transnational enterprises on the national and provincial economies. Likely advantages of TNCs One of the positive effects of the TNCs is that they make work openings in the beneficiary countries (CSIDS, n.d). Accessibility of modest work is one among the variables that drive an organization to go worldwide and set up its FDIs in

Operations Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 3

Tasks Management - Essay Example In inverse accord, British Airways is a full help carrier model ready to give greater expense ticketing to buyers because of the quality of its image under a premiumisation model in showcasing. English Airways can keep up its serious edge through operational organizing with accentuation on innovation backing, trustworthiness, and great particularly in accordance with worker commitment with income building purchasers. The two aircrafts have altogether extraordinary operational systems, giving each an interesting upper hand coming from operational methodology improvement and usage. This report delineates the remarkable key operational profit for ventures for the two organizations that keep on supporting these carrier models. The operational methodologies of Ryanair and BA For organizations that keep up an expansive and different gracefully tie arrange so as to give items and administrations, for example, British Airways, holding costs for warehousing and stock administration are notewo rthy. These expenses incorporate space, work backing, utilities, and even tax collection (Heizer and Render 2004). For differing acquirement models, these expenses are unavoidable as office the executives requires uses for help work and innovation support on receivables and expectations (Heizer and Render 2004). ... - fluctuating buyer request in this industry that influence vital arranging and operational acquirement (British Airways 2010; Anderson and Day 2009). Combined with seller provided materials expected to complete its full-administration model, it was not, at this point effective for British Airways to keep up decentralized obtainment techniques with items deliverable from more than 80 unique nations. The expenses of acquirement and warehousing were including unavoidable, variable expenses into the plan of action that kept on holding onto serious cost focal points from British Airways. Minimal effort, no nonsense bearers were developing in different shopper divisions that had the option to refute high stock holding expenses and appropriation costs related with a various flexibly chain organize. In accordance with the expenses of acquisition, British Airways confronted an exchange off circumstance: Continue to ingest costs by working under a decentralized gracefully affix procedure to e vade change or to support and apportion capital assets to bring together flexibly chain techniques and take out redundancies. There were huge numbers of chance expenses related with the current flexibly arrange, along these lines the business established that execution of proper acquisition arranging programming (for this situation SAP) were important to profoundly modify the gracefully organize. The business changed its obtainment methodology to incorporate improvement of increasingly key partnerships with sellers, including providers during the beginning times of item and administration advancement, exploiting provider aptitude to help with making a commonly remunerating acquisition organize. These are essentially significant operational methodologies for cost controls in gracefully chain techniques (Copacino 1996; Ragatz 1997). English Airways started to benchmark

Where to Find College Essay Examples

Where to Find College Essay ExamplesThere are many places to find college essay examples that you can use as a starting point. These include booklets, magazine articles, and the internet. Each of these resources will provide you with various prompts that will give you the basic guidelines that you need to write your essay.The first place to go for college essay examples is online. There are many sites that offer both free and paid options. With the paid versions, you will be able to download them directly to your computer. As a result, you have a much wider variety of topic choices and start lines available.When you are looking at them, it is important to keep in mind that they should not be an end all, be all, but a starting line for the essay that you are going to write. In most cases, the essay will be revised later on as you continue writing it. Therefore, you want to pick a starting point that you will not need to revisit because you will be able to easily remove this informatio n and move forward with the rest of the details.The free versions of the examples will be very general in nature. They may only include topics like why you would prefer to work with a certain company over another. Other examples may only contain rules about writing within specific guidelines that you will need to follow in order to pass the course. These are the general kind of examples that you should look for.The second place to look for example material is in a book. There are several books on essays that include a sample essay to read as a starting point. Because they are geared toward a specific area of writing, you will find that some of them include the basic guidelines for writing a good essay without the additional details that are difficult to find elsewhere.One of the advantages of this type of book isthat it will give you access to a wide variety of different styles. For example, there will be examples of academic essays, personal essays, research essays, essays related to a specific situation, and many more. This makes it easy to find the style that will fit your needs the best. Some of these books also have the option of choosing what type of paper to write based on your assigned topic.If you are having difficulty finding an example essay that fits your requirements, you can ask the professor in your class to give you a hand. You may be able to get one on a voluntary basis, or if the essay has been assigned. If this is the case, make sure that you do not overlook this opportunity because it can lead to a great opportunity to write an essay for credit.You can find college essay examples at many different places, but it is important to find the ones that are right for you. If you are unsure of what type of essay you want to write, it is best to keep looking until you find one that suits your needs. You will be glad that you did when you write the best essay you can.

Analysis of Gloria Jimenezs Against All Odds and Against...

Essay Analysis Gloria Jimà ©nez wrote an essay at Tuffs University in 2003 named, â€Å"Against All Odds and Against the Common Good (Jimà ©nez 116). The purpose of this essay is to persuade and support the following thesis: â€Å"Still, when all is said and done about lotteries bringing a vast amount of money into the lives of many people into the lives of a few, the states should not be in the business of urging people to gamble (Jimà ©nez 116).† The evidence given in support of toward this argument does not point toward the proper thesis identified in the beginning of the essay. Jimà ©nez begins with little confidence in her ability to persuade the states to get out of the†¦show more content†¦The author than fails to tell the source of this experiment so the reader of her essay is left wondering if it is even valid evidence from a reliable source. These viewpoints are better placed with a thesis that reads, â€Å"States should no longer be in the business of the state lo ttery.† The evidence she brings at that point covers most of her essay and I do not find them addressing the issue of â€Å"the states should not be in the business of urging people to gamble† (Jimà ©nez 116-119). The second to last paragraph actually has the most associability with her main thesis. The logical argument she uses here is a very good point, â€Å"Everyone knows tobacco is harmful. What if the state enticed people to smoke (Jimà ©nez 118)?† This is a very good point except the author failed to address why the harmfulness of the state lottery should be compared to the health risk of cigarettes. The issue is not directly addressed as to why playing the state lottery is bad. Without that supporting evidence that argument leaves much to be desired. It can also be argued that no one ever wins from smoking tobacco even if they never get sick from it; their family and friends suffer. Someone eventually does win the lottery and it may truly be a ticket out of poverty. The circumstance surrounding her addresses concerning poverty is where the author makes an appeal to pathos. She states,â€Å"the poorShow MoreRelatedAnalysis Of The Odds And Against The Common Good990 Words   |  4 PagesAnalysis of the odds The lottery in this country is a big past time for Americans. It gives hope to the hopeless and disappointment to a multitude of participants. A quick view of statistical information regarding the lottery shows that out of all people who take part in this country wide phenomenon, each individual person has a 1 in 175,223,510 chance of hitting the jackpot (AmericanStatisticalAssociation.org). The author of â€Å"Against The Odds and Against the Common Good†, argues that theRead MoreAnalysis of Against the Odds and Against the Common Good1735 Words   |  7 PagesThe following two paragraphs are a summary of Gloria Jimenezs essay Against the Odds and Against the Common Good. States should neither allow nor encourage state-run lotteries. There are five major arguments that people use to defend lotteries. One is that most lotteries are run honestly, but if gambling is harmful to society it is irrelevant to argue if they are honest or not. The second is that lotteries cre ate jobs, but there are only a small handful of jobs that would be eliminated if lotteries

Essay about STDs - 1489 Words

STDs Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) are very common in today’s society. They represent a threat to humans because when they cannot be treated, they can become an epidemic, such as AIDS. Although STDs can affect people of all ages, young people – especially college students - between the ages of 19 and 25 are the most affected (American Social Health Association). There are three types of STDs: bacterial, viral and parasitic. In this essay, we will study one disease from each category by analyzing the causes, describe the symptoms and learn the treatments available. We will also investigate on whether or not there is a cure for the disease. Our research will concentrate on the following diseases: Chlamydia, hepatitis B and pubic†¦show more content†¦However, some patients do have symptoms of Chlamydia. In women, the bacteria attack the cervix and the urethra which leads to abnormal vaginal discharge and burning sensation when urinating (U.S. Department of Healt h and Human Services). When Chlamydia remains untreated, it can become a very serious and dangerous disease. In fact, â€Å"the infection can spread to the fallopian tubes† and cause pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) which might lead to infertility. On the other hand; male symptoms mainly consist of abnormal release of fluids and burning sensation in the urinary canal as well. Additionally, in order to treat patients who suffer from Chlamydia, doctors often prescribe antibiotics (Kaplan, and Cooper). Aspirin can also be used to relieve the aching and inflammation. It will also help the patient feel better and lead a normal life while treated. Furthermore, the infected person should contact her or his previous partner(s) in order to get them checked as well. Even though Chlamydia is a curable disease, we have seen that when no treatment is provided, complications can arise. This can cause pelvic inflammation and infertility. Also, an individual that has had Chlamydia once, or any other STD as a matter of fact, would be at higher risk to get infected again (Kaplan, and Cooper). The second STD that we areShow MoreRelatedStd Std Prevention1489 Words   |  6 Pagescampaign with peer education. The whole purpose of the prevention program was to increase the universitys students knowledge about STD, improve their attitudes towards the use of contraceptives, and promote the idea of getting tested for STIs. The message seemed to have been well accepted and led to discussions among about half of the students. Although knowledge about STDs was high at baseline, about one fourth of the students reported that their knowledge about these diseases increased . The evaluationRead MoreStds Essay1077 Words   |  5 PagesThis chart above shows the magnitude of how STDs affect adolescents and young adults. When broken down, between 2015-2016 among 15-19 years the rate of reported cases of chlamydia increased 4.0% (1,854.2 to 1,929.2 per 100,000), those 20-24 years rat e increased 1.9% (2,594.5 to 2,643.8 per 100,000), and the age-specific rate of chlamydia in 2016 among 15-19 was 1,929.2 per 100,000 and among 20-24 was 2,643.8 per 100,000 (2016 Sexually, 2017). Which shows that chlamydia cases are highest among adolescentsRead MoreStds Essay2127 Words   |  9 PagesSexuallly transmitted diseases or known as STDs, are passed from one person to another through intimate physical contact such as vaginal, oral, and anal sex. STDs commonly affect people from the ages of 15-24. The most common types of STDs that I will be addressing are, HPV(human papillomavirus), chlamydia, gonorrhea, syphilis, herpes, and HIV/AIDS. History STDs have been known to humans for centuries. Lack of knowledge and awareness lead to a widespread transmission of diseases with little orRead MoreStds Essay751 Words   |  4 Pagessexualy transmitted diseases(STD) caused by a lack of carefulness and overall disregard for general health and sexual standards. Americans have been engaging in premarital sex at an increasing rate since 2004 with 94% of the interviewed population stating they have had sex before marriage. This has increase in â€Å"pleasure sex† has exposed much of America to STD’s and the resulting outbreak has been catastrophic. With an average of one out of four people carrying and STD even though they may not possessRead MoreEssay On STD1500 Words   |  6 PagesObjective 2 Next, within the next 10 years, the Bronx community will illustrate and explain the positive uses of the physical examinations to decrease the mortality and morbidity rates from late stage STD diagnosis by utilizing appropriate therapies. STDs cause complications that can advance to â€Å"emotional suffering, including infertility, ectopic pregnancy, cancer, and death† (Ignatavicius, 2016). In 2017, CDC stated that the number of HIV diagnoses were 39,513 cases followed by a mortality rateRead MoreStds Essay908 Words   |  4 Pagesof sexually transmitted diseases(STD) caused by a lack of carefulness and overall disregard for general health and sexual standards. Americans have been engaged in premarital sex at an increasing rate since 2004 with 94% of the interviewed population stating they have had sex before marriage. This increase in â€Å"pleasure sex† has exposed much of America to STD’s and the resulting outbreak has been catastrophic. With an average of one out of four people carrying an STD even though they may not possessRead MoreEssay On Stds1024 Words   |  5 PagesAnyone who is sexually active can acquire an STD. However, the CDC states that â€Å"while sexually transmitted diseases affect individuals of all ages, STDs take a particularly heavy toll on young people. CDC estimates that youth ages 15-24 make up just over one quarter of the sexually active population, but account for half of the 20 million new sexually transmitted infections that occur in the United States each year† (CDC, 2017). STDs are an apparent problem in the United States and a growing problemRead MoreEssay on STDs1724 Words   |  7 Pages I chose do my biology report on Sexually Transmitted Diseases because STDs are becoming a concern for Americans and especially American teens. There are two kinds of STDs, viral and bacterial. Viral Studs are incurable; the most common viral Studs are HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis B, herpes, and HPV. Bacterial STDs are curable. The most common bacterial STDs are gonorrhea, chlamydia, and syphilis. STDs, are also known as venereal diseases, is a term that refers to more than 50 diseases and syndromes whichRead MoreEssay On Stds1305 Words   |  6 PagesHere we see the Healthy People 2020 (2017) STD goal, they recognize that there are over 35 â€Å"infectious organisms† which are transmitted via sexual activity, they also reference the CDCs assertion that there are around 20 million new STD cases a year, and argue that STDs are costing the U.S. healthcare system around $16 billion a year. They do not specify how much of that cost can be associated to the 13-24 year old population, however, we can look at other noted statistics showing that this groupRead MoreStd Essay931 Words   |  4 Pagesgetting tested then they would be more inclined to do so. The inadequate promotion of STD prevention results in higher rates of HIV/AIDS transmission among African-American students attending HBCUs. It would be beneficial for students to be involved in and aware of the statistics of exactly how detrimental STDs can be and make a change to better protect their health. The current sexually transmitted disease (STD) epidemic in adolescents has led to concern about the potential for spread of the human

The Desire For Assimilation Among Immigrants - 1846 Words

In Franz Kafka’s novel Amerika the desire for assimilation among immigrants is shown repeatedly. It is shown both in Karl’s attitude as well as his Uncle Jakob’s actions and behavior. The desire for immigrants to assimilate is shown in Henry Fairchild’s article in The American Journal of Sociology, The Restriction of Immigration. In his work Fairchild shows how many Americans, including himself wish for immigrants to assimilate as quickly as possible and display negative attitudes towards immigrants who are overtly European. Many referred to the massive immigration to America in the early 1900’s as a problem and offered solutions. In order for an immigrant not to be considered part of the problem and face prejudice, he or she should attempt to assimilate into the American middle class as quickly as possibly, by mastering english, gaining a trade and achieving some sort of economic success. The further one distanced themselves from their Europe an origins the better. This shows the prevailing stigma against European immigrants. Uncle Jakob, his actions, and his demands of Karl attempt to combat popular complaints against immigrants. This is shown especially through Karl’s Uncle’s quick rise to success as well as his immediate abandonment of his origins. The Restriction of Immigration shows what many perceive to be the problems with immigration. The most often repeated issue is the failure for immigrants to assimilate. Fairchild argues against the establishment ofShow MoreRelatedCanada s Long Standing Desire For Assimilation Essay1609 Words   |  7 Pagesbeing built upon assimilation, surveillance, and capitalist control of its people. It is modern in the sense that it is always striving forward in regards to the latest technology, money-making business, and consumption for profit. And yet it still lacks when it comes to racial acceptance. While it has made progress, there are still tensions that are di sregarded. Canada seeks only for a sense of nationalism that is stuck in the past. Canada’s long standing desire for assimilation is tied to its anti-immigrationRead MoreComparing Waves of Immigrants in Joseph Healey’s â€Å"From Immigrants to White Ethnics827 Words   |  3 PagesHealey’s â€Å"From Immigrants to White Ethnics† is a generalized comparison between the varying groups of individuals that accompanied the colossal waves of immigration to the United States from Europe in the nineteenth century. Immigration to this country resulted from a number of reason such as religious persecution, individuals seeking to find employment after industrialization in their home countries limited their livelihood, and political oppositions to name a few. On arrival the immigrants knew immediatelyRead MoreUnder the Desguise of a Passageway to Happiness: Assimiliation779 Words   |  3 Pagesdifferent and instead make efforts to change the differences to match the way things normally and dominantly are. This fear and reaction is the reason fo r why efforts of assimilation occur, so that the dominant can integrate the minority and to conform to the dominant culture. Writer Sarah Ahmed discusses the issues of migration, assimilation, and what it really means to be happy in her chapter â€Å"Melancholic Migrant.† She traces the links between white culture and happiness; the idea of the whiter you areRead More Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri Essay1514 Words   |  7 Pageswho is branded as a foreigner. In America, there exists a common misconception that immigrants who arrive in this country fully assimilate or seek to assimilate as time progresses. The category I chose was The Dot of true Happiness. The dot which signifies the bindi, a traditional red mark worn by Indian people, is the source of true happiness among these immigrants. Although these newly arrived immigrants are expected to be content only after assimilating to the American culture, Lahiri attestsRead MoreAmy Tan s The Joy Luck Club1385 Words   |  6 PagesPluralism, Acculturation and Assimilation in Amy Tan s The Joy Luck Club Mona A. M. Ahmed Zagazig University, Egypt The purpose of this paper is to investigate pluralism, acculturation and assimilation in Amy Tan s novel The Joy Luck Club (1989), a finalist for the National Award, and a recipient of the 1990 Bay Area Book Reviewers award for fiction. Amy Tan (1952- ) is a Chinese American novelist; she isRead MoreAnalysis Of John Demoss Heathen School932 Words   |  4 PagesJohn Demos’s interpretation of the â€Å"Heathen School† illustrates American challenges relating to multiculturalism and assimilation effectively. Demos flawlessly accounts the unforeseen and touchings stories of the missionary project, originating in Cornwall, Connecticut in the eighteenth century. At the same time, Demos details the conversion of â€Å"Heathens†-consisting of young Hawaiian, Native American, Indian, and Chinese men-into Christianity and civilization itself. The Heathen School became a grandRead MoreThe Immigration Of Canada And The Assurance Of Equality And Freedom From Racial Discrimination1383 Words   |  6 PagesCanada is referred to as a ‘land of immigrants’ since a large number of newcomers have settled here and helped to enhance and preserve its ethnicity and diversity. Every country has its own norms and principles in accommodating new immigrants and assisting them to settle down. However, not all the immigrants are fortunate enough to sustain the uncertain circumstances that they had foreseen before migrating to a new country. While in the process of adjusting to a new society, these settlers are oftenRead MoreIdentity Formation and Assimilation of Ashima and Gogol in the United States1292 Words   |  6 Pageseasy task. Immigrants usually face challenges to identify themselves . Identity formation is the development of one’s distinctive personality due to particular reasons such as new environment, new culture and conflicts. During the process, some characters from Jhumpa Lahiri’s The Namesake either create or deny the bond with their own culture; some undergo conflicts among generations. Those processes reflect significantly in Ashima and Gogol throughout the book. The degree of assimilations determinesRead MoreAbstract. This Proposed Research Is Designed To Handle1440 Words   |  6 Pagesregarding the post –migration adjustments.The primary aim for this study is on the behavioral, emotional as well as the academic adaptation of the immigrants adolescent and children, in view of their level of post-migration stress and the surport which is provided by their social networks. The participant for this research proposal will 600 newly immigrants who are in the elementary, middle as well as the high school levels.The students will be i nterviewed shortly after the school entry, with the secondRead MoreB.Machismo, Marianismo Familismo . Machismo, Marianismo1049 Words   |  5 PagesB. Machismo, Marianismo Familismo Machismo, Marianismo and familismo are central to Latino culture, and all three can increase the likelihood of IPV in Latina immigrants. Machismo and its female counterpart marianismo are held as the â€Å"ideal† male and female gender roles in traditional Latino culture. These Latino cultural traditions are two-sided; machismo and marianismo can be viewed as positive qualities, however, they can also allow for an unfair balance of power between partners. Stevens

Analysis of the Raven free essay sample

The Raven The Raven is a narrative poem by American writer Edgar Allan Poe, first published in January 1845. It is often noted for its musicality, stylized language, andsupernatural atmosphere. It tells of a talking ravens mysterious visit to a distraught lover, tracing the mans slow descent into madness. The lover, often identified as being a student, is lamenting the loss of his love, Lenore. Sitting on a bust of Pallas, the raven seems to further instigate his distress with its constant repetition of the word Nevermore. The poem makes use of a number of folk and classical references. Poe claimed to have written the poem very logically and methodically, intending to create a poem that would appeal to both critical and popular tastes, as he explained in his 1846 follow-up essay The Philosophy of Composition. The poem was inspired in part by a talking raven in the novel Barnaby Rudge: A Tale of the Riots of Eighty byCharles Dickens. We will write a custom essay sample on Analysis of the Raven or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Poe borrows the complex rhythm and meter of Elizabeth Barretts poem Lady Geraldines Courtship, and makes use of internal rhyme as well as alliteration throughout. The Raven was first attributed to Poe in print in the New York Evening Mirror on January 29, 1845. Its publication made Poe widely popular in his lifetime, though it did not bring him much financial success. Soon reprinted, parodied, and illustrated, critical opinion is divided as to the poems status, though it remains one of the most famous poems ever written. Synopsis The Raven follows an unnamed narrator who sits reading forgotten lore as a method to forget the loss of his love, Lenore. A rapping at [his] chamber doorreveals nothing, but excites his soul to burning. A similar rapping, slightly louder, is heard at his window. When he goes to investigate, a raven steps into his chamber. Paying no attention to the man, the raven perches on a bust of Pallas. Amused by the ravens comically serious disposition, the man demands that the bird tell him its name. The ravens only answer is Nevermore. The narrator is surprised that the raven can talk, though it says nothing further. The narrator remarks to himself that his friend the raven will soon fly out of his life, Just as other friends have flown before along with his previous hopes. As if answering, the raven responds again with Nevermore. The narrator reasons that the bird learned the word Nevermore from some unhappy master and that it is the only word it knows. Even so, the narrator pulls his chair directly in front of the raven, determined to learn more about it. He thinks for a moment, not saying anything, but his mind wanders back to his lost Lenore. He thinks the air grows denser and feels the presence of angels. Confused by the association of the angels with the bird, the narrator becomes angry, calling the raven a thing of evil and a prophet. As he yells at the raven it only responds, Nevermore. Finally, he asks the raven whether he will be reunited with Lenore in Heaven. When the raven responds with its typical Nevermore, he hrieks and commands the raven to return to the Plutonian shore, though it never still is sitting on the bust of Pallas. The narrators final admission is that his soul is trapped beneath the ravens shadow and shall be lifted Nevermore. Analysis Poe wrote the poem as a narrative, without intentionally creating an allegory or falling into didacticism. The main theme of the poem is one of undying devotion. The narrator experiences a perverse conflictbetween desire to forget and desire to remember. He seems to get some pleasure from focusing on loss. The narrator assumes that the word Nevermore is the ravens only stock and store, nd, yet, he continues to ask it questions, knowing what the answer will be. His questions, then, are purposely self-deprecating and further incite his feelings of loss. Poe leaves it unclear if the raven actually knows what it is saying or if it really intends to cause a reaction in the poems narrator. The narrator begins as weak and weary, becomes regretful and grief-stricken, before passing into a frenzy and, finally, madness. Christopher F. S. Maligec suggests the poem is a type of elegiac paraclausithyron, an ancient Greek and Roman poetic form consisting of the lament of an excluded, locked-out lover at the sealed door of his beloved. Allusion Poe says that the narrator is a young scholar. Though this is not explicitly stated in the poem, it is mentioned in The Philosophy of Composition. It is also suggested by the narrator reading books of lore as well as by the bust of Pallas Athena, goddess of wisdom. He is reading many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore. Similar to the studies suggested in Poes short story Ligeia, this lore may be about the occult or black magic. This is also emphasized in the authors choice to set the poem in December, a month which is traditionally associated with the forces of darkness. The use of the raven † the devil bird † also suggests this. This devil image is emphasized by the narrators belief that the raven is from the Nights Plutonian shore, or a messenger from the afterlife, referring to Pluto, the Roman god of the underworld (also known as Hades in Greek mythology). Poe chose a raven as the central symbol in the story because he wanted a non- reasoning creature capable of speech. He decided on a raven, which he considered equally capable of speech as a parrot, because it matched the intended tone of the poem. Poe said the raven is meant to symbolize Mournful and Never-ending Remembrance. He was also inspired by Grip, the raven in Barnaby Rudge: A Tale of the Riots of Eighty by Charles Dickens. One scene in particular bears a resemblance to The Raven: at the end of the fifth chapter of Dickenss novel, Grip makes a noise and someone says, What was that him tapping at the door? The response is, Tis someone knocking softly at the shutter. Dickenss raven could speak many words and had many comic turns, including the popping of a champagne cork, but Poe emphasized the birds more dramatic qualities. Poe had written a review of Barnaby Rudge for Grahams Magazine saying, among other things, that the raven should ave served a more symbolic, prophetic pu rpose. The similarity did not go unnoticed: James Russell Lowell in his A Fable for Critics wrote the verse, Here comes Poe with his raven, like Barnaby Rudge / Three-fifths of him genius and two- fifths sheer fudge. Poe may also have been drawing upon various references to named Huginn and Muninn, representing thought and memory. The raven also gets a reputation as a bird of ill omen in the story of Genesis. According to Hebrew folklore, Noah sends a white raven to check conditions while on the ark. It learns that the floodwaters are beginning to dissipate, but it does not immediately eturn with the news. It is punished by being turned black and being forced to feed on carrion forever. In Ovids Metamorphoses, a raven also begins as white before Apollo punishes it by turning it black for delivering a message of a lovers unfaithfulness. The ravens role as a messenger in Poes poem may draw from those stories. Poe also mentions the Balm of Gilead, a reference to the Book of Jeremiah (8:22) in the Bible: Is there no balm in Gilead; is there no physician there? why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered? In that context, he Balm of Gilead is a resin used for medicinal purposes (suggesting, perhaps, that the narrator needs to be healed after the loss of Lenore). He also refers to Aidenn, another word for the Garden of Eden, though Poe uses it to ask if Lenore has been accepted into Heaven.

Do Children Know God Without Being Taught Essay Example

Do Children Know God Without Being Taught Essay Do Children Know God Without Being Taught? The Benedictine abbess Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179) writes of a vision in which a four-sided form, representing the wisdom of God, is connected by a channel to a fetus in the mother’s womb. Through this channel to the child a â€Å"fireball† is transmitted, which â€Å"pours itself through all the limbs of the person and gives the greenness of the heart and veins and all the organs to the entire body as a tree gives sap and greenness to all the branches from its root A fireball possesses the heart of this child. Because the soul, burning with the fire of deep understanding and not having the form of human members, discerns different things in its journey of understanding. The fireball†¦comforts the heart of the human being because it exists so to speak like the foundation of the body† (Fox, 55. ) Hildegard’s vision confronts us with the idea that God may be communicating with us well before we are born. This thought, as well as my own observations of children and my own experiences of God, have led me to ask, â€Å"Can we know God without being taught? † The prevalent theories of faith development, and the curricula for Christian education that have evolved from them, stand in opposition to the idea that we innately know God. As well, the history of Christian thought about children has promoted the idea that children are far from holy and in dire need of instruction. In this paper, after reviewing historical lines of thought regarding children’s spirituality, and the faith development theories of James Fowler and John Westerhoff, I present alternative ideas about faith that allow or support the theory that children know God without being taught. We will write a custom essay sample on Do Children Know God Without Being Taught specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Do Children Know God Without Being Taught specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Do Children Know God Without Being Taught specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer This idea is then examined in light of Scripture. Tradition: The Child in Christian Thought For centuries Christians have understood humanity to be marked by original sin. In the West this has been interpreted by Augustine (354-430) and Reformed theologians as a statement of our inherent sinfulness at birth; even the newborn participates in Adam’s sin. Infant baptism, for Augustine, is reclaiming the child for Christ (Guroian, 69ff. ) â€Å"By contrast, Chrysostom [347-407] maintains that newborn infants are innocents, wholly without sin† (Guroian, 70. He interprets original sin not as the passing on of sinfulness, but of mortality; sinfulness then is a result of mortality (Guroian, 67. ) Human nature â€Å"in its wholeness is mortally wounded by original sin† and its will is â€Å"weakened and prone to personal sin, but [infants] are still innocents† (Guroian, 69ff. ) For Chrysostom then, baptism of infants is not done to reclaim them, but to fortify them for a life of spiritual combat. Thus, baptism’s importance for Chrysostom is not solely tied to its remedial power, but to its incorporation of the infant into the church, the body of Christ. Infants are baptized into the church â€Å"because they benefit from the care and discipline of adults experienced in the spiritual struggle† (Guroian, 70. ) It is of course Augustine’s interpretation of original sin that has dominated Christian thought in the West. For Aquinas (1225-1274), infants bear the stain of original sin, but are not capable of actual sin. Aquinas allowed for the idea of the innocence of infants, since they do not yet have the capacity for reason; yet â€Å"for Thomas, children are bearers of actual – but not existential – innocence: afflicted with a fault that does not automatically consign them to hell, neither are they models of purity or virtue† (Traina, 131. ) They are, then, not spiritual models for adults to follow; â€Å"they are incomplete, lacking both wisdom and active virtue† (Traina, 128. ) John Calvin (1509-1564) not only upheld the doctrine of original sin as it came from Augustine, but â€Å"against the dominant patristic and medieval traditions, Calvin and some of his contemporaries, especially Luther and Melanchthon, understood original sin itself to consist of an inherited corruption of the entire human nature, especially of the will and of the understanding (Pitkin, 167. ) Calvin writes, â€Å"Even infants bear their condemnation with them from their mother’s womb; for, though they have not yet brought forth the fruits of their own iniquity, they have the seed enclosed within themselves. Indeed, their whole nature is a seed of sin; thus it cannot be but hateful and abominable to God† (quoted in Pitkin, 167. ) However, Calvin does lift up young children as examples of simplicity and humility that deserve emulation. â€Å"While he did not go so far as to idealize the faith of children†¦ he did consider the youngest infants capable of not merely manifesting but indeed proclaiming God’s glory† (Pitkin, 164. ) Despite their lack of understanding, Calvin holds up young children (up to about age seven) as â€Å"mature proclaimers of God’s goodness† (Pitkin, 166. This, of course, becomes possible only through the grace of God intervening to save them from their fallen nature. Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758) followed Aquinas in thinking that infants are not born sinful, but neutral; yet the result of human frailty is inevitable sin, occurring almost immediately after birth. Adam’s sin means that humans are born without the qualities that would help overcome the natural tendency to sin. This view of children led Edwards to strive mightily to instill in children a sense of their depravity and need for conversion. Since infants inherited the stain of original sin, they were as guilty as adults. ‘As innocent as children seem to be to us,’ he explained, ‘if they are out of Christ, they are not so in God’s sight, but are young vipers, and are infinitely more hateful than vipers†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ Influenced by Augustine and especially John Calvin, Edwards insisted that even the youngest children were corrupt unless they had been ‘reborn’ in Christ† (Brekus, 303ff. For Friedrich Schleiermacher (1768-1834), childlike faith is something to be emulated if we are to enter the kingdom of God; in his novella â€Å"The Celebration of Christmas: A Conversation,† children are portrayed as having â€Å"a ‘pure revelation of the divine’ from which no conversion is necessary. † For adults who â€Å"have become alienated from the childlike, a conversion is necessary – a conversion to become as a little child† (DeVries, 339. In a homily on Mark 10:13-16 Schleiermacher describes the quality of childlike faith that is to be emulated: â€Å"The peculiar essence of the child is that he is altogether in the moment†¦The past disappears for him, and of the future he knows nothing – each moment exists only for itself, and this accounts for the blessedness of a soul content in innocence† (quoted in DeVries, 339. It is living with God in the present that is â€Å"the essence of the eternal life that Christ promises to those who believe in him†¦adults, then, must recover this childlike perception, as if by conversion† (DeVries, 339. ) Nevertheless, Schleiermacher understands children to be equally capable of sin. â€Å"If the capacity for religious experience is an innate capability of the child, fully formed Christian faith certainly is not† (DeVries, 346. ) Catechesis and parental modeling of the Christian life are crucial for the child’s upbringing in a life of faith. Reason: The Faith Development Theories of Fowler and Westerhoff This survey of selected notables in the Church leaves us with an idea of the natural tendency of children to sin, and of their need for instruction in the life of faith, though some authors allow for an understanding of children as limited models for adults. In studying the faith development theories of Fowler and Westerhoff, I found strong support of children’s need for instruction, and little allowance for the idea that children might have something to teach adults. Fowler’s theory of faith development is based on stages of cognitive development. As the human develops psychologically, faith may develop in stages that increase in complexity of intellect. Use of a spiral diagram to portray the stages conveys a progression from lesser to greater. The stages are hierarchical (one stage integrates and builds upon the previous stage), sequential (one stage follows another in a logically necessary way), and invariant (stages cannot be skipped over) (Ford-Grabowsky, 26. Fowler writes that â€Å"more developed structural stages of knowing are, in important ways, more comprehensive and adequate than the less developed ones; the more developed stages make possible a knowing that in some senses is ‘more true’ than that of less developed stages† (Fowler as quoted in Ford-Grabowsky, 38. ) In Fowler’s theory, adults at stage five or six have a greater understanding of God than children, adolescents, or young adults. I might ad d that his theory would also place mentally handicapped persons in the stages of lesser relationship with God. The faith development theory of Westerhoff is diagrammed as tree rings (in contrast to Fowler’s spiral. ) He leans away from the strictly hierarchical stages of faith, describing the circles of the tree ring as styles rather than stages. Yet these styles are also dependent upon cognitive development; the first style of faith accessible to us, Experienced Faith, â€Å"results from our interactions with other faithing selves† and is typical in the preschool and early childhood years (he does not specifically address infancy) (Westerhoff, 91. As we develop, we may keep adding tree rings (styles of faith) on top of each other: †¦A tree grows if the proper environment is provided, and if such an environment is lacking, the tree becomes arrested in its expansion until the proper environment exists. Each tree, however, does its own â€Å"growing† and has its own unique characteristics. Similarly, we expand from one style faith to another only if the proper environm ent, experiences, and interactions are present; and if they are not, then our expansion of faith is arrested. Of course no style of faith is natural to any particular age and everyone can expand into a new style providing the proper interactions with other faithing souls are present. (Westerhoff, 88. ) Westerhoff is careful to say that a tree with only one ring is a complete tree; added rings do not make for a more whole tree, but an expanded tree. Despite this claim, and the claim that the styles are not dependent upon age, Westerhoff’s choice of language does convey a hierarchy. The faith of those who do not reach the expanded styles is referred to as â€Å"arrested† faith, and the analogy of tree growth connotes immature versus mature faith. Westerhoff sees faith development as living into our faith potential; it only seems logical to conclude that if four styles are potential, and someone stops at the first style, that person’s faith is less than that of someone who reached the potential of the fourth style. Westerhoff’s update to his chapter on styles of faith (chapter four) moves more forcefully in the direction of valuing all styles of faith equally. Here he discusses the student-teacher relationship as that of co-pilgrims on a shared journey. Each â€Å"is in need of† and â€Å"contributes to the life of† the other (Westerhoff, 103. ) Reason Revisited: Alternatives to Cognition-Based Faith Development Theories When I watched a professor draw Fowler’s six-staged spiral on the chalkboard and heard the explanation that each stage brought one to a fuller experience of God, I couldn’t help wondering: what if we have it backwards? What if, as infants, we start out closer to God than we will ever be in this life, nd as we physically and psychologically develop, we are prone to increasing distance from God? I thought of Jesus’ words, â€Å"Unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven† (Matthew 18:3. ) Was Jesus proposing that adults, not children, are the ones with a lesser relationship with God? Sandy Eisenberg Sasso presents a Jewish theology of childh ood, beginning with an account of a rabbinic legend. While a child is still in the womb a light burns above its head. The foetus is able to see from one end of the world to the other. It learns the entire Torah. But as it enters into the air of the world, an angel comes and strikes it directly above the mouth and makes it forget the entire Torah (Sasso, 22. ) Throughout life the Torah is reclaimed through learning; yet there remains a sense of the inherent spiritual life of children. â€Å"Rather than teaching of ‘original sin’ Judaism proposes ‘original virtue’, the innate spiritual endowment of the child who perceives the unity of all† (Sasso, 23. ) This understanding leads to incorporation of children into the faith rituals of the Jewish community, so that their involvement is central to sacred ritual. For example, the Passover Seder begins with a child asking questions. The ceremony cannot proceed without the child’s participation. At the end, the children search for a hidden piece of bread; the Seder cannot conclude until they find it. Sasso explores other rabbinic interpretations of Scripture that uphold the claim that â€Å"adult appreciation of the sacred is not better, only different than the child’s†¦God speaks in many voices and each voice, including the child’s, is but a partial apprehension of the Divine. The more voices one comes to know the closer one comes to understand the One God who includes all voices† (Sasso, 24. ) A similar openness to children’s experiences of God allowed Sofia Cavalletti to observe young children and notice a telling depth of spiritual experience, revealing an understanding of God that one would have assumed to be beyond their cognitive ability or domain of experience. Her book reveals such experiences in children up to the age of six, which she observed during twenty-five years of work as a catechist in schools. Cavalletti observed and â€Å"attempted to document the existence of a mysterious bond between God and the child. This bond†¦subsists in early childhood even in cases of spiritual ‘malnutrition’ and appears to precede any religious instruction† (Cavalletti, 22. ) Cavalletti speaks of children as equal to adults in both receiving and proclaiming the Word of God. â€Å"†¦In the presence of the Word of God not only is there no longer neither Greek nor Jew, but, we believe, neither adult nor child. Before the Word of God all are hearers of a message that God addresses to His people through events and words. Such a message can be grasped only through a choral listening in which the child’s voice may have at times stronger and more profound tones than that of the adult† (Cavalletti, 23. ) As a Montessori teacher, Cavalletti is careful not to behave as if the teacher possesses knowledge and the students do not; rather, she â€Å"is open to listening, and†¦not forgetful that one may speak only in the measure that one listens† (Cavalletti, 49. ) Such openness to listening allows her to hear the experiences of very young children and recognize their understanding of God. Where Cavalletti departs most clearly from the theories discussed above is in stating that at times children are the spiritual leaders. What did she observe that led to such a bold statement? She observed that, despite what we are prone to believe, children know God without being taught. Some examples from her book are included here. The first comes from her predecessor Maria Montessori. Maria Montessori, in her book Spontaneous Activity in Education, records the account of Professor Ghidionescu at the International Congress of Pedagogy in Brussels in 1911. He reported the case of a child who had not received any religious education; one day the child suddenly burst into tears, saying: â€Å"Do not scold me, while I was looking at the moon I felt how often I had grieved you, and I understood that I had offended God. † In the same work, Montessori adds other examples that she herself witnessed or that were related to her personally. She cites the example of a seven-year-old boy, also deprived of any religious education, who had been told the theory of evolution according to the principles of Lamarck and Darwin. After the explanation the boy asked: â€Å"From whom did the first creature come? â€Å"The first,† answered his friend, â€Å"was formed by chance†; at these words the child laughed aloud and, calling his mother, he said excitedly: â€Å"Just listen; what nonsense! Life was formed by chance! That is impossible. † When he was asked how life was formed the child responded with conviction: â€Å"It is G od† (Cavalletti, 31. ) At age seven, logical deductions such as the one above are developmentally within the child’s scope (Cavalletti, 31. ) Examples from younger children who have not reached this stage of cognitive development are thus even more surprising. This [example] involves a three-year-old girl who grew up without the slightest religious influence. The child did not go to nursery school; no one at home, not even her grandmother, who was herself an atheist, had ever spoken of God; the child had never gone to church. One day she questioned her father about the origin of the world: â€Å"Where does the world come from? † Her father replied, in a manner consistent with his ideas, with a discourse that was materialistic in nature; then he added: â€Å"However, there are those who say that all this comes from a very powerful being, and they call him God. At this point the little girl began to run like a whirlwind around the room in a burst of joy, and exclaimed, â€Å"I knew what you told me wasn’t true; it is Him, it is Him! † (Cavalletti, 31ff. ) Examples such as this, where the child seems to know God in a way different from logical understanding, prompt Cavalletti to ask, â€Å"Does there exist in the child a mysterious reality of union with God? † (Cavalletti, 32. ) Further examples point to the child’s knowing God in a way that is not merely cognitive. One day [Linda, before the age of 6] noticed a butterfly in flight and she felt drawn to it; she followed it and suddenly â€Å"everything seemed to open up around me. † It appeared that she was able to see everything more clearly, and she â€Å"felt filled with joy and warmth throughout my whole body† in a way she had never experienced before. The sensation was so strong that the little girl burst into tears of joy, ran to her mother, and said, â€Å"Mommy, I know God. † Only much later, in thinking over that event, did Linda associate it with love; at the time it was something â€Å"very new and different, for which I had no reference points. It was something that the child did not perceive with her mind; what she had said afterward to her mother â€Å"was not an explanation, it was an exclamation† (Cavalletti, 35ff. ) Monica [age 6]†¦began to work again with the altar models, her back turned to the class. All of a sudden she stopped, turned around and said: â€Å"How happy I am today that I went to church! Mommy never takes me to church, she never has time. At last today there is someone who saves me and I feel free. † These are words that, either by formulation or content, seem to surpass a child’s capacity†¦(ibid. , 36. ) As well, the words of Francesco (five years old) do not seem to correspond to a child’s level: Francesco must have understood that his mother was not a believer, and he asked her: â€Å"Whom do you love more, me or God? † The mother naturally replied that she loved him more and the child responded: â€Å"I think this is your big mistake† (ibid. , 36. ) The following account is of a little girl who, while visiting a priest, saw the faces of Jesus and Mary for the first time in her life, represented in icons. This account, and others, demonstrate a child’s knowledge of God coupled with a desire to know more. having rushed into my room and seen the icons, the little girl began asking me questions;†¦with eyes wide open she fastened her gaze on the faces of Jesus and the Mother of God, which she was seeing for the first time in her life. Although with effort, I explained to the child†¦the meaning of what had struck her in a way she could understand. B ut my worries proved to be superfluous. â€Å"You know,† she said to me, â€Å"I knew He existed and I have always talked with Him before going to sleep; I knew He was everywhere and that He sees me when I get into mischief, only sometimes I was afraid of Him. How can I speak with Him? † Moved by the child’s words, I taught her the sign of the cross, and I experienced an extraordinary feeling watching those small hands making the sign of the cross†¦ â€Å"And now can I kiss Him,† she continued to my great surprise, but not on His face or cheek, not the way I kiss Mommy? Because He is greater than my mother, He is better than my mother. He sees everything and He doesn’t scold me. He is better than everyone, and He loves me. Give me the icon please, I want to see it always. I’ll put it beside my bed, and the icon of His mother too. Give it to me as a gift! † When her mother arrived the child said: â€Å"Mommy, quick, come here. Kiss Him. He loves you too. At last I’ve seen His face, but I’ve known Him for a long time. † Before her mother’s embarrassed silence the child continued: â€Å"Mommy, why don’t you say anything? Mommy, tell me about Him; I need to hear about Him. † But the icon was taken away from little Irina. Her mother described the child’s reaction: â€Å"She cries, she asks to hang it above her bed, saying, ‘I want to see Him, I need to talk to Him’† (Cavalletti, 38ff. ) Cavalletti observed in children a remarkable desire to know more about God, to spend surprising amounts of time in prayer, to interact seriously with catechetical materials such as miniature altars or figures from parables, to spend more than the allotted time with the catechist, and to attend church even when it was not the family’s custom. †¦We would like to speak about the impassioned attraction the child has shown when faced with the religious fact, so much so that he will forget or disregard the things supposedly more pleasing to children†¦Francesco was two years and two months old. As a Christmas present he received the first tricycle of his life; almost at the same time his mother spoke to him of the meaning of Christmas and gave him a manger scene. Francesco took it happily; completely forgetting his tricycle, he wandered around the house carrying the various pieces of the set, showing them again and again to his grandmother so that she would retell the story of Christmas (ibid. , 37. ) A woman who had not raised her son in the church recounted another example of a child’s strong desire to repeat a spiritual experience. She and her husband†¦took a trip to Italy with their five-year-old son; later she reminisced with her husband: â€Å"Weren’t you struck by the way Pieterke, who was only five years old, followed the services in the churches we visited in Italy? Think of the ceremonies of the cathedral in Siena and in the Roman basilicas: they were never too long for him and he did not want to leave. For such a restless boy the opposite woul d have been natural and understandable! He thought the celebrations were magnificent. I don’t think I have ever told you what he asked me as soon as we returned to Uccle from our trip to Italy: ‘Mother,’ he said to me one day, ‘why don’t we ever go to church as we did in Italy? ’† (Cavalletti, 38. ) Cavalletti recounts several occurrences of unexpected behavior in children, who will trade their normal behavior or typical sources of enjoyment for the time set aside for catechesis. Enrico (six years old), Paolo (seven years old), and Massimo (six years old) were meeting for the first time with an inexperienced catechist; Paolo did not really want to come because that was his only free day and he would have preferred to stay at home and play peacefully; for the catechist’s part, she was totally inexperienced and without any equipment that could have helped the children – she had only the Bible. The catechist opened to the first page of the Bible, read it, and helped the children to enter into the text. Two hours passed by quickly, and when Paolo’s mother came to take him home his eyes filled with tears; he did not want to leave. Massimo was willing to give up the music lessons he loved because he wanted to come to catechesis â€Å"every day,† because â€Å"this is more important† (ibid. , 40. ) At another catechetical center, the children figured out how to move the hands of the clock ahead so they could go to catechesis earlier (ibid. , 40. ) Children at other centers revealed their enjoyment of catechesis in the comments they made to their parents who came to pick them up: â€Å"Why have you come so soon? Almost two and a half hours had passed. ] I was doing so well,† protested Lucia (ibid. , 40. ) Laura (six years old) said: â€Å"I’d like to sleep here, even on the floor† (ibid. , 40. ) In many of the examples here, the children’s responses are often physical as well as verbal. Cavalletti and others note a â€Å"particular joyâ €  in the children they have observed â€Å"when praying, and†¦when the child is involved in religious activities his ‘whole being vibrates, becomes tranquil, and rejoices† (Cavalletti, 40. ) Remember the little girl above (pp. -9) who ran around the room joyfully when she heard about God as the creator, and the active youngsters who somehow remain calm through the hours of instruction or church services. â€Å"The response the children give to the religious experience is such that it seems to involve them deeply, in total gratification: ‘My body is happy,’ said Stefania after praying a long while with her young friends† (Cavalletti, 42. ) Cavalletti comments that the child’s understanding of God is a kind of knowledge different from academic knowledge. The facility and spontaneity of the child’s religious expression and prayer†¦lead us to believe that these arise from the depths of the child’s being, as if they were natural to him† (ibid. , 42) (my italics. ) She poses that this knowledge is in direct response to the basic need of the child to be loved and to love (a basic need for all ages, I assume – but the child is more transparent about this need. ) Cavalletti discusses this here in the children’s characteristic response to the parable of the Good Shepherd: †¦The parable is so deeply rooted in the child that it appears to be natural to him. It returns constantly in the children’s discussions, reflections, and prayer. The child does not know the parable in an academic way, but vitally; it is not knowledge imposed on the child from without; rather, it is through the parable that the child’s silent request finds response and gratification: the request to be loved and so to be able to love. The child never forgets the parable because the affective integration, which psychologists call ‘affective ratification,’ is complete; the image of the Shepherd is by now a part of the child’s very person (ibid. 74. ) I find intriguing Cavalletti’s observation that children’s religious expressions (here, their response to the parable of the Good Shepherd) appear to be â€Å"natural. † In her discussion of the introduction of Pentecost to the children, she writes, â€Å"With regard to the Holy Spirit, it is striking to see the facility with which the children enter into relationship with Him. The Holy Spirit’s work appears obvious to them, and they know how to recognize it spontaneously†¦Ã¢â‚¬ (ibid. , 117. This seems to invite my question, Are children responding to something that is already part of who they are – and are adults merely giving them the words to name what they already know in a way other than cognitively? Cavalletti poses that the child responds to the parable of the Good Shepherd because it answers a very basic need (the need for love); I ask, could the child be responding not only out of need, but out of recognition? Let us imagine that the Jewish legend retold by Sasso were true; could the child’s â€Å"natural† response to the parable be more of a remembrance than an assimilation of something new? That would certainly account for its seeming natural to the child. The writer of the foreword to Cavalletti’s book poses an interesting idea: I have become sure that there is a primary question in [the children’s] hearts and minds: â€Å"Who are you, Lord? † I do not believe this question arises from confusion or uncertainty. Rather, I believe it is a question like that of the people who gathered around Jesus when he walked on this earth, those people who felt his touch and heard his voice and saw his face, a question that is really saying, â€Å"I’ve seen you; I’ve heard you; I know you, but there is more of you to know. I need and want to know more† (Rebekah Rojcewicz in Cavalletti, 17. ) The acknowledgement that one might know God other than in a purely cognitive way certainly invites us to consider children’s spiritual experiences seriously, even if we do not go so far as to imagine that they are remembering God instead of learning about God. It invites both children and adults to claim spiritual experiences that are affective or intuitive as well as cognitive. Edward Hoffman, in a book entitled Visions of Innocence: Spiritual and Inspirational Experiences of Childhood, briefly recounts the history of various religions’ treatment of child spirituality. He writes, â€Å"Historically, the world’s great religions have always recognized our childhood capacity for closeness to the divine,† and mentions Biblical passages, Jewish tradition, and Native American tradition, among others (Hoffman, 3ff. ) His book documents experiences that people had as children, which were pivotal experiences for their understanding of life, God, and the world. The adults report experiences they had even sixty years ago, that are still vivid in their memory, despite insistence by parents, friends, etc. that they discount their experiences. The book is filled with experiences that are far from merely cognitive, many occurring in very young children. Similar findings are mentioned in a book by David Hay and Rebecca Nye. In an account of scholarly attempts to document child spirituality, Hay writes of the â€Å"shortage of competent research† and the difficulty of â€Å"the intellectual bias of much of the modern psychology of education†: During the 1960s one of the most influential students of religious education in the English-speaking world was the psychologist Ronald Goldman†¦. Goldman was a follower of the cognitive psychologist Jean Piaget, and his personal assumptions led him to ignore the possibility that spirituality might feature in the lives of children. In the second chapter of his most important book, Religious Thinking from Childhood to Adolescence Goldman took the view that â€Å"the mystics, who claim to have direct sensations of the divine, are exceptions, but as they are extremely rare cases, rarer in adolescence and practically unknown in childhood,† he would ignore them. The mistake he made was to assume that spiritual awareness is always something extraordinary, equated with mystical ecstasy, instead of holding open the possibility that it might be a very ordinary aspect of young children’s everyday experience†¦. Goldman’s opinions continue to have influence, despite sustained critiques of his position by a number of scholars (Hay, 41. ) Hay continues: During the 1970s and 1980s, evidence of the reality of spiritual awareness in early childhood began to flow from the work of Edward Robinson, the successor of Alister Hardy as director of the Religious Experience Research Unit in Oxford. Robinson noticed that a sizable proportion of the 5,000 or so accounts of religious experience which had been sent in to the Unit were reminiscences of events occurring in childhood, sometimes in very early years. As a result of pondering on these stories, published an account of them in his book The Original Vision. This was a pioneering attempt to question the educational validity of the Piagetian model as applied by Goldman to the area of religious understanding. What first impressed Robinson was the way that these childhood experiences had remained vivid in the memories of his correspondents for the whole of their lives. People repeatedly spoke of them as having the greatest personal significance when they were contemplating their personal identity and the meaning of their lives. No doubt there had been a considerable development in the interpretation and perhaps embellishment of these experiences as the individuals thought about them over the years. Yet Robinson found it hard to ignore the power of the initial impact of the event which had generated this wealth of reflection. Could it be that Goldman and his followers were giving a great deal of attention to the language and thought forms of religion, whilst ignoring the direct awareness out of which it grows? (Hay, 43ff. ) Hay summarizes an article by Lorelei F

A Moment Of Silence In Schools Essays - Prayer, School Prayer

A Moment Of Silence In Schools Essays - Prayer, School Prayer A 'Moment of Silence' in Schools In 1962 the Supreme Court decided that public schools did not have the power to authorize school prayer. This decision made public school in the U.S. more atheistic than many European nations. For example, crosses still hang on the classroom walls in Poland, and the Ten Commandments are displayed in Hungary. There are prayers held at the beginning of legislative and judicial sessions and every President has mentioned a divine power in his inaugural speech. In keeping with a spirit of religious freedom as stated in the First Amendment, there is no reason why students should not be allowed to have a moment of silence during the school day when they can pray or do as they choose. The case Engel v. Vitale in 1962 decided that school prayer is unconstitutional. With this case, it was pointed out that the students were to "voluntarily" recite the following prayer: "Almighty God, we acknowledge our dependence upon Thee, and we beg Thy blessings upon us, our parents, our teachers, and our country." The court ruled that this rule was unconstitutional according to the First Amendment's "establishment clause," which states "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion." In response to the Engel v. Vitale case some schools adopted a "moment of silence." In 1963, another case was brought before the court dealing with school prayer, Abington School District v. Schempp. The Schempp family challenged a law in Pennsylvania requiring the students to say ten verses of the Bible before school. These readings from the Bible were declared unconstitutional. Members of the board felt reading the Bible would give the children more moral values. The Schempp family strongly disagreed. Members of Congress attempted to find a compromise. From this effort came the adoption of the moment of silence, which is guaranteed by the First Amendment's "Free Exercise" clause. Six states now permit silent moments Georgia, Virginia, Maryland, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Alabama. Silent prayer was ruled constitutional in 1985 as long as it had no religious intent or purpose. (Newsweek, October 3, 1994) Prayer has been banned in schools for thirty-three years. The moment of silence has been ruled constitutional, however. Every student fills a moment of silence in a different way: through song, a prayer, or a memory. - References Newsweek, October 3, 1994, vol. 124. U.S. News and World Report, December 5, 1995 Vol. 117, No. 22, pg. 8-9. The Case of Engel v. Vitale 370 U.S. 421 1962, p. 118-119. Abington School District v. Schempp 374 U.S. 203; 83 S. Ct. 1560; 10 L. Ed. 2d 844 1963, pg. 529-530.

Technology Change and Leadership Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Technology Change and Leadership - Essay Example Successful business change, however, is elusive even through consultancy with government, professional bodies and industry groups. This paper seeks to identify key challenges for organizational leadership in getting value from change enabled by technological advances. For CEOs and other leaders it is crucial that they possess a dynamic understanding of technological advances and ensure that, they are primed to capitalize on any new opportunities that it presents. They specifically have to keep track of external environmental developments in order to manage their implications for their own internal change programs. Visible and active leadership is needed to avoid lack of satisfactory exploitation for business benefits and extended timeframes for implementation. Technological integration is a major business transformation that involves organizational design, process change, and behavioral change. Business executives need to see these changes as technology-enabled and not as technology- driven. A number of challenges, including the need to revise and reconfigure business practices, processes, and people in parallel with technology changes, faces this. Additionally, they need to provide clear articulation and central purpose of the implementation program and its business benefits. ... These are normally attributed to individuals although analysis shows that they signify a standard response to poor leadership (Ackerman-Anderson & Anderson, 2010: p33). This has several implications for the CEO. He or she must set the purpose inherent in the implementation in relation to mission and strategy of the company. He/she must also comprehend the difference between holistic and incremental organizational change since with holistic change, one cannot reverse engineer (Ackerman-Anderson & Anderson, 2010: p35). Leadership must also be clear on the differences between implementation and installation since the former needs both organizational and technological change. Success for future leaders is also dependent on conviction and vision. Finally, as the project gains steam, leadership also needs to make space for others. Negative and positive feedback is vital at this point with rewards and a simple â€Å"well done† being vital (Ackerman-Anderson & Anderson, 2010: p35). To lead technological change, business leaders need to build capability for the ongoing change (Bates, 2010: p41). Under this requirement, leaders face a number of challenges. First, while individual projects undergo implementation from the bottom up, transformational portfolios require top-down development. The tendency to build the latter bottom-up risks the inclusion of redundant initiatives. Top-down portfolios should be used only for technological and organizational change that is mission critical. Adoption of a strategic perspective needs the leaders to articulate their overall change policy such as highlighting reductions in budgets and headcounts, as well as structural realignments. Time wasting will normally result from project attrition and CEOs need to deal upfront with crucial

Meno's Paradox Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Meno's Paradox - Assignment Example This evidenced in the argument between Meno and Socrates, whereby, they both agree on prior knowledge. Meno can be referred to as Socratic dialogue written by Plato. It aims to find the definition of arà ªte or virtue. In this regard, it means virtue in general manner rather than particular virtues such as temperance and justice. In response to Meno’s paradox, Socrates comes up with new ideas of immortality of the soul, the theory on knowledge as a recollection, which Socrates illustrates by posing a mathematical puzzle to one of Meno’s slaves. In this paradox, Socrates tries to find a distinction between true belief and knowledge. In this dialogue, Meno suggests that inquiry is not possible. The argument that meno brings forth is known as meno’s paradox. As a solution to this disturbing paradox, Socrates constructs a theory of recollection (Meno 71). Meno asks Socrates whether virtue can be taught. In response, Socrates says that he does not know anything like virtue and in his entire life; he has never known anyone who is virtuous. In their argument, Meno tries to define virtue as power of command with exceptions in that there are virtues for those who command and those who obey and that the power of command must be exercised either justly or unjustly. On his part, Meno is willing to accept that virtue exist and can be taught. On his side, Socrates had no difficulty of admitting that there is virtue of good, and that the goods whether of mind or body are under direction of knowledge. Basing on this assumption, it can be deduced that virtue is teachable. In this paradox, there are two notions involved in that it is possible to overcome Meno’s paradox without difficulty and on the other hand, Socrates theory of recollection which is used as a response to the paradox but as the solution. The Meno’s paradox states that a man cannot inquire either about what he or she does not know or what

Awarness and Attitude of Primary Teachers Essay Example for Free

Awarness and Attitude of Primary Teachers Essay Child Rights: A Gist The Convention on the Rights of the Child defines basic rights of children covering multiple needs and issues. India endorsed it on December 11, 1992. Following are a few rights in the immediate purview of Smile Foundation as well as India. The right to Education: 50% of Indian children aged 6-18 do not go to school Dropout rates increase alarmingly in class III to V, its 50% for boys, 58% for girls. The right to Expression: Every child has a right to express himself freely in which ever way he likes. Majority of children however are exploited by their elders and not allowed to express. The right to Information: Every child has a right to know his basic rights and his position in the society. High incidence of illiteracy and ignorance among the deprived and underprivileged children prevents them from having access to information about them and their society. The right to Nutrition: More than 50% of Indias children are malnourished. While one in every five adolescent boys is malnourished, one in every two girls in India is undernourished. The right to Health Care: 58% of Indias children below the age of 2 years are not fully vaccinated. And 24% of these children do not receive any form of vaccination. Over 60% of children in India are anemic. 95 in every 1000 children born in India, do not see their fifth birthday. 70 in every 1000 children born in India, do not see their first birthday. The right to protection from Abuse: There are approximately 2 million child commercial sex workers between the age of 5 and 15 years and about 3.3 million between 15 and 18 years. They form 40% of the total population of commercial sex workers in India. 500,000 children are forced into this trade every year. The right to protection from Exploitation: 17 million children in India work as per official estimates. A study found that children were sent to work by compulsion and not by choice, mostly by parents, but with recruiter playing a crucial role in influencing decision. When working outside the family, children put in an average of 21 hours of labour per week. Poor and bonded families often sell their children to contractors who promise lucrative jobs in the cities and the children end up being employed in brothels, hotels and domestic work. Many run away and find a life on the streets. The right to protection from Neglect: Every child has a right to lead a well protected and secure life away from neglect. However, children working under exploitative and inhuman conditions get neglected  badly. The right to Development: Every child has the right to development that lets the child explore her/his full potential. Unfavourable living conditions of underprivileged children prevents them from growing in a free and uninhibited way. The right to Recreation: Every child has a right to spend some time on recreational pursuits like sports, entertainment and hobbies to explore and develop. Majority of poor children in India do not get time to spend on recreational activities. The right to Name Nationality: Every child has a right to identify himself with a nation. A vast majority of underprivileged children in India are treated like commodities and exported to other countries as labour or prostitutes. The right to Survival: Of the 12 million girls born in India, 3 million do not see their fifteenth birthday, and a million of them are unable to survive even their first birthday. Every sixth girl childs death is due to gender discrimination. Child Rights in India: An Introduction India is a party to the UN declaration on the Rights of the Child 1959. Accordingly, it adopted a National Policy on Children in 1974. The policy reaffirmed the constitutional provisions for adequate services to children, both before and after birth and through the period of growth to ensure their full physical, mental and social development. Accordingly, the government is taking action to review the national and state legislation and bring it in line with the provisions of the Convention. It has also developed appropriate monitoring procedures to assess progress in implementing the Convention-involving various stake holders in the society. India is also a signatory to the World Declaration on the Survival, Protection and Development of Children. In pursuance of the commitment made at the World Summit, the Department of Women and Child Development under the Ministry of Human Resource Development has formulated a National Plan of Action for Children. Most of the recommendations of the World Summit Action Plan are reflected in Indias National Plan of Action- keeping in mind the needs, rights and aspirations of 300 million children in the country. The priority areas in the Plan are health, nutrition, education, water, sanitation and environment. The Plan gives special consideration to children in difficult circumstances and aims at providing a framework, for actualization of the objectives of the Convention in the Indian context. Status of Children in  India Recent UNICEF (2005) report on the state of the world’s children under the title â€Å"Childhood Under Threat† , speaking about India, states that millions of Indian children are equally deprived of their rights to survival, health, nutrition, education and safe drinking water. It is reported that 63 per cent of them go to bed hungry and 53 per cent suffer from chronic malnutrition. The report says that 147 million children live in kuchcha houses, 77 million do not use drinking water from a tap, 85 million are not being immunized, 27 million are severely underweight and 33 million have never been to school. It estimates that 72 million children in India between five and 14 years do not have access to basic education. A girl child is the worst victim as she is often neglected and is discriminated against because of the preference for a boy child. National Commission for Protection of Child Rights In order to ensure child rights practices and in response to India’s commitment to UN declaration to this effect, the government of India set up a National Commission for Protection of Child Rights. The Commission is a statutory body notified under an Act of the Parliament on December 29, 2006. Besides the chairperson, it will have six members from the fields of child health, education, childcare and development, juvenile justice, children with disabilities, elimination of child labour, child psychology or sociology and laws relating to children. The Commission has the power to inquire into complaints and take suo motu notice of matters relating to deprivation of childs rights and non-implementation of laws providing for protection and development of children among other things. Aimed at examining and reviewing the safeguards provided by the law to protect child rights, the Commission will recommend measures for their effective implementation. It will suggest amendments, if needed, and look into complaints or take suo motu notice of cases of violation of the constitutional and legal rights of children. The Commission is to ensure proper enforcement of child rights and effective implementation of laws and programmes relating to children- enquiring into complaints and take suo motu  cognizance of matters relating to deprivation of child rights; non-implementation of laws providing for protection and development of children and non-compliance of policy decisions, guidelines or instructions aimed at their welfare and announcing relief for children and issuing remedial measures to the state governments. Convention on the Rights of the Child Adopted and opened for signature, ratification and accession by General Assembly resolution 44/25 of 20 November 1989 Right to education From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search The right to education is a universal entitlement to education, a right that is recognized as a human right. According to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights the right to education includes the right to free, compulsory primary education for all[1], an obligation to develop secondary education accessible to all, in particular by the progressive introduction of free secondary education[2], as well as an obligation to develop equitable access to higher education, ideally by the progressive introduction of free higher education.[3] The right to education also includes a responsibility to provide basic education for individuals who have not completed primary education. In addition to these access to education provisions, the right to education encompasses the obligation to rule out discrimination at all levels of the educational system, to set minimum standards and to improve quality of education. [4] International legal basis The right to education is law in Article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Articles 200 and 14 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.[5][6][7] The right to education has been reaffirmed in the 1960 UNESCO Convention against Discrimination in Education and the 1981 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women.[8] In Europe, Article 2 of the first Protocol of 20 March 1952 to the European Convention on Human Rights states that the right to education is recognized as a human right and is understood to establish an entitlement to education. According to the International  Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the right to education includes the right to free, compulsory primary education for all, an obligation to develop secondary education accessible to all in particular by the progressive introduction of free secondary education, as well as an obligation to develop equitable access to higher education in particular by the progressive introduction of free higher education. The right to education also includes a responsibility to provide basic education for individuals who have not completed primary education. In addition to these access to education provisions, the right to education encompasses also the obligation to eliminate discrimination at all levels of the educational system, to set minimum standards and to improve quality. The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg has applied this norm for example in the Belgian linguistic case.[9] Article 10 of the European Social Charter guarantees the ri ght to vocational education. [10] Definition Education narrowly refers to formal institutional instructions. Generally, international instruments use the term in this sense and the right to education, as protected by international human rights instruments, refers primarily to education in a narrow sense. The 1960 UNESCO Convention against Discrimination in Education defines education in Article 1(2) as: all types and levels of education, (including) access to education, the standard and quality of education, and the conditions under which it is given.[11] In a wider sense education may describe all activities by which a human group transmits to its descendants a body of knowledge and skills and a moral code which enable the group to subsist.[11] In this sense education refers to the transmission to a subsequent generation of those skills needed to perform tasks of daily living, and further passing on the social, cultural, spiritual and philosophical values of the particular community. The wider meaning of education has been recognised in Article 1(a) of UNESCOs 1974 Recommendation concerning Education for International Understanding, Co-operation and Peace and Education relating to Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.[12] The article states that education implies: the entire process of social life by means of which individuals and social groups learn to develop consciously within, and for the benefit of, the national and international communities, the whole of their personal  capabilities, attitudes, aptitudes and knowledge.[11] The European Court of Human Rights has defined education in a narrow sense as teaching or instructions in particular to the transmission of knowledge and to intellectual development and in a wider sense as the whole process whereby, in any society, adults endeavour to transmit their beliefs, culture and other values to the young. [11] Assessment of fulfilment The fulfilment of the right to education can be assessed using the 4 As framework, which asserts that for education to be a meaningful right it must be available, accessible, acceptable and adaptable. The 4 As framework was developed by the former UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Education, Katarina Tomasevski, but is not necessarily the standard used in every international human rights instrument and hence not a generic guide to how the right to education is treated under national law.[13] The 4 As framework proposes that governments, as the prime duty-bearer, has to respect, protect and fulfil the right to education by making education available, accessible, acceptable and adaptable. The framework also places duties on other stakeholders in the education process: the child, which as the privileged subject of the right to education has the duty to comply with compulsory education requirements, the parents as the ‘first educators’, and professional educators, namely teachers.[13] The 4 As have been further elaborated as follows:[14] * Availability – funded by governments, education is universal, free and compulsory. There should be proper infrastructure and facilities in place with adequate books and materials for students. Buildings should meet both safety and sanitation standards, such as having clean drinking water. Active recruitment, proper training and appropriate retention methods should ensure that enough qualified staff is available at each school. [15] * Accessibility – all children should have equal access to school services regardless of gender, race, religion, ethnicity or socio-economic status. Efforts should be made to ensure the inclusion of marginalized groups including children of refugees, the homeless or those with disabilities. There should be no forms of segregation or denial of access to any students. This includes ensuring that proper laws are in place against any child  labour or exploitation to prevent children from obtaining primary or secondary education. Schools must be within a reasonable distance for children within the community, otherwise transportation should be provided to students, particularly those that might live in rural areas, to ensure ways to school are safe and convenient. Education should be affordable to all, with textbooks, supplies and uniforms provided to students at no additional costs. [16] * Acceptability – the quality of education provided should be free of discrimination, relevant and culturally appropriate for all students. Students should not be expected to conform to any specific religious or ideological views. Methods of teaching should be objective and unbiased and material available should reflect a wide array of ideas and beliefs. Health and safety should be emphasized within schools including the elimination of any forms of corporal punishment. Professionalism of staff and teachers should be maintained.[17] * Adaptability – educational programs should be flexible and able to adjust according to societal changes and the needs of the community. Observance of religious or cultural holidays should be respected by schools in order to accommodate students, along with providing adequate care to those students with disabilities. [18] A number of international NGOs and charities work to realise the right to education using a rights-based approach to development.[citation needed] Historical development In Europe, before the Enlightenment of the eighteenth and nineteenth century, education was the responsibility of parents and the church. With the French and American Revolution education was established also as a public function. It was thought that the state, by assuming a more active role in the sphere of education, could help to make education available and accessible to all. Education had thus far been primarily available to the upper social classes and public education was perceived as a means of realising the egalitarian ideals underlining both revolutions.[19] However, neither the American Declaration of Independence (1776) nor the French Declaration of the Rights of Man (1789) protected the right to education as the liberal concepts of human rights in the nineteenth century envisaged that parents retained the primary duty for providing education to their children. It was the states obligation to ensure that parents complied with this duty, and many states  enacted legislat ion making school attendance compulsory. Furthermore child labour laws were enacted to limit the number of hours per day children could be employed, to ensure children would attend school. States also became involved in the legal regulation of curricula and established minimum educational standards.[20] In On Liberty John Stuart Mill wrote that an education established and controlled by the State should only exist, if it exists at all, as one among many competing experiments, carried on for the purpose of example and stimulus to keep the others up to a certain standard of excellence. Liberal thinkers of the nineteenth century pointed to the dangers to too much state involvement in the sphere of education, but relied on state intervention to reduce the dominance of the church, and to protect the right to education of children against their own parents. In the latter half of the nineteenth century, educational rights were included in domestic bills of rights.[21] The 1849 Paulskirchenverfassung, the constitution of the German Empire, strongly influenced subsequent European constitutions and devoted Article 152 to 158 of its bill of rights to education. The constitution recognised education as a function of the state, independent of the church. Remarkable at the time, the constitution proclaimed the right to free education for the poor, but the constitution did not explicitly require the state to set up educational institutions. Instead the constitution protected the rights of citizens to found and operate schools and to provide home education. The constitution also provided for freedom of science and teaching, and it guaranteed the right of everybody to choose a vocation and train for it.[22] The nineteenth century also saw the development of socialist theory, which held that the primary task of the state was to ensure the economic and social well-being of the community through government intervention and regulation. Socialist theory recognised that individuals had claims to basic welfare services against the state and education was viewed as one of these welfare entitlements. This was in contrast to liberal theory at the time, which regarded non-state actors as the prime providers of education. Socialist ideals were enshrined in the 1936 Soviet Constitution, which was the first constitution to recognise the right to education with a corresponding obligation of the state to provide such education. The constitution guaranteed free and compulsory education at all levels, a system of state scholarships and vocational training in state  enterprises. Subsequently the right to education featured strongly in the constitutions of socialist states.[23] As a political goal, right to education was declared in F. D. Roosevelts 1944 speech on the Second Bill of Rights. Implementation International law does not protect the right to pre-primary education and international documents generally omit references to education at this level.[24] The Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that everyone has the right to education, hence the right applies to all individuals, although children are understood as the main beneficiaries.[25] The rights to education are separated into three levels: * Primary (Elemental or Fundamental) Education. This shall be compulsory and free for any child regardless of their nationality, gender, place of birth, or any other discrimination. Upon ratifying the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights States must provide free primary education within two years. * Secondary (or Elementary, Technical and Professional in the UDHR) Education must be generally available and accessible. * Higher Education (at the University Level) should be provided according to capacity. That is, anyone who meets the necessary education standards should be able to go to university. Both secondary and higher education shall be made accessible by every appropriate means, and in particular by the progressive introduction of free education. [26] Compulsory education The realisation of the right to education on a national level may be achieved through compulsory education, or more specifically free compulsory primary education, as stated in both the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.[27][28] Action For Children (AFC) Action for Children (AFC) conceptualised by Wild Ganzen and supported by Net4Kids and Kids Rights aims at involving privileged citizens, civil society groups and various institutions including corporates in the development process. This programme supported by the Dutch Government promoted consortium (Wild Ganzen, Net4Kids and Kids Rights) has given a boost to the initiative. The programme is being implemented in three developing economies of the world namely Brazil, South Africa and India. Smile Foundation joined hands with the Consortium in April 2008 and since then has been executing the programme in India. The objective is to stimulate more fortunate mass to be a part of the development process and ensure sustainability of grassroots initiatives across India. Through AFC, Smile Foundation encourages people to ‘stand up and act’ to bring a change in the lives of underprivileged children and youth. Action For Children is based on the concept that development is a people’s issue and not just the government’s concern. With this premise, the Foundation has been striving to build a civil society that owes responsibility for societal development and participate whole-heartedly in transforming the lives of underprivileged children. Through AFC, Smile Foundation encourages individuals, civil society groups, corporate houses, professional associations, schools, colleges, youth wings to participate in the development process. The Action for Children programme sensitizes and involves the fortunate mass through: 1. Local Actions Local Action connotes organizing an event to raise funds for a child centric project. It can be organised by individuals, groups and institutions in their region. Local action aims at sensitization and consequent involvement of the privileged mass in raising funds for children through various activities 2. KidsXL KidsXL is a school exchange programme wherein children of privileged school and underprivileged school are brought together under one platform. Several interactive sessions and special activities are organized for the children. KidsXL aims at bringing the children from both the segments closer, thereby reducing social disparities. In the process, the children also learn to be sensitive and responsible towards the society 3. Media Advocacy The aim is to involve media in creating awareness among the people and advocating the cause before a wide audience. The Foundation sensitizes  people through documentaries, Public Service Advertisements, news features, advocacy campaigns, rallies etc. 4. Corporate Social Responsibility CSR aims at sensitising and involving corporates in the development process. It gives the corporates an opportunity to give back to the society. It is based on a partnership model wherein corporates partner with Smile Foundation either to support the whole or a part of capital cost or running cost of a child centric project. The inherent objective of the programme is to ensure that the development activities become locally sustainable.