The Us-Versus-Them Mentality In 2008’s Presidential Campaign Essay Example for Free

The Us-Versus-Them Mentality In 2008’s Presidential Campaign Essay The graphic novel, Maus, by Art Spiegelman, tells the story of a Polish Jew’s memories of his experience during the Holocaust. Drawn as mice, the Jews have faced a variety of psychological warfare, including xenophobia, scapegoating, dehumanization, and us-vs. -them dichotomy where the terrible events of the Holocaust were justified. The Holocaust was one of the most terrible events in human history, and decades later, scholars from many branches of academia still strive to understand such a dark historical event. Unfortunately, aspects leading up to the Holocaust still exist in the world today. While few current issues compare in magnitude to that of the Holocaust, such activities such as xenophobia, scapegoating, dehumanization, and divisive, dichotomous thought pervade populations everywhere. Although such negative sentiments always threaten negative results, in the US in the year 2008, one major historical movement and event occurred that promises a possible relief from such a divisive past. This historic movement and event is Barack Obama’s campaign, in which an African American ran for President of the United States and was the victor, becoming the first ever African American president of the country. But the campaign was not free of strife. This paper argues that while dichotomous, â€Å"us vs. them† elements in the year 2008’s presidential campaign were not systematically acted out as they were in the Holocaust, there existed similar instances of that mentality during the campaign timeframe. In the past decade, partisanship has set two major groups of Americans at odds with each other in the form of Democrat vs. Republicans. However, this past presidential campaign, or even in the past decade, the fever pitch of â€Å"us vs. them† has not escaped many people, and â€Å"Democrat† or â€Å"Republican† began to be expressed in layers of differences. Chuck Raasch of USAToday reports that: Americans fought a terrible civil war on all three fronts. A century later, Northerners saw Southerners as oppressors during struggles over civil rights, and Southerners viewed Northerners as meddlers. Even the Inside the Beltway label continues a deeply rooted, us-versus-them mentality of the nations capital. Despite the elevation of a black man and a white woman to the Democratic and Republican presidential tickets, respectively, the election of 2008 has played often to those divides. In her article Unleashed, Palin Makes a Pit Bull Look Tame, Dana Milbank of the Washington Post describes the crowd’s response, [who were] â€Å"waving thunder sticks and shouting abuse. Others hurled obscenities at a camera crew. One Palin supporter shouted a racial epithet at an African American sound man for a network and told him, Sit down, boy (p. A03). † While divisive expressions such as these seem far away from the Holocaust, one must consider Peter Suedfeld’s words regarding the genesis of anti-Semitism in the time before the Holocaust: Sherif et al. (1961/1988) demonstrated how leaders, by framing situations in terms of intergroup competition, can produce hostility and aggressive behaviour between component groups. We can see the workings of an ingrained us-vs-them mentality in experimental minimal groups (Tajfel et al. , 1971), which are composed in a completely arbitrary way and whose members never even meet each other (3). This explanation could very well describe the actions of leaders in political parties as well as group behaviors in response to leaders. Sarah Palin could be seen to â€Å"frame situations† such that â€Å"intergroup competition† occurs, as it does in the Republican furor over the Democrate presidential candidate. Partisanship was not the only exhibition of us-versus-them behavior during the past year. Dedication to one’s country came into question in which the concepts of American versus anti-American were introduced. According to Bob Lonsberry in his article â€Å"What’s Wrong With a Marxist? †, a person who is American is one who sees two irreconcilable extremes between Karl Marx and John Locke, and if a person takes into regard the writings of Karl Marx, then he or she is â€Å"anti-American. † If an American is to be truly American, they must adopt similar ways of thinking in which Marxism, communist, and other similar ontological principles must be absolutely shunned because they repudiate everything America stands for. These sentiments before the Holocaust were similar. In place of anti-Americans were the Jews. Andre Minaeu writes: To the Nazis, all things seriously afflicting Germany and the Aryan race were ultimately Jewish or Jewish-inspired. In this sense, the Jewish people were the quintessential enemy of Nazi totalitarianism. The latter elevated Jewry, so to speak, to the rank of an evil ontological principle against which struggle was to be universal (17). In this sense, anti-Americans are philosophically against everything Americans stand for and should be beaten politically, while Jews represented everything the Nazis stood for, which caused them to become an evil philosophical principle. No other dichotomy is more apparent in both Holocaust and the 2008 presidential campaign than ethnicity. The question of race—and one’s ethnicity—became a large factor due to the mixed-race heritage of Barack Obama. Historically, part of Obama’s ethnicity had been under the awful yoke of slavery and then the struggle of civil rights. One can see this in the words of Martin Luther King, Jr: I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama†¦ little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers (60). The question of Jewsishness—both an ethnicity as well as a belief system—was subject of life and death for six million people during World War II. Historically, Jews have also been slaves, and their ethnicity and religion have played a large role in their struggles in past centuries. Paul Johnson explains this in his book The History of the Jews by quoting Dietrich Bonhoeffer, an ex-prisoner of the Nazis: We have learned to see the great events of world history from below, from the perspective of those who are excluded, under suspicion, ill-treated, powerless, oppressed, and scorned, in short those who suffer (2). It is not a subtle expression in either of these two statements that the writers and speakers felt that their world was divided in groups, and they were the â€Å"them† in the phrase â€Å"us-versus-them. † While the us-versus-them mentality might seem as if it would haunt human interaction for all time, there have always been historical figures who have sought to overcome the divisiveness by seeking common ground. Perhaps the most famous of those is Abraham Lincoln, who spoke these words: A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure permanently half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved I do not expect the house to fall but I do expect it will cease to be divided (Lincoln). Martin Luther King, Jr. is another figure who sought to overcome injustice and inequality through nonviolent means. Current scholars are improving and applying techniques for nonviolent conflict resolution (Suedfeld 2006, p. 7). In regards to the Holocaust, there are many studies about the tragedy in many areas of study, from psychology to politics to sociology, as evidenced by the books The Making of the Holocaust: Ideology and Ethics in the Systems Perspective by Andre Mineau and Canadian Psychology addressing Holocaust reverberations fifty years later. Lastly, the end of the 2008 campaign year drew to a close, and Barack Obama has been elected President. While he emerged from one of the two major political parties in the US, his own sentiments in his book The Audacity of Hope strive for a bipartisan rather than a divided approach: Maybe there’s no escaping our great political divide, an endless clash of armies, and any attempts to alter the rules of engagement are futile. Or maybe the trivialization of politics has reached a point of no return, so that most people see it as just one more diversion, a sport†¦ We paint our faces red or blue and cheer our side and boo their side†¦ But I don’t think so. They are out there†¦ those ordinary citizens who have grown up in the midst of all the political and cultural battles, but who have found a way†¦ to make peace with their neighbors, and themselves (pp. 50-51). Violence stemmed from rabid divisiveness is what made the Holocaust so terrible. Therefore, any attempts to heal the us-versus-them mentality would have to be the opposite: peaceful actions that strive to bring humans together. Fortunately, if one could take lessons from Mahatma Ghandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr., Abraham Lincoln, and Barack Obama, then the possibility that discordant sentiments in the human populace may never take seed. WORKS CITED Johnson, Paul. A History of the Jews. HarperPerennial (1988). King, Jr. , Martin Luther. â€Å"The Dream†. Speech. Lincoln Memorial, Washington, DC. 28 August 1963. Lincoln, Abraham. House Divided Speech. Speech. Springfield, Illinois, June 16, 1858. Milbank, Dana. â€Å"Unleashed, Palin Makes a Pit Bull Look Tame. † Washington Post. October 7, 2008: A03. Minaeu, Andre. The Making of the Holocaust: Ideology and Ethics in the Systems Perspective. Amsterdam; Atlanta, Georgea: Rodopi, 1999.

An integral part of teaching

An integral part of teaching How and why we assess our children has a massive impact on their life in education and consequently on how and what we plan and teach, and how children learn. The National Curriculum defines assessment as an integral part of teaching and learning (1999, p.17), emphasising the value of assessing the process of learning and teaching as well as the outcome. Suggestions on a range of assessment strategies and tools are included in the curriculum but to enable teachers and schools to continue the development of good assessment practice, more detailed guidance is necessary. To begin with it is perhaps necessary to define assessment as any process used to inform teachers as to a pupils progress and learning. There are many different types of assessment, usually discussed as different purposes of assessment while these assessments certainly differ in several significant aspects; they are united in their aspirations of making a positive contribution to bringing about learning. There are two main forms of assessment; formative and summative. I have observed both types in the classroom, recognising that the key to excellent assessment practice is to understand what each form and their methods contribute. From these observations I understand that in order to become successful in my pedagogy I need to construct my teaching to maximise the success of both formative and summative assessment in my classroom. To allow me competently use both assessment for learning and assessment of learning I must develop a range and knowledge of assessment purposes and strategies which I will now discuss. Formative assessment can provide a snapshot moment by moment picture of the success of teaching and learning. It provides the two way dialogue between educator and child, the knowledge which enhances pedagogy allowing teaching to become relevant and timely. Assessment for Learning in particular will be a clear focus for me as I look for opportunities to strengthen my own teaching practice, having observed first hand the strong contribution AfL, which the National Strategies defines as a natural, integral and essential part of effective learning and teaching and is a key element of personalised learning. Teachers and children continually reflect on how learning is progressing, see where improvements can be and identify the next steps to take (2004), can make towards effective teaching. It makes the difference between self-assured and stimulated pupils, and disenfranchised pupils who are uncertain of the rationale behind the learning objective. The case for clearly communicating the learning outcome to the class is picked up on by Clarke (2006). In my own experience and observation, this results in making learning relevant especially when the learning intention is placed in the context of previous and future learning. It also helps to illuminate which areas of subject knowledge are required to teach at which time and how this information or teaching of skills is to be structured. Clarke also recommends that the teacher works with children to identify success criteria. These are used to supply feedback to both pupils and the teacher regarding the extent to which the learning objective has been met. Consequently, the use of formative assessment enriches the process of teaching, planning and curriculum development. It can inform not only the short term goals for the class, but also the negotiated curriculum, as children are encouraged to become active learners by reflecting on their own progress and motivation. It must be stressed that not all assessment needs to be quantitative, nor does it need to be recorded .The teachers own reflective process is a vital part of assessment. The purpose of summative assessment is to illustrate that pupils have met their learning goals or reached a certain standard of accomplishment. Formative assessment in basic definition is the collection and use of evidence about the learning in relation to the explicit objectives and outcomes of a lesson. This type of assessment can then be used and interpreted by the teacher to identify what the pupil has achieved, any gaps in knowledge and to decide what steps are needed to enable the pupil to reach their potential and unit outcome. I have observed formative assessment being used to inform teachers of pupil progress and to enable them to adapt their planning and teaching to their childrens needs. The aim of formative assessment is to impact positively on pupil learning and effective pedagogy. There is a growing amount of evidence suggesting that formative assessment raises both progress and attainment levels Assessment begins in this way in the Early Years Foundation stage (EYFS), where in 2003; the Foundation Stage Profile (FSP) was introduced. The FSP consists of 13 scales relating to creative development, knowledge and understanding of the world, personal, social and emotional development, physical development, language and literacy and mathematical development. Children are assessed on each scale and their progress towards achieving early learning goals is judged. During my previous experience in my base school, I have observed how a pupil profile is built up over the EYFS, so that evidence can be used formatively and later summarised against the performance descriptions of the scales for reporting at the end of each term. Through my experience of the EYFS I have seen how teacher-based this form of assessment is, as the evidence accumulated for each child is derived from on-going learning activities. This normally takes place through the use of observation sheets and post-its. Occasi onally, a more formal assessment takes place where the teacher asks the child in question if they can perform a specific task, the evidence from which is then logged and used as assessment data, however these are still situated within the normal day to day routines of the children and no cause of distress. (Q 11 12) In comparison to the FSP, the assessment children experience in Key Stages 1 and 2 varies greatly and summative assessment plays a greater role. Summative assessment is the assessment of learning and is used to record the achievements of individuals at a particular point in their learning (usually at the end of a topic, term or year). Rather than a steady trickle of specific learning goals, it refers to a broader learning outcome which has been achieved over a longer period of time. In contrast to the singular outcomes of formative assessment, summative assessments are used in several different ways, some relating to individual pupils and some to aggregated results of groups of pupils. At the end of both Y2 and Y6, children are expected to undertake external tasks and tests in mathematics and English (SATS). The results of Key Stage 2 SATS in particular are a cause of immense pressure for both pupils and teachers, as they are reported and used to inform national statistics. It is only at the end of each Key Stage that pupil attainment must be reported in terms of national curriculum levels; however there is also a statutory requirement to provide parents with a summative report once each year. Many schools choose to include within this the levels children have reached during the academic year this trend has been reinforced by the use of optional SATS for years between 2 and 6. In addition to the assessment and tracking of individual pupils, test results (KS1 and KS2 SATS) are used to evaluate the effectiveness of the education provided by teachers, schools and local authorities and compared nationally. The results of these examinations have huge implications and c onsiderable importance for teachers as the results are used to inform targets which schools must take accountability for meeting. There are established Government national targets for the percentage of children achieving a level 4 in the key stage 2 tasks which schools are required to set targets for. The consequences of not achieving these targets are severe, with schools become subject to OFSTED inspections and categories, with lack of attainment becoming the main cause of a school being placed in special measures. (Q 11 12 13) In order to avoid such consequences, teachers are facing constant pressure to ensure children are achieving age related expectations, amid fears that they will fail to hit Government targets. Children in our primary schools are in danger of being taught a limited timetable as some schools and teachers focus on teaching to the test. This is despite recommendations by OFSTED that while à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦some schools are able to prepare pupils for tests without sacrificing the wider curriculumà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦but an emphasis on the core subjects limits what pupils do, particularly as teachers prepare them for key stage 2 exams (Marley 2008) As well as placing pressure upon teachers, national testing has a huge impact on pupils. It can cause a lack of motivation for lower ability children, as well as a view of learning as product rather than process for all children. There is much attention focussed on those children who are performing just beneath age related levels, while those who are either too far above or below the target level suffering a lack of attention. For my son, and for most 10-year olds in the country, the next nine months will be à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦a sterile, narrow and meaningless exercise in drilling and cramming. Its nothing to do with the skills of his teacher who seems outstanding. Nor do I blame the school. Its called preparing for Key Stage 2 SATS (2006) It is clear that the emphasis has to be placed back on teaching rather than targets and tests. How then do we ensure the progress and attainment of the children in our schools without narrowing the curriculum? Assessing pupil progress (APP) has been accepted as recognising the differing purposes and audiences for assessment on both a day-to-day and periodic time scale. On a day-to-day capacity it provides a closer view of pupils, enabling teachers to support childrens learning through use of effective classroom intervention. Periodically it reviews a broader range of pupils work, which in turn can inform planning and enable teachers to monitor progress and attainment. The purpose of APP is to support effective planning; teaching and learning, The use of informed and consistent target setting will continue to play a crucial part in ensuring that teachers know what to teach to allow children to achieve their aims by guiding and challenging them. In my base school APP is used to support this aim, ensuring that targets are both appropriate and relevant to individuals. Similarly APP can be used to identify gaps in a pupils learning, allowing teachers to reflect upon their own teaching, especial ly in those cases where there are common mistakes and misconceptions on the part of the pupils. APP also reinforces Assessment for Learning (AfL) as a daily occurrence, leading to a more constructive impact on teaching and learning. In national guidance there is an increasing emphasis on the role of APP in tracking and recording performance. Whilst most schools recognise the opportunities to increase their teacher assessments consistency and reliability, it will take time for APP to become second nature to staff. However, the overarching aim of APP is clear it aims to enable us to recognize and celebrate overall progress in an aspect of learning, rather than just assessing learning of the most recently taught and learned. (Q 12 13 26a) As well as internal methods of assessment, schools have access to national and local data in forms of the raiseonline and national and local benchmarking data. This enables schools to pinpoint how well they are doing and any improvements they could and should make. Schools can make comparisons, not only on a national level but also against schools with similar levels of deprivation (eligibility for free school meals) or schools with similar levels of contextual value added. Supporting all schools improvement processes by providing a variety of methods to analyse their performance data as part of the self evaluation form (SEF). It is necessary however to interpret benchmarking data with care as rather than providing schools with the answers it is more likely that it would help them identify questions and issues that may need to be investigated. Whilst comparing data between schools may give accurate portrayals of a schools performance, it does not necessarily account for it. (Q 13) It is my opinion, after research and school based observations, that a successful assessment is an open one, where everyone involved, from staff to pupils are aware to some extent of what and how evidence is to be assessed. It is essential that we are completely transparent about the need for and purpose of assessment and why it is carried out in particular ways. Feedback to pupils is key in formative assessment, as it is only by showing pupils the steps they need to take in order to reach the next steps in their learning that we as teachers can bring about learning. While we cannot learn for the students, we can use feedback to make adjustments to our planning and teaching, enabling students to access the curriculum with all the tools they require. Even the very youngest pupils can be given some explanation of the assessment process, which in turns enables children to both self and peer assess. Self and peer assessment includes pupil involvement in both setting the success criteria and how they will show that they have been successful, empowering them to take control of their own learning. There are huge advantages to this type of assessment, the most significant of which are that it develops lifelong evaluation skills whilst supporting independent learning increases pupil motivation by involving them in the assessment process treats assessment as part of learning, so mistakes are seen as opportunities rather than a sign of failure. reduces the amount of teacher assessment but improves the quality. In my base school I have observed a number of self and peer assessment strategies including children marking each others work, the use of a traffic lighting system, suggesting improvements to each others work and reflecting upon their own. Of course there are possible issues surrounding the use of peer and self assessment, with many believing that it should be used only for formative assessment as it is possible that children may allow friendships to affect their objectivity. It is necessary that teachers use peer and self assessment to support their own assessment, teaching and planning rather that relying upon it completely. (Q 28) Through my reading and observations during my time in school, it has become clear to me that there is no part of interaction which is not assessed. Though this may not seem manageable, the variation of assessment strategies that I have witnessed, I have come to the realisation that assessment does not always have to have a written outcome. Instead, it suggests to me that assessment can bring about conscious teaching and informed planning. My developing understanding of a range of assessment strategies including APP, self and peer assessment , AfL among others, will enable me to use day-to-day assessment to provide the pupils in my care with instant feedback, relevant next steps, appropriate support and individual targets, allowing me to adjust my planning in line with the needs of those in my care. (Q 26a, 12, 13, 19) Although I believe that some form of summative assessment is necessary in schools, I believe that on many occasions grades, marks and levels are assigned to pupils work more often than strictly necessary when it may be more appropriate to provide formative feedback. This is something I intend to avoid in my own practice, especially as I have experienced the use of excellent formative assessment in my base school. I have found that feedback given in this way to inform a target is highly effective in motivating pupils, and goes some way towards personalising learning. Furthermore it builds confidence and the long-term aim of helping children to become independent learners. It is essential then, to ensure good teaching and learning, that assessment involves a great deal more than just testing. It should be a continuing process that encompasses many activities, both formal and informal, designed to monitor and improve teaching and in turn the bringing about of learning across all areas o f the curriculum.(Q22, 25a) Teaching will inevitably be focused on what s assessed. When conducted by testing this impact is bound to have a narrowing effect on what is taught because tests only sample the learning outcomes and include those outcomes more easily assessed by tests. If teachers use a much wider range of assessment methods, the result can be much more positive.

Essay --

In today days Atrial Fibrillation (AF) is the most common cardiac dysrhythmia that is often seen in clinical practice. There are 700,000 strokes in the USA each year and 15% of it caused by Atrial Fibrillation. For a long period of time warfarin was the only oral anticoagulant available in the US for patients with atrial fibrillation to prevent stroke events. Recently a new oral anticoagulants, including apixaban, dabigatran, and rivaroxaban have been developed and became available in the US for the stoke prevention and systemic embolism for patients with atrial fibrillation. Now, when all three new anticoagulants are available as an alternative to warfarin for the same indication, they make the health care providers question which agent is the best and for which patients. New agents have practical advantages over warfarin that has many limitations such as need for monitoring, regular dose adjustment, food and drug interaction and side effects. The major goal of the health care prov iders is to prescribe the safest and the most effective alternative drug and dose to each individual patient with AF. However, the approval for clinical use by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the European Medicine Agency differ for anticoagulants and their dosages, and for the individual indication (Harenberg & Kraemer, 2012). Thus, more research needs to be done regarding the monitoring tools for new anticoagulant agents, and extend the use of these agents to other patient population. Keywords: anticoagulants, apixaban, dabigatran, rivaroxaban, warfarin, atrial fibrillation, stroke. Warfarin or New Anticoagulant for Stroke Prevention in Patients with Atrial Fibrillation Atrial Fibrillation (AF) is one of the most common arrhythmias that ... ...s and may not fully understand the importance of their medication, therefor, Advanced Practical Nurse should take every opportunity to reinforce the need of the patients to adhere to anticoagulant therapy and may play an important role in patient’s adherence by providing constant education about their health condition and the importance of their medication. More research should be done on new oral anticoagulants with different study population and similar patients that are seen in everyday clinical practice as well as attempt to define the best pharmacodynamic monitoring tools. Research should be conducted to outline monitoring protocol including timing relative to dosing and frequency as well as therapeutic targets. Using these strategies, future trials could enhance further the efficacy and safety of these new agents and could extend their use to new indications.

The Search for Scientific Truth Leads to God Essays -- Science Religio

The Search for Scientific Truth Leads to God At the dawn of the twenty-first century, many now realize that the opposition of science and religion has been exhausted. Today, unification of the two is imperative. The first step in this direction is recognizing that science is not the only source of knowledge; experience, spiritual discernment and spiritual experience constitute the unified process of cognizing the world. I. About the Unified Language in which the Laws of Nature are Written It began in Moscow more than forty years ago. At that time I had the chance to be the graduate student of the distinguished physicist, Nobel Prize laureate, and wonderful man, Igor Evgenievich Tamm. (1) In those days theoretical physics experienced a state of deep depression. After the success of quantum electrodynamics had astonished the imagination, further advancement was hindered by the lack of fundamentally new physical ideas. With this Igor Evgenievich was repeatedly saying to me that, by inventing different models of interactions, we impose our own "human" language on nature. But nature does not understand us, and dialogue does not come about. That is why, our primary task is to learn to "listen" to nature in order to understand its "language." But where is this language? In what it is encapsulated? It is in laws. It is in the laws of Newton, in the equations of Maxwell, in Euclidean geometry, in the laws of quantum mechanics. All these laws are "written" in some unified language. Thus at the end of 1960 there was set up a completely unusual task: to find the unified universal language in which all fundamental physical laws are written, and then, leaning on this, to review and to reassess the basis of all physics. Histor... ...ld. And, though man is the product of evolution, that evolution is purposeful and has created him in "the image and likeness of God." Our capacity for creativity and for abstract thinking, and ability to understand the World around us is not "the property of highly organized matter," but presents itself as the particle of God inserted into us. And it is not labor at all, but only the very act of inspiration, in its own way, which detached man from the rest of the humanoid family as a unique creature. Notes (1) The Memoirs on I.E. Tamm. M; Nauka. 1981. p.296. (2) Priest. Christianity and Atheism. ed. S.A. Zheludkov, K.A. Lyubarski. Brussels; 1982. p.139. (3) Theses in two volumes. V.I. ed. N. Kuzanski. M; 1979. p.66. (4) Theses in two volumes. V.I. ed. N. Kuzanski. M; 1979. p.64. (5) Religious Philosophy. ed. I.A. Iliin. M; Medium. 1994. p.100, 300.

The United States Needs a Terrorism Czar :: Argumentative Persuasive Essays

The United States Needs a Terrorism Czar Introduction Drug trafficking activity and terrorism activity have much in common. Both drugs and terrorism have strong national security and law enforcement components, they have military components, border control components, economic and trade components, medical components, and agricultural components. Today there are some 50 federal agencies with some degree of counterdrug responsibilities and at least 12 federal agencies with important counterterrorism responsibilities. This paper examines one model for unifying them under an executive branch, White House director's office, as outlined below. Drug trafficking and terrorism are illegal clandestine activities with strong national security and law enforcement threat components and operational similarities. Terrorists like drug traffickers, need weapons and engage in violence to achieve goals. Terrorists, like drug traffickers, are often involved in hiding and laundering sources of funds. Both terrorists and drug traffickers operate transnationally, and often get logistical and operational support from local ethnic satellite communities. Both groups often rely on the criminal community for support: they may need smuggled weapons, forged documents and safe houses to operate effectively. Finally, both groups need a steady cash flow to operate. In the case of terrorists, where state sources of funding are rapidly diminishing, drug trafficking is an attractive funding option. Increasingly, terrorist organizations are looking to criminal activity and specifically the drug trade as a source of funding. The FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces, a guerilla force) in Colombia are but one of many cases in point. Some experts have looked to the "drug czar" model in seeking to reform government structures to fight terrorism. Counternarcotics efforts have forced local, state and federal agencies to build operable, cooperative, inter-agency relationships. The need to build and maximize similar relationships to deal with terrorism exists and some have suggested that the "Drug Czar" [White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP)] model may have applicability to the counterterrorism arena. Legislation is currently before Congress on this issue [H.R. 4210]. It appears that the bill will not be enacted this year but will likely be reintroduced next term. Another structural option might require that federal departments and agencies make their counterterrorism capabilities available for the efforts of the terrorism director.

Barbed Wire By Mary Emeny

Mary Emenys poem, Barbed Wire, depicts war as a negative force, destroying every decent aspect of human existence. Written during the Vietnam War, the work displays Emenys negative views on war. In one way or another everyone experiences and identifies with the presence of war. Although some wars are fought for justifiable reasons, every war tears into the lives of those undeserving. The tragic effects of war consume the innocent creating an unconquerable path of entanglement. The physical effects of war overwhelm the nave causing pain and suffering. Initially, war entangles the lives of youth, destroying the innocence that they experience as an aspect of their life. The girl glid[ing] gracefully down the path (1) and the boy rid[ing] eagerly down the road (9) have their enjoyable realities striped by the harshness of war. Likewise, war enters womens lives creating turmoil. The woman who works deftly in the fields ( ) no longer is able to experience the offerings of life. The wire cuts, ( ) pushing her away from the normal flow of life. In addition, man undergoes tragic obstacles as a result of war. A man walks nobly and alone ( ) before the horrible effects of war set in on his life causing disruptions. War enters the life of man destroying the bond man shares with his beloved environment ( ). Although a great deal of physical effects exist in Emenys work, the spiritual consequences of war serve as the most devastating ones. The will and spirit of those amidst the harshness of war diminishes because of the seriousness of war. Prior to the complexities of war, the spirit flees gleefully to the clouds, ( ) illustrating the freedom one expresses without repression. As soon as the wire catches, ( ) or the war commences, and intervenes with the lives of innocent bystanders, the innocence is lost. Furthermore, the hearts of the untainted human beings experience demolition due to the irrationality of war. Before the tragedy of war enters the picture, a heart goes openly to the street, ( ) showing the freedom that one possesses until the wire snares, ( ) and the sense of innocence disappears. Significantly, as a direct result of the entanglement of war, mans mind suffers pain and misfortune. A mans mind grows in searching ( ) preceding the brutality of war, exhibiting the ability of man to explore his surroundings without interference. Wars hampering of the innocent limits man to certain life experiences that repress his potential. ). Barbed Wire illustrates how the severity of war detracts from the innocence within and surrounding humans. Men and women languish from the tangible results of war, encountering barriers when attempting to complete normal tasks. On the other hand, the spiritual consequences of war such as the repression of the mind, signify the tragedy involved when faced with war. Ultimately, war serves as an aspect of life that possesses the capacity to destroy human experiences and beliefs.

Constructivist Theory as the Framework for Student Strategies

This chapter provides a reappraisal of the literature used to inform the little research undertaking described in this study. To roll up literature for my thesis, I accessed the web sites for Zunia, ERIC, UNICEF, MoEYS, UNESCO, and the e-journal aggregation at James Cook University. There were troubles in deriving entree to some beginnings because many were password protected. Besides a challenge was turn uping articles written for the Kampuchean context, which has limited the range of the literature reappraisal for the local Cambodian context. Furthermore, many of the articles I searched were secondary informations beginnings, so it was sometimes hard to mention or cite because some secondary beginnings did non supply elaborate information. At times it was a description of a survey written by person other than the individual who conducted it. I besides had problem in finding which articles were related straight to my subject to be included ( Gay, Mills, & A ; Airasian, 2009 ) . Besi des utilizing assorted databases, I besides read books about the student-centered theory and old surveies conducted by UNICEF ( United Nation Children ‘s Fund ) every bit good the Cambodian-based undertaking rating written by VVOB. The cardinal words used to turn up literature were: student-centered, learner-centered, constructivism, societal constructivism, the zone of proximal development, scaffolding, student-centered instruction, and student-centered schoolroom. The mention subdivisions of relevant articles were besides used for placing other surveies that would be relevant to this reappraisal. The chapter has been structured following several subjects that emerged as literature was reviewed. It will depict the relevant literature focused on the issues environing the research aim. This chapter has been classified into several sub subdivisions based on the subjects that emerged during reading.2. 1 Constructivist Theory as the Framework for Student-Centered SchemesWithin the past two decennaries, the construct of â€Å" constructivism † A has been pulling attending from pedagogues ( Airasian & A ; Walsh, 1997 ) . Since constructivist theory is an epistemology and doctrine and non a theory of acquisition, constructivist teaching method has been developed by pedagogues influenced by the thoughts of cognition building found within constructivist theory ( Yilmaz, 2008 ) . â€Å" Constructivist teaching method is informed by the thoughts of John Dewey and William James ; the latter work of Jean Piaget ; and the sociohistorical work of Lew Vygotsky, Jerome Bruner, and Ernst von Glasersfeld † ( p. 165 ) . Harmonizing to Dewey, the relationship of the person to his or her environment and the edifice of experience through action are really of import. This importance has besides been recognized by constructivism, particularly societal constructivism ( Brush & A ; Saye, 2000 ) . Piaget ‘s work dealt with the phases of development which people go through and the importance of find in acquisition ( Alexander, 2006 ) . Vygotsky ‘s work focused on societal interaction as an agent of acquisition every bit good as the importance of a pupil ‘s bing experience and cognition ( Alexander, 2006 ; Yilmaz, 2008 ) . Among constructivism ‘s three foundational bookmans, Dewey, Piaget, and Vygotsky, Vygotsky ‘s work has had a clear influence on the construct of societal constructivism and played an of import function in modern constructivist idea because two of his four key rules are ; collaborative acquisition and student-centeredness ( Yilmaz, 2008 ) . His first cardinal co nstruct focuses on the societal nature of larning hence the term ‘social constructivism ‘ and the 2nd is that kids learn best the constructs that are within their zone of proximal development ( ZPD ) . The ZPD is a construct used to depict how a kid ‘s acquisition and kid ‘s cognitive development degrees develop together in societal state of affairss ( Vygotsky, 1978 ) . The ZPD is considered among the most utile both theoretically and practically ; of all the constructs that are created by Vygotsky ( Chenyne & A ; Tarulli, 1999 ) . The construct of ZPD, which focuses on the relation between human larning and development, is the 2nd foundation for scaffolding schoolroom direction ( Stuyf, 2002 ) . The ZPD is defined as â€Å" the distance between the existent developmental degree as determined by independent job resolution and the degree of possible development as determined through job work outing under grownup counsel or in coaction with more capable equals † ( Vygotsky, 1978, p. 86 ) . Alexander ( 2006 ) , Shear ( 2007 ) , and Stuyf ( 2002 ) depict the ZPD as the country between what a scholar can carry through mentally and make independently by themselves, an d what the scholar can carry through with the aid or the support of a more knowing other grownup or equal. The peer portions knowledge with the scholar to construct the spread between what is known and what is non known ( Shear, 2007 ) . The construct of ZPD is now widely applied in instruction and larning in many subject-matter countries ( Willis, 1996 ) . The thought of the ZPD informs teacher staging of larning to make effectual learning environments. It means effectual larning takes topographic point within the kid ‘s ZPD. Vygotsky stated that: A Learning awakens a assortment of internal developmental procedures that are able to run merely when the kid is interacting with people in his environment and in cooperation with his equals. When these procedures are internalized, they become portion of the kid ‘s independent developmental accomplishment. ( Vygotsky, 1978, p. 90 ) . Similarly, Wilhelm, Baker & A ; Dube ( 2001 ) argued that the ZPD is the cognitive country in which effectual direction and acquisition can go on. Teacher, equals, and instructional environment are the aid and support which pupils can larn with and this lies within the ZPD. â€Å" A kid ‘s new capacities can merely be developed in the ZPD through coaction in existent, concrete, located activities with an grownup or more capable equal † ( Wilhelm, Baker & A ; Dube, 2001, p. 3 ) For constructivist oriented instructors, the importance of planing an instructional activity is to place a job and supply pupils with resources to assist to work out the jobs thereby supplying chances for pupils to see jobs from a assortment of positions, leting pupils to join forces and negociate solutions to jobs and prove those solutions in a existent universe context ( Bednar et al, Duffy & A ; Jonassen, Brown, Collins & A ; Duguid as cited in Brush & A ; Saye, 2000 ) . Similarly harmonizing to UNESCO ( as cited in Mtika & A ; Gates, 2010 ) , student-centered instruction helps to fix pupils to run into society ‘s outlooks, to plan educational experiences to progress pupils ‘ acquisition, and supply chances for pupils to show their success in accomplishing social outlooks.2. 2 What is Constructivism?Constructivism is non a theory about instruction, but it is a theory about cognition and acquisition ( Haney & A ; McArthur, 2001 ) . Harmonizing to Airasian & A ; Walsh ( 1997 ) , constructivism is non an instructional attack ; it is a theory about how scholars come to cognize or how people learn. Brady ( 2006 ) & A ; Staver ( 1997 ) stated that constructivism comes from traditional epistemology, which offers a philosophical account about the nature of cognition. Constructivists believe that cognition is created from the interaction between bing experiences or cognition of people and new thoughts or state of affairss they encounter. In the constructivist schoolroom, scholars are encouraged to do connexions between their bing cognition and new experience ; this is the procedure of building cognition ( Airasian & A ; Walsh, 1997 ) . Furthermore, over the last decennary, constructivism has significantly influenced scientific discipline pedagogues because it links pupils ‘ bing thoughts to new experience and new information ( Haney & A ; McArthur, 2001 ; Staver, 1997 ; Yilmaz, 2008 ) . Similarly, Driver, Asoko, Leach, Mortimer, and Scott ( as cited in Hand et al. , 1997 ) stated that societal constructivist attacks in scientific discipline instruction are non new. The execution of constructivist larning theory has helped to develop the interaction between pupils and instructor and supply chances to build scientific discipline cognition in the schoolroom. Similarly, Mtika and Gates ( 2010 ) argued that this pedagogical theory helps to promote pupils ‘ interaction with the topic ‘s contents and with one another while the instructor facilitates the acquisition procedure. Constructivism has been divided by some theoreticians into three classs ( Alexander, 2006 ; Yilmaz, 2008 ) . They are Cognitive constructivism, Extremist constructivism, and Social constructivism. These three classs emphasize that cognition and significance are constructed by the human head ( Yilmaz, 2008 ) , nevertheless there are differentiations between them ( Hirumi, 2002 ) . Cognitive constructivism focuses on person ‘s interactions with the environment. Extremist constructivism emphasizes the person ‘s cognition building which is based on old cognition and experiences, and societal constructivism dressed ores on persons within groups and their sociocultural contexts ( Alexander, 2006 ; Yilmaz, 2008 ) . Though constructivism has been categorized into three, harmonizing to Staver ( 1997 ) , the two most comprehensive and celebrated classs of constructivism are extremist and societal constructivism. The two trade names have much in common. First, cognition is created by the thought of a individual and a community. Second, societal interactions between and among scholars are cardinal to constructing cognition. Knowledge is built by persons within their communities, societies, and civilizations. Furthermore, the agencies of societal interaction is chiefly linguistic communication because linguistic communication is a manner that worlds communicate and understand each other. Third, the character of knowledge is functional and adaptative, that it is in an active procedure ( Staver, 1997 ; Yilmaz, 2008 ) . Finally, the intent of knowledge is to function the persons ‘ organisation of his or her experiential universe. However, the two trade names are chiefly different. Extremist constr uctivism focuses on knowledge and the person, whereas societal constructivism focuses on linguistic communication and the group.2. 3 Constructivism in the ClassroomAirasian & A ; Walsh ( 1997 ) argued that constructivism is accepted in many instruction systems because it helps to advance higher order believing accomplishments of pupils. Similarly, harmonizing to the survey of Hand et al. , ( 1997 ) , engagement of pupils ‘ thoughts or thought is the most of import factor that influences pupils ‘ acquisition. In the survey of a group of junior secondary college pupils in Australia, pupils reported that they enjoyed larning through little group work, category treatment, developing their ain thoughts, less note pickings, and they developed a greater apprehension of constructs. These are all larning schemes that reflect the usage of societal constructivism in the formal acquisition context. Among the classs of constructivism, societal constructivism attacks are utile for pup ils because pupils can be required to work in a group or separately and make non necessitate to wait for a instructor to direct their acquisition. â€Å" The vision of the constructivist pupil is one of activity, engagement, creativeness, and the edifice of personal cognition and apprehension † ( Airasian & A ; Walsh, 1997, p. 446 ) . Whether societal constructivists emphasize cognitive development or societal interactions, there are several specific things that instructors can make to assist scholars to build their apprehension, structural staging is one of these things ( Killen, 2003 ) . Literally, scaffolding is a structural support that is set up around a edifice under building. In instruction in a metaphorical sense, stagings are the support structures that are provided by others such as parents, equals, and instructors to pupils to enable them to finish a undertaking and experience accomplishment in their acquisition ( Yang & A ; Wilson, 2006 ) . Harmonizing to Hammond & A ; Gibbons ( as cited in Yang & A ; Wilson, 2006 ) , effectual staging is both high challenge and high support. â€Å" Vygotsky stressed that pupils need to prosecute in disputing undertakings that they can successfully finish with appropriate aid † ( Wilhelm, Baker, & A ; Dube, 2001, p. 4 ) . Scaffolding is a procedure whereby a instructor or peer gives assistance or support to the pupils in their ZPD as it is necessary and removes this assistance when unneeded ( Killen, 2003 ) . â€Å" Scaffolding must get down from what is close to the pupils ‘ experience and construct to what is farther from their experience † ( Wilhelm, Baker, & A ; Dube, 2001, p. 4 ) . Similarly, at the beginning of a new acquisition undertaking, the staging should be fix to be concrete, seeable, and external, so learning can get down from the concrete to the abstract. The construct of staging is closely related to the ZPD because staging was developed by other socio-cultural theoreticians using Vygotsky ‘s construct of ZPD to educational contexts ( Yang & A ; Wilson, 2006 ) . In other words, the thought of scaffolding originally came from Vygotsky ‘s socio-cultural theory ( Stuyf, 2002 ) . Mitchell and Myles ( as cited in Yang & A ; Wilson, 2006 ) stated that societal constructivism focuses on larning that occurs in socio-cultural environments and scholars become active builders of their ain acquisition environment. Vygotsky ‘s socio-cultural theory proposes that societal interaction plays a cardinal function in the development of knowledge. Learners are non hence stray persons ; they are active scholars because of societal interactions ( Stuyf, 2002 ; Yang & A ; Wilson, 2006 ) .