Category: Uncategorized

Class 3, week 12 – Conflict Resolution

Name

Institutional Affiliation

At my first job at a real estate firm, on asking my boss about the reporting time to work, he mentioned 8:00-8:30-9:00 a.m.. I did not bother to ask about the exact time, therefore, I chose 8:30 a.m. as the middle ground. A few months down the line, my boss called me into his office and read various timings he had written down on my reporting time over a number of days instead of reporting at 8:00 a.m. I mentioned what he had said on the first day, but said that it was a lie. Given another chance, I would have asked for clarification on the reporting time to reduce chances of occurrence of such a conflict that left me viewing the boss as a dishonest man.

Class as a Relational Status

The income tier is influenced by four main variables: race or ethnicity, age, marital status, and education. In the first step, I filled out my metropolitan area and related location details as Michigan and the Detroit-Warren-Dearborn Metropolitan area. I then entered my household income before taxes as $64,000 and the number of people in my household as 4. Based on my household income and the number of people in my household, the results showed that I am in the middle-income tier, along with 52% of adults in the Detroit-Warren-Dearborn metropolitan area. In the second step, I entered my education level (Bachelor’s degree and more), my age (18-29), race (white), and marital status as married. The calculated results indicate that for the American adult population fitting my education, ethnicity, marital status, and age, 11% were in the lower income, 63% in the middle income, and 26% in the upper income.

From this exercise and according to Haufman and Schoepflin (2009:5), it is clear that age, race, education, and marital status have a huge role to play in determining one’s income tier. I repeated the process with education level (less than high school), age (30 to 44), race (black), and marital status (not married) and the results were 70% lower income, 28% middle income, and 2% upper income for adults with the same levels of education, same race, marital status, and age. Haufman and Schoepflin (2009:4) highlight the same variables when comparing the state of Flint and Bloomfield Hills, both in Michigan and only 45 miles apart, noting how the household incomes differ significantly. The race and education levels of those living in these areas contribute to their state. The exercise also notes how social class becomes an important form of stratification (Haufman and Schoepflin, 2009:5). Capitalism means that the distribution of wealth is based on factors that give an advantage to others while some remain disadvantaged. For example, a higher education level from a white family with fewer members means more household income.

Why is it that white people have an advantage across all categories even in the lower-class levels?

References

Kaufman, P., & Schoepflin, T. (2009). Last but not least: The pedagogical insights of

“intellectual craftsmanship”. Teaching Sociology, 37(1), 20-30.

Example: my Swedish teaching context

The Swedish language classes I was to teach were part of undergraduate degree programmes at a US university. The same modular system is used university-wide with predetermined modules, length, credits and grade system. The university is organised on a trimester system with three 10-week terms, across which language modules are taught in 4 credit modules (Swedish 101, 102, 103 and Swedish 201, 202, 203), meeting four days a week for 50 minutes each class.

Eugene, or is a small city with a high student population. Students tend to be in the 18-23 age bracket and full-time, but members of the public can sign up to take modules on a one-off basis if they choose, like a short courses, meaning there can be a wider range of ages and backgrounds. Students taking language modules are usually doing so because it’s a requirement of their degree programme or out of interest in language learning, or sometimes because they have never had an opportunity to learn a foreign language. Spanish however is different in that there is a sizeable proportion of Spanish speakers living both in Edugene and the wider US, making Spanish is by far the most popular language to take at this institution and one that can be learnt for professional reasons and used regularly outside of the classroom, whereas Swedish speakers are few and far between in the area.

The campus is quite old; rooms are usually bright and large enough, but basic, with movable chair-desks, a blackboard and an overhead projector. Tape and CD players can be borrowed from the department or the Yamada language Centre, which has language learning facilities and resources for a number of languages, though with few Swedish resources. There is a large library and some Swedish language and language learning resources in the US.

I was to be the only teacher, though there was also a Norwegian teacher, a Finnish teacher and several German teachers in my department, as well as a range of teachers of other languages, particularly French and Spanish. My fees, earnings and visa status in the US depended on my succeeding in my job; my students’ grade point averages (GPA) and eventual graduation could be affected by their performance in their language classes and eventual grades.

2. An introductory section that (a) situates the course design process within the models and frameworks we have considered, and within the larger context of curriculum/programme and project planning in general, (b) discusses the role of principles/beliefs about learning and teaching language in the design process and what key principles/beliefs have driven your own process, and (c) briefly introduces the three elements of C&SD you have chosen to focus on and complete for you portfolio in sections 3-5. (1000).

3.In this section, you may want to briefly present on or more of the overall curricular, course and or programme models we have looked at or you have read about; discuss the scope of your own course design project within one or more of these models; and show from your discussion which elements of which frameworks have guided you in this course design process. Treat it like an introduction to the course design process and how your portfolio of work relates to the models, frameworks and theories of curriculum, course and syllabus design as well as the principles guiding your design.

4. a section on each of: environment analysis, needs analysis, goals/aims/objectives, syllabus selection and sequencing of content, format and presentation, assessment and evaluation. Each section should show which principles have guided your decisions for that stage and why/how and the relationships between different elements of the design process.

Example: my Swedish teaching environment

Environment analysis

A table presenting an analysis of your context (one or more elements such as learners, teachers, situation or people, time, resources, institution).

People Physical setting Nature of course and institution

Students- 15, mostly 18-23yrs, mix of genders, mainly white native US English speaking and ethnic background, some with exposure to Spanish but little or no other language learning experience, one or two with some exposure to Swedish tough family or travel, intrinsic purpose or requirement depending on programme. Other stakeholders-see table 3 below Location/setting- most students don’t live far from campus, the classrooms are a good size and have movable furniture though little in the way of resources. Not always the same room- differs from term to term. There isn’t too much noise from outside or from other rooms nearby. Type/purpose of course simply academic/arts and sciences subject. Can be taken as a minor but not as a major. Otherwise can be taken to satisfy language requirement of programme or simply for credits to fulfil optional credit requirements of degrees.

Teaching Resources Time Few materials available, text already decided in advance of module start but with room for change in further presentations. Teacher’s responsibility to develop syllabus and all materials and assessment. Equipment: one or two tapes/CDs, some photocopying allwoed, OHP 4×50 minutes per week for 10 week; 3× terms a year. Monday to Thursday 9am Students’ timeliness unknown. Teacher’s contract is for 21 hours of work per week but also with full-time postgraduate student workload on top Table 2: environment Analysis following Graves (2000)

Aspect of situation Analysis

Institutional interests and policies: Swedish programme very smal-only 15 students first year, and 10 in second

Old tradition of Scand. Dept at the uni- set up due to high numbers of Scandinavians who migrated to OR+ Pacific NW

Quality requirements for modules at each level

By no means official in fact, a less commonly taught language

Paid programme- so expectations of both students and often parents coughing up the money to support them

Language setting Very few speakers Of Swedish in the WORLD outside of Sweden and to a lesser extent, Finland

Patterns of language use Very few opportunities to use language outside of classroom

Group/ individual attitudes Unlikely to be considered of professional use outside of classroom unless intend to travel or move to Sweden or in e.g. business

Swedish relatives, boyfriends etc.

Table 3: wider Analysis of Situation following Dubin & Olshtain (1987)

A sample questionnaire designed to elicit information about a particular aspect or aspects of context

Dear participant,

Thank you for agreeing to complete this questionnaire about language teaching at this institution. My aim is to find out about the environmental constraints within which we work as language teachers here and consider how this might impact on the design of other language modules. Your responses are completely anonymous, and you have the right to withdraw at any time if you wish, which you can do by emailing me.

Once again, thank you for your time.

Kerry Bannister

By completing this questionnaire, you are agreeing to participate.

Please answer the following questions in as much detail as you can.

When you have completed the questionnaire, please email it to me at:

1) which language do you teach, which modules, and at which level(s)?

2)are you a native speaker of the language you teach?

3)how many years have you been teaching at this institution?

4)is there a required textbook for the module(s) you teach or do you get to choose a textbook?

5) do you have to develop own materials? If so, how much time do you spend on materials development?

6) are there any resources that you would like to have access to for teaching that you currently do not? For example, textbooks, audio-visual materials, coloured paper.

7)what proportion of your time do you need to devote to administrative tasks such as recording grades writing exams, making photocopies, administering evaluations etc ?

8)what day(s) and time (s) does your class meet?

9)how long is each class?

10) how would you describe student participation and interaction in your classes?

11) how would you describe the motivation of the learners you meet in your classes?

12) do you think the time of the class affects student attendance, timeliness or active participation?

Figure 1: questionnaire to survey other teachers in Germanic Department regarding situational constraints, resources and the learners.

A list/table of ranked major constraints and solutions/effects on course design.

Ranked major constraint Solution/effect on course design

1. lack of exposure to, access to and possibility of using language outside of the classroom, including lack of audio and video and other resources for language practice (language resources, use and setting constraint) Expectations need to be low for amount of content to be covered

Repetition and in-class practise built in and ranked above number of syllabus items covered, within constraints of institutional quality assurance

Set and incorporate tasks for students to access Swedish outside of the classroom for extra credit.

Look for avenues to obtain or get access to CALL and other audio, video and visual materials

2. time and resources for materials development (time constraint, materials constraint) As much as possible, recycle activity and task types with different types of content to reduce time

Use OHP to present syllabus content rather than handoutsRe-use/adapt old materials and textbooks from my own Swedish classes

Look for avenues to obtain or get access to a range of textbooks

3. motivation factor in 9am classes Classes need to be lively and include warm-up activities

Make attendance and participation part of grade

Classes need to be interesting and fun

Table 4: ranked major constraints and solutions/effects on course design.

Your discussion section will then explain which models/frameworks you used, what you chose to find out more through the questionnaire and why, summarise the main points you have drawn from your findings and show how you came to your final list of constraints, making reference to the literature, your principles and your example products as required to support your points. For example ,I chose to focus for my questionnaire on other teachers in the department and about (1) the time needed outside of the classroom for materials development and admin, to get a better idea of overall workload and how much time it would take to develop materials and lessons(teacher orientation); (2) about student motivation and participation, particularly in relation to whether time of class affects motivation, to find out how the 9am time slot might affect learning and to better understand the types of activities that students might respond to best (learner orientation); (3) to find out if lack of resources was am major issue throughout the department and could be used to lobby for more resources to be provided (institution/resources orientation). I chose these also because details about these aspects of the situation were unknown to me but could be accessed by surveying experienced staff members in the department. This then led to one of my major chosen constraints being motivation of the learners for 9am classes in an environment where there is little access to the language outside the classroom.

Teaching Philosophy and Goals

My Teaching Responsibilities

I work as an instructor of English language in New York City College. Since establishment of language department in the college in 1993, enrollment in the department has risen from 150 to over 1,100 students by 2013. The increase has mainly occurred due to presence of numerous immigrants in the United States from non-English-speaking countries who undertake studies the US. Students from China, Spain, Japan and other countries may not have adequate knowledge in English yet all lessons in the college are taught in this language. My role is to take such students through English lessons for them to sharpen linguistic skills and hence, comprehend texts and tutors’ talk in other lessons. The lessons also enable such students to converse effectively with American students and hence, make meaningful social relationships with fellow students (Fry et al, 2009).

I have a Masters degree in linguistics and teaching experience of more than two decades in the same field and thus, I fit well in the faculty. I have established that most people taking English as the second language (ESL) encounter various difficulties in the learning process, especially during initial stages, including cognitive load, cultural load, language load and learning load (Scales, 2008). Thus, I have a role to do extra instructional work to make lessons more meaningful and less confusing and overwhelming to the students.

My Teaching Philosophy and Goals

I like my teaching career since I love learning. I learn from students as I share my knowledge with them. I believe that a successful teacher must be a lifelong learner. My ideal classroom is comprised of students who love learning and who work together to understand new concepts and ideas and to solve problems. It is exciting, though a bit noisy. I am either moving around providing guidance or assistance to the students or am in the midst of an exciting debate with them. I believe in developing an atmosphere where students are willing to learn, do not fear making mistakes and are comfortable to express their problems.

The following are my goals that guide me to become an effective language instructor:

To encourage students to always seek clarifications and elaborations through asking questions

To encourage students to engage in debates and to teach them to think rather than to memorize

To teach students to solve problems rather than to always rely on me

To be always prepared through continuous research and practice

To integrate technology in the teaching practice

To inspire the students through good impressions and making fun during lessons

To instill passion for self-reflection among students and always inspire them to improve

To always answer questions regardless of number of times that a student asks

To be available to assist students even after classes

To always acknowledge students’ improvements

To be prepared to learn as I teach

To encourage lifelong learning

To recognize and embrace diversity

To be a mentor to students and represent what they aspire to be

Description of Teaching Methodology

I engage in various vital teaching activities, on top of those indicated in the goal’s section. When dealing with a new student the first thing I do is to cultivate positive attitude through making the student understand that grammar is a liberating rather than a constraining force. I support this by allowing students to pursue topics of their interest. However, I allow this only for topics that are valuable for learning. As Power (2007) and Osterman and Kottkamp (2004) argue, student’s interests should be broadened through a creatively selected and implemented curriculum. I also adopt several activities that help to minimize difficulties in understanding grammar terminologies. I try to lighten learning difficulty through rewriting and providing explanations of grammar terminologies. This involves breaking them down and explaining them in ways that are comprehensible to the students. I like presenting grammar terminologies at the start of a lesson and define them. I avail different texts to learners containing terminologies but varying in reading difficulty and linguistic complexity. Finally, I constantly search for knowledge in available resources to gain understanding of grammar issues and how to explain them. As Borova (2012) and Biggs and Tang (2007) explain, it is vital to give explanations to errors in students’ work and avoid giving negative feedback that might de-motivate them.

Course Syllabi and Assignments

I am responsible for creating detailed tutorials, assignment sheets, handouts week by week logs, quizzes, rubrics, presentation outlines and other documents provided in this department. The following are exhibits of such documents:

Presentation outline: L104 Language development

Rubric: L103:Non-verbal communication techniques

Quiz: L106 Culturally responsive communication

Handout: L102 Verbal communication techniques

Assignment Sheet: L201 Responsive listening

Tutorial exhibit: L203 role of language in learning

Teaching Effectiveness

Peer Assessment of My Teaching

Teacher’s name ________ Tom Franklin ___________________________ Date May 30, 2013

Rating: Good

Strengths Identified:

Demonstrates knowledge of students

Selects instructional goals

Manages classroom procedures

Establishes a culture of learning

Creates an environment of respect and rapport

Uses questioning and discussion techniques

Maintains accurate records

Identified growth areas:

Need to use both implicit and explicit approaches to teaching grammar

Teacher’s name ________ Jane Doe ___________________________ Date May 30, 2013

Rating: Good

Strengths identified

Demonstrates knowledge of students

Selects instructional goals

Manages classroom procedures

Establishes a culture of learning

Demonstrates knowledge in behavior and teamwork management

Uses assessments for instruction

Identified growth areas

Need to use both implicit and explicit teaching approaches

Teaching Improvement Activities

One main weakness that I have in teaching grammar, as identified by my peers, is failure to adopt both implicit and explicit approaches in teaching grammar. I have learnt that grammar teaching should not be restricted to analysis of written documents. Rather, it should also be provided in context or in an implicit manner by examining living speech. To incorporate this approach, I will provide function-based lessons in which I will be applying grammar in context after undertaking grammar-based lessons (Merriam et al, 2007).

Future Teaching Goals

Drawing from this reflection, I find the need for more methodologies and approaches that will help in creating and in cultivating positive attitude among ESL learners towards grammar. Secondly, I will have to incorporate implicit teaching of grammar, alongside the explicit approach. I also find the need for additional supplementary materials that will help in clarifying terminologies to students. Generally, this reflection has helped me in identifying my competencies and competencies and needs for personal development as a grammar instructor. The reflection has helped me to identify areas of improvement which may lead to a culture of excellence evidenced by improved learning and reduction in learning difficulties encountered by grammar students.

References

Biggs, J., & Tang, C. (2007). Teaching for Quality Learning at University. Berkshire:

Open University Press.Borova, T. A. (2012), The higher school teaching staff professional development

system creation on the adaptive management principles, Pedagogics, Psychology, Medical-Biological Problems of Physical Training and Sports. 3, pp. 16 – 20

Fry, H., Ketteridge, S., & and Marshall, S. (2009). A Handbook for Teaching and

Learning in Higher Education: Enhancing Academic Practice. New York: Routledge.

Merriam, S., Caffarella, R., & Baumgartner, L. (2007). Learning in Adulthood: A

Comprehensive Guide. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Osterman, K., & Kottkamp, R. (2004). Reflective Practice for Educators:

Professional Development to Improve Student Learning. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Power, J. (2007), Staff Development, Journal of Access Services, 3(3), pp. 65 – 70

Scales, P. (2008). Teaching in the Lifelong Learning Sector. Berkshire: Open

University Press

Class as Relational Peer Responses

Peer 1: Jack

Your assertion that the biggest variable when it comes to “income tier” would have to be education level for all individuals. Again, I agree that age also plays an important role. When you flip the ages around for each race and education level, there is a dramatic increase in middle and upper class income levels. It is also true that race is a massive variable in income tier differences. In summary, the income levels are completely incomparable based on the amount of money and distribution across the different races and ethnic groups: whites make more compared to Hispanic and Black people. You pose an interesting question on the steps that can be taken in the future to increase the chances to be in the middle and upper income tiers besides the focus on education. I think there is no way of avoiding the role of education in determining where one falls in the income tiers. Primarily, education levels mean the level of specialization, and therefore we can never eliminate it as a variable.

Peer 2: Angelica

I agree that the area one lives in plays a vital role in defining the income tier. I also agree with your position that education is an important variable because the higher the education the higher the chances of one becoming middle or upper income increased especially with White and Asian people. Additionally, age, race, and capitalism play a big role because the majority of people who have a strong chance of becoming upper-class are white and Asian, up to a certain age where income begins to fall. He patterns are further supported by the ability of white and Asian people to invest, through capitalism thus allowing them to remain wealthy over time. Your question on if the results would remain the same or different if the study was conducted elsewhere is interesting. I think the same would apply in all other capitalistic nations in the Western countries. However, the issue of races would not play such a huge role. The differences between black and white people would not be so pronounced.

Q1.

Classic political economists believed that the value attached to a commodity is directly related the labour that was put up in production of the same commodity. This is later expounded that labour in its own unchanging value is the real and ultimate measure for value in the current world and this value may be showed by, the amount of money paid for the commodity which is pointed out as the nominal value of the same (Milios, Dimoulis, & Economakis, 2018). The real value of the labour however maybe met by difficulty in valuing the actual effort that went into the production process since some of the labour is more skilled and experienced than others. In spite of this, the economist argue that the difference brought out here is later balanced within the “haggling and bargaining” nature of the market which tends to correct the true value of the labour (Kurz, 2010). Socially necessary labour is the current labour effort required to produce a given output whereas socially average time is the given labour time necessary to give a given output.

Q2.

Marx and Schumpeter showed that what really set of the difference and made firms stand out in promotion of capitalism is the firm’s ability to have access to better technology, better suppliers and better firm organisational plans. This ability, as pointed out by Marx and Schumpeter, strikes at the margins of the firm foundation directly and impacts the very lives of these firms (Phillimore, 2001). An example is the giant Apple company which strategy of competitiveness is put to the internal factors, specifically the production factors giving the company the higher competitive advantage which offsets it as a minor monopoly.

Q3.

Ernest Mandel argues that the rate of profit in the monopoly sector is limited by and dependent on the production of surplus value in the competitive sector (Mandel, 1967). He explained the dynamics of crisis and uneven development in the concept of surplus profit in Marxist economic model. According to Mandel, inequalities, crises, wars, mass poverty, majority oppression, and perversion through fascism are not external disturbances, accidents, nor temporary interruptions but logical and natural expressions of the free market (Freeman, 1996). In his observation, Mandel suggested that capitalism is relatively unstable and dependent on surplus value in the free market economy. He observed this based on the movement of capital, labour, and the limits to equalization of different profit rates.

Q4.

The precariat social group is essentially a class of people in the job market whom employment mode or type is in anyway structured to be insecure (Standing, 2013). They include temporal employments and freelancers on the other hand the “reserve army of labour” refers to a group of people in the society that are unemployed or their position of employment is lowly rated to the skills they carry (Grover & Piggott, 2005). It may also refer to the mismatch in occupational places compared to the skills possessed where the current occupation is in lower rating compared to the skills possessed. Insecure employment and underemployment status have greatly affected the general wellbeing of the people involved. This is both mentally and health wise. It is seen that with underemployment status the people involved happen to showcase a lot of dissatisfaction. This is accrued to the fact that they are working in a field not related to their profession or lowly rated to the set of skills at disposal. Underemployment results such as low-income rates are a major cause of increased stress levels within the working groups (Standing, 2013). This is also evident with the class of people under the precariat jobs section. These two groups represent a mentally deprived group associated with day to day worry of termination and feature expectations that are mostly unpredictable.

Q6.

Labour shedding in one part of the economy means there are increased numbers of unemployed personnel in the economy. An increased number of unemployed people in the economy reduces the labour cost due to the increased number of people readily available for employment (Boeri and Keese, 1992). When there is increased supply of labour in the economy it results to less choosy nature of the unemployed group to the jobs available. This means that people tend to refrain from being specific on the skills they possess for job securing which results to people working in fields they are not necessarily skilled in for even lower wages. Therefore, when the is labour shedding in one part of the economy, the other parts gain the advantage of low cost of labour that adds up to increased profit levels in these economy parts. Mechanization in work places is a great way for lowering production cost with other production benefits (Kongolo, 2010). Adopting mechanized systems lowers the number of employees needed in the firm hence the firms cut on the payments of the wages of the employees cut from the workforce and with that firms cuts on the wages in the event of production mechanization. When the levels of unemployment rise in the economy it results to increased labour supply which does not match the demand of labour in place. A higher labour supply with regard to the labour demand results to lower prices on the labour value available and this is an advantage to the labour-intensive firms. These firms are able to access adequate labour at cheaper prices.

Q7.

Productivity levels in firms or organizations is highly dependent on the leadership system in these settings. Proper leadership is accrued to the set of skills possessed by the personnel put in the higher positions in the firms and organisations. For higher productivity the leadership in these areas should possess a morale captivating skill with which to encourage and motivate the entire workforce for maximization of their output (Soltanisehat, Alizadeh, & Mehregan, 2019). The motivating factor in leadership should also support teamwork within the workforce for a unified goal internally. Socially, leaders should be great team workers and support team working within their group too. Team working is a great tool to ensure the goals of the organisation are met. Synchronization of the entire team makes the focus remain clear to every employ preventing deviation while promoting hardworking and determination. Organizational skills are also very critical to the success of the organization. Some of the necessary organizational skill include proper work delegation, time management skills, proper and effective communication skill and critical thinking with analytical organisation and formulation of ideas.

Q9.

Public goods are products or services that are available for use by all people in the sector the product is necessary. These products are said to have the characteristics of non-rivalry and non-excludable. The users of these products cannot be exempted to use them even when they are not able to compensate the same. These products are also not affected by multiple persons using them in that the use by one person does not affect the use by another (Bramoullé & Kranton, 2007). Landmarks and facilitating infrastructure are products usable by multiple people and are meant to operate this way in order to serve their estimated purpose and to be cost effective. These products are meant to be treated as public goods since their ownership is not assigned to a single individual and their nature is meant to serve a group of people without exemption.

References

Freeman, A. (1996). Ernest Mandel’s Contribution to Economic Dynamics. https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/64974/1/MPRA_paper_64974.pdf

Mandel, E. (1967). The labor theory of value and Monopoly Capitalism. International Socialist Review, 28(4), 29-42.

Kurz, H. D. (2010). Technical progress, capital accumulation and income distribution in classical economics: Adam Smith, David Ricardo and Karl Marx. The European journal of the history of economic thought, 17(5), 1183-1222.

Milios, J., Dimoulis, D., & Economakis, G. (2018). Karl Marx and the classics: An essay on value, crises and the capitalist mode of production. Routledge.

Phillimore, J. (2001). Schumpeter, Schumacher and the greening of technology. Technology Analysis & Strategic Management, 13(1), 23-37.

Standing, G. (2013). Defining the precariat: A class in the making. Eurozine. https://eprints.soas.ac.uk/18276/1/Defining%20the%20precariat%20Eurozine%20Apr%202013.pdfBoeri, T., & Keese, M. (1992). From labour shortage to labour shedding: labour markets in Central and Eastern Europe. Communist Economies and Economic Transformation, 4(3), 373-394.

Kongolo, M. (2010). Job creation versus job shedding and the role of SMEs in economic development. African journal of business management, 4(11), 2288-2295.

Bramoullé, Y., & Kranton, R. (2007). Public goods in networks. Journal of Economic theory, 135(1), 478-494.

Arak Mcduffie

Instructor’s Name

Course Tittle

Date

My text is a memoir. It signifies a non-fiction genre written in the first person about a slice of life. It is a specific type of narrative that is autobiographical in nature but not meant to be as comprehensive as biography. My text tries to give a story with a proper narrative shape, focus, and subject matter, involving a reflection. By being a memoir, it is associated with popular personalities. Writing this memoir is essential in helping me to identify the threads and themes in my life and make sense of what I have lived. Writing about life that concerns me is a transformative and healing journey. It also contributes to recorded history and my legacy to the world, friends, and family. I think that memoir is functional in preserving history through my eyes.

I chose the memoir genre because memoirs are true stories that bring the inner story that ties to something universal. I find that writing a memoir is worth it because I have a clear purpose for it, and the story is worth sharing. I have reflected on my life, and I am passionate about communicating what I have learned with the world. It helps me to identify integrity, connectedness, empowerment and finding the meaning of life. Preserving my life story leaves a meaningful legacy that offers intergenerational connectedness. I chose this genre since I desire to share my personal experiences about epic battles. I am the main character in the memoir, whereby I reflect on my truth about life and experiences. At first, I wanted to choose the autobiography genre, but a limitation forced me to choose memoir over autobiography. In writing an autobiography, readers might feel that my true purpose in writing is to persuade, maybe to be embellishing or even lying, instead of informing. I chose the particular tools in composing because I wanted to narrow my focus, include more than just a story, tell the truth, and put the readers in my shoes. If given an opportunity to start over, I would use something else.

My research paper’s argument changed as I revised it into his new genre. It changed in a way that the new genre transformed to involve written depictions of my personal experience. It changed to allow me to establish a working relationship with the readers. For readers, these new genres aid in organizing information so that they can more effortlessly make sense of what they are about to read. The way that I used or cited sources changed in a way that I memoir; I do not have to cite or quote another person unnecessarily since I write the memoir from my personal experience.

I learned to research, outlining, reading comprehension, and time management from this project that might transfer to a future class or writing experience. I have been equipped with thinking and communication skills. Writing has done my thinking and learning visible and permanent. It has also fostered my ability to explain and refine my ideas to others and myself. It is something very significant and powerful tool that will be beneficial in everyday life. Writing has helped me to store information, make a permanent record, and communicate well.

The highlights of things I have learned this semester include writing ability, applying critical thinking skills, and identifying cause and effect. Things that I will take away from the class include higher vocabulary, adaptability, creativity, and reflection. One thing that I remember about college writing is that writing equips us with thinking and communication skills; it expresses who we are as people. When we study, we learn to appreciate words and their power. I have improved to a great extent as a writer.

My Sister’s Keeper

Have you heard of “designer babies”?  Or perhaps you saw or read My Sister’s Keeper, a story about a young girl who was conceived through In Vitro Fertilization to be a genetically matched donor for her older sister with leukemia? The concept of selecting traits for one’s child comes from a technology called preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD), a technique used on embryos acquired during In Vitro Fertilization to screen for genetic diseases.  PGD tests embryos for genetic abnormalities, and based on the information gleaned, provides potential parents with the opportunity to select to implant only the “healthy”, non-genetically diseased embryos into the mother.  But this genetic testing of the embryo also opens the door for other uses as well, including selecting whether you have a male or female child, or even the possibility of selecting specific features for the child, like eye color.  Thus, many ethicists wonder about the future of the technology, and whether it will lead to babies that are “designed” by their parents.

Today’s post is an exploration of the ethical issues raised by prenatal and preimplantation genetic diagnosis, written by Santa Clara Professor Dr. Lawrence Nelson, who has been writing about and teaching bioethics for over 30 years.  Read on to examine the many ethical issues raised by this technology.

Prenatal and Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis

Background:

The overwhelming majority of people on earth, due to a wide range of reasons, beliefs, bodily motives, and attitudes–some good, some bad, and some in the moral neutral zone–reproduce.  They are the genetic, gestational, and/or social (rearing) parents of a child.  Birth rates in some countries are at a historic low (Japan‘s is beneath replacement with the consequent deep graying of an entire society).  In others, mostly in the developing part of the world where infant and maternal morbidity and mortality (not to mention poverty and disease) are quite high, birth rates remain similarly high.

In the economically developed part of the world, the process of making and having babies has become increasingly medicalized, at least for those fortunate enough to have ready access to the ever more sophisticated tools and knowledge of obstetrical medicine.  From the time prior to pregnancy (fertility treatments, in vitro fertilization) to birth (caesarean delivery, high tech neonatal intensive care) and in between (fetal surgery), medical science and technology can help many to reach the goal any good parent should want: the live birth of a healthy child to a healthy mother.

“Medical and biological sciences can together determine whether a fetus will (or might) have over a thousand different genetic diseases or abnormalities”

Parallel to obstetrical medicine, science and technology have progressed immensely in another are over the last 30 or so years.  The Human Genome Project (and the related research it has stimulated) has generated an amazing amount of knowledge about the nature and identity of normal–and abnormal–human genetic codes.  Now the medical and biological sciences can together determine whether a fetus will (or might) have over a thousand different genetic diseases or abnormalities.  Ultrasound examination can look into the womb (quite literally) and see developmental abnormalities in the fetus (such as neural tube defects like spina bifida and anencephaly).  Even a simple blood test done on a pregnant woman can determine whether the fetus she is carrying has trisomy 21 (down syndrome), a genetic condition associated with mental retardation and, not infrequently, cardiac and other health problems.

Pregnant women who have health insurance that covers obstetrical care (and many millions of American women do not), particularly if they are older (>35 years), are more or less routinely offered prenatal genetic diagnosis by their obstetricians.  Chorionic villus samplingis a medical procedure that takes a few fetal cells from the placenta and can be done around 10 weeks after the woman’s last menstrual period.  These cells can then be analyzed to determine the presence of genetic abnormalities.  Amniocentesis is a medical procedure that obtains fetal cells from the amniotic fluid and is usually done later in pregnancy, typically after 14 weeks following the woman’s last menstrual period.  When done by experienced medical professionals, both procedures carry about a 0.5% risk of spontaneous abortion.  The genetic analysis done on these fetal cells can determine the presence of fatal genetic diseases (such as Tay-Sachs, trisomy 13 and 18), disease that can cause the born child much suffering (children with Lesch-Nyan, for example, compulsively engage in self-destructive behavior like lip chewing, while children with spinal muscular atrophy have severe, progressive muscle-wasting), and conditions that typically cause mental retardation (such as Fragile-X and Emanuel syndrome).

Although tremendous strides have been made in genetic science’s ability to detect chromosomal abnormalities, precious little success has been achieved in treating genetic disorders directly either prenatally or postnatally.  Some symptomatic treatment may well be available, but almost nothing that will actually cure or significantly ameliorate the effects of the disease.  A pregnant woman who wishes to avoid the birth of a child with genetic disease has little alternative but to seek termination of the pregnancy.

The science and technology of assisted reproduction (in this case in vitro fertilization [IVF]) meets the science and technology of obstetrical medicine in preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD).  Embryos are created in vitro by mixing oocytes taken from the woman who intends to gestate one (or more) of them from a donor, and sperm taken from her partner or a donor.  Genetic analysis is performed on one or few cells from each embryo, the loss of which does not affect the embryo’s ability to develop normally once implanted in a womb.  Only those embryos free of detectable genetic abnormalities are then implanted in the woman’s womb in the hope that they will then attach to the uterine wall and develop normally.  While success rates for implantation vary, many women have given birth following PGD.  The main advantage of PGD over chorionic villus sampling and amniocentesis for many women and couples is that it avoid the need for a surgical abortion to end an undesired pregnancy, although it does result in discarding the affected embryos.

Should people be able to select the sex of their baby?

5.  Both PrGD and PGD identify the sex of the embryo or fetus.  This raises the question of whether it is ethically permissible for an embryo to be discarded or a fetus to be aborted because of sex.  The selection of an embryo’s sex via PGD is done for two basic reasons: (1) preventing the transmission of sex-linked genetic disorders; and (2) choosing sex to achieve gender balance in a family with more than one child, to achieve a preferred order in the birth of children by sex, or to provide a parent with a child of the sex he or she prefers to raise. [2]  While little extended ethical debate exists regarding the former, sex selection for the purpose of preventing the transmission of sex-linked genetic disease, the latter is the subject of heated ethical disagreement.

The ethical objections to sex selection for nonmedical reasons can be grounded both in the very act of deliberately choosing one sex over the other and the untoward consequences of sex selection, particularly if it is performed frequently.  Sex selection can be considered inherently ethically objectionable because it makes sex a determinative reason to value one human being over another when it ought to be completely irrelevant: females and males as such always ought be valued equally and never differentially.  Sex selection can also be ethically criticized for the undesirable consequences it may generate.  Choice by sex supports socially created assumptions about the relative value and meaning of “male” and “female,” with the latter almost universally being considered seriously inferior to the former.  By supporting assumptions that hold femaleness in lower social regard, sex selection enhances the likelihood that females will be the targets of infanticide, unfair discrimination, and damaging stereotypes.

Proponents of the ethical acceptability of sex selection would argue that a parent’s desire for family balancing can be–and typically is–morally neutral.  The defense of family balancing rests on the view that once a parent has a child of one sex, he or she can properly prefer to have a child of the other sex because the two genders are different and generate different parenting experiences.

To insist [that the experience of parenting a boy is different from that of parenting a girl] is not the case seems breathtakingly simplistic, as if gender played no role either in a person’s personality or relationships to others.  Gender may be partly cultural (which does not make it less “real”), but it probably is partly biological….  I see nothing wrong with wanting to have both experiences. [3]

An opponent of sex selection for family balancing can argue that good parents–whether prospective or actual–ought never to prefer, favor, or give more love to a child of one sex over the other.  For example, a morally good and admirable parent would never love a male child more than a female child, give the male more privileges than a female, or give a female more material things than a male simply because of sex or beliefs about the child’s “proper”gender.  A virtuous and conscientious parent, then, ought not to think that, or behave as if, a child of one sex is better than one of the other sex, nor should a good parent believe or act as if, at bottom, girls are really different than boys in the ways that truly matter.

“Sex selection is at least strongly ethically suspect, if not outright wrong”

The argument in favor of sex selection for family balancing has to assume that gender and gender roles exist and matter in the lived world.  For if they did not, then no reason would exist to differentiate the experience of parenting a male child from that of a female.  However, it is precisely the reliance upon this assumption to which the opponent of sex selection objects: accepting–and perpetuating–gender roles inevitably both harms and wrongs both males and females, although females clearly suffer much more from them than males.  While some gender roles or expectations are innocuous (e.g., men don’t like asking for directions), the overwhelming majority (e.g., males are–and should be–aggressive, women are–and should be–self-sacrificing) are not.  Consequently, given that sex selection is inevitably gendered and most gender roles and expectations restrict the freedom of persons to be who they wish to be regardless of gender, sex selection is at least strongly ethically suspect, if not outright wrong.

[1]  Steinbock B. Disability, prenatal testing, and selective abortion. In Parens E, Asch A (eds): Prenatal Testing and Disability Rights 2000; Washington DC, Georgetown Univ. Press: 108-123.

[2]  Ethics Committee of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine. Sex selection and preimplantation genetic diagnosis. Fertility and Sterility 1999; 72(4): 595-598.

[3] Steinbock B. Sex selection: not obviously wrong. Hastings Center Report 2002; 32(1): 23-28.

Class 2, Peer Response 2

Name

Institutional Affiliation

Like the author has mentioned, different strategic leaders employ different ways and ideas of their leadership. A strategic leader is a person who is able to develop matching competencies top their organizational needs, one who is able to develop and lead people, shows effectiveness in networking, is strategic in process development, and forges the values and culture. This is unlike what the author previously thought regarding a person who stands out strong. As the author has stated, strategic leaders stand out uniquely from one to the other, with great diversity (Ireland & Hitt, 1999; Davies & Davies, 2004). For them to remain different and stand out from the crowd, they operate within a competitive landscape that encourages them to meet the needs of those that they serve while meeting the set goals. Not only these, but their personalities, strengths, and weaknesses also help them stand out which motivates them to become strategic leaders.

As the author identifies, a strategic leader possesses certain characteristics and qualities that makes them stand out. The author identifies the essential skills of a strategic leader as being paramount to ensuring effective leadership. These are anticipating, challenging, interpreting, deciding, alignment, and learning, all of which are important to a strategic leader. However, the author identifies anticipating, challenging, deciding, and learning as the most important. The author views these as the characteristics that the leader ought to possess. This enables them to be flexible to deal with any challenges while remaining persistent, be strategic and informed of how things are bound to change in future so that they are prepared in good time, and they have to be strategic in decision making (Schoemaker, Krupp, & Howland, 2013). They have to learn from past mistakes, their surroundings, and their team. The leader has to ensure that the essential skills or characteristics are all applied for effectiveness.

The author goes ahead to identify the importance of the leader bringing the idea of courageously making decisions and coupling it with challenging the ideas of others that they think may or may not work for the organization they run. This ensures that the decision has a firm foundation. Anticipation plays a significant role in the strategic leader’s run within the organization. With good research and a good understanding of the system of the organization, the strategic leader is able to become an effective visionary of how things may turn out in the future of the organization. This way, they are able to plan ahead, while still managing to deal with upcoming issues, as the author points out. Effective decision making and the challenging aspect are applied in this case too (Schoemaker, Krupp, & Howland, 2013). Together with the team, the leader is able to receive various options of solutions to issues that may have sprung up. This will be informed by how knowledgeable the leader is of the subject as well as to the period leading up to decision making so that there may be solid grounds upon which to make the decision. Despite the uncertainty, the strategic leader should be able to wade through the mud and consider the company’s high stakes to make a decision. The flexibility in decision making is made easier by an active and informed team working with the leader for utmost effectiveness.

References

Davies, B. J., & Davies*, B. (2004). Strategic leadership. School leadership & management, 24(1), 29-38.

Ireland, R. D., & Hitt, M. A. (1999). Achieving and maintaining strategic competitiveness in the 21st century: The role of strategic leadership. Academy of Management Perspectives, 13(1), 43-57.

Schoemaker, P. J., Krupp, S., & Howland, S. (2013). Strategic leadership: The essential skills. Harvard business review, 91(1), 131-134.

Class 3, Assignment 3 – Module Diversity

Name

Institutional Affiliation

Introduction

Diversity in the workplace is an important aspect, especially in today’s work environment. It helps create an opportunity for all to exercise their skills and experience, while also adding an advantage to the company’s way of doing business through providing diversified work solutions.

Definition

Workplace diversity simply explained is the uniqueness, differences, and similarities that employees in a company boast of and the considerations that a company considers as a means of recruiting and hiring talent without biasness. This can be seen in form of race, gender, culture, psychological, and social characteristics. This way, companies are able to give all and sundry a chance to put their skills and talents to work, as they gain experience in their field of work. At the same time, the company is able to enjoy greater benefits through profits and a wide skill set from its employees (Saxena, 2014). Workplace diversity also means that an organization looks for the best, possible means of meeting the needs of all its employees through the organization culture. This is made possible through meeting a threshold that cuts across all the differences and maximizes on the benefits and value.

Diversity Creation

In this day and age, organizations are finding it important to create a diverse working environment. For this to be achieved, it is important for organizational decision makers to take several aspects into consideration. First, the organizational heads have to consider the goals in place that they are striving to achieve through creating a diverse working environment (Kalache, 2019). This will give clarity to those in charge of diversity policies so that they align the policies with the organizational needs. Ensuring that the company employees are educated on the need for diversity is another consideration. This will create awareness across the company as the company heads strive to create diversity. In the process, the heads get to learn about the groups and people represented within the company. With this information, they are then able to create diversity in a manner that meets the needs of all while also considering those who may join the company later on (Shemla, 2018). This line of thought also helps the company heads understand what their employees think of the ideas put forward regarding the creation of a diverse environment. This would show that the heads value the thoughts of their own, thus informing on the best diversity implementation efforts.

Desired Outcome

As a result, the desired outcome would be a greater availability of experience and knowledge resulting in more effectiveness, increase in ideas on how to solve problems, greater flexibility in the organizational culture and activities due to a diverse group, and greater creativity. These lead to better organizational performance (Hofhuis, Van Der Rijt, and Vlug, 2016). To get here, the decision makers should have goal clarity, lend their ears to employees, bring their ideas to fruition, and align company goals with the needs. This helps with achievement of a diverse workplace.

Conclusion

To summarize, workplace diversity helps show people of all backgrounds that they are appreciated and that their efforts help improve and provided an added advantage to how business is done. Diversity creation takes into consideration the needs of the masses and aligns them with the company policies and organizational culture. The outcomes from this process are beneficial to the employees and the company, thus resulting in an improved society.

References

Hofhuis, J., Van Der Rijt, P.G., and Vlug, M. (2016). Diversity climate enhances work outcomes through trust and openness in workgroup communication. SpringerPlus, 5(1), 714.

Kalache, S. (2019, Mar 6). Six Ways to Diversify Your Workforce. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbessanfranciscocouncil/2019/03/06/six-ways-to-diversify-your-workforce/#54441f3b1568Saxena, A. (2014). Workforce diversity: A key to improve productivity. Procedia Economics and Finance, 11(1), 76-85.

Shemla, M. (2018). Why workplace diversity is so important and why it’s so hard to achieve. Forbes: RSM Discovery.