Nina Simone

Nina Simone was one of the most powerful singers of not only her time, but of all time. Her music made people think, change and copy. In her music, she made contributions to the civil rights movement. She used and touched so many genres of music from Jazz all the way to modern day rap She had influenced countless artists and passed without any acknowledgment or fanfare deserving of such an amazing arust. Eunice Kathleen waymon was born February 21, 1933, In Tyron North Carolina.She was an especially brilliant and talented child. Eunice picked up music very easily and even as a small child after hearing a hymn only once could sing it perfectly. She was able to play plano by ear at age two and a half. she was the regular planlst every Sunday at church by age five. at this age she was compared to Mozart. After seeing the talent in such a young child an older German lady, Muriel Massinovitch offered to teach young Eunice. Mrs. Masslnovltch, fearrd her pupil would soon surpass her as by a ge eight she could decipher musical scores, read and write music.Eunice awoke even more with the classical composer, such as Bach,† Bach made me dedicate my ite to music†. Eunice had her first brush with segregation at an early age ot twelve. Mrs Massinovitch was so proud of her talents she organized a recital to show of Eunice talents. Her parents very proudly sat in the first row; however, before the recital started a white couple approached them for their seats. As was the law back then the Waymon's got up to move, at that point Eunice stated in front of everyone she would not play If they were made to move.The white couple sat elsewhere and her parents visibly embarrassed took their seats and watched Eunice play.. After this Eunice would say later looking back, â€Å"All of the sudden it seemed a dfferent world graduating In 1950 at the top of her class applied to the Curtis Institute. She received a letter in 1954 stating that they had rejected her. There is specul ation that it was because she was a women and because she was a black woman. whatever the reason an all white male jury had rejected Eunice this plagued her through her life.. Eunice changed her name to Nina Simone after playing a club in Philadelphia in1954. he got the Job to play plano her true love and was told by the manager she would ing or be out of a job thus her stage persona was borm She took the name Nina meaning â€Å"little one† she said was nickname from a former lover and Simone for Simone Slgnoret In casque d'Or. Nina married her manager Andy Stroud In 1901 and gave birth to daughter Lisa in 1962 She worked hard to support her family and endured abuse from her husband. Stroud controlled every aspect of Nina's life and career. She was hospitalized several times tor exhaustion.Andy told her that too many people relied on her so she couldn't take a break and wouldnt even allow her to breast feed their daughter. It Is suspected that Nina had begun to have a mental Imoalance or a m Olsoraer around IYO/ out tnls was not connrmea. Nlna's songs were classified as Jazz, blues, gospel and even later r&b. All she has ever wanted to do was play classical piano and consider any other music as inferior. Nina got involved in the civil rights movement and her songs became anthems for not only the civil right movement but for the emerging feminist movement.Her song â€Å"Mississippi Goddam† was written after she heard about four black girls that were killed going to church by a bomb in Alabama. The songs lyrics are â€Å"Alabama's got me so upset. Tennessee made me lose my rest. / But everybody knows about Mississippi Goddam/ Hound dogs on my trail/ schoolchildren sitting in Jail/ Black cat across my path/ I think every day ‘s going to be my last. † The last lines are mfou don't have to live next to me/Just give me my equality. † Most radio stations refuse to play the song.The song sold well except in the south where it was boyco tted and censored. Some retailers return the record to the distributors after breaking each record in two. Although most of Nina's music chronicles the fight for equal rights and racial njustice her song â€Å"Four Women†, not only spoke to the civil right movement but to feminist groups fighting for equal right for women. The song talks about one daughter being born out of a rape of a slave and many black stations banned the song. They considered the song,† an insult to black women. Nina made sure to continue to fight for both causes not only in her music but she also cancelled tour dates to participate in protest concerts with many others most notably Langston Hughes who became one of Nina's best friends. Nina's music draws from spirituals, blues, folk, classical and even some traditional music. Many of her songs have been redone and made popular by other artist for example â€Å"House of the Rising Sun† this bothered her as she felt people didn't know where th e songs came from. Although Nin's instrument was a piano she felt that her voice was the only â€Å"pure instrument†.Many of her songs may have appeared to be filled with anger but many of her songs just have soul and no anger for example â€Å"l Hold No Grudge† The words are, â€Å"l hold no grudge/ There is no resentment und'neath/l'll extend the laurel wreath and we'll be friends. † Brooks also calls Simone â€Å"the cultural arm of the civil rights† Nina Simone assed away April 21, 2003 in a small village in the south of France. â€Å"Her death didn't cause much stir in the media European or American. It was said merely that a bad tempered but successful diva from the world of Jazz had passed away.That was about it† â€Å"On May 18th 2003 the Curtis Institute of music posthumously awarded Nina an honorary diploma for her contribution to the art of music. † Nina was aware of the schools plan before her death but her family accepted the ho nor for her. It almost seems like at long last Simone achieved her ultimate goal. To see what kind of mpact Nina Simone had on the world you need only look at todays popular artist from Norah Jones, Missy Elliott, Lauryn Hill and even Marilyn Manson, â€Å"claim her as an influence. Her songs have been rerecorded over and over many people are fans and don't even know they are listening toa Nina Simone song. To have such a huge impact on such wide variety of artists is outstanding and hard pressed to match. I have long been a fan of Nina Simone. I myself used to be one of those saying,†Oh this is a song of Nina Simone. † upon hearing the song in a movie of a soundtrack. I began istening to her music and realized how unbelieving moving it is. Her songs and make you angry and then relax you in the next verse.

Factors that may lead to abusive Essay

Everyone can be victims of abusive behaviour. There are many factors that may lead to abusive situations, it could be physical that are seen clearly, some are hidden and some are emotional that the victim needs to talk to someone about. Abuse may be a single act or many acts. It can occur in any relationship and may be the result of deliberate intent, ignorance or neglect. It may be a criminal offence, such as rape, assault or theft. (http://myway.trafford.gov.uk 2014) Abuse is where the abuser may find joy or thrill by doing the actions they do, for instance if their life is going downhill, they may not want to be the only one to do so, so they put someone down either by physical, emotional, or even sexual abuse. Some of the key risk factors for abuse include: family conflict, dependency, isolation, carer stress, addictive behaviours and physiological problems. (http://www.eapu.com 2014) People more vulnerable of abusive situations: -physical disabilities -communication difficulties, may not hear the abuser, may not be able to stand up for his or her self, they may not see the abuser or that someone is going towards them, they won’t be able to talk to someone about it because they could have doubts -learning disabilities, may not know that they are being exploited or abused so its easy to be taken advantage off -mental health problems -people with dementia, affecting the intellect and physical functions, this could cause unpredictable psychological or physical behaviour. -dependency, i.e. on carers -social isolation, people usually have fewer contacts on the outside world (http://www.caerphilly.gov.uk 2014) Personal problems cause frustration, things such as addictions to drugs and  alcohol can modify behaviour and add to the bad feelings leading the individual to abuse someone. Usually if one partner in a relationship is earning more money the other partner will feel disempowered, also typically in men, if their wife/partner earns more than them it doesn’t abide to the stereotypical view of the male being the provider so they can become very aggressive and use financial abuse to make themselves feel better i.e. denying or stealing their partners money so they feel bigger and more powerful. Environmental problems such as poor housing or overcrowding could potentially lead to abusive situations because, if there is overcrowding, the abuser may need more space and abuse someone so they leave. Someone with poor housing is easy targets for abusive people as they may live on the streets, the abuser may think that because they live on the street they have no feelings or family and take advantage of them just because they are lesser off than the abuser, so the abuser may feel a sense of priority over them. An adequate increase on carer stress may push the carer too far and abuse someone. The carer may lack understanding of the ageing process, illness, disability and/or needs of the vulnerable adult. The carer may blame the victim of financial problems as they have a low income or debt problems, although it is not the victims fault, this could lead to the carer possibly blackmailing someone for more money, abusing the victims money, providing them with financial problems. Another aspect of abusive situations is personal stress; the carer may be looking after two generations, his or her own children and a dependent adult, they may feel that are not getting their own time meaning they feel isolated, and may take advantage of someone and the carer may feel disempowered and trapped. If someone rejects help, then they are even more vulnerable. In some families abuse is considered the normal reaction to stress, and it may continue from generation to generation, for instance if a child has done something wrong they need to be disciplined, some families would confiscate something and some families may physically abuse, i.e. smacking. A child who was previously abused may now be a carer and repeat the cycle of abuse  to a dependent parent or child. The risk of abuse is greater where the vulnerable adult: Has an unusual behaviour, for example they may stay in their safe zone a lot more, they don’t want to leave as they feel they can’t trust anybody Rejects help, they may have family there for them or friends but they may feel they can cope themselves, they break down communication between them and everyone else Is socially isolated i.e. does not have other friends or visitors Unable to complain, for example because of hearing disabilities and other communication barriers May have low self-esteem, so lacking power in relationships Bay be less likely to be served well be the criminal justice system, possibly because of past criminal convictions (http://myway.trafford.gov.uk 2009) (http://www.safefromharm.org.uk 2014) Bibliography http://www.caerphilly.gov.uk/pdf/Health_SocialCare/POVA/Predisposing_factors_which_may_lead_to_abuse.pdf 2006 Date accessed 23/09/14 http://www.eapu.com.au/elder-abuse/risk-factors 2014 Date accessed 23/09/14 http://myway.trafford.gov.uk/i-need-help-with/keeping-people-safe/safeguarding-adults/safeguarding-adults/understanding-safeguarding/types-risks-and-indicators-of-abuse.aspx 2014 Date accessed 24/09/14 http://myway.trafford.gov.uk/i-need-help-with/keeping-people-safe/safeguarding-adults/safeguarding-adults/understanding-safeguarding/types-risks-and-indicators-of-abuse.aspx 2009 Date accessed 28/09/14 http://www.safefromharm.org.uk/wps/wcm/connect/occ/Safe+From+Harm/Professionals/What+is+adult+abuse/SFH+-+Prof+-+T+-+risk+factors 2014 Date accessed 28/09/14

Image of death Essay

As she attempted suicide, â€Å"I am not his yet.† She is possibly tempting death as the quote â€Å"†¦..how badly I photograph†, suggests death may have been stalking her and Plath is possibly taunting him back as he insults her, or it may also be that Plat is not ready for her death photograph yet. Plath shocks the reader by talking about children in coffins in such a matter of fact manner, â€Å"He tells me how sweet the babies look in their hospital icebox†, paradox, as the beautiful and ‘sweet’ children are linked to death, â€Å"†¦Ionian death gowns†, again Plath contradicts the beauty of the gowns with the horrifying image of death. Plath uses simple but very harsh descriptions to portray death amongst children, â€Å"†¦two little feet† very graphic in a simplistic way. Plath explains death is in two forms, a traditional view of death and the other one a more modern view of death. She portrays the death as very laid back, â€Å"He does not smile or smoke† as before cool people, celebrities and models smoked, so people followed them but death does not as he’s not trying to be popular. The â€Å"other† death Plath describes with â€Å"†¦hair long and plausive† and also suggest that this death does smoke â€Å"†¦the other does that† giving this death a more positive feel, making him more modern and more appealing. An act of masturbation, seen as a powerful act as it’s done alone â€Å"Masturbating a glitter†¦Ã¢â‚¬  almost as if Plath is saying that death thinks he’s special as he’s masturbating a glitter, â€Å"†¦he wants to be loved† paradox, as you can’t love death. Plath suggests the idea of rigourmortus although it’s ironic as she’s still alive â€Å"I do not stir†, or it may be Plath suggesting that she’s dead on the inside, and that her emotions may have gone stiff. In contrast to Plath’s poem â€Å"Death and Co.†, Hughes poem â€Å"Examination at the Womb-Door† emphasises on death owning existence as even as soon as you are born you face death but death still being inferior to God, as the examiner being God the questions throughout the poem are very authoritive, suggesting that Hughes may think that God has authority over death. The title could possibly be Hughes signifying the point of crossing into the physical world. It seems as if sees death as the starting point: Man has been living, just to get experience to pass an exam before God, also giving a very ominous feel to death, the ultimate fear of all mankind and a sacrilegious tone to the poem. It maybe that Hughes sees the soul as immortal as when the crow is asked â€Å"But who is stronger than death?† the crow replies â€Å" Me, evidently† as the crow is immortal due to the rebirth cycle, so despite the body’s death, the soul remains, therefore the crow is in fact stronger than death. Hughes uses negative adjectives and pronouns throughout the poem possibly to remark the deficiency of the human body against death.

Comparing and Contrasting American Families Then and Now Essay

Comparing and Contrasting American Families Then and Now - Essay Example In the times of early civilization and progress you would find the male counterpart toiling the fields for crop preparation or working in the stables, etc. The female counterpart would be at home gardening to plant vegetables, placing the family meal of stew over the fire pit, doing the laundry, milking the cows, etc (Smith1994). The position of co-head of household was a very significant position in colonial America. It required the woman to insure everything was running smoothly, that the children were well tended to and doing their studies and the house was presentable but quaint (Smith1994). In contrast to the 20th century there is not much of a difference. Perhaps the main variations that would be found would be the fact that women have more rights now than they did then but the moral values are still held in the minds and hearts of many women in this time era(Lichter1994). Colonial times involved much more detail than does the 20th century. Everything was done from scratch where today, we as women can go out and buy prepackaged pancake mix, already cut beef, eggs in cartons, etc. For the colonists this was not available so therefore the contrast here is evident. The female role in those times was even more hectic and detailed than it is now but there was a magic in it that still has spilled over into m odern times. As was previously stated, there are so many women moving from executive status to stay at home moms now. They even have resorted to homeschool methods; as back in the colonial days many children were taught at home by the women (using: Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia Online 1997-2005). As was previously reverberated, while the women tended the children and home the men were left to have the burden of providing financial stability within the family. This took a lot of work within itself but the belief back in that time was that it was the mans responsibility to insure his family could survive financially while the woman secured comfort within the home for her family (using: Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia Online 1997-2005). If women in colonial times did acquire work outside the home then it normally was still female related. Some positions were those of a seamstress or a boarding house keeper. There were also women who took on the forms of doctors and teachers as well (using: Compton's Encyclopedia 1994-1995). When a convergence of these two variable time eras is viewed it is found that though time's have evolved for the betterment of women in the concept of work outside the home, the same family value's still exist. Even if women do work outside the home in the current time period, they are still considered to be the primary caregivers of the home and the children. Furthermore, women aren't finding the satisfaction as they thought they would by working in more stressful positions within corporations. Though work at home and caring for the family can be visualized as just as difficult, and perhaps even more tiring, this is the wish of many women in America today. Why else would they leave the executive world in behind to be a 24/7 mom and wife They do this because they feel something is lacking in the family atmosphere, the

PROJECT ECONOMICS AND LAW Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

PROJECT ECONOMICS AND LAW - Coursework Example In the recent past, clients are increasingly looking for project managers that are able to deliver expected results. For this reason, it is vitally important for the managers to learn from past mistakes and strive to maintain a clean record with respect to successful project implementation and management. Among the projects that have been compounded by various challenges in the national history is the Scottish parliament project. This project belonged to the Scottish government and sought to construct a magnificent building to be used by the Scottish parliament. The project was initiated in 1998 and proposed to be completed by the dawn of the new century. However, budgetary concerns and other construction related complexities delayed its timely completion. Seemingly, the project failed dismally to meet the established project indices in light of duration and cost. This had various implications on all stakeholders. It underscored major contractual weaknesses that the country is grappling with. In order to ensure efficiency in the construction industry, these concerns need to be addressed accordingly. It is against this background that this paper provides an in depth report of the mode of failure of the contract, factors that contributed to the failure and the lessons learnt from this. To enhance a harmonic consideration, it begins by profiling the conditions of the project and appraising its effect on liability for failure. It then proceeds to detailing the nature of its failure and specific factors that contributed to this. It then concludes by discussing how the NEC contract could be used to address the experienced challenges. Relative recommendations would offer useful insights regarding how future failures would be avoided. This is at the core of the objectives of project management and thus recommendations would help in preventing future incidences of failure. The

Systems Modelling Lab Report Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Systems Modelling - Lab Report Example MATLAB inbuilt function ss() is then called and given the matrices as input arguments so as to generate the state space model. The ss() function takes state matrices as inputs and generates the state space model. The program begins with the definition of variables to be used i.e. mass, spring constant and the damping coefficient. Next, the transfer function is defined and it poles computed. The function pole() returns a pair of poles that have real and complex parts. To establish stability, the sign of the real parts are checked. Negative real part means the pole is in the LHS of the S-Plane thus implying that the system is stable. Otherwise the system will be unstable if poles have positive real parts. The program then illustrates the response of the system to initial conditions. Step input could also be used to demonstrate response of the system. From Figure 1.2 the conjugate pair has negative real parts. According to our criterion, the system is stable. The 2 poles are on the left hand side of the S-Plane indicating that the system is stable. Figure 1.3 demonstrates how the MSD system responds to initial condition of x0 = [1, 0]. From the graph it can be seen that the system undergoes a transient state and attains steady state as time increases. The code above has been modified in order to allow stability of the system to be determined for different values of gain. Gain is usually multiplied by the numerator of the transfer function, therefore the program will prompt the user to enter a value for the gain then the program computes the stability. First the constants are defined. The user is then prompted to enter the gain for the system which forms the numerator of the transfer function. The denominator is defined as a vector containing mass, spring and dumping constants. The transfer function is then determined and its poles computed. The sign of the poles is checked and stability determined. When run with 8 as the gain, the system shows it is stable.

Pope Jon Paul II Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Pope Jon Paul II - Essay Example The Pope helped in demolishing the communist regimes. The state had a monopoly over most property which was collectively owned. This monopoly extended to intellectual property as well. Marxism was the only philosophy that one could profess. The church was the first to break free and give the citizens an alternative to the state run concepts. Poland was a case in point. If one wanted to know what was actually transpiring there, one could pick up an underground newspaper. To view paintings by artistes who were not officially commissioned by the government, one had to go to the basement of a church. Even plays would be performed there. While the priests of the church did not involve in any of the above-mentioned activities, they offered the church premises for such activities. The priests of the church were following the example set by Pope John Paul II in his youth during the Nazi days. In the words of the Pope, "Fidelity to roots is always creative, ready to descend into the depths, open to new challenges." (qtd in Applebaum). His emphasis on roots made him refer directly to faith which he proclaimed to people at large. According to him, faith was to be openly and publicly expressed. He used various cultural references in those very countries where the governments restricted culture. John Pauls particular way of expressing his faith -- publicly, openly, and with many cultural and historical references -- was explosive in countries whose regimes tried to control both culture and history along with everything else. As reported in the Washington Post by Applebaum, when the Pope visited Poland in 1979, he told them not to be afraid. Unlike what the regime thought, there was a sea of humanity waiting to greet the Pope. Hence this model could be demonstrated in other communist countries like East Germany and East Germany (‘How the Pope Defeated

Mentorship and Competence Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Mentorship and Competence Paper - Essay Example I believed that through the mentoring program, I would have access not only to information but also an update of my skills and a reinforcement of my confidence at work. As I began the mentorship program, I was delighted to find that the learning outcomes were explicitly laid out. It all complemented my own objectives and, in addition, it provided other important aspects especially in those areas that I was not able to identify. Efficacy I would like to say that the mentorship program I have just undertaken is learner-centred, which, in my opinion, was what made it effective. It included many activities and strategies that improved learning and enriched the experience. For instance, I found the incorporation of reflections on prior experience as extremely helpful. Based on this, I took the initiative to write my own journal to chronicle my thoughts and my progress during the entire program. This aspect in the mentoring course allowed me to identify critical incidents, progresses made, future learning needs and analyze them so that I am able to enrich and inform my interactions with my mentors. Interestingly, the whole exercise made me more involved. I think that it added to the motivating factors that diminished my reservations and anxiety about sharing personal thoughts and professional capacities as well as in dealing with getting reviewed by my peers. Through reflections, I was able to do some forward planning to meet the course outcomes. I discovered that I have this capability for self-direction as well. Then I would have to emphasize the importance of the course content. There are two pieces of literature that I have to cite here. The first the Standards to support learning and assessment in practice, a Nursing and Midwifery Council's (NMC) standards for mentors, practice teachers and teachers. The second is Kathleen Duffy's Failing students: a qualitative study of factors that influence the decisions regarding assessment of students' competence in practic e. Both of these texts provided important insights on the mentorship experience and objectives. The first contextualized the entire program from the perspective of the mentors whereas Duffy's article explained the program's concern when it comes to the students, which is competence in practice. NMC and Regulations The NMC publication provides several important information. It explained the rationale behind the program by identifying the principles behind its mandate. There was a clear outline of the relationship between the course, the update of skills, best practices and the public good. It cited relevant statutes and regulations that are crucial in thoroughly understanding not just the program but the need for regulatory framework that encompasses it. These information contextualized the whole initiative according to my experience with respect to the community and environment where I would practice my profession. The main content of the NMC publication is the description of requir ements and rules that govern the learning and assessments of students as well as the nursing and midwifery practice. For example, there is the equality and diversity requirements, which promote equal opportunity. There are also those concerning post-qualifying programs such as the Specialist Practice (SPQ) and the Modernising Nursing Careers position paper. Collectively, these elements depict a coherent regulatory framew

The future of helthcare depends on the role of nurses Research Paper

The future of helthcare depends on the role of nurses - Research Paper Example The United Nation targets to have a transformed health system by 2015. Nurses contribute to the emotional, psychological, physical, and social being of people seeking medical attention and the society. Strategies in the health sector run in hierarchy from the policy makers, to the practitioners and then to the public. Nurses and midwives are the last practitioners in the hierarchy and next to the patients. This position makes their role very critical. Whether health care will improve in society is dependent on the responsibility of all individuals in the hierarchy. However, nurses and midwives, being the majority and considering their position in the hierarchy, are the main determinants of the effects of change felt on the ground (Ogilvie and Sare, 2010). An analysis of the contribution of nurses to the future of health care is necessary. According to the global development goals set for achievement by 2015, there is a target to reduce child mortality, which is rampant in some region s of the world. Many of the strategies in place touch on the responsibility of nurses in provision of primary health care. The UN summit stipulated that the cause of most of these deaths was malaria, diarrhea, and malnutrition. The public needs education on how to handle these key causes of death of children under then age of five. In the hospital setting, the nurses play the most crucial role in prevention of child mortality (Barclay, 2010). Nurses offering pediatric care should be more aware and offer relevant advice to mothers on proper nutrition and basic hygiene. Nurses also partake in the distribution of nets in the prevention of malaria and offer advice on frequent treatment of the nets to the public (Sines, Saunders, and Janice, 2009). Without the efficiency of nurses, it is difficult to achieve this millennium goal. In order to achieve the development goal of ensuring maternal health care in all societies, it is the responsibility of nurses and midwives to provide the prima ry care to ensure that mothers no longer die from hemorrhage, infection, obstructed labor, and hypertensive pregnancies. Nurses specializing in midwifery are of key contribution to promoting maternal health. It is essential to ensure that they are qualified and are competitive for improved maternal health to become a reality. Nurses should provide quality prenatal and postnatal care comprehensively in the societies they are working in realizing that their roles are very important (Ball, 2000). HIV effects have increased in the recent past. This increase has forced leaders in the health sector to work tirelessly to reduce cases of new infections. Further, they aim at maximizing the care of people living with HIV to lengthen their lives. There are several fields in addressing the HIV epidemic. The first is prevention of the disease, which involves educating the public on modes of transmission and potential strategies in prevention. This is a responsibility of nurses assigned to volunt ary counseling and testing centers. In addition, nurses are involved in the testing process and the crucial responsibility of post testing counseling. Scholars denote that nurses go a mile further to motivate and encourage HIV patients for them to undergo behavioral and attitude change. They also administer advanced care to patients who are in the final stages of the disease. Additionally, nurses do not relent as they advise relatives of patients on home based care to HIV patients.

Leadership when it matters most Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Leadership when it matters most - Term Paper Example The example will be used to show how transformational leadership is used in the modern world to bring out the maximum potential of employees by using influence tactics, leader-member exchange, decision-making etc. On the other hand, transformational leadership will be contrasted to transactional leadership to identify its advantages and disadvantages. Lastly, its relevance and usefulness in the globalized world will be discussed. After a thorough examination of literature from a vast variety of sources combined with detailed study of real life leadership example, the advantages of transformational leadership are well established. Undoubtedly, the productivity of workers rises due to encouraging two-way communication, shared decision-making, reduced distance between various hierarchal levels and the like. This in turn allows an organization to adapt to the swift changing globalized market and successfully fulfill its mission and vision in the longer run. Besides escalating productivit y, transformational leadership also brings out the creativity and innovative element in employees. In the ultimate analysis, transformational leadership style can greatly increase the effectiveness of a leader. However, overall, the most effective leader is who can develop external awareness of needed actions and the internal flexibility to adapt quickly any leadership style as appropriate. Introduction The purpose of this paper is to critically analyze and evaluate a real life leader in the light of various leadership theories and models. Therefore, this paper will present a real life example of production manager acting as a transformational leader. The essay will go on to give a brief account of the influence tactics, decision-making models, contingency factors, ethical considerations as demonstrated by this particular leader. In addition, the strengths and weaknesses of transformational leadership

Catfish Case Essay Example for Free

Catfish Case Essay In 2007, filmmakers Ariel Schulman and Henry Joost starting filming a documentary of Ariel’s brother Yaniv (Nev), who is a 24 year old photographer from New York. This film is an intriguing documentary about love and deception and how Nev gets involved into a internet relationship on the facebook. It all starts when one of Nev’s photos appeared in The New York Sun on August 13,2007. Three months later he received a painting of his photograph in the mail. The painting was really extordinary and beautiful painted by a 8 year old girl named Abby. She lives in Ishpeming, Michigan with her mother Angela, her father Vince, brother Alex, and half-sister Megan. Soon enough Nev becomes Abby’s internet friend chatting with her almost everyday. They talked about Abby’s paintings and her family a lot . He begins to talk to Megan when she sends him a copy of her music she records with her brother Alex, and is immediately attracted to her. She is 19 years old and works at a vets office, she is a dancer and musician. Nev soon falls into a complicated on-line relationship with Megan and when he decided to meet her in person, he learned that Abby and Megan’s family were not at all what he expected them to be. Everyone should see Catfish- not because of the twist, but because of how powerfully and weird it speaks to our time, to internet culture and the way it allows the controlled illusion of intimacy. It’s a film about storytelling about how a lonely Michigan housewife creates a stageful of made up characters, with which to flatter, entice and woo a sophisticated New Yorker and when that New Yorkers friends show up at the house with cameras, ends up wrestling control of the narrative, not to mention sympathy, from them simply by coming across as more human. And that’s something to see. This documentary begins when Abby sends Nev a picture of her painting that she did of his photograph. She was a really good painter for her age, since she was only 8 years old. They quickly began a facebook relationship where they would write each other back and forth almost everday. He soon develops a relationship with Abby’s mother Angela talking about Abby’s paintings and how they were going to buy that art studio for Abby to sell her paintings in. Angela said that Abby sold one of her paintings for $7,000. Nev was so amazed by how inspiring and incredible Abby really was. Not long after Nev gets to get to know Abby, her sister Megan starts to send him pictures of herself and they were instantly attracted to one another. Megan had just moved out of her mother’s house and had bought a farm house in Gladstone, Michigan where she said she had horses and other animals. She was a veterinary assistant who loved animals as well as a musician, dancer, and photographer as well. Megan sends Nev a song that she had song and recorded with her mother Angela. He was absolutely amazed by how beautiful her voice was. The two talked on the phone and exchanged steamy text messages about their attraction, but the closest they had actually come to being together was in a photo Nev doctored on the computer of themselves. He titled it â€Å"Someday†, because he always hoped they would meet in person. They talked about meeting each other one day, because Nev was starting to grow a lot of feelings for a girl who he has never met. He actually thought that she could be the girl for him even though they had never met. One day he gets a call from work getting a job with his brother Ariel and friend Henry to go to Vail, Colorado. They figured this would be a perfect opportunity to meet Megan, since Colorado is a lot closer than New York is. Megan and her family agreed to meet him once he got to Colorado, but before they could meet, Nev discovered something so shocking that it would destroy him. Nev, Ariel, and Henry was looking up one of Megan’s songs and found out that she had copied it off the internet, that it wasn’t her singing it at all, so they looked up some other things to see if there was any more lies that were told. Nev looks up the art studio that Angela was supposed to of bought for Abby’s paintings and finds out that it is still listed, so they call the real estate agent to see if it is still for sale. The real estate agent told them that it was still for sale, so Angela was lying to Nev too. It has seems like Megan and her family are not who they say they are. The three boys decided that they had to get down to the bottom of this and find out who Megan and her family really were. After their dance film is finished they head out to Michigan to surprise Megan and her family with an unexpected visit to catch them off guard. Megan had told Nev that the family has breakfast every Sunday morning, so that’s when they planned on surprising them. Once they got to Michigan it was very late, but they were too anxious to go to bed, so they decided to drive by Megan’s farmhouse in Gladstone and finds out Megan doesn’t live there and she doesn’t have any horses in the garage. The next morning they got up really early to go to Megan’s family’s house to surprise them during their family breakfast. Angela and Abby do indeed live there, but Megan was no where to be found. Nev is excited to finally meet Abby, but she doesn’t seem to know who he is, like she has never talked to him before. So Nev is really starting to wonder what has been going on with the whole situation and where is Megan, does she even exist? Come to find out, Abby doesn’t even paint at all. Angela is the one who paints and she also takes care of her two mentally retarded twin step-sons Ronald and Anthony, who are totally depended on her to do everything for them. Angela never mentioned any of this to Nev before. This is the first time he ever knew about the boys and now doesn’t believe anything that has happened over the past 9 months is real. Nev asks Angela to sit down with him so he can finally get to the bottom of everything. He asks her if there even is a Megan and at first there was. Megan was supposed to come see Nev, but then she texted his phone and told him that she had a drinking problem and that her and her brother Alex were checking themselves into a treatment center called, Dawn Farms, but then Angela admitted that there was a Megan in Dawn Farms and has been there for four months, but Nev has never talked to her. Come to find out there is no Megan at all. Angela had made her up along with all the dozen or so family and friends in dialogue with Nev on her facebook page, using photos and facts culled from Internet and from her own life. Angela seems to have fabricated these fictional people on Facebook as a way to escape the regrets that came with sacrifices she had to make in order to have a family and a stable life. She seems to do it also to make Nev fall in love with her , and making up whatever lies sheneeds to in order to hold that world together. She shows Nev the two cell phones that she had used, one for Megan and one for herself. While Angela gradually owns up to all of these offenses, Nev sits for a pencil portrait that Angela is making. They revisit the virtual love affair they created together over the past eight months. He looks straight at her as she draws, with affection and a kind of awe. He couldn’t believe that this women has been doing this to him for eight months. People can learn a lot about having an internet relationship just by watching this movie. You never know who you are talking to unless you meet them first. There is no safe way to begin an online relationship unless you know that person first. It can be very dangerous and heartbreaking. Nev and Megan sent over 1500 messages over an eight month period not including a lot of phone calls and sexting. To this day Nev still receives paintings from Angela and they still talk on Facebook with each other.

A comparison between Jean Rhys and Una Marson Essay Example for Free

A comparison between Jean Rhys and Una Marson Essay Voyage into the Metropolis: Exile in the Works of Jean Rhys and Una Marson. In Jonathan Millers 1970 production of Shakespeares The Tempest the character of Caliban was cast as black, therefore reigniting the link between the Prospero/Caliban paradigm as the colonizer/colonized. It was not a new idea, indeed Shakespeare himself envisaged the play set on an island in the Antilles and the play would have had great appeal at the time when new territories were being discovered, conquered, plundered and providing seemingly inexhaustible revenue for the colonisers. What is particularly interesting, however, is how powerful the play later becomes for discourse on colonialism. This trope of Caliban is used by George Lamming in The Pleasures of Exile where he likens Prospero in his relationship with Caliban, to the first slave-traders who used physical force and then their culture to subjugate the African and the Carib, overcoming any rebellion with a self righteous determinism. In The Pleasures of Exile Lamming sees Caliban as: Man and other than man. Caliban is his convert, colonized by language, and excluded by language. It is precisely this gift of language, this attempt at transformation which has brought about the pleasure and the paradox of Calibans exile. Exiled from his gods, exiled from his nature, exiled from his own name! Yet Prospero is afraid of Caliban. He is afraid because he knows that his encounter with Caliban is, largely, his encounter with himself. 1 The Prospero/Caliban paradigm is a very relevant symbol for the colonizer/colonized situation of the West Indies but it nevertheless remains a paternalistic position. Where does that leave women of the Caribbean? It could be argued that the Caribbean woman has been even further marginalized. That in making Caliban the model of the Caribbean man it is therefore providing him with a voice. Yet nowhere in the Tempest is there a female counterpart, rendering the Caribbean woman invisible as well as silent and ignoring an essential part of their historical culture. Another issue raised here, is that Caribbean literature has for many years been male dominated. Just as the colonizer sought to ignore and marginalize their savage Other so the Caribbean male has ignored their female counterpart. Opal Palmer Adisa, in exploring this issue, believes that it is out of this patriarchal structure, designed to make her an object, part of the landscape to be used and discarded as seen fit by the colonizer, that the Caribbean woman has emerged.2 It was out of such a patriarchal structure that Jean Rhys and Una Marson emerged. The writing of both women revise and expand theme and personae, subverting a colonial and patriarchal culture. Both women may exist in different ethnological and ontological realms but they both exist in worlds which have, at one time or another, attempted to censure, silence or ignore the ideals and interests of women3 Like many of their male Caribbean counterparts to succeed them, their writing was greatly influenced by voyaging into the colonial metropolis and living in exile. In this essay I will discuss the importance of that journey in seeking to find a voice, an identity, and even a language to challenge established notions of Self, gender and race within the colonial structure. But essential to their experience is their struggle. Naipaul recognised, in Rhys, the themes of isolation, an absence of society or community, the sense of things falling apart, dependence, loss.4 This could also be said of Marson. Jean Rhys was born Ella Gwendoline Rees Williams on 24th August 1890, in Roseau, Dominica to a Creole mother of Scottish descent and a Welsh father who was a doctor. Rhys left Dominica in 1907, aged sixteen and continued her education in a Cambridge girls school and then at the Academy of Dramatic Art which she left after two terms. Rhys experienced feelings of alienation and isolation at both these institutions and these feelings were to stay with her for much of her life. Upon pursuing a career as a chorus girl under a variety of names Rhys embarked on an affair with a man twenty years older than herself and which lasted two years. It is broadly accepted that this early period of her London life formed the structure for Voyage In The Dark, and like all of Rhyss novels, explores homelessness, dislocation, the marginal and the migrant. The character of Anna, like most of her female protagonists exists in the demimonde of city life, living on the wrong side of respectability. What Rhy s does effectively in this novel is to centralize the marginalized, those subjects who belong nowhere, between cultures, between histories.5 Una Marson was born in rural Jamaica in 1905. Her father was a well respected Baptist minister and as a result of his standing within the community Marson had the opportunity to be educated on a scholarship at Hampton High School, a boarding school for mainly white, middle class girls. After finding employment as a stenographer, Marson went on to edit the Jamaican Critic, an established literary publication, and from 1928-1921, her own magazine The Cosmopolitan. Having established herself as a poet, playwright and womens activist Marson made the decision to travel to Britain. Her achievements in London were impressive; a social activist within the League of Coloured Peoples which led to her taking a post as secretary to the deposed Emperor Haile Selassie and later she was appointed as a BBC commentator. In reality, however, Marson, like Rhys found the voyage into the Metropolis very difficult. Facing blatant racial discrimination like so many West Indian women migrants of the 1950s, Una found herself blocked at every turn. She complained and cried; she felt lonely and humiliated,. 6 In spite of many literary and social connections she remained an isolated and marginal figure. Her poetry displays the uncertainty of cultural belonging where her language ties her to colonialism yet also provides her with a powerful tool with which to challenge it. In placing Rhys alongside Marson as pioneering female writers, it is important to explore the notion of nationality, of being Caribbean and to question the grounds upon which such ideas are constructed. Both women were writing at the same time, having been born and educated in the British colonies. Both these writers, whose lives span the twentieth century, are situated at the crossroads of the colonial and post-colonial, the modern and post modern, where the threat of fascism and war result in anti colonial struggles and eventual decolonisation across the world. Their voyages from the colonies into the metropolitan centre generate similar experiences. What is clear with both is that by journeying into the metropolis, as women, they occupy a double marginal position within an already marginalized community. Their journey can be seen as an exploration of displacement where, according to Edward W. Said, the intellectual exile exists in a median state, neither completely at one with the new setting nor fully disencumbered of the old, beset with half involvements and half attachments, nostalgic and sentimental at one level, an adept mimic or a secret outcast on the other.7 Rhys and Marson, having left the Caribbean are asking us to consider what it means to write from the margins. Within their work, both women challenge notions of womens place within society and womens place as a colonized subject in the metropolitan centre. The protagonist, Anna Morgan, in Voyage in the Dark, reflects Rhyss own multi indeterminate, multi conflicted identity. Anna, like Rhys is a white descendent of British colonists and slave traders who occupy a precarious position of being inbetween. Hated by the Blacks for their part in oppressing the slaves and continuing to cling on to that superior social position, they are also regarded by the mother country as the last vestiges of a degenerate part of their own history best forgotten. Moreover, 1930s England, still under the shadow of Victorian moral dicta, continued to judge harshly a young woman without wealth, family, social position and with an odd accent. Throughout the novel Anna is identified with characters who are usually objectified and silenced in canonical works: the chorus girl, the mannequin, the demimondaine.8 Much has been made of her reading of Zolas Nana and indeed there are many parallels between the two characters. Anna, like Nana becomes a prostitute and in the first version of Voyage in the Dark Anna like Nana dies very young. There is of course the obvious anagram of her name but, as Elaine Savory highlights, some interesting revisions by Rhys. Whereas Zola, in Nana, creates a character who brings about the downfall of upper class men not through power but with only the unsophisticated currency of youth and raw female sexuality9 Rhys, in Anna, creates a character who is herself destroyed by men. In Rhyss version the men who use her youth and beauty are for the most part evidently cowardly or downright disreputable: Anna herself begins as naively trusting, passes through a stage of self destructive hopelessness and passivity and ends, in Rhyss preferred, unpublished version, by dying from a botched abortion.10 If we are to see Walter Jeffries as the original European, existing in a world viewed certainly by himself as principally ordered and reasonable then Rhys is, through this character, highlighting the degenerate aspect of using power to commodify and even destroy, thereby subverting the colonizers position in relation to the colonized. Through the character of Anna, Rhys explores those oppositions of Self and Other, male and female, black and white. Even though she outwardly resembles the white European, enabling her, unlike Marson, to blend visually within London, her association with the Caribbean sets her apart as between black and white cultures and as an exotic Other. This ambiguity of Annas position results in slippage. Anna and her family would have been regarded in the West Indies as the white colonizers. In England and in her relationship with Jeffries she becomes the colonized Other. In being read as the colonized subject Anna is continually having to adapt her world view and sense of identity to the perspective being imposed on her. A good example of this is the chorus girlss renaming her as the Hottentot aligning her more with the black African and demonstrating the homogenizing of the colonized peoples by the colonizers. This is similar to Spivaks belief that so intimate a thing as personal and human identity might be determined by the politics of imperialism.11 Interestingly, Hottentot is the former name for the Nama, a nomadic tribe of Southern Africa. A somewhat apt comparison which reflects Annas own nomadic existence as she moves from town to town as a chorus girl and from one bed sit to another. The term Hottentot developed into a derogatory term during the Victorian era and became synonymous firstly with wide hipped, big bottomed African women with oversized genitals and then with the sexuality of a prostitute. Jeffries is fully aware of the implications of the name Hottentot. In response to hearing Annas renaming he says, I hope you call them something worse back.12 Elaine Savory makes a strong connection between Annas renaming and her relationship with Jeffries, her eventual seducer. Whilst not looking at Annas body in an obvious way, eventually the transaction between them is understood fully on his side to be a promise of sexual excitement from a white woman whom he perceives as having an extra thrill presumably from association with racist constructions of black females in his culture.13 Franz Fanon, in his book Black Skin, White Masks perceives these complex colonial relations as being in a state of flux rather than fixed or static. In his introduction to Fanons text, Homi Bhabha highlights this point, stating that the familiar alignment of colonial subjectsBlack/White, Self/Otheris disturbedand the traditional grounds of racial identity are dispersed.14 So it is in the relationship between Jeffries and Anna. In transposing the colonizers stereotypical images of a black woman onto Anna he is disrupting and dispersing those traditional grounds of racial identity. Moreover, Anna is subconsciously enacting a mediated performance, aware of her impact upon him and the implications of her actions, in an attempt to adhere to his preconceptions of her. The relationship cannot be sustained on these fundamentally unstable preconceptions. Anna, both as a female and racial Other is penetrated by Jeffries and with the exchange of money is commodified. Without independent means Anna becomes that purchasable girl who is at the mercy of and eventually becomes dependent upon the upper middle class Jeffries. The relationship between these two characters reflects Rhyss own location in the world where the West Indies was at the time still a commodity of the British Empire. In another analysis of the colonial stereotype, Homi Bhabha challenges the limiting and traditional reliance of the stereotype as offering, at any one time, a secure point of identification on the part of the individual,15 in this case Jeffries and Hester. Bhabha does not argue that the colonizers stereotyping of the colonized Other is as a result of his security in his own identity or conception of himself but more to do with the colonizers own identity and authority which is in fact destabilized by contradictory responses to the Other. In order to maintain a powerful position it is important, according to Bhabha, for the colonizer to identify the colonized with the image he has already fixed in his mind. This image can be ambiguous as the colonized subject can be simultaneously familiar under the penetrable gaze of the all seeing, all powerful colonial gaze and be incomprehensible like the inscrutable Oriental. The colonized can be both savageand yet the most obedient and dignified of servants; he is the embodiment of rampant sexuality and yet innocent as a child; he is mystical, primitive, simpleminded and yet the most worldly and accomplished liar , and the manipulator of social forces.16 In short, for Bhabha, the relationship between the colonizer and the colonized is riddled with contradictions and inconsistencies which, when imposed upon the colonized Other, cause a crisis of identity. So it is with Anna. Jeffries upon first meeting with the very young Anna can see that she is as innocent as a child and is most obedient sexually, but by her association with the Caribbean and the Hottentot as I have previously explored, she is subsequently attributed with being the embodiment of rampant sexuality resulting in his taking of her virginity, abandoning her to prostitution but also leading to as Veronica Clegg observes a loss of temporal referents17 Annas stepmother, Hester, also attempts to impose an identity upon Anna which not only conflicts with Annas own sense of identity but is also based around stereotypical perceptions. . Hester, whose voice represents a repressive English colonial law18 believes that Annas fathers troubles resulted from his having lost touch with everybody in England19 and that these severing of ties with the Imperial motherland is a signal to her that he was failing,20 losing his identity, reduced to the level of the black inhabitants of the island. This idea of contamination and racial reduction is explored by Paul B. Rich who explains that there was a belief in the early twentieth century that white people in the tropics risked in the absence of continual cultural contacts with their temperate northern culture, being reduced to the level of those black races with whom they had made their unnatural home.21 In Hesters eyes this apparent loss of identity is also experienced by Anna. She continually criticizes her speech, her relationship with Francine the black servant, and also insinuates degenerative behaviour on the part of her family, particularly Uncle Bo. Hesters views reflect the growing disapproval in England at that time, of relationships between white people and the black population in the West Indies. Inter-racial relationships were discouraged for fear of contamination of the white Self. In voicing her disapproval of Annas friendship with Francine along with her continual use of the racist and derogatory term nigger, Hester is alluding to the fact that, in her opinion, Anna, especially through her speech, has indeed been contaminated and reduced racially and that Annas association with Francine thwarts her attempts to reconnect her with the colonizers cultural contacts. Hester rails that she finds it impossible to get you [Anna] away from the servants. That awful sing-song voice you had! Exactly like a nigger you talkedand still do. Exactly like that dreadful girl Francine. When you were jabbering away together in the pantry I never could tell which of you was speaking.22 Hesters constant criticism only serves to undermine Annas real identity and dislocate her further from the Caribbean world she once inhabited and the alienating London world she is now experiencing. Her accent sets her apart, drifting between two worlds. Annas difficulties in negotiating these two worlds is a result of the return of the diasporic to the metropolitan centre where the perplexity of the living is most acutely experienced.23 This can certainly be seen in her response to the weather which, according to Bhabha, invokes the most changeable and imminent signs of national difference24 The novel opens with; It was as if a curtain had fallen, hiding everything I had ever known. It was almost like being born again. The colours were different, the smells different, the feeling things gave you right down inside yourself was different. Not just the difference between heat and cold; light, darkness; purple, grey. But a difference in the way I was frightened and the way I was happy. I didnt like London at first. I couldnt get used to the cold.25 And later upon arriving in England with Hester she describes it as being divided into squares like pocket-handkerchiefs; a small tidy look it had, everywhere fenced off from everywhere else 26and then in London where the dark houses all alike frowning down one after another27 Throughout the novel Anna continually experiences feelings of being enclosed. Many of the bedsits are restricting and box-like. On one occasion she remarks that this damned rooms getting smaller and smallerAnd about the rows of houses outside gimcrack, rotten-looking and all exactly alike.28 The many small rooms between which Anna moves emphasize her disempowerment through enclosed spaces. These spaces, in turn, serve as metaphors for the consequences in voyaging into the metropolitan centre. She is at once shut inside these small monotonous rooms and shut out from that world which has sought to colonize her. It is perhaps ironic that the further she moves into the centre of the city, ending up as she does on Bi rd Street, just off Oxford Street , the more she is shut out and marginalized by that imperialist society. Her memories of the West Indies are in sharp contrast to her impressions of England. The images of home are always warm, vivid and exotic, Thinking of the walls of the Old Estate House, still standing, with moss on them. That was the garden. One ruined room for roses, one for orchids, one for ferns. And the honeysuckle all along the steep flight of steps.29 When comparing the two worlds she remarks to herself that the colours are red, purple, blue , gold, all shades of green. The colours here are black, grey, dim-green, pale blue, the white of peoples faces like woodlice. 30 Her memory of home is experienced sensuously as she recalls the sights and smells: Market Street smelt of the wind but the narrow street smelt of niggers and wood smoke and salt fishcakes fried in lard and the sound of the black women as they call out, salt fishcakes, all sweet an charmin, all sweet an charmin.'31 Anna attempts to convey this richness to Jeffries. His failure to appreciate the beauty she describes merely underlines the differences between the two. He expresses a preference for cold places remarking that The tropics would be altogether too lush.32 Jeffriess reaction to the West Indies in fact reflects the colonizers view that the ruined room for roses and orchids portray a disorder, a garden of Eden complete with its implications of moral decay and as Bhabha states, a tropical chaos that was deemed despotic and ungovernable and therefore worthy of the civilizing mission.33 Annas association with this world sets her up, in Walters eyes, as a figure representing a secret depravity promising forbidden desires. Anna, like the West Indies is something to be overpowered, enslaved and colonized, where the colonizer seeks to strip their identity and impose their own beliefs and desires. It is significant, therefore, that following this scene Anna loses her virginity to Jeffries and recalls the memory of the mulatto slave girl, Maillotte Boyd, aged 18, whose record Anna once found on an old slave list at Constance.34 Like Maillotte Boyd, Anna is now merely a commodity and Jeffries has no intention of ever seeing her as an equal. Her purity, in his eyes isnt worth preserving as he already considers her the contaminated Other. By his actions he succeeds in maintaining that patriarchal imperialism which relies on institutional forms of racial and national separateness. Anna, as a twentieth century white Creole, is no freer than the nineteenth century mulatto slave. Just as Maillotte Boyd is, as racially mixed, suspended between two races, so Anna as a white Creole is suspended between two cultures, leaving her dislocated. Annas voyage into the imperialist metropolis leads to boundaries and codes of behaviour, language and dress being constantly imposed upon her. She is aware for example of the importance of clothes as a means of controlling her social standing and also her standing as a woman. Through her dress Anna almost becomes that elegant white lady, mimicking Londons female high society. For Jeffries, Anna represents the menace of mimicry, which , according to Bhabha is a difference which is almost nothing but not quite and which turns to menace- a difference that is total but not quite.35 This mimicry serves to empower Anna as it ultimately destabilises the essentialism of colonialist ideology, resulting in Jeffries imposing upon Anna the identity of the West Indian Other This in turn leads to feelings of loss, alienation and dislocation, a rejection of being white and a desire to be black. I always wanted to be black. I was happy because Francine was there.Being black is warm and gay, being white is cold and sad.36 Annas association with Hester meant that she hated being white. Being white and getting like Hester, old and sad and everything.37 Yet the warmth she expresses in her memories of Francine are always tempered by her realisation that Francine disliked her because I [Anna] was white.38 Her feelings of being between cultures and feeling dislocated are never fully resolved. Annas voyage in the dark, reflects Rhyss own sense of exile and marginality as a white West Indian woman. Teresa OConnor remarks that Rhys, herself caught between places, cultures, classes and races, never able to identify clearly with one or the other, gives the same marginality to her heroines, so that they reflect the unique experience of dislocation of the white Creole woman.39 The language used to express feelings of exile and loneliness, destitution and dislocation is both sparse and economic. It is neither decorative nor contrived, devoid of sentiment or without seeking sympathy. In commenting upon an essay written by Rhys discussing gender politics, Gregg writes that It is important to note her [Rhyss] belief that writing has a subversive potential. Resistancecan be carried out through writing that exposes and opposes the political and social arrangements.40 Helen Carr, in her exploration of Rhyss language believes that: Rhys in her fictions unpicks and mocks the language by which the powerful keep control, while at the same time shifting, bending, re-inventing ways of using language to open up fresh possibilities of being.41 Una Marson, another Caribbean to voyage into the metropolis, also experienced loneliness, isolation and a struggle with the complexity of identity. Like Rhys, Marson fought with these feelings throughout her life, resulting in long periods of depression. Her belief in womens need for pride in their cultural heritage established Marson as the earliest female poet of significance to emerge in West Indian literature.42 She not only challenged received notions of womens place in society but also raised questions about the relationship of the colonized subject to the mother country43 There was a considerable amount of poetry emerging out of the West Indies around this time but most of it was dismissed as being not truly West Indian,44 the reason for this being partly because many of the writers were English but also because many of the styles used by these writers mimicked colonial forms. Many of Marsons early poetry reflects this mimicry showing a reliance upon the Romantics of the English poetic tradition, particularly Shelley, Wordsworth and Byron. The poem Spring in England reveals this indebtedness to the Romantics, including as it does a stanza where, having observed the arrival of Spring in London, the poet asks: And what are daffodils, daffodils Daffodils that Wordsworth praised? I asked. Wait for Spring, Wait for the Spring, the birds replied. I waited for Spring, and lo they came, A host of shining daffodils Beside the lake beneath the trees (The Moth p6)45 Clearly there are echoes of Wordsworths Daffodils throughout the stanza, reflecting the drive by colonialism through education to eradicate the West Indian selfhood. Yet for Marson this harnessing of English culture not only posed few problems but indeed was, I would argue, a necessary step in her voyage of self discovery. As seen with Rhys, mimicry was a subversive threat to colonial ideology, especially through language. Homi Bhabhas notion of mimicry seeks to explore those ambivalences of such destabilizing colonial and post-colonial exchanges. The menace of mimicry is its double vision which in disclosing the ambivalence of colonial discourse also disrupts its authority. The ambivalence of colonial authority repeatedly turns from mimicry a difference which is almost nothing but not quite to menace a difference that is almost total but not quite. And in that other scene of colonial power, where history turns to farce and presence to a part can be seen the twin figures of narcissism and paranoia that repeat furiously, uncontrollably.46 Bhabhas essay in recognising the power, the play and the dynamics between the colonizer and the colonized offers an alternative to the pessimistic view held by V.S. Naipaul who believed that West Indian culture was doomed to mimicry, unable to create anything original. Marsons mimicry of the Romantics could be seen as a preparation to enter the colonizers metropolis, and to attempt to assimilate into the colonizers world. In making that voyage to the metropolis, Una Marson succeeds in taking that step from the copy to the original. By remaining in Jamaica Marson risked remaining in an environment too rigidly ingrained by colonial prescriptions. Una Marsons voyage into the heart of the Empire, however, resulted in intense disappointment. For the first time, Marson experienced open racism and according to Jarrett-McCauley The truth was that Una dreaded going out because people stared at her, men were curious but their gaze insulted her, even small children with short dimpled legs called her NiggerShe was a black foreigner seen only as strange and unwanted. This was the Fact of Blackness which Fanon was to analyse in Black Skins, White Masks(1952), that inescapable, heightening level of consciousness which comes from being dissected by white eyes. 47 Unlike Rhys, Marson was finding it impossible to blend visually within London. Consciousness of her colour made Marson conscious of her marginality. This consciousness led her seriously to question the values of the mother country. Marsons work moved from mimicry to anti-patriarchal discourse, seen in her poem Politeness where she responds to the William Blake poem Little Black Boy with: They tell us That our skin is black But our hearts are white We tell them That their skin is white But their hearts are black (Tropic Reveries p 44) The poem demonstrates Marsons growing resentment at being alienated by the colonial power. There is an uncertainty in her desire to both belong and to challenge, echoing Rhys in her sense of cultural unbelonging. Those anti-patriarchal feelings are present once more in her poem Nigger where she communicates the anger she feels at being abused and marginalized as the racial Other. They call me Nigger Those little white urchins, They laughed and shouted As I passed along the street, They flung it at me: Nigger! Nigger! Nigger! She retorts to this abuse furiously with: You who feel that you are sprung Of earths first blood, your eyes Are blinded now with arrogance. With ruthlessness you seared My peoples flesh and now you still Would crush their very soul Add fierce insult to vilest injury.48 In its repetition of the shocking term Nigger, Marson is confronting the white colonialists use of the word to exert power over and oppress the colonized. The violence of its use reflects the violence of their shared history where Of those who drove the Negroes / To their death in days of slavery, regard Coloured folk aslow and base.49 In highlighting this history of violence, oppression and slavery, Marson is attempting to invert this oppression and dislodge the notion of white supremacy, whilst attempting to negotiate a position from West Indian to African and in doing so, fashion an identity. By writing the poem in the first person singular and moving from They to You when addressing the white colonizers, Marson succeeds in centralizing herself and reversing the binary system of Self and Other. Nigger marks Marsons sharpened perspective on issues such as racism and identity. Her voyage into the metropolitan centre triggers those emergent identifications and new social movements[being]played out.50 It was a time in Marsons life where she was made to feel inadequate, lonely and humiliated but it also roused her to resist the corrosive force of her oppressive world.51 Nigger reveals this sense of belonging and not belonging felt by Marson, of being part of the empire but never part of the Motherland, yet it simultaneously challenges the very essentialism in which the colonial Self is rooted. Moreover, the hostility she experiences in many ways acknowledges the success of Marsons performance as a hybrid. Marsons frustration and anger was compounded by the fact that in being middle class and educated she possibly saw herself as a notch above the poor, black working class women from the old communities in Cardiff, Liverpool and London52 Marson explores this question of how middle class West Indians negotiate being educated and yet marginalized and even considered inferior in her play London Calling. The play, based on the experiences of colonial students in London charts the story of a group of expatriates who, upon being invited to the house of an aristocratic English family, dress up in outlandish native costume and speak in broken English. The play, a comedy, takes a light hearted look at the stereotypical images held by the British, at the same time countering the myth of black inferiority. There is, in the play, a curious twist as the students from Novoko are presented as black versions of the British in their dress and behaviour, mimic men and yet they themselves attempt to mimic their own folk culture. They are eventually discovered by one of the family, Larkspur, who then proposes marriage to Rita, one of the Novokans. The play ends with Rita declining Larkspurs proposal in favour of Alton, another Novokan. This rejection of Larkspur places Rita in a powerful position. Rita is no longer the undesirable Other, she has resisted the oppressive world of the colonialists and placed herself as the centralised Self. Rita is Marsons fantasy where the black woman is recognised as beautiful and an equal. Marsons activities in the League of Coloured Nations gave her purpose, direction and the opportunity to advance her political education whilst introducing her to the Pan African movement a sort of boomerang from the horrors of slavery and colonialism, to which Una, like many of her generation, was being steadily drawn.53 Marsons work around this time reflects a desire to reclaim and restore that Other cultural tradition, a difficult task as the Caribbean was not an homogeneous agency and it was not easy to establish a pre-colonial culture. The ethnic mix was large and hybrid making the notion of Caribbeanness less easy to define. The Pan-African movement provided links with an alternative body to European colonialism and offered Marson a platform to renegotiate and redefine her idea of Caribbeaness and race, an option not offered to Rhys. Having established a sense of being a black person in a white imperialist centre, she now needed to make sense of being a black woman within this paternalistic centre. The poem Little Brown Girl attempts just this, constructing a dialogue of sorts between a white Londoner, whose gender is unclear, and a little brown girl. The poem begins with a series of questions put to the child: Little brown girl Why do you wander alone About the streets Of the great city Of London? Why do you start and wince When white folk stare at you Dont you think they wonder Why a little brown girl Should roam about their city Their white, white city? (The Moth, p11) The questioning of the little brown girls presence in London suggests a linguistic imperialism. It may be construed as the speaker challenging her right to be in the city, establishing her as the nameless, black Other. Her feeling of difference is emphasized in the repetition of the word white on the final line of the second stanza. The third stanza plays out an interesting reversal in notions of blackness. The speaker asks why she has left the little sunlit land / where we sometimes go / to rest and get brown54 alluding to the desire of white skinned people to tan which for the white colonialist signifies wealth, for the black Other being inferior and uneducated. From here there is a subtle shift of speaker and London is seen through the eyes of the little brown girl. Her perception of the city is distinctly unattractive where There are no laughing faces, / people frown if one really laughs and: Theres nothing picturesque To be seen in the streets, Nothing but people clad In Coats, Coats, Coats, (The Moth, p11) If the poem began with the strangeness of the brown girl to the white gaze, here it teases out those feelings of alienation felt by the little brown girl at being in such a cold, drab place, so different from her own home. Once more Marson creates a reversal in the stereotype as she seeks to objectify white people observing that the folks are all white -/ White, white, white, / And they all seem the same.55 In homogenizing the colonizers, the hybridity of the West Indians are then celebrated in the many varied skin tones of black and bronze and brown which are themselves homogenized by the label Black. The vibrancy, colour and friendliness of back home where the folks are Parading the city wearing Bright attractive bandanas contrasts with the previous stanza of the dour images of London. The dialogue is handed back to the white speaker who attempts to establish the origins of the little black girl but succeeds in once more re-establishing the homogeneic white gaze indicated in the speakers inability to distinguish between many distinct nations : And from whence are you Little brown girl? I guess Africa, or India, Ah no, from some island In the West Indies But isnt that India All the same? (The Moth, p13) More than anything the poem conveys that sense of isolation felt by the little brown girl in the city. She never answers the white speaker directly and is positioned in the middle of the poem, again centralizing the colonized. In asking the question Would you like to be white/Little brown girl? there is a sense of the colonizer attempting to manipulate and dominate the colonized, to Europeanise, ultimately leading to mimicry. Yet the questioner responds himself with I dont think you would / For you toss your head / As though you are proud / To be brown. 56 Marson, here, signals a move away from being a mimic man seeking to challenge that whole Eurocentric paternalistic world and centralise the black women, the most marginalized figure in society. The themes central to Little Brown Girls themes echo Rhyss own negative reactions to London seen in the opening page of Voyage in the Dark. Like Rhys, Marson succeeds in capturing that colour and warmth of the West Indies contrasting greatly with the misery of London, experienced by both and which reinforce that racial and national separateness. Those differences prove for both to be irreconcilable, making it impossible for both Rhys and Marson to integrate, leaving both women dislocated from the metropolis. Little Black Girl serves as a useful reminder that many immigrants were women. This encounter between the city and a woman (in Marsons case, a black woman) echoes Annas encounter in Voyage in the Dark albeit as a prostitute. Both walk the streets of the city and as women-as-walkers encounter the metropolis, negotiating its spaces. Denise deCaires Narian suggests that certainly Marson could be considered as a flaneuse.57 Neither Rhys nor Marson, however have the confident panache of the flaneuse and neither fulfil the requirements of flanerie originally set out by Baudelaire. The flaneur, he asserted, saw the crowd as his domain, His passion and his profession is to merge with the crowd.58 The flaneur and therefore the flaneuse is engaged in strolling and looking but most importantly merging with the crowd. For Marson this is impossible as she is a black woman in a white city. Moreover, Baudelaire expands upon the idea of the flaneur as having the ability to be away from home and yet to feel at home anywhere, to be at the centre of the world, and yet to be unseen of the world.59 Again this is problematic for both Marson and Rhys as their wanderings around the metropolis seek only to reinforce those feelings of Otherness, isolation and marginality. For Marson these feelings of alienation gained her the reputation of being a true loner who didnt exactly seek out company60 leading to a heightened level of bodily consciousness which comes from being dissected by white eyes.61 In her struggle with being marginalized as a black women always at the mercy of the white metropolitan gaze, Marson was always aware of that Europeanised sense of beauty being white. This idea of beauty was so entrenched, even within the black community that they themselves set beauty against the paleness of their own skin. The importance of popularly disseminated images is tackled in Cinema Eyes where a black mother in addressing her daughter attempts to challenge the idea that Europeans still provide the aesthetic reference point.62 The speaker urges her eighteen year old daughter to avoid the cinema fearing that it might reinforce the idea that white is beautiful causing the girl to lose sight of her own beauty: Come, I will let you go When black beauties Are chosen for the screen; That you may know Your own sweet beauty And not the white loveliness Of others for envy. (The Moth, p88) By growing up with a cinema mind the mother has allowed herself to be at the mercy of those tools used by the colonizer to marginalize and indoctrinate, promoting their own superiority. Once again the mimic man re-emerges when black women reject their own in seeking an ideal man. No kinky haired man for me, / No black face, no black children for me.63 This rather melodramatic narrative within the poem tells of the mothers fair husband shooting her first suitor whom she had initially rejected for being too dark, and then committing suicide. The shooting scene, a re enactment of a gun fight in a western, presents the cinema as a racist and degenerate institution. By the end of the poem, the speaker acknowledges her mistake in rejecting the first lover and finds a sense of self, previously denied by the saturation of cinematic images. In shaking off the colonizers indoctrination, which seeks to marginalize her, she addresses the question posed by Franz Fanon which is to what extent authentic love will remain unattainable before one has purged oneself of that feeling of inferiority?64 Black invisibility in the cinema results in white ideology being forced upon a black body and essentially commodifying it and it is this which Marson seeks to deconstruct. Another poem which tackles the reconstruction of female identity is Black is Fancy, where the speaker compares her reflection in the mirror with a picture Of a beautiful white lady.65 The mirror serves to reclaim the idea of black as being beautiful and a rediscovery of self: Since Aunt Lisa gave me This nice looking glass I begin to feel proud Of my own self (The Moth, p75) The speaker eventually removes the picture of the white woman suggesting that black worth and beauty can only really exist in the absence of white colonialism. The poem ends in a victory of sorts as she declares that John, her lover has rejected the pale skin in favour of His black ivory girl.66 Kinky Haired Blues represents Marsons quest for a more effective and authentic poetic voice in its use of African American speech.. The poem explores the rhythms and musical influences found in Harlem and gathering momentum about this time. Kinky Haired Blues like Cinema Eyes and Black is Fancy criticizes the oppressive beauty regime of white colonialism which seeks to disfigure and marginalize the black woman. The poem opens with the speaker attempting to find a beauty shop: Gwine find a beauty shop Cause I aint a belle Gwine find a beauty shop Cause I aint a lovely belle. The boys pass me by They say Is not so swell (The Moth, p91) The speaker seeks to Europeanise her black features in an attempt to make herself more attractive. Male indifference experienced in the metropolis forces the speaker to see herself as an aberration, thrusting her onto the margins of a society which is continually projecting the idea that white is right. The beauty shop contains all the trappings of the colonizers idea of beauty, ironed hair and bleached skin. Yet she is caught between being left to die on de shelf 67 if she doesnt change herself, or eradicating her ethnic features and therefore her inner self if she does. By using blues within the poetry she is able to communicate this misery felt within her, that male perceptions of beauty projected by the colonizers dictate that she must distort her own natural beauty in order to fit in and conform. The poem highlights the struggle Marson experiences in trying to preserve her selfhood against such oppressive cultural forces. Marson defiantly attempts to stand against this patriarchal order. She proudly announces that I like me black face / And me kinky hair. Inspite of this brave stand Marson eventually succumbs and admits that she is gwine press me hair / And bleach me skin. She, like Rhys can only resist internally to the colonialists ideals imposed on them. As writers voyaging into the metropolis both Rhys and Marson share in their writing a pervasive sense of isolation where, from the location of London, their particular voices and concerns are, at the time, not recognised. Both writers, from this isolated position on the periphery of the centre. explore issues of womanhood, race and identity,. Marsons experiences bring about an acute awareness of her difference and Otherness as a Black woman. Her work is a defiant voice against this marginalisation and isolation. She was, as Jarrett MaCauley claims the first Black feminist to speak out against racism and sexism in Britain.68 She was a pioneer in a growing literary culture which was to become the new postcolonial order. Rhys, by contrast, a white West Indian from Dominica was experiencing a declining white minority status against a growing black population, itself an isolating factor both at home and within the metropolis. Kenneth Ramchard suggests that the work of white West Indian writers is characterized by a sense of embattlement: Adapted from Fanon we might use the phrase terrified consciousness to suggest the White minoritys sensations of shock and disorientation as a smouldering Black population is released into an awareness of power.69 It is this terrified consciousness which contributes to the struggle experienced by Anna in Voyage in the Dark . Located simultaneously both inside and outside West Indian socio cultural history, her journey to the mother country seeks only to exacerbate these feelings of in-betweenness and to suffer feelings of dislocation and alienation. Both writers, therefore, in their voyage into the metropolis endure different kinds of anxieties in their sense of unbelonging to either or both cultural worlds. Both use their writing to speak for the marginal, the hegemonic, the dispossessed, the colonized silenced female voice situated as they were within the cold, oppressive, hierarchical colonial metropolis attempting to impose an oppressive identity upon the exiled women. 1 George Lamming The Pleasures of Exile (London: Alison, 1960) p15 2 Palmer Adisa De Language Reflect Dem Ethos in The Winds of Change: The Transforming Voices of Caribbean Women Writers and Scholars ed. By Adele S. Newson and Linda Strong Leek. (New York: Peter Lang 1998 p23) 3 The Winds of Change: The Transforming Voices of Caribbean Women Writers and Scholars ed By Adele S. Newson and Linda Strong-Leek. (New York: Peter Lang 1998 p6) 4 V.S. Naipaul New York Review of Books 1992. Quoted in Helen Carr Jean Rhys (Plymouth: Northcote House Publishers Ltd., 1996) p15 5 Helen Carr Jean Rhys (Plymouth: Northcote House Publishers Ltd., 1996) p. xiv 6 Delia Jarrett-MaCauley The Life of Una Marson (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1998) p51 7 Edward W. Said Representations of the Intellectual (London: Vintage 1994) p49 8 Molly Hite The Other Side of the Story: Structures and Strategies of Contemporary Feminist Narrative Quoted in Joy Castro Jean Rhys in The Review of Contemporary Fiction Vol. 20, 2000. www.highbeam.com/library/doc.3.asp p6.Accessed 1 December 2005. 9 Elaine Savory Jean Rhys p92 10 Elaine Savory Jean Rhys p93 11 Gayatri Spivak Three Womens Text and a Critique of Imperialism in Henry Louis Jr. Gates Race, Writing and Difference (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1987) p269 12Jean Rhys Voyage in the Dark (London: Penguin Books 1969) 13 Elaine Savoury Jean Rhys (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 1998) p 95 14 Homi Bhabha Remembering Fanon, forward to Franz Fanon s Black Skin, White Masks (London: Pluto, 1986) p ix 15 Homi Bhabha The Other Question Location of Culture (London: Routledge 1994)p69 16 Ibid p69 17 Veronica Marie Gregg Jean Rhyss Historical Imagination: Reading and Writing the Creole (North Carolina: The University of North Carolina Press, 1995) p115 18 Sue Thomas The Worlding of Jean Rhys ( Westport: Greenwood Press 1999) p106 19 Jean Rhys Voyage in the Dark p53 20 Ibid 21 Paul B. Rich Race and Empire in British Politics (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1986) p19 22 Voyage in the Dark p56 23 Ibid p320 24 Homi Bhabha DissemInation: Time, Narrative and the margins of the Modern Nation The Location of Culture p319 25 Voyage in the Dark p7 26 Ibid p15 27 Ibid p16 28 Ibid p26 29 Ibid p45 30 Ibid p47 31 Ibid p7 32 Ibid p46 33 Homi Bhabha The Location of Culture p319 34 Voyage in the Dark p45 35 Homi Bhabha Location of Culture p85 36 Ibid p27 37 Ibid p62 38 Ibid p62 39 Teresa OConnor The Meaning of the West Indian Experience for Jean Rhys (PhD dissertation, New York University, 1985)cited in Caribbean Woman Writers; Essays from the first International Conference. p19 40 Taken from Rhyss non fictional analysis of Gender Politics. Veronica Gregg, Jean Rhyss Historical Imagination p47 41 Helen Carr Jean Rhys, (Plymouth: Northcote House Publishers Ltd, 1996) p 77 42 Lloyd W. Brown, West Indian Poetry (London: Heineman, 1978) p 38 43 Denise deCaires Contemporary Caribbean Womens Poetry: Making style (London: Routledge, 2002) p 2 44 Ibid p4 45 Una Marson The Moth and the Star, (Kingston, Jamaica: Published by the Author, 1937) p24 46 Homi Bhabha The Location of Culture, (London: Routledge, 1994) pp85-92 47 Delia Jarrett-MaCauley The Life of Una Marson pp 49, 50 48 The Routledge Reader in Caribbean Literature ed. Alison Donnell and Sarah Lawson Welsh (London: Routledge, 1996) p140-141 49 Ibid 50 Homi Bhabha Location of Culture p 320 51 Jarrett-MaCauley The Life of Una Marson p51 52 Ibid p51 53 Ibid p54 54 Una Marson Little Brown Girl, The Moth and the Star. (Jamaica: The Gleaner. 1937) p11 55 Ibid 56 Ibid p13 57 deCaires Narain puts forward an interesting link between Marson and Sam Selvons The Lonely Londoners highlighting external identity in her book Contemporary Caribbean Womens Poetry p 21 58 Baudelaire The Painter and the Modern Life cited in Keith Tester The Flaneur (New York: Routledge, 1994), p 2 59 Ibid p3 60 Jarrett-MaCauley, p53 61 Ibid p50 62 Laurence A. Brainer An Introduction to West Indian Poetry (Cambridge: CUP, 1998), p154 63 Una Marson Cinema Eyes The Moth and the Star. (Jamaica: The Gleaner.1937) p87 64 Franz Fanon Black Skins, White Masks (London: Pluto, 1986), p4 65 Una Marson Black is Fancy The Moth and the Star p75 66 Ibid p76 67 Una Marson Kinky Hair Blues The Moth and the Star p91 68 Jarret MaCauley pvii 69 Kenneth Ramchard The West Indian Novel and its Background (London: Faber, 1870), p225

Models and Practices to Support Children with Disabilities

Models and Practices to Support Children with Disabilities Special Education Needs Course Level 3. Assignment number 1. Part 1 Outline the legal and regulatory requirements for children with disabilities or specific requirements. Regardless of the circumstances all children have rights to be treated fairly and lawfully. Unfavourable treatment could include, Direct discrimination- could include refusing a child access to the setting. Indirect discrimination- maybe only display information in one language. Discrimination due to disability- children having fewer opportunities to take part in activities than other children. Children with special educational needs or disabilities also have additional legal and regulatory requirements to promote inclusion and protect from discrimination. These include, The Equality Act 2010 allows children to receive the same access to public and private services. Making accessible to all, i.e. ramp or braille. This promotes equal opportunities and inclusion for all children. The Children’s and Families Act 2014- this is a single assessment process that will support children from 0-25yrs. This is an EHC- Education, Health and Care plan. This act requires children and families to be involved in decisions about their care. It also places a legal duty for schools to provide appropriate support to children with medical conditions. Special Educational Needs and Disabilities code of practice: 0-25yrs. This provides guidance on policies and procedures that are set out in part 3 of the children’s and families act 2014. Organisations using this are, all local authorities, NHS trust, Local early year’s providers and independent and specialist schools. The principles underpinned in the code are, Views and wishes of the child and carers. Taking part in discussions and getting the information and support to make the right decisions. Give support to achieve the best possible outcomes. When following these principles the support hopefully will lead to partnerships providing quality support for all who have disabilities and special educational needs. The code of practice aims to remove barriers to learning for all children and that early identification and intervention from all services can support them. The United Nations Convention on rights of the child. This document give rights and entitlements to all children regardless of circumstances and their needs. There are 54 articles that explain the rights. Some examples are, Article 12- states the views of the child should be listened to and respects. They do not give authority over adult views but can be taken into account. Article 23- outlines that children have rights to receive special care and support to enable to live full and independent lives. Article 31- responsibility to be able to play freely within the environment. The Unites Nations Convention on the rights of persons with Disabilities. Human rights treaty that gives rights to disabled people. It outlines ways of reducing the barriers. Article 7 outlines for children what must be taken into account, All necessary measures should be taken into account to have full participation as others do. Primary consideration should be in their best interests. Should have rights to express their views and opinions that affect them, and to be taken seriously. The Special Educational Needs and Disability regulations 2014- this came in to effect on the 1st September 2014. It sets out the requirements for local authorities for accessing children and young people’s needs and drawing up their EHC. It requires them to consult with parents and to keep all involved in the care informed throughout the whole process. A reference to this is taken from, (Ref, Dovenston. M. (2006) Primary Special Educational Needs, Exeter. Learning Matters Ltd). It says that it recognises that parents hold key information and have a variety of unique skills, knowledge and understanding about their child. This can provide a good balance of information needed to get the child the best. Part 2. Explaining the importance of working inclusively with children with disabilities or specific requirements. It is important to promote equal opportunities for children by having an environment free from discrimination. All children should have the opportunity to be educated within a mainstream setting with children of all mixed abilities. Having a child-centred approach will help to meet their needs and strengthen the child. Example, visual timetables, signs in different languages. Access to the whole school through ramps. All these are use at the school which I work at. Two models of disabilities are: Medical model disability, this is when it is seen as an illness. They are labelled by their condition. As they focus on the disability, strengths and interests of the child can be over looked. Social model disability, this recognises that everyone has rights. Attitudes towards disabilities is from ‘society’ not the individual. Ways of promoting inclusive practice are: Respect the child. Empathy demonstrated by practitioners. Children are empowered. Their interests are at the centre of your planning. Examples, using the Individual Education Plans (IEPs) and Annual reviews to get together to discuss these. Good equal opportunities which are a legal requirement, which is not optional, will promote inclusion within the setting. Some of the stratagies used are listed below: Make everyone feel welcome. Respect and value the individual. Plan using their interests. Resources and materials used to promote a positive image. Practitioners to display positive attitudes. Deal with discriminatory language and behaviour in the correct manner. Part 3. The benefits of working together with parents and other professionals. When you are involved in providing care and support for children, parents must be consulted and involved. This will provide insight to have the children are at home, and it is respectful to the family. Along with parents the use of external agencies provide help. Examples: I have contact with a special school who provides information to help me provide the best for the child I work with. The SEND Code of Practice gives an outline of the principles that are needed to maintain a positive working relationship with the parents: Consult with the children and parents when reviewing services All providers should support parents contributing to the reviews of the EHC plans. Make arrangements to provide advice and information to the children. These are all from the new SEND code of practice 2014 0-25yrs. There are still a number of principles from the 2001 paper which are in use. These are, Use parental knowledge of relationship with the child. Focus on strengths as well as their needs. Be aware of their feelings. Make sure parents are aware of and understand procedures and give documents well in advance of any meetings. Respect differing perspectives. Respect needs of the parents. The need to be flexible and also structured within the meeting. Working with other professionals and agencies you can provide opportunities to gain more knowledge and other strategies to help in providing professional care to the children in your care. In school you will have a designated person who is in charge of the SEN children. They are usually referred to as the SENCO, (special educational needs co-ordinator.) they are responsible for providing support for those who need it. My job is to support the learning of a child one to one, who has learning difficulties. I work and liaise with the SENCO worker on a regular basis to ensure we are providing the best support and care for him. Together we have tailored a literacy programme, and we have used outside agencies to provide this material. These are: Speech and language therapist, and a Special school who have given us programmes to use. (Ref, Dovenston.M. (2006) primary special educational needs, Exeter, Learning Matters Ltd) says,’ It is important to listen communicate, take advice and share information with all relevant parties, but always maintaining confidentiality’. Other professionals which can be involved in care for children are: Physiotherapist – to meet the physical needs of the children. Provide exercises and treatment. Speech and language therapist – devise a programme involving parents and practitioners to use with them. Health visitors – provide advice and support and help to educate families. Paediatrician – used to diagnose a condition and possibly refer to other agencies General practitioner – usually first point of contact and they will usually make the referrals. Social worker – have the role of provide safeguarding and protection to children. Also providing guidance and practical help for families. Together all professionals, practitioners and parents will help to provide the support, knowledge and care that a child needs. Part 4 How practitioners can adapt existing practices to support children with disabilities or specific requirements. During the last year or so a number of pieces of legislation has been changed or undated, this includes the SEN code of practice 0-25yrs. This means that all establishments who use these must take responsibility to make sure that the environment is a high standard to provide the care needed. Taken from, (www.eenet.org.uk 19.10.2014) they say that they should, Adapt to meet the requirements within the legislation. All materials and resources are age and stage appropriate. Display positive attitudes. Inclusion within the learning environment. Have early intervention. Have positive role models. The environment is an important aspect. Children need to have appropriate access to the buildings, through ramps, security, high and locked gates. Having the correct equipment, tables chair etc. when choosing an activity to do think about how it is going to take place, if on floor can all taking part or can it be moved onto the table. If a child has a visual impairment do they have the appropriate equipment to use? Visual timetables can help children. I use one of these for the child I work with. Having positive attitudes towards all provides an image for all to follow whatever their needs may be. Children like to do things for themselves, but due to their disability they may find it difficult, for example going to the toilet, getting dressed and undressed. Fastening zips. Velcro is good and gives them confidence to do things for themselves. Some children don’t know how to express themselves and their feelings in an appropriate way. Again I have had this problem. I have made and used a number of flash cards which have different faces on them which represent an emotion. I get the child to show me the card if they need to. They do contain a word explanation. If a child has a physical impairment provide activities that allow them to be at the same level. Have room for them to move without injuring themselves safely around the classroom. For those with sensory impairments try not to change the layout without telling them and showing them (work through it with them). If possible try and keep the floor space clear of obstacles and always supervise the child through any activity. Providing activities that are too easy is the same as giving them something too hard. Through your assessment and judgment you will know the level/ stage which the child is at and you can plan your activities around this using differentiation. Another example is the tailored literacy programme which I use. Giving the children confidence to achieve even the smallest thing will encourage them to do more. Appendix. References used in this assignment are: Course material for assignment number 1. Own experiences from the school where I work. Website – www.eenet.org.uk 19.10.2014 Books. – Doveston.M. (2006) Primary Special Educational Needs.Exeter. Learning Matters Ltd.