History Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 14

History - Essay Example Germany had a strategy to win the war by starving the British. So on February 4, 1915, it issued a formal declaration, warning neutral ships to stay away from the British waters or risk being sunk. Wilson strongly challenged this declaration making it clear the US government would not tolerate sinking of any of its ships. Subsequently, on May 7th, 1915, German U-boat sank the British ship Lusitania, resulting in deaths of over 100 American citizens. President Wilson lodged strong protests to the German government, which claimed that the British ship was carrying arms and ammunitions. After several months of diplomatic efforts, in April 1916, President sent an ultimatum to the German government to stop its policy of unrestricted submarine warfare. Germany complied and US entry to the Great war was put off. President Wilson was re-elected for having kept America out of war. However, in January 1917, frustrated by British naval blockade, Germany decided to reintroduce the policy of unrestricted submarine warfare. This resulted in the US severing all diplomatic ties with Germany. Also, the British intercepted the coded Zimmermann Telegram telegram sent by Germany to Mexico. In the telegram, Germany had proposed alliance with Mexico should America join the war. In return, Germany promised to help Mexico in back states of Arizona, Texas and New Mexico. When this telegram was made public in the United States there was a huge public outcry, eventually forcing President Wilson to declare war on Germany. In an address to the congress, President Wilson said that loss of civilian lives as a result of unrestricted submarine warfare was inhumane and unacceptable and hence left no choice for the US but to join the war. He said that war was against the German government, and not the German people who were not consulted in this war. He also made it clear he would only be declaring war against Germany and not with the other allies, at least for the

Kevin Stevenson retires as AASB Chair Essay Example for Free

Kevin Stevenson retires as AASB Chair Essay This media article is about the accomplishments and achievements of Kevin Stevenson regarding his retirement from Chairman of the Australian Accounting Standards Board on 30th June 2014. (Media releases, 2014) While Kevin Stevenson was in his position, he ensured the long traditions of financial reporting was being supported both internationally and domestically and that counseling was provided for the issues raised about FRC. (Media releases, 2014) Mr. Stevenson was the first to research, develop and create Accounting Standards Advisory Forum which is dealt within International Accounting Standards Board. The AASB’s Research Centre was established while Stevenson worked as the Asian-Oceanian Standard Setters Group’s chair. His leadership focus was mainly on the interest of the public. This was stated by Lynn Wood, FRC’s chair and trustee of the IFRS Foundation. Ian Mackintosh, the former Chair of the PSASB of Australia and Deputy Chair of IASB was in agreement with this statement. (Media releases, 2014) According to Mackintosh, Mr. Stevenson has largely contributed to have Asian countries to join IFRS, like Nepal and Korea. From the beginning of the 1970s, Stevenson has put all his attention in setting principal based standards and developing a Conceptual Framework to be used in financial reporting. Mr. Stevenson supported accounting regulations as it was evidenced by his organisation and also by Australian Accounting Research Foundation. He has also been appointed as a director of AARF while watching AARF grew with it’s development of regulations. He was a leader and was in the most important position when setting the international pace to develop the common accounting standards for both the public and the private sectors. (Media releases, 2014) Stevenson has contributed in the formation of the Public Sector Accounting. He took a significant role in the establishment of International Financial Reporting Standards in 2005 and this Standard has widely been used in Australia and the entire Europe. (Media releases, 2014) Concepts, ideas and facts There are two important components that need to be satisfied to offer accounting services exhibiting high efficacy and quality. These are teamwork and leadership. Management models in accounting services need to employ strategic human resource techniques to teams in accounting teams and leadership positions in order to provide high-quality services in the shortest time possible. The operation of accounting services operates under a clear and concise manner and performs its measurement. Therefore, to provide the best accounting services and not get involved in fraud accounting, there needs to be an ultramodern investigation that uses scientific leadership when working as a team with major stakeholders (Topic 2, 2014). Stevenson was leading in the right direction by using new techniques in accounting. These techniques of accounting were important steps which need leaders with efficient skills to apply concepts like efficacy, cost benefit analysis, economies of scale and cost-effectiveness analysis that will progressively measure improvement. To resolve a core issue of the organization and get a competent solution, it is important to acquire efficient leadership. Strategic leadership in accounting provides quality and up to date accounting services to an organization. Leadership like that of Stevenson, brings together all of the incomplete system consisting of thousands of accountants working within a fragmented system of organizations. (Topic 7, 2014) Advanced fraud investigation is developed through effective teamwork and leadership in accounting. Leaders’ decisions are encouraged to be made by considering social and moral implications so it will have a positive effect on the shareholders and customers of the organization, such as the leadership of Stevenson’s. (Topic 7, 2014) Every employee bears an ethical responsibility to act in an ethical manner and make sure that their company does is tax compliant and allows reasonable deductions. Employees should ensure that the company appropriately allocates the importance of the business activities. The Accounting Issue The best way to improve the truthfulness in accounting and financial reporting is by ensuring that ethical standards are used through efficient manners of reporting, sufficient financial management and a strong system of governance. Maintaining a right to the truth is an ethical practice in financial reporting and accounting. Both the clients and stakeholders of an organization have the right to information that is true and accurate when making any investment discussions. It is the legal obligation of any accountant to provide services that are professional and competent and this should be done within their required skills. It is a common argument that a large number of accountants do not have the ability to recognize and solve ethical dilemmas in an ethical manner. This has made it necessary to incorporate ethics education as a key element in the accounting profession. Early initiation of the inclusion of professional values and ethics should be emphasized in the accounting profession. Major issue of the article Stevenson clearly shows that ethical management and taking responsibility to act in the best interest of the company that they are providing accounting services for, relates with providing accurate and truthful records. This beneficial not only to the organization, but also to the society in general (Media releases, 2014) Management should be ethical by being honest, accurate and complete when dealing with financial data and have ethics held in place. Every employee bears the responsibility to make decisions that are wise and up to date for the future well-being of the company. The accounting standards are useful in financial reporting and accounting as they are critically examined when processed. (Topic 2 , 2014) In order to uphold the highest code of ethics, organizations should emphasize on the major functions because shareholders and customers often make their decisions based on financial and accounting reports. Mr. Stevenson’s case is a clear demonstration of the importance of legal and ethical factors in accounting and financial reporting. It is through these two issues that Mr. Stevenson was able to establish effective departments of accounting and financial reporting and design specific rules that govern general functioning of any company. Relevant topics and theories Positive Accounting Theory plans for the future and gives information of what is currently not known. Financial reporting has its history with Positive Accounting Theory applied. It has focused its major interest on various aspects of accounting techniques which has provided an informative background with in depth details of the functionality of accounting in financial reporting (Topic 2, 2014) The application of financial reporting and accounting is concerned with all the future business of a company that relates to any economic unit. There are four main ethical elements involved in accounting and financial reporting. These elements are truthfulness, objectivity, autonomy and competence and they require employees in the accounting and financial reporting profession to act independently towards the clients to whom they offer their services. They should ensure that their desire to attain better living and to acquire more wealth should not be an obstacle to their financial responsibilities. Obligations of ethics greatly affect the decisions of accounting and financial reporting. Also helps solving unfair situations that may alter information symmetry. (Topic 2, 2014) The decision by Nepal and Korea to join the IFRS was based on the financial guidelines that govern accounting and financial reporting. Every employee in the accounting and financial reporting profession, whether in a private or public company bears an ethical responsibility to act in a manner that is loyal and impartial to his or her obligation when reviewing both the financial or individual reports of an organization. It is quite normal for accountants and financial reporters to encounter possible ethical violations when working. As a result, one should maintain carefulness and desist from manipulation of financial records as this is a violation of ethical guidelines. The important elements of normative accounting theory are the integrity and being open to public scrutiny. For some companies to maintain certain public image they may receive pressure from management. Most companies in the public sector are faced with the pressure to be seen as highly successful. Consequently, it becomes an ethical concern for the company to maintain ethical reports of the company assets because the pressure from management could fail them to resist the temptation (Topic 2, 2014). Management should not manipulate the company’s financial records and alter the figures in an effort to create an image that falsely portrays the company as successful. This is often temporary because it only portrays the prosperity of the company on a short term basis before the fraud is detected by the Securities and Exchange Commission (Topic 2 , 2014). Such manipulation, which is often based on poor decision making skills aims at putting up a false image of the financial status of the company and only has negative effects on the well-being of the company. Accounting professional should by all means disregard such practices. Despite the temptation associated with manipulating financial records, management should act as the last defense tool against accounting fraud. For these reasons, accounting theories assert that companies should maintain their ethical vigilance in order to avoid any potential breach of conduct (Callahan, 2014). Every individual engaging in any activity relating to financial reporting and accounting should uphold the highest standards of ethical behavior. It is through these standards that guidelines and rules are set to guide employees in performing their professional responsibilities. Question 2 In comment letter 1, the Financial Reporting Committee of the IMA wrote this letter to express its opinion on financial accounting standards, to simply the income statement presentation by eliminating the concept of extraordinary items. The FRC is in charge of several accounting books of different companies. This basically means that FRC has the responsibility of making timely responses to statements, pronouncements, research legislation, proposals and pending legislation. Their main concern in this comment letter is the complexion of financial statements within FASB. They support the simplified financial statements adopted by the board which is easier for common people to understand CITATION Sch l 1033 (Schroder, 2014). Their support is on the elimination of very unusual items as in most times this criterion is not satisfied. Their proposal to simplify the income statement gets rid of the tedious work in the preparation of financial documents. Their support is based on the fact that the allocation of time in preparing income tax reduces to a great extend by eliminating the occurrence of other income items. They thus advocate for a thorough examination of the details of this suggested proposal CITATION Sch l 1033 (Schroder, 2014). In comment letter number 2, Marcum Accountants and Advisors write to the FASB to simplify the income statement by eliminating the concept of extraordinary items regarding the proposed accounting standards. Their letter is generally a response to several questions regarding the process of simplification of the income statement. They support the concept of elimination of extra ordinary items from the General Accounting principles. Their argument is based on where the extra ordinary items make the application difficult in accounting practice CITATION Giu14 l 1033 (Giugliano, 2014). They thus support the application for extra ordinary items in previous accounting periods. A sudden change of the rules would otherwise lead to confusion in the accounting practice CITATION Top14 l 1033 (Topic 2 , 2014). The ease of application with the proposed update makes it easy to make these recommended changes to adopt. They thus suggest the immediate adoption of the proposed update. They agree with the decision made by the board which was to comply with the principle of separate disclosure of infrequent transactions. They also suggest the importance of offering guidance on deciding the unusual item. CITATION Giu14 l 1033 (Giugliano, 2014) Proper definitions should be provided of the unusually occurring items. In comment letter 3, Ford Motor Company also writes supporting the simplification of financial report assessed and initiated by FASB. Their agreement is based on the reasonable evaluation, identification and improvement of the generally accepted accounting principles CITATION Cal14 l 1033 (Callahan, 2014). This thus means that by reducing the complexity and simplifying the income statement, it will possibly reduce the cost of application. They are also in agreement with the board that such an update would not lead to data loss. The overall benefit would be to the end users of such financial statements. References Callahan, S. (2014). Comment Letter No. 6 (1st ed.). FORD MOTOR COMPANY. Retrieved from http://www.fasb.org/jsp/FASB/CommentLetter_C/CommentLetterPagecid=1218220137090project_id=2014-220 Callahan, S. (2014). Comment Letter No. 6 (1st ed.). FORD MOTOR COMPANY. Retrieved from http://www.fasb.org/jsp/FASB/CommentLetter_C/CommentLetterPagecid=1218220137090project_id=2014-220 Giugliano, G. (2014). Comment Letter No. 5 (1st ed.). MARCUM LLP. Retrieved from http://www.fasb.org/jsp/FASB/CommentLetter_C/CommentLetterPagecid=1218220137090project_id=2014-220 Media releases,. (2014). Kevin Stevenson retires as AASB Chair. Proposed Accounting Standards Update. (2014) (1st ed.). Retrieved from http://www.fasb.org Schroeder, N. (2014). Comment Letter No.2 (1st ed.). IMA/FRC. Retrieved from http://www.fasb.org/jsp/FASB/CommentLetter_C/CommentLetterPagecid=1218220137090project_id=2014-220 Topic 2 The role of ethics in accounting. (2014). Topic 6 International Accounting. (2014). Topic 7 Normative Accounting theories. (2014). Source document

Review Of Related Literature Education Essay

Review Of Related Literature Education Essay The Problems of Indiscipline in Rivers State Secondary Schools: A Survey of Schools in Abua/Odual Local Government Area. Abstract The purpose of this study was to investigate The Problems of Indiscipline in Secondary Schools in Abua/Odual Local Government Area. One hundred teachers constituted the study sample. Questionnaire was administered to teachers to obtain data for five research questions. The statistical tool used to analyse the raw data was percentage method. The results showed that lack of corporal punishment, irregular payment of teachers salaries, poor administration constitutes the major problems to indiscipline in schools. In this regard, it was suggested that corporal punishment should be introduced in schools; also, more and adequate incentives should be provided to the teachers. CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION Background of the Study Education in any perspective finds its usefulness in the areas of moral, intellectual, social and spiritual development of the child. This development to a great extent is a function of the quality of the educational system, which is partly measured on the basis of students discipline. Discipline constitutes one of the fundamental, critical and challenging functions of the teacher. Mostly, when viewed from the fact that students whom they manage their affairs are drawn from different home background, accommodates the influence of peer groups and thus, were bound to exhibit different patterns of behaviour that may not conform with the instructional standard of the school. Discipline is an aspect of school function which if not well maintained can render the school system ineffective. School discipline as a matter of fact is seen as a vital element in the process by which students are enabled to function in the society. The general idea underlying this fact is that if the school is situated in the society and it is hoped that the products of these schools will be absorbed into the society, the students must therefore be made to develop rule-following and law, adding habits so that they conform to the general social expectations of the main culture absorbing its basic attitudes and beliefs, Sieber and wilder (1997:70) point out that a society without rules is inconceivable, and rules without attitude of disapproval towards them are inconceivable. In the English Elementary School, obedience was enforced mildly without any military goal in mind and in that discipline was seen essentially as a process of obedient training for society at large. On the other hand, thinking of discipline in terms of training for society, Docking (1990:4) says it may encourage a schooling for subordination where teachers use their disciplinary authority to satisfy some unfulfilled need within themselves so that they are to view children as a means rather than as ends. The promotion or maintenance of effective discipline is essential if organised group action is to be effective or productive whether the group is a club, society, a union, a company, a business or industrial concern or a nation. The word discipline connotes that the members or a group should reasonably conform to the rules and regulations, which is the code of behaviour which have been formed for it or by it, so that every one may benefit by them. Peoples morale or industrial peace are definitely proper by maintenance of discipline if the members of a group do not abide by the rules of the organisation, it may collapse. Chaos, confusion, disobedience, disloyalty and antisocial or anti-organisational activities develop to the detriment of every one. In the word of Spriegel (1997:34) discipline is the force that prompts an individual or a group to observe the rules, regulations which are seemed to be necessary to the attainment of an objective. It is a factor, which restrains an indivi dual from doing certain things, which are deemed to be disruptive for the group objectives. It is also the exercise of restraint or the enforcement of penalties for the violation of group regulations. Thus, discipline can be said as an attitude of the mind, a product of culture and a particular environment which promotes an individual to willingly co-operate in the observance of the rules of the organizational to which he belongs. School discipline is often seen as an important ingredient in the process by which children are enabled to function in the society because living in the society entails living in association with certain agreed rules, which govern ones behaviour. Thus, keeping order in the school is a multi-faced problem associated with range of interacting factors, such as the child himself, home and neighbourhood influence, changing societal values and expectations, the school and its natural environment, and the individual teacher. The problem of indiscipline is more apparent among secondary school students all over the world. Indiscipline among them has attracted serious attention of scholars and administrators. These scholars and administrators attributes to their state of development. They opine that when students notice certain biological changes signalling maturity in the course of the growth and development, they tend to misbehave by faulting school rules and regulations Mukhargee (1995:17). Indiscipline is a mode of life not in conformity with rules and non-subjected to control. By extension, the term connotes the violation of school rules and regulations capable of obstructing the smooth and orderly, functioning of the school system Adeyemo (1995:22). School rules and regulations in most cases affect students more than any other thing because they are made by the school authorities in order to guide and protect the students while in school. Statement of the Problem In the teaching and learning process certain identifiable problems of indiscipline militate against its success and achievements. That means for effective teaching and learning to take place there must be discipline in order to make reasonable achievements. In spite of the effort so far made by the government for the past eight years to curb indiscipline in our secondary schools, delinquency, truancy, disobedience, absenteeism, etc. are some of the problems of teaching and learning in our secondary schools in Abua/Odual Local Government Area. This study is therefore interested in addressing the problems of indiscipline so that teaching and learning will improve in our schools. Purpose of the Study The general purpose of this study includes the following: (a) Determine the factors underlying the problem of maintaining effective discipline in secondary schools. (b) Ascertain the effects of such factors on academic performance. (c) Make recommendation on the areas that would solve these problems. Research Questions The study shall be guided by the following research questions: What factors are responsible for school indiscipline? What are the effects of such factors on students academic performance? What are the strategies adopted by teachers to prevent classroom indiscipline? Does the rate of indiscipline among secondary school students increase or decrease for the past three years? Are girls more receptive to instruction than boys in secondary schools? Significance of the Study The importance of this study includes the following: (1) To provide information for government and school administrators about the solution to the problems of school indiscipline. (2) To provide relevant data about the causes of indiscipline from teachers perspective. (3) To make recommendations and suggestions that possibly could help solve the problem of indiscipline. Scope of the Study The study focus on school indiscipline from twenty-two (22) selected secondary schools in Abua/Odual Local Government Area of Rivers State. Definition of Terms For the purpose of this study, the following terminologies shall be defined thus: Student: A person who is studying in a school, especially a secondary school. Secondary School: This is a school for young people between the age of 11 and 16. Regulation: This is an official rule made by authority. Discipline: This is the practice of training people to obey rules and regulations. Indiscipline: This is lack of discipline, control in the behaviour of a group of people. CHAPTER TWO: REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE The chapter can be reviewed under the following headings. 2.1. Students discipline in Nigeria schools 2.2 Imperative of indiscipline in secondary schools 2.3. Causes of indiscipline 2.4 School indiscipline and academic achievement 2.5 School rules and regulations on student discipline 2.6 The concept of in loco-parentis and its relationship to students discipline 2.7 Student discipline and classroom management 2.8 Strategies of curbing indiscipline 2.9 Summary of the literature reviewed 2.1 Students Discipline in Nigeria Schools According to Matsoga (2003:54) violence and misbehaviour exist in Nigeria schools. This lack of discipline which interferes with the teaching and learning process, manifests itself in various ways including bullying, vandalism, alcohol and substance abuse, truancy, inability or unwillingness to do homework etc. Moswele (2004:146) and Matsoga (2003:53). Vandalizing school property is at rampart and this has influenced the government to introduce school fees in order to mend, that which was broken such as window, panes, furniture and walls. Theft is also common. For instance, in 2003 students in one senior secondary school broke into a biology laboratory to steal ethanol Banda (2004:16) some of these students lost their lives and others lost their sight. In another senior secondary school, 19-year-old boy committed suicide after fighting with another student over a borrowed plate Maleka (2003:162). These horrible acts left the nation speechless, not knowing where such behaviour originates. These incidents sprang the debate on the use of corporal punishment in schools which concluded that Nigeria cannot do away with it, but it has to be used guardedly Maleka (2003:162) and Keorang (2004:51). Experience had it that, teachers may ask for transfers; while parents withdraw their children from schools with numerous cases of student misconduct such as the one mentioned above. 2.2 Imperative of indiscipline in secondary schools Discipline in these schools is now passing through an eclipse. The problem of indiscipline is found everywhere, therefore, students do no longer believe in hard work as the only honourable path to success. Slangs connoting examination malpractice like choke exhibit, dagbo, omokirikiri and the like are common during examination time and they are expressed in such free but shameful that one somehow think that it does not mean anything. Children of the high and low, big and small, powerful and the downtrodden are involved in varying degrees. At this juncture, it would be worthwhile to highlight some of the prevalent cases and acts of indiscipline amongst secondary school students. 1. Cultism Cultism has suddenly become the giant monster that has swallowed up our ethics and morals; any student who fails to belong is quickly packed off the stage by either being intimidated out of school or killed. Many have been forced to join counter cultist group, which often produced fatal consequences. Section 329 (1) of the 1999 constitution of the federal republic of Nigeria defines cultism (secret cult) as an association that uses secret signs, oaths, rites or symbols and which is formed to promote a cause, the purpose or part of the purpose which is to foster the interest of its members and to aid one another under any circumstance without the regard to merit, fair or justice to the demerit of those who are not members. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦who members are sworn to observe oaths of secrecyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ 2. Indecent Dressing Near naked and other forms of nudity is the order of the day in our schools. Kpakol (2004:62) argues that peer pressure, self-indulgence, and dress to kill-the deliberate habit of putting on seductive clothes to attract those of the opposite gender sexually or throw off balance emotionally. In this connection Bellow, (1993:3) states that school discipline is the training which produces in children self-restraint, orderliness, good conduct, operation and the habit of getting the best out of themselves. It involves intellectual and moral education as opposed to mere order and instruction. 3. Curriculum content Any society whose educational system is careless about the need of the society is doomed. It thus, not enough to have a curriculum. It is most important that the curriculum relates and adequately takes care of the entire societal aspiration. Our curriculum today is greatly deficient in moral education as contained in the curriculum is shabby and neglected. In some schools, it is not even taught. The subjects of History, Civic and Nature study and so on that immediately inculcates the ideal nation building to the youth are abolished social studies and integrated science that is fashioned in their stead has proved to be incapable in content and practice. 4. Parental Training Charity it is said begins from home. A parent who is not firm with his children and lets them go the bad is not kind to them. Parents do not often consider the future welfare and success of their children as of great importance. Firmness is not shown by constant scolding, beating and fussing, this is to many educators indicates weakness. In addition, some parents are always quarrelling and fighting. This definitely makes the students not to have affection and develop negative attitude to life. In school, that student may be and always picking quarrel with his peer because this is what he grew up with. 2.3 Causes of Indiscipline Indiscipline as we have noted elsewhere is not a new phenomenon. It has engaged the attention of many writers and authors at different levels. Causes of indiscipline in secondary schools are numerous. They include school society, wrong ideals, idleness, lack of good leadership, injustice, lack of realistic rules, bad home training and upbringing, etc. Okoroma (2000:1109) and Nwankwo (1991:67) note that the causes and symptoms of indiscipline are many and vary from school to school and from place to place. In their view, some symptoms of indiscipline include general unrest and deliberate breaches of school rules, peaceful and violent demonstration, mass disobedience, truancy, delinquency, absenteeism, drug use and abuse, as well as drunkenness. Shakaran (1997:47) and Nwankwo (1991:67) have identified the causes of indiscipline in secondary schools in Nigeria to include authoritarian methods, bad staff behaviour, harsh school rules, poor communication, results, lack of adequate school facilities, influence of home and society. In this paper, we however, proffer a multi-dimensional approach to this burning issue of indiscipline in our secondary schools; hence our consideration of the causes of indiscipline will be multi-dimensional. 1. Social Influence There has become a sudden shift from merit to lack lustre. Achievements are no longer measured by commitment and capability but influence and material wealth who you know than what you are measured up in terms of merit, is what determines promotion. Thus, a student need not burn the night candle. 2. Corruption This is the oldest son of indiscipline. This son has grown up that it often stands shoulder to shoulder with its father indiscipline. What permeates all the stretch of our society today is how to make it quickly. Public finance meant for welfare programmes that would have stemmed the aid of mal-behaviour in our youths and adolescents gets diverted to redundant programmes or private pockets. To such extent, there is no motivation in those who should be seen to be disciplined. With empty stomach, ragged dressing, hopeless accommodation, intolerable health, there is no way a person can resist temptation. 3. Rural-urban Drift Closely related to the issue of government policy and corruption is the issue of rural-urban drift. A writer once said that everyone is a village by root. The rate, at which our youths and adolescents migrate from the serene, quiet and less atrocious life in the village to the noisy, burdensome, busy and unnecessarily over populated cities, is alarming. One identified reason for this as outright lack of basic facilities and infrastructure in our villages. Where there is any, it is often in a state of despair so grossly inadequate that no youth would see his mate coming home from the city without being tempted to taste the city. This sudden transformation from the village to city life is bound to produce unpalatable consequences. This explains why secondary school students are engaged in crimes nowadays either to be able to sustain the tempo of life in the city or in preparation to get to the city. 2.4 School Indiscipline and Academic Achievement In classroom teaching, discipline implies the control of a class to achieve desirable behaviour. The concept of school discipline and school rewards has the similar objectives of assisting students to make maximum achievement in their academic pursuits. According to Nwankwo (1991:67) discipline behaviour involves characteristics such as self-sacrifice, diligence, co-operation, integrity, consideration and sympathy for others as well as the fear of God. He goes on to say that discipline is a system of guiding the individual to make reasonable and responsible decisions. In classroom teaching, discipline means the control of a class to achieve desirable behaviour. Discipline involves self-control; a disciplined person knows and takes the right course of action. He is guided not simply by self-interest, but also by consideration of interest of others. A disciplined individual is also guided in his behaviour by moral and social principles. Factors of indiscipline that lead to low academic achievement are common with student from socio-economic status families Alumode (2002:84). This is because teachers are often prejudiced against youth from low socio-economic status families and show preferential treatment to students from high socio-economic status families Manster (2001:297). Another reason is that peer influences on low socio-economic students are often antisocial and delinquency prone, emphasizing early marriage for the girls and gang activities for the boys Conger (1993:13). Blodsoe (2005:28) believes that the quality of interaction among members of the adolescents family influence the degree of discipline and success in school work. According to him, the studies of the family relationship of bright, high-achieving students versus under-achieving high school students shows that the high achievers more often than under-achievers describe their parents as typically sharing vacation and ideas as understanding, appro ving, trusting, affection etc. encouraging (but not pressuring) with respect to achievement and over restrictive or severe in discipline. 2.5 School Rules and Regulation on Discipline The Education Act of 1999 has documented some rules and regulations that govern student discipline in Nigeria schools. It stipulates methods and procedure for minor and severe disciplinary measures such as corporal punishment, suspension and student expulsion. Rules and regulations are drawn for the orderly conduct of the school affairs. Some of them are written and others are implied and they recognised by law. Addressing the issue of rules and regulations Nwangwu (2009:142) state that: The Schools Board and individual school authorities have the right to make any reasonable rules and regulations for the orderly conduct of school affairs in the interest of the entire school and school system. The fundamental point raised above is that those provisions are made by relevant authorized bodies to direct and spell out the relationship between teachers, student and school authorities. The responsibility is therefore on every member of the school system to respect and obey the rules, as any breach must be followed by the application of appropriate disciplinary measures. The courts of law shall always put into consideration the reasonableness and constitutional right of the school rules and regulations. Rules that encroached on a constitutional right of students will invariably be invalidated by courts. 2.6 The Concept of in Loco-Parentis and its Relationship to Students Discipline In educational circle, the special relationship which exists between students and the schoolteacher regarding discipline is termed in loco-parentis. It is assumed that the teacher in performing certain roles especially as it relate to control of parental jurisdiction. According to Remmlein and Wane in Igwe (1998:82) in loco-parentis means in place of the parent, charged with some of the parents right, duties and responsibilities. The implication is that schoolteachers or authorities stand in place of parents in respect to students education and discipline. By this it is expected that teacher have the invariably contracted with parents to perform some of the duties and functions of the latter. The teacher is therefore expected to act reasonably in this capacity. In present, the teachers acting in loco-parent is to discipline an erring student, and should ensure that the punishment was done reasonably and in good faith in order to avoid costly and embarrassing court cases. The teacher should act within the limit of this principle, because according to Eferakaya (1998:17), school officials who perpetuate acts of indiscipline can no longer be protected by the in loco parentis doctrines the courts are quite convinced that the school is incapable of assuming full parental responsibilities. 2.7 Students Indiscipline and Classroom Management The International Dictionary of Education formally defines discipline as a term to describe teacher classroom control or general restraint of pupils behaviour Lingworth (2004:18) argues that coercion can never be a method of educating in the sense that where teachers tend to interpret control of threats thereby forcing students to learn what he has taught them is far behind the truth. Another interesting aspect of discipline and administrative control is the use of scientific procedures known as behaviour modification based on the learning theory developed by Skinner who advocates some technique and positive reinforcement such as using rewards to bring about and maintain desired behaviour combined with extinction behaviour i.e. weakening undesired behaviour by ignoring it or by otherwise removing its reward consequences. However, the work of Lauwerys (1999:42) is discovered to be in contrast with the scientific procedures of behaviour modification and psychodrama work of Piaget. His work on classroom management focuses attention on the teachers public demonstration that he knows what is going on, his ability to facilitate smooth transaction from one activity to another and handle movement and type of demand he makes from pupil. There is bound to be conflict when administration in school is taken to be rigid and regimentation, where students have to fear administrations rather than respect them. Fagbula (2002:80) in his work concludes that teachers rather than settle their minor matters take them to the school administrators create a problem to administrative control of schools. Bad administrative control can hinder effective discipline tone in the school. These can take the form of giving bad and inadequate food to students, ineffective teaching, bad staff behaviour, authoritarian methods of administ ration, high school rules, arrogant attitude of the school prefects, unsatisfactory curricula, poor examination results, poor communication between administrators and school pupils. 2.8 Strategies for Curbing Indiscipline It is imperative to ensure that the best behaviours and conditions are inculcates, established and maintained for effective learning to take place in our secondary schools. This can be realised if we accept that the teacher has the power to impose discipline by using some sort of power over this students. However, this is only possible to a little extent, for it to have meaningful impact it must also take into account the psychological needs and development level of the student. A well-managed school begins with thorough advance planning by the school head and the teachers. Accordingly, extrinsic and intrinsic motivation should be used, positive and negative motivation, provision and satisfaction of students need the teacher having adequate knowledge of the subject, teaching students how to learn and making them to use their time effectively. The school environment should be busy, and an active place in which the students and teachers know that they are on the same side working together to achieve something worthwhile. Such an environment is likely to establish mutual respect, and a mild reproof or expression of disappointment on the part of the teacher will enhance discipline. Cleanliness and tidiness of surrounding, not being excessively noisy or disruptive when others are working, taking care of communal property, and punctuality exhibition of normal courtesies expected by the society to be observed. The rules can be established by quite persistence and good example by the teacher. In essence, good discipline enables the sort of psychological need proposed by Maslow and others to be satisfied. This is because most disciplinary cases are as a result of unfulfilled basic needs. The teacher should look carefully at each level including the most basic psychological one of nutrition and ventilation. 2.9 Summary of the Reviewed Literature The chapter examined the concept of indiscipline as it derived from the word discipline. Discipline here means a mode of life in accordance with rules, subjected to control. Therefore, indiscipline means lack of control in the behaviour of a group of people. Relating the above to the school environment, indiscipline could be referred to as inability of a person to live in accordance with school rules and regulation; it is the breaking of rules and regulations of institution. Imperative and causes of indiscipline were discussed from the multi-dimensional perspective, which include cultism, indecent dressing, curriculum content, parental training, societal influence, corruption and rural-urban drift. Again, school indiscipline and academic achievement, which implies the control of a class to achieve desired behaviour was discussed. The chapter also examined school rules and regulations on discipline, which are drawn up to regulate school activities for the orderly conduct of the school affairs. The concept of in loco-parentis and its relationship to student discipline, which is the special relationship that exist between students and the school teacher regarding discipline, because the teacher is expected to stand in place of the parent in respect to students education and discipline. Finally, strategies of curbing indiscipline which include pedagogical, social and psychological techniques of curbing indiscipline in secondary school were proffered. CHAPTER THREE: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY This chapter presents the research methodology to be adopted for the study. It is organised under the following heading: Research Design, Population of the Study, Sample and Sampling Technique, Instrumentation, Validity of the Instrument, Administration of the Instrument, and Data Analysis Technique. 3.1 Research Design The research design adopted for this study is the descriptive survey research design, which is concerned with condition or relationships that exist and practices that prevail. Specifically, it is concerned with identified the problems of indiscipline in secondary schools in Abua/Odual Local Government Area. 3.2 Population of the Study The population of this study is 440 persons, who are teachers in the twenty-two (22) secondary schools in Abua/Odual Local Government Area. 3.3 Sample and Sampling Techniques A stratified random sampling technique was used for the study. Out of twenty-two (22) secondary schools in Abua/Odual Local Government Area, ten (10) were sampled out through the ballot system; this represents 46% of secondary schools in Abua/Odual Local Government. In each school, ten (10) teachers were randomly selected to give 100 teachers, which represent 52% of the total number of teachers in Abua/Odual Local Government Area. Thus, the sample for this study is made up of 100 respondents. 3.4 Development of Research Instrument The instrument for this study is questionnaire titled Questionnaire for Teachers on indiscipline problems (QTIP). It was developed for this study and addressed to various respondents with structured questions developed based on the objectives of the study and the literature reviewed. The instrument is divided into two (2) sections (A and B). Section A deals with the personal data of the respondents; section B sought responses to items on factors, which militate against the effective maintenance of discipline in secondary schools. The questionnaire adopted the 4-point Likert summated rating scale with values: Strongly Agree (SA) = 4; Agree (A) = 3; Disagree (D) = 2; and Strongly Disagree (SD) = 1. 3.5 Validity of the Instrument The instrument was given to the supervisor and senior lecturers in the department who are experts in educational management to examine and make corrections. They scrutinize item by item and decide its validity to elicit the necessary information needed to provide adequate answers to the research questions. The final draft of instrument was designed to reflect corrections of the experts in the department. Also the researcher ensured that the five interested research problem areas, which militate against the effective maintenance of discipline in secondary schools to ensure that it is adequate enough to measure, what is supposed to measure and ensuring that the desirable result is achieved. 3.6 Administration of the Instrument The instrument for this study was administered personally by the researcher. The completed copies were retrieved on the spot while the others were retrieved later. 3.7 Data Analysis Technique The responses was based on the 4-point Likert summated rating scale will be analysed and presented in table by means of percentages. A decision on the research questions was made to arrive at by dividing frequency of occurrence by the total number of respondents and multiplied the product by 100, that is: Frequency of occurrence x 100 Number of respondents 1 CHAPTER FOUR: PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS OF DATA In this chapter the data collected is presented and analysed as follows: Research question one: What factors are responsible for school indiscipline? Note: the following was used to analyze the work. Strongly Agree (SA) = 4 Agree (A) = 3 Disagree (D) = 2

Essay --

Throughout history the human race has sought forms of entertainment. Whether it be in the form of a simple game, a grandiose tournament or a simple play production, we have always sought to entertain ourselves. In recent years as the film industry has continued to grow and evolve a new genre has emerged the mainstream popular culture. One big idea changed the course of a genre and an entire Industry. That would be comic book movies. The first moderately successful Marvel film was X-Men, this was the first time that the superhero genre made a successful transition from the comic book to the silver screen. It was a movie that was enjoyable not only just for fans but for non-fans of the comics as well. X-Men was released in 2000, the budget for the film was $75 million, which is incredibly lowed compared to the average movie budget which is between $120-200 million these days. The Box office total for the film was $296,339,527, which back in 2000 would have been a rather respectable box office take. Something to keep in mind about this movie is that the computer generated special effects that are so common in movies today, were rather under developed, which would lend to the smaller budget as well as the more practical effects that are featured in the movie. This is also why the film feels rather bland when one goes back and watches it now, there was a lot of walking and talking in this film, not much action. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X-Men_film http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Marvel_Comics_movies Prior to the X-Men movies though there had been three other Marvel movies that had been released, however all three could be deemed failures. The three films were the 1989 The Punisher, which was actually released directly... ... the Guardians of the Galaxy in August, and the Avengers 2 in 2015, followed by Ant-Man. Marvel has also made a deal with Netflix to create four shows based off their characters to be released in 2015, starting with Daredevil, which is a major slap in the face to 20th century Fox who previously owned the rights and I love it. The awesome part is that these shows will take place in the established Marvel Cinematic Universe, then the four characters are going to come together into a mini series called the defenders which is comparable to the avengers. This just goes to show how this idea of the shared universe has spread beyond just the cinema now, but to television as well, and not only just television but online movie streaming. These shows will never actually be released on television, but purely on Netflix. Which will be a massive boost for Netflix and for marvel.

Academic Skill Vs Soft Skill. Which Is More Important? Essay

Having a scroll of degree or master would be great and that could be a pass for you to have your dream job. But do you ever thought that having those qualifications are enough for you to survive in your career phase? Nowadays, the employer has a high demand towards the workers as they want the worker to have more than the education as a one’s forte but good in the other ways. What they want are the individuals to own a good amount of soft skills. From my point of view, I strongly believe that having a great soft skill would benefit me more rather than having the academic skills only. Unlike  academic skills, which describe a person’s level of intelligent and that skill are also considered as an ability to perform specific tasks broadly applicable across job titles and industries. It’s often said that academic skills will get you an interview, but you need soft skills to get and keep the job. That are aspect from your personality that be streets ahead as your professional assets. Being working or involved in certain industries could be challenging for each of us since each industry do have their own requirements regarding the skill that the job wanted the employee to have. Even nowadays, more employer stated that having a good CGPA would benefits those job seekers but at the end of the day the employer would hire someone with more than that which one with the soft skill and the one with a higher CGPA would loss the opportunity to gain the job. It is apparent that soft skill is really important to compare with just an academic skill to survive in these new eras. So, before we’re going through the example of soft skill, what actually soft skills mean? Basically, what is soft skills? Soft skills are a synonym for â€Å"people skills.† The term describes those personal attributes that indicate a high level of  emotional intelligence. Soft skills refer to a set of personal qualities, habits, attitudes that can potentially make good students and comply with academic requirements. In short, they are the way you talk, you move, hear and present yourself. They are the behaviors learned, which develop from willingness and commitment to understanding the emotions of others and others. One of the impacts of having a soft skill is a conflict resolution. Conflict resolution is a way for two or more parties to find a peaceful solution to a disagreement among them. The disagreement may be personal, financial, political, or emotional. When a dispute arises, often the best course of action is a negotiation to resolve the disagreement. The first thing you need to do when you’re going to resolve a conflict is that you need to be able to view the problems and issues from multiple perspectives and possess strong problem-solving skills. Try to put your shoes in his place and figure it out the best way to conceal without having a commotion. Since all these commotions will not only affect the problematic parties but also the surrounding atmosphere will become cold and cheerless as everyone is annoyed with those situations. Also, it is very important that the problem solver to have an ability to empathize, meaning that you’re able to perceive and understand the fee lings and emotions of others. Active listening is another skill important for you to have, which is a listening technique that requires you to provide feedback to the person to whom you are listening by restating or paraphrasing what someone is communicating to confirm your understanding. To solve a conflict requires you to be a good and active listener by not only hear from only one side. Some careful thought can be taken after listening to their explanation. Can you just imagine if only everyone has the ability to become an active and good listener, all the misunderstanding and miscommunication stuff could be prevented? That just shows how owning a soft skill can help you become a better person and how does it affect one’s life. We should bear in mind that while we can use scientific ways (hard skills) in realizing the solution, mode and manner of communication (soft skills) is equally very important to achieve the proper solution. When resolving a conflict, you also need to be able to control and manage your emotions; use and interpret nonverbal cues; and think critically and objectively. Don’t let the emotion controls all over your mind that can cause some serious circumstances. Finally, it’s very important you can compromise, which refers to the willingness to concede something in exchange for an opposing party’s concession and no bias or favoritism so that the conflict can be resolved the issues and try to deal with one’s emotion as everyone. Do be patient in solving a conflict and don’t ever let the surrounding affect your right mind. In brief, the best thing about owning a soft skill is the fact that you don’t need qualifications to get them and you can start working on them right now, whether you are at school, in training or in work as it comes from experience. By having this kind of advantage, it not only gives a small impact on one’s life but is also a very precious asset that’s not everyone can simply get it. Despite the difference between soft, and hard skills, the main purpose of this article is not to narrow one’s focus to distinguishing between these two skills, nor is it an aim to portray one as being more desirable than the other. Both are important for academic success as well as succeeding in life. What is of importance, however, is to know how these two skills interact and serve to complement each other, and how this would benefit other especially students’. For example, hard skills will help you to write well and construct well-founded and objective arguments; sof t skills will equip you with, say the social skills and confidence to communicate your point across. Essentially. employers want candidates who comprise a combination of both ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ skills. These skills empower them to understand who they are and how best they can come across as competent individuals in any given situation. Because learning and fulfilling requirements are often expanded to improve job prospects, it is inevitable that employers will make their criteria factors when selecting the right candidate. Therefore, the skills exposed to the students and expected to practice in the academic field must represent, and meet the needs of the business world.

Narrative Essays

1 †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ Generic application software Software Software refers to computer programs. A program is a sequence of instructions that tells the computer’s processor what to do. There are two types of software: †¢ system software †¢ application software. System software: manages the computer hardware provides a uniform environment for application programs to run performs housekeeping and monitoring tasks.Application software: allows the user to do useful tasks with the computer such as playing games, writing a letter or monitoring hospital patients †¢ is often supplied as a package †¢ can be generic (off-the-shelf) and is general purpose †¢ can be bespoke, where it is custom-written for a specific task. Application programsApplication programs commonly have facilities for: †¢ working in a graphical user interface (GUI) †¢ managing data files and working on multiple files †¢ navigating through the work and changing the ‘zoom level’ †¢ importing files and inserting embedded objects †¢ creating and editing drawings †¢ formatting text and graphics and editing content using insertion, deletion, cut-and-paste, copyand-paste and find-and-replace and Undo and Redo commands †¢ language checking †¢ saving and using templates †¢ viewing a file as it will be printed (WYSIWYG) †¢ creating macros and assigning them to buttons and images †¢ hyperlinking †¢ exporting files in other formats †¢ printing files. Generic application programs You may be asked to justify your choice of a type of generic application software (no brand names) for a particular purpose. For the particular features of each type of software, refer to the  coursebook, especially if you do not have practical experience of it. Cambridge IGCSE Computer Studies  © Cambridge University Press 2011 Revision notes: 1 Generic application software 1 Generic Application software desktop publishing (DTP) word processing spreadsheet General use of software ublications with complex layout, e. g. posters, newsletters and magazines text-intensive material, e. g. letters, business/legal documents, and mail merges repeatable financial, scientific and engineering calculations, mathematical modelling and simple databases input, storage and retrieval of records to provide useful information on screen and in printed reports fax, telephony, video-conferencing, email and instant messaging web authoring, for producing HTML and scripting code for interactive web pages database management system (DBMS) communication web browser search engine graphics computer-aided design (CAD) computer-aided manufacture (CAM) multimedia authoring or interactively accessing information in the form of text and other media from remote web servers a web application for finding information available on Internet servers drawing and editing images, both bitmap and vector for drawing product designs for manufacturing products from CAD designs producing multimedia ‘movie files’ for animated advertisements and games within web pages or presentations, whole websites, or cinema films for creating slideshows (successions of multimedia pages), or multimedia or printed posters for recording data automatically for scientific, engineering and statistical purposes writing, compiling and debugging computer programs presentation data-logging programming Customising generic application programs Off-the-shelf generic application programs are readily available, relatively cheap and well tested. They can be customised to the purchaser’s requirements by: †¢ hiding the standard menus and toolbars †¢ creating new menus or toolbars with just the essential requirements †¢ making cosmetic changes to the colour scheme and logo †¢ creating macros run by toolbar buttons or keyboard shortcuts.A macro is program code recorded automatically or written in a scripting la nguage to improve access to existing commands or to create new ones. Bespoke software Bespoke software (custom-written) is software specially written to suit the needs of a particular customer. It is often very efficient because it does exactly what is required, is easy to learn and has good customer support and maintenance. Cambridge IGCSE Computer Studies  © Cambridge University Press 2011 Revision notes: 1 Generic application software 2 Comparing off-the-shelf with bespoke software Off-the-shelf software has a number of advantages and disadvantages relative to bespoke software. Off-the-shelf software’s advantages t is immediately available it is usually much cheaper to buy it may have many powerful features developed  over many years if it belongs to a suite, it is likely to be able to exchange data and files easily with other programs in the suite it is well tested by previous users there is support available from experienced trainers and user groups Off-the-shelf sof tware’s disadvantages it may be overly complex and difficult to learn it may be a compromise between the requirements of different types of users an organisation may be forced to adapt its business procedures to the software errors may not be fixed rapidly Cambridge IGCSE Computer Studies  © Cambridge University Press 2011 Revision notes: 1 Generic application software 3