Teaching Assistant free essay sample

Describe the key aspects of the role of a teaching assistant The key aspect of a teaching assistant is to carry out a range of different practical and administrative tasks. As well as, work under the direction of the teaching staff or senior staff in the supervision and support of the pupil’s learning. By doing this the teaching assistant is helping to make more time available for the teacher to teach, however the role of a teaching assistant may vary from school to school. The teaching assistant is required to support the following: * Supporting the teacher * Supporting the pupil * Supporting the school * Supporting the curriculum Supporting the teacher One of the primary responsibilities is to arranged the classroom according to the lessons and to insure the pupils work activities are displayed throughout the classroom. Observe and record the pupils behaviour, problems, progress and academics achievements as well as report the findings to the teacher. We will write a custom essay sample on Teaching Assistant or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Provide administration assistant as when and needed. Another responsibility of the teaching assistant is to work under direction of the teaching staff and senior staff in the classroom. Supporting the pupils Assist the pupils with their personal needs and help implant related personal programmes such as; * Social * Health * Physical * Hygiene * First aid * Welfare As well as building and maintain a good relationships with the pupils, by being a good role model and also responding to their individuals needs appropriately. Another responsibility is to observe and ensure the health and safety of the pupils who have access to the learning environment. Promote the welfare and acceptance of all pupils, motivate pupils to interact with others and participate in activites given by the teachers and also support the pupils to act independently when it’s appropriate. Supporting the school The teaching assistant needs to be knowledgeable of the policies and procedures relating to child protection, health, safety and security, confidentiality and data protection and reporting all concerns to an appropriate staff member. The teaching assistant also has to be aware of and support difference and make sure all pupils have equal access to opportunities to learn and develop. Attend meetings that are required. Continue personal development by participating in training and other learning activities and performance. Provide supervision of pupils out of lesson times i. e. including before and after school and lunchtimes. Assist teaching staff and pupils on visits, trips and out of school activities as required. Teaching assistant in schools provide an important role in the education supporting the wellbeing of the pupil in school and consistently providing input to raise the standard of the school Supporting the curriculum Supporting the curriculum the teaching assistants are not just part of the staff but are part of a team. The teaching assistant have the responsibilities to help the pupils understand instructions as well as help prepare the pupils with the regard of the local and national strategies which is given by the teacher e. g. numeracy, ks3, early years etc. Support the pupils in using basic ICT skills and to help prepare and maintain the equipment, resources as directed by the teacher and assist pupils in their use. Teaching Assistant free essay sample Describe how you might contribute to a lesson given to a group of seven year-old children learning to play percussion instruments? The role of the Teaching Assistant is to create and maximise the learning environment and to keep disturbing behaviour to a minimum. With this in mind my contribution to the learning of percussion instrument s would be. * Prior to the lesson taking place, I would make sure that the area they are going to be using is safe to the pupils and the instruments to be set up. If there is any other equipment is in the area which is not needed for the lesson, I would then put them away to another safe place. * That there is adequate equipment and that all instruments are in good working order prior to use. * I would also make sure I had a good knowledge of the instruments prior to the lesson, if I didn’t I would ask the teacher to clarify the names and also how they were to be used. We will write a custom essay sample on Teaching Assistant or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Then I can help show what the correct way to play the instruments are. * Going around the class and assisting any children who are struggle using the instruments, showing them how to hold and play with them. Making sure that music sheets are available if needed. * I would keep an eye on all pupils to make sure that they are behaving and help keep the pupils interested during the lesson to make sure that they don’t cause disruptive behaviour * As part of the role of a teaching assistant is observation, to within this in mind I will make observations to make sure they are following the objections of the lesson and following the guidelines * I will then provide my feedback of the lesson, to either the children or the teacher Q2 what might your role be in organising, using and maintaining the learning resources, materials and equipment? I would assist in the preparation of the resources, ensuring the classroom was set up before the lesson begins. To also ensure that all the instruments are set up correctly as instructed for the individual instrument and for how the teacher would like them. While doing this check I will make sure they are clean and in a safe working order. So the lesson can run smoothly we need to work out if they can work individually or within small groups. If the groups are to be using music sheets then I will make sure they are in good condition and if any of them need replacing. I would also encourage the children at the end of the lesson to be responsible to put the instruments away, but dependant of their age this might vary of how much they are allowed to do, to make sure it’s done correctly and safely to avoid any damages to the equipment, if any were damaged I would report this to the teacher to arrange either a replacement or to be repaired. I would also make sure that at the end of the lesson that all the work surfaces are clean and the classroom back to the how it would have been found at the beginning of the lesson. Q3 Describe how you act in class in order to be an effective role model for the standards of behaviour expected in pupils. As a teaching assistant it is essential to be an effective role model to promote positive behaviour both within the class and also in the school when around other pupils, teachers and staff. Pupils cannot be expected to behave in class if your own behaviour is not appropriate. It is also important to use appropriate language and that good manners are always used at all time, this would also apply when speaking to other adults and pupils. I would also show respect for other pupils and listen to them and help encourage them to show the same courtesy to you and others. This would also apply to following school rules and to make sure these are being adhered to. It is important to notice when children are trying hard and acknowledge it. But it is also important to not forget pupils who behave inappropriate and try and encourage them or to offer a reward be it sticker or reward chart. Positive recognition must always be followed up, for example if you have told a pupil you will tell the teacher of their good behaviour then this should be followed up and the teacher made aware of this. I would also encourage children to work as part of a team, pay attention and concentrate on the task. I would also offer support to those pupils who felt isolated or were not getting involved in the task set by the teacher. It is also important for the teaching assistant to be a good role model and is not only focused on the pupil’s behaviour but also their learning as well. Example of this could be a child in the class who is not confident enough to speak out loudly when involved in a group task, you could build up a rapport with the child and to try and work with them about ideas they have and to then encourage them to use these ideas with in the group. Q4 what strategies might you employ to encourage pupils to behave appropriately? Describe how you might react to incidents of bullying and violence. To encourage pupils to behave appropriately I would get them involved with making the rules, keeping them simple and not to make too many as this may distract them from why rules are there. I would look at designing posters for the wall which the pupils can work in group to put their own stamp on the rules. I would also encourage them strongly to adhere to these rules and what consequences may be if not followed. I would also encourage pupils of good standards of behaviour at all times and reward them for this i. . stickers or reward charts. This will then reduce any form a behaviour problems from occurring. Be proactive and to prepare things in advance by doing this it will reduce and problems occurring. And also to imagine any possible problems that may occur though out the lesson. All signs of bullying or violence should be taken seriously and reported and logged with the teacher or other school staff. I would als o make sure that any signs of bullying or violence is acted upon correctly to make sure or minimize it from happening in the future. This should be made aware to the pupils by the teacher and to also act upon any kind of follow up as directed from the teacher if bullying or violence is found be it in the classroom or outside the classroom. This could be dealt with by dealing with the incident individually and to assess what needs are required to eliminate this from happening in the future. I feel very strongly against anti-bullying and child protection so would make sure the pupils feel I can be approachable if they need someone to talk about. Q7. Describe how you might appropriately observe the physical abilities and skills of a nine year old boy. The first thing I would do is to find out exactly what the teacher is after from the observation. This way when I report back then we know I have been getting the right information. The observation would need to be carried out on normal day for the pupil so that you can see them at their full advantage and be able to report it correctly. To do a good observation you need to make sure the pupils don’t know what’s happening otherwise they won’t be themselves. This will entail a false observation and you won’t get a true result of their day to day behaviour . When observing the pupil I would attempt to make some rapport with the pupil so that they could comfortable with me being around them, especially if I am not generally known to them. Whilst doing the observation I would be looking for their- o Social and emotional – how they interact with other o Instructions – how they deal with group or individual tasks o Language and communication skills – how to speak to others o Physical abilities – how they move or handle objects

Essay on sociologyEssay Writing Service

Essay on sociologyEssay Writing Service Essay on sociology Essay on sociologyPart A. Family types in the U.S.: univariate analysisThis research is devoted to studying race and ethnic differences in family types and the role played by race-ethnic group poverty status in relation to these differences. One of important family characteristics is family type. In this research, three family types are considered: married couple family household, female headed family household with no husband/father present and male headed family household with no wife/mother   present.The total number of families in the census are 72,229,668. Table 1 contains the descriptive univariate statistics for family type variable. 76.8% of families belong to the type married couple family household and the remaining 23.2% of families are either male-headed or female-headed household. In general, it can be concluded that a predominant number of families (more than 3/4) are married couples.Part B. Race-ethnic differences in family type in the U.S.: bivariate analysisAnother important variable in this study is race-ethnic group, which is determined according to the self-identification of an individual, and can have the following values: Non-Latino White, Black, Latino, Asian and American Indian. Table 2 contains bivariate analysis of family type distribution by race-ethnic groups. The statistics for race-ethnic group is the following: there are 71,178,610 families total, 74.10% of them are identified as non-Latino Whites, 11.54% of them are Black, 3.41% are Asian, 10.17% are Latino and 0.79% are American Indian.Family type distribution notably varies across race-ethnic groups. The largest rates of married couples (as opposed to families headed by single parents) are among non-Latino Whites 82.6% and Asian 81.5%. The rate of married couples for Latino and American Indian families is significantly lower and constitutes 68.4% and 63.1% accordingly. The lowest percentage of married couples is among Black families only 47.1%.The statistics for race-ethni c groups pertaining to the rate of families headed by a single parent is inverse to that describing married couples: the rate of single-parent families is the highest for Black families 52.9%, is moderate for American Indian and Latino 36.9% and 31.5% accordingly, and is the lowest for Asian 18.5% and non-Latino Whites 17.4%.Part C. Family type and poverty status: bivariate analysesThird variable in this research is poverty status, which is identified by the family income and is classified into four categories: poor income below poverty threshold, near-poor family income within the boundaries of poverty threshold and 1.5*poverty threshold, middle family income between 1.5*poverty threshold and 5*poverty threshold, and comfortable family income above 5*poverty threshold.Table 3 illustrates bivariate analyses of the relationship between family type and poverty status. This table bases on the analysis of 72,229,689 households; 9.11% of them are classified as poor according to i ncome level, 7.05% have near poor income, 51.78% have middle income and 32.06% have comfortable level of income.The percent of married couples notably increases along with family income category: the highest rate of married couples is among families with comfortable income level 90.7% and the lowest is among poor families 41.0%. The rate of families headed by single parents has a strictly inverse relationship: the largest proportion of such families is among poor families 59% and the smallest rate of single parent families is among families with comfortable level of income only 9.3%.The pattern observed in table 3 is absolutely consistent with Zinns claim that proportion of married couple families increases among high socioeconomic status groups. There are significant differences in the rate of married couples among different socioeconomic status groups, and the highest the status of the group is, the higher the rate of married couples in this group is. The rates of married coup les for socioeconomic groups aligned by the increase of income level (poor, near poor, middle and comfortable) are 41.0%, 57.2%, 77.1% and 90.7% consequently; this sequence illustrates a distinct upward trend.One way in which socioeconomic status of a family can affect its likelihood of having a married couple is the lower probability of divorce among higher socioeconomic groups: financial stress and pressure belongs to one of the most significant stressors, and couples unaffected by this stress are likely to stay together for longer.Part D. Race-ethnicity and poverty status: bivariate analysesBesides considering the relation between socioeconomic status of families and the rate of married couples, it is important to analyze the distribution of poverty status for different race-ethnic groups. Table 4 contains bivariate analysis showing the distribution of poverty status across different race-ethnicity groups.The number of poor families is the smallest among non-Latino Whites (5.4%). One more race-ethnic group which has low number of poor families are Asian families (9.7% of poor families). The highest number of poor families is among American Indian families (21.8%) and Black families (21.5%). The rate of poor families among Latino families is also high 19.9%. Non-Latino Whites and Asian families also have the lowest rates of near poor families 5.2% and 7.2% accordingly, while the highest rate of near poor families is among Latino families 14.9%.The number of middle income families is comparable in all race-ethnic groups; it is slightly higher for non-Latino Whites and Latino families (52.1% and 52.8% accordingly) and is the lowest for Asian families 47.5%. As for families with comfortable income level, their rate is notably higher for non-Latino Whites (37.4%) and Asians (35.7%), and is the lowest among Latino families 12.5%.In general, it is possible to distinguish between non-Latino White and Asian race-ethnic groups which tend to have higher incomes a nd higher rates of married couples, and Black/Latino/American Indian race-ethnic groups which tend to have lower incomes and lower proportions of married couples (as it was shown in Table 3). Latino families are slightly better off, while Black and Indian American families are more vulnerable to poverty more than other race-ethnic groups. The patterns in Table 4 are similar to the relationship between the rate of married couples and race-ethnic group. Hence, hhe results shown in Table 4 support the claim that race-ethnic differences in socio-economic status might account for race-ethnic diversity in the proportion of married couples families.Part E. Married couple families in each race-ethnic group at different levels of poverty status: multivariate analysisIn order to assess whether the impact of poverty status is the only factor shaping race-ethnic differences in the proportion of married couples families, it is necessary to perform multivariate analysis of married couples rate an d race-ethnic group controlling for family status. Table 5 shows the results of this analysis.The data indicate that race-ethnic socioeconomic status is not the only factor affecting race-ethnic differences in family types. Indeed, if socioeconomic status was the sole factor determining race-ethnic differences in family types, there would be no significant differences among married couples rates for different race-ethnic groups with the same poverty level. However, there are very notable differences among the rates of married couples in different race-ethnic groups controlled by poverty. Among poor families, the highest percent of married couples is among Asian families (66.8%) and the lowest is among Black families (17.8%). A similar trend can be witnessed for other socioeconomic groups: among families with near poor income level, the highest rate of married couples is among Asian (75.3%) and the lowest is among Black families (36.9%). Among middle-income families, the highest rate of married couples belongs to non-Latino Whites (81.3%), closely followed by Asian (80.0%). The lowest rate of middle-income married couples is among Black families (53.9%). Among families with comfortable level of income, the rates are high for all race-ethnic groups, with the highest rate being among non-Latino Whites (92.1%), followed by Asians (88.7%), while the Black families still have the lowest rate of married couples (76.4%).The data clearly indicate that family income does influence the number of married couples, as the rate of married couples notably increases with the increase of socioeconomic status for all race-ethnic groups. At the same time, there are other social factors influencing the rate of married couples since there are significant differences between race-ethnic groups for the same family income level. In particular, it is possible to state that Asians are likely to have one of the highest rates of married couples regardless of their income level, while non- Latino White families are highly likely to live as married couples only for middle and comfortable income levels.Black families have considerably lower rates of married couples compared to other race-ethnic groups at all levels of family income. There might be multiple social causes of this alarming phenomenon. One of such causes might be the level of education among the members of Black families which might be lower compared to other groups. At the same time, education level is often related to income so it might be the consequence of the relationship between the rate of married couples and family income level. Another plausible cause of low rates of married couples among Black families might be the combination of two factors: high prison rates among Black men (which reduce the pool of potential partners for Black women) and the increasing percentage of interracial marriages between Black males and non-Black females (this trend also reduces the pool of potential husbands for Black women).Part F. Discussion and conclusionAccording to Maxine Baca Zinn, there exists such phenomenon as racial stratification. The differences in the patterns of reproductive and productive labor which have emerged historically have led to the differences in the social position and access to social resources between the representatives of different race-ethnic groups. These differences which are not directly attributable to race but largely to the functioning of social institutions and their historical legacy are referred to by Maxine Baca Zinn as racial stratification.Furthermore, the author states that racial stratification has a notable impact on families, and there emerges a significant link between race and family in the United States. Indeed, the author emphasizes that racial stratification leads to different social positioning of families, creates distinctive patterns in the locations of families. In addition to this, the structure of social opportunities and their accessibili ty vary for different race-ethnic groups, and therefore influence development and social integration of families.Maxine Baca Zinn also points out that the changes in racial composition of the society have a strong influence on family structure and on the development of family as a social institution. In particular, the author emphasizes Black families as an important social indicator of the general social processes, and states that many family behaviors which have emerged among middle-income families of non-Latino Whites were actually common for Black families for a long time, but were considered as deviant or improper earlier. Maxine Baca Zinn argues that family is changing as a social institution and shows that there is an important relationship between race and family in the United States. As racial composition of the society is changing, family institution will also respond with changes and transformations.The results of data analysis exercise are mostly consistent with Baca Zin ns argument about the relationship between racial stratification and family. In the short-term perspective, the assumptions of Maxine Baca Zinn are likely to be correct: there are notable differences in the rate of married couples among race-ethnic groups, and some of these differences are clearly related to socioeconomic position (which is, according to Baca Zinn, associated with race and ethnicity). Indeed, the patterns common for Black families seem to be significantly different from non-Latino Whites and Asian, with the patterns for American Indians and Latinos being in between the two extremes.At the same time, in order to assess whether the data support or refute Baca Zinns claims, it is necessary to explore the dynamics of changes in the rate of married families by race-ethnic group during a long-term period of time. Baca Zinn emphasizes that the changes of racial composition of the society lead to the changes in family status, and the most appropriate way to assess this woul d be to collected data for 10- or 20-year period. However, in the short-term perspective the findings of the data analysis largely support Baca Zinns claims.

Review of Online Learning Platform Instructure Canvas

Review of Online Learning Platform Instructure Canvas Canvas Instructure is an online learning platform that allows students to integrate their accounts with social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook. It is one of the top online learning platforms available. Best of all,  students and instructors acting individually (not subscribing  as  an entire school) can use the program for free. Canvas offers some unique  Web 2.0  features. However, Canvas Instructures best attribute is its ability to convey information intuitively. Canvas Instructure makes it easy for students and instructors to navigate the well-designed site. The platform isnt without its faults, but overall, Canvas Instructure simply feels better to use than most other online learning platforms. Using Canvas Instructure as an Instructor Canvas Instructure solves a lot of problems for instructors. For example, it allows assignments to be quickly created from several places on the website. Information about each assignment is automatically parsed into the course calendar, syllabus, or grade book without any additional action from the instructor. Grading is simple and weighted grades can be created with ease. A speed grader allows instructors to grade more quickly and without the dreaded load time that many other learning platforms require. Using Canvas Instructure as a Student Students can keep track of their progress in the class, complete assignments, and participate in discussions with ease. The grade book allows students to see both their grades for individual assignments and their overall grade. Students can even enter in alternative scores for assignments to project how their overall grade would be impacted by a higher or lower score. They can choose to connect their accounts to multiple email addresses, text-receiving phone numbers, and social media pages. Drawbacks fo Canvas Instructure Canvas Instructure does have a few drawbacks. The platform was  known to be a bit buggy, and edits sometimes changed back to older versions of a document. Occasionally, the system does something unexpected and leaves instructors worrying about how to fix the problem. Most instructors rely on the dependability of their online learning platform and little issues can end up making a big difference. It would also be helpful if modules could be viewed on stand-alone pages and could be included in the design-your-own front page. Pros and Cons It may be helpful to view a quick guide to the pros and cons of Canvas Instructure Web 2.0, as well as the programs overall features: Basic Information: Its an online learning management system.It offers Web 2.0 integration.It is free to use for individuals. Pros It has an intuitive, easy-to-use formatThe design is clean and simple.It makes grading and viewing grades easy.It offers easy social media integration. Cons The site can be a bit buggyThere is no simple way to add one-sentence reading assignments to a calendar.It is not easy to find online information on how to use the platform. Overall, Canvas Instructures Web 2.0 platform allows for real-time collaboration through a variety of social media platforms such as blogs, Google apps (such as Google Docs), and even via smartphones.

Project 3 Information System Security Plans Research Paper

Project 3 Information System Security Plans - Research Paper Example Then, with todays rapidly changing political, economic, and importantly technical environment increasing the threat for the federal agencies, it becomes paramount for those agencies to adopt a strong security plan. In that direction, the Information Technology Laboratory (ITL) at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has developed guidelines on the ways to formulate and adopt a security plan. â€Å"NIST SP 800-53 contains the management, operational, and technical safeguards or countermeasures prescribed for an information system† (Swanson, Hash & Bowen, 2006). Among the various parts of the NIST’ security plan, the focus will be on the four sections of General Description, System Environment, Laws, regulations, and policies, and finally Security Control Selection. So, when a federal agency like Department of Defense (DoD) adopts a security plan, these four sections can contribute optimally to the process and so the discussion will about why are thes e sections are important and how they can be applied in DoD. All federal agencies or systems including DoD reflect some to extreme level of sensitivity and because of that it requires protection for its physical IS system and its virtual data as part of secured and good management practice. In that direction, DoD adopted a risk-focused security plan and guidelines of NIST in 2014 after dropping its longstanding DoD Information Assurance Certification and Accreditation Process (DIACAP). DoD transitioned to NIST considering its effectiveness, in-depth focus and at the same user-friendly nature. â€Å"The NIST library of security controls (in NIST publication 800-53 Rev. 4), currently in use at most civilian agencies, are much larger and the controls more granular, yet easier to understand and implement, than DIACAP, say those familiar with both methods†

French Revolution (1789) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

French Revolution (1789) - Essay Example lic and in 1793 executed the king. The formation of the National assembly, a body of people who were picked out of the middle classes, was an important development during the year of 1792. This led to an understanding on part of both the king and the bourgeoisie of the power of a collective, which strengthened the foundations of the goal to come out of political and social upheaval. According to a scholar, David Sibalis, the formation of the National Assembly represented an attempt on the part of the Parisian middle classes to â€Å"provide themselves with some minimal economic security through their own efforts.†3 Many of these efforts were frustrated by later events of the Revolution but the events of 1789 displayed a passion and fervor on the part of the Parisian middle classes to rise above their petty divisions and fight for the causes of equality that the French Revolution stands for, even today. The fight was also against what Barry M. Shapiro, a researcher, refers to a s an â€Å"irrational and inhumane judicial system†4 that refused to fix every subject of the state equally. According to a historian Eric Hobsbawn, the storming of the Bastille on July 14, 1789 reflected the third estate’s passion and enthusiasm.5 Disgruntled soldiers joined the movement rioters who sought to storm the Bastille. Although the Bastille was a prison, it was also an armory, which the revolutionaries needed to continue their movement. It was also intended as a warning to the higher powers of Paris. The demand of the public for a constitutional monarchy that would lead to the formation of a republic had gained momentum in Paris and the middle classes saw in this idea the promise of a better future. The storming of the Bastille assumes greater implications once one takes these factors of the storming into regard. The storming of the battle, the, becomes a symbolic attack on the tyranny that the nobles and the king practiced upon the citizens of France. Accor ding to a historian, Richard Burton, the Bastille formed a â€Å"nexus of fears and phobias whose hold over the eighteenth century Parisian mind is not to be doubted.†6 It is this tenacious hold that the act of the storming of the Bastille sought to loosen, consciously or unconsciously. Paris being the capital of the country, not only was aware of the nature of the exploitation that was happening, but Parisians were also the first to be affected by the mismanagement of the economy. They possessed the ability, due to their proximity to the centers of power, to analyses and understand the causes of the miserable conditions of their existence, as they existed in 1789. These conditions reached a peak when the Bastille was stormed. This action in itself, shorn of it symbolic significance, appears a trivial one since there weren’t any important people in the Bastille who could have been harmed. As a prison of the French government, however, the Bastille had turned into a sym bol of the tyranny that caused great misery to the lives of the French people. The

The Cultural Imperialism Thesis

The Cultural Imperialism Thesis In contemporary society, globalization has become an inevitable trend of the development. In 1985, Theodre Levitt first proposes the concept of globalization; it is used to describe the changes and development in the global economy. Since then, the concept of globalization gradually blends into other scientific areas and it rapidly becomes a popular topic in academia. Compared to the disputes on economic and political level, the conflicts of culture are more subtle and more profound. Tomlison (1997) points out that due to the imbalance of economic strength, accordingly, in cultural domain it is divided into dominant and vulnerable, that is the reason why cultural imperialism has been proposed. Therefore, maintaining the independence of their own culture in the exchanges of globalization has become the reason people questioned the cultural globalization. As Lechner (2012, p. 340) confirms that Modern media are carriers of globalization, global cultures are spreading through the media, such as the Internet and satellite television, it is the media which can turn the planet into a global village and make people feel closer than ever before. With the advancement of media and cultural globalization process, recent developments in this field have led to a renewed interest in whether the cultural imperialism thesis can be regarded as a way to understand media globalization, and it has been a controversial and much disputed subject in present society. This essay begins by tracing back some debates and the history about media globalization and then it will go on to demonstrate an understanding of the cultural imperialism and the key elements of it. After explaining some main critiques of the cultural imperialism thesis, this paper seeks to prove that as an increasing number of countries gradually recognize that it is important to protect and develop their local culture, the cultural imperialism thesis seems to be an unsuitable way to understand media globalization in the current international environment. Media Globalization Most scholars believe that globalization must be associated with media and communications, the definition of globalization indirectly acknowledged this point. Giddens (1990, p. 64 cited in Sreberny-Mohammadi, 2000, p. 118) defines globalization as the intensification of worldwide social relations which link distant localities in such a way that local happenings are shaped by events occurring many miles away and vice versa. What exactly links the distant localities? The answer will be the media. Due to the progress of media technology, the contact and communication between people from different places becomes more convenient, as Jameson (1998, p. 55) points out that globalization is a communicational concept, which alternately masks and transmits cultural or economic meanings. It is McLuhan (1964) who first recognise the role of media, although he proposes the term global village which seems to be a negative way to understand globalization. His merit is to illustrate the effect of com munication technologies in our social life. Referring to media globalization, it seems that the development of it can be grouped into different historical periods by three significant forms of mediums. To begin with, distances are no longer barriers to transnational communication because of the emergence of the telegraph. According to Thompson (1995), it was cable networks which connect Europe with China, Australia and South America, making mega mass audiences get information around the world. In the second place, Tomlinson (2004) states that the industrialized countries had been linked by satellite television. It had broken through the time and space limitations so that worldwide audiences can sit in front of televisions and watch the same events or soap operas at the same time. More exactly, that is the reason why teleplays like Dallas can be widely spread. Finally, as modern technology is advancing at a rapid speed, as a media carrier the internet has completely changed the way p eople get information. It brings information from different nations and diverse areas of the world to the individual computers or laptops. The performances of media globalization can be partitioned into three aspects. Firstly, as an important representation of the diverse national economy and culture, media products are spreading across the globe. People just need to press some buttons on the remote control or keyboard and then they will be able to access the media products they want from almost any country via satellite television or online media, such as news, TV programs and soap operas. As for many Chinese young people, they concern about Western technology news to learn about the latest electronic products, their mp3 players are playing the popular songs of Lady Gaga and Adele; American TV series are their favourites, such as Vampire Diaries and The Big Bang Theory. Media globalization means not only the dissemination of media products, but also the promotion of media commercialization which is becoming the universal media form. That is to say besides the media productions themselves; the proliferation of Western m edia form includes the type and form of programs and professional points and convention. Take Chinese TV program as an example, media studio buys overseas manufacture model and then transform the program to fit the viewing habits of Chinese audiences. Chinas Got Talent is the most successful case which comes from Britains Got Talent; it has recorded audience rating for three times. The second aspect of media globalization is the dominant position of transnational media company and market. The merger and acquisition of media companies have produced the large-scale media group; for instance, the seven main global media giants which are Disney, AOL Time Warner, Sony, News Corporation, Viacom, Vivendi and Bertelsmann (McChesney, 2000). Assisted by the supranational strength and nation-state strength, these media groups sweep across the globe through various technologies and agencies. Since the nation is no longer the provider of media service, the restrictions are released in media ownership and broadcast communications domain. Globalization embodied in terms of ownership structure, production, distribution and consumption of new transnational media systems. Through mergers and acquisitions, the media system which used to have distinctive national characteristics is becoming related to multinational media groups. Similarly, the production and consumption of media, such as film and advertising production and consumption has been globalized as well. Take Thomson Reuters as an example, since Canadian media giant Thomson Corporation merged with the British Reuters Group; it has become the biggest global financial information provider and the new company surpasses the majority of other competitors (BBC, 2007). Lastly, transnational media are dominated by global and regional production centres, and the information, productions and representations created by it are flowing through digital communication networks. In the meantime, the counter-flow exist restrictedly, the ruling media assimilates the contents and patterns of media from other countries selectively. Such as film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, a story from China, but it is made by Hollywood. Similarly, the story of animation film Mulan which created by Disney is based on Chinese history. Although the culture and resources are taken from Chinese, the expression is global, and the producer remains a company of the United States. The essence of cultural imperialism Before discussing on the essence of cultural imperialism thesis, I attempt to explore some key elements primarily. Media: McQuail (1994) claims that the media is a window for people to see the outside world, a guide to help the public understand mass experiences, a platform or a truck to transfer information. However, McLuhan (1964) did not agree with the idea that the media is only regarded as a tool for carrying materials or information, in his view, the medium is the message. Every emergence of new media, no matter what the specific contents spread, the media form itself brings some information to human society and it may make some kinds of social changes. McLuhan (1964, p. 7) further explains that the personal and social consequences of any medium-that is, of any extension of ourselves-result from the new scale that is introduced into our affairs by each extension of ourselves, or by any new technology. The aim he raises the proposition the medium is the message is to remind people that the impacts caused by any media are more remarkable than their specific contents. In other words, what medi a can transmit is far more than the specific content; he tries to draw peoples attention off from the content to the media itself. McLuhan (1964) also highlights that media are the extension of man, users of media also are the contents of media because they are creating contents, in particular the users of the Internet. In his view, Internet users differ from other media consumers; no matter what they do on the Internet they always create contents. People are owners who can actively manage media and give orders. In the cultural imperialism thesis, the media establish connections between developed countries and developing countries, it can be separated into two categories, one is the productions of print media, television, radio and film; the other is consumer goods such as Coca Cola, McDonald. Through these approaches, Western countries can spread the information which they want to convey around the world. Media culture: Since the media play an increasingly important role in peoples daily lives, contemporary society is integrally entering into the media society, media and cultural communication has become a normal and major landscape for general public. In the concept of cultural imperialism, media culture is a culture of consumerism; the centre of it is capitalist values. Sklair (2012) proposes that there is a definite link between consumerism and global capitalist system which controlled by the capitalist multinational corporation in the 20th century. The special mission for global capitalist system in the third world is to promote consumerism and to allow consumers indirectly considering their consumption ability with overlooking their own productive capacity. For instance, developing countries import commercial television and programs from developed countries, transmitting western TV series, horror films, detective stories and cowboy movies, making people face a world which may hav e passed for years or did not exist in their real lives. Such media productions have a detrimental influence upon people in developing countries, eroding the national identities, restraining peoples creativity and spirit of participation.   Imperialist countries: Western developed countries, especially the United States. Nonetheless there are merely few numbers of these countries. After years of capitalist operations, they possess the majority of the worlds resources and accumulate enormous wealth which results in the unbalanced development of the world. Schiller (1991) confirms that they own not only hard power in political, economic and military domains but also cultural soft power which is preponderant as well. Developing countries: most of these countries had been independent after World War II; they fell behind the western developed countries in political, economic, military and cultural fields. It can be said that they are still depending based on the economy of developed countries. In terms of developed countries, the developing countries are huge consumer markets which they can instil Western culture and values and get benefits from. Control: Western countries heavily impact developing countries by making use of cultural imperialism; it is best characterized by settling differences with other nations and preserving from violation or infraction. Essentially, the core of cultural imperialism is Western countries, the circulation of global media productions shows an obvious imbalance-they circulate in one-way flow from western countries to the rest of the world (Varis, 1974). Due to the fact that Western countries control media systems and products, cultural imperialism enables third world countries make their economic, social, and political policies and public values similar to western standards. As a result, it seems that the five elements of the cultural imperialism thesis can be integrated in a structure chart: Transmitter à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ Ã¢â€š ¬ Imperialist countries à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ Ã¢â‚¬Å¡ à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ Ã¢â‚¬Å¡ Communicating content à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ Ã¢â€š ¬ Media culture (culture of consumerism) à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ Ã¢â‚¬Å¡ à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ Ã¢â‚¬Å¡ Channels of communication à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ Ã¢â€š ¬ media à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ Ã¢â‚¬Å¡ à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ Ã¢â‚¬Å¡ Audiences à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ Ã¢â€š ¬ Developing countries à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ Ã¢â‚¬Å¡ à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ Ã¢â‚¬Å¡ Communicating effect à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ Ã¢â€š ¬ Cultural globalization Schiller (1976) stresses that cultural imperialism is not an isolated phenomenon; it is a part of the modern imperialism process. It has several practical characteristics in three aspects. First of all, the powerful countries in the economic domain, based on their powerful economic and capital strength, expand their economic, political and cultural influences to the rest of the world through the market. It results in a dominated and dependent relationship between the developed capitalist countries (especially the United States and Western European countries) and the developing countries (the Third World countries, such as countries in South America, Asia, and Africa). The products and fashion styles of developed countries propagate to other countries through the market, it may lead to specific patterns of demand and consumption, so that cultural values, attitudes and behaviours of developed countries can be consolidated and supported. Furthermore, cultural imperialism is an expansion of cultural values, that is to say dominating global culture through products or commodities which contain cultural values. In recent years, the Western national export cultural products to developing countries and make them accept their values, this causes the invasions in cultural survival and development areas in developing countries. For example, although China is one of the net exporters of films besides the United States (Morley, 2006), in the film market of Chinese mainland, the domestic films are heavily impacted by Hollywood films. Whenever Hollywood blockbusters like Transformers: Dark of the Moon is showing at major cinemas, the box offices of the Chinese domestic films in the same period are always poor. Since Chinese has been aware of the cultural soft power stands for a countrys overall image, one of the departments of authority called State Administration of Radio, Film and Television take several measures to support do mestic movies, such as the month of home-made films protection. That means each year, in a relatively settled time, there is only few import films, almost all of the films shown in cinema are domestic. Although this is done to protect the domestic films, this approach still causes controversy. While confronting these impacts, developing countries not only face the threat of industrial colonization form, but also face a lack of creativity of the cultural industry. Finally, cultural imperialism achieves cultural expansion through the dissemination of information products. In contemporary society, the strong cultures of western countries come to pervade peoples daily lives by means of mass media and popular cultural products such as radio, television, advertising, pop music, popular culture. Take the United States culture as an example; it permeates almost every aspect of our daily lives. A new Hollywood blockbuster could always start a watching boom around us; The pop music of American superstars such as Lady Gaga and Rihanna is playing among most Chinese pubs and shopping malls; an increasing number of young people become fans of the US TV series; and the NBA show is an eternal topic for basketball enthusiasts. Main critiques of the cultural imperialism With the continuous development of the globalization process and rise of audience studies, as the person who first proposes the cultural imperialism thesis, Schiller meets enormous challenges from other scholars. Especially after the end of the Cold War, the cultural imperialism thesis has caused more controversies. To begin with, there are increasing numbers of theorists recognizing that the international communication process is a complex structure, the one-way flow explains of cultural imperialism oversimplifies this complex process of information flow. According to Cunningham (1996), media globalization is no longer a one-way flow of media and cultural products from the western countries to the rest of the world. In recent years, India has become to a major out-sourcing exporter, movies made by Bollywood have aroused extensive concerns. For instance, as one of the most popular movies, 3 idiots has evoked worldwide repercussions. BBC (2010) reports that it has broken records for Indian films in the US, Australia, South Africa, Pakistan, Fiji and Kenya. In the American well-known film website IMDB, this film wins a score as high as 8.2 points; in Rotten tomatoes, there are 92% of the audiences thinking that it is worth watching. In addition, the rise of Korean popular culture has aroused the w idespread interest not only in the Asian countries, but also in the Western countries. In a lecture of the University of Leicester, the professor takes Girls Generation which created by S.M. Entertainment as an example to illustrate popular culture. These examples showed that global media and cultural propagation is a multi-directional flow process. Secondly, the communication process is a complex structure, there is no definite uniformity between encoding and decoding, and the similar information can be decoded by the different audiences in different ways. That means audiences in the Third World may selectively accept information and values which made by western media corporations. Tomlinson (1997) criticizes that using media imperialism expresses the cultural imperialism thesis is not proven. He believes that the media is neutral; and it is just an intermediary of the communication process, it is neither a kind of ideology nor the core of modern culture. He also notes that audiences should not be regarded as passive receptacles of media productions; they cannot be dominated by media. Schiller (1991) concurs and further explains that there are a part of active audiences, they understand the information in their own ways, by their own judgment, most importantly, their understanding considered to have significance in cultural heg emony resisting. Above all, it seems that each audience has a different understanding of the same media products, and their attitudes are based on their own cultural background and experiences. They accept information which they identify with and in the meanwhile, excluding those they dislike and disagree with. To some extent, the decoding activities of active, critical and resistant audiences weaken the effect of cultural imperialism gradually. Lastly, the cultural imperialism thesis seems to overlook the continuing significance of national media systems and protectionism. Because of the fact that films of the US occupy 80 per cent of the European film market, While European movies only gets 2 per cent of the American market (Morley, 2006). In order to protect domestic films and television programs from the impact of the U.S. like products, some European countries (Canada and France) announce to restrict American imported media products (Tomlinson, 1997). With mention to the Middle East countries, as a representative of the Saudi Arabian national media system, Orbit thinks that a BBC program about criticizing the Saudi Arabian human rights has violated the law and culture of Muslims, then it banned the import and use of satellite dishes in 1994 (Sakr, 2001). To sum up, in the contemporary global environment, since an increasing number of countries realize to defend their cultural security, the force-feed type of the Western media productions spreading is becoming useless. The national media systems and protectionism play an increasingly important role in resisting the instillation of western cultures and values. Conclusion As a central topic of the political and academic debate in the present age, different scholars have diverse views and opinions about globalization. Held (1999) provides an overview of various perspectives on globalization, he states that all the views can be divided into three classes: Hyperglobalizers, Scepyics and Transformationalists. Differing from other two perspectives, transformationalists highlight that firstly there is no single reason resulting in globalization; moreover, as Giddens (1990 cited in Sreberny-Mohammadi, 2000) states that the outcome of the globalization process is uncertain. I agree with this viewpoint and in my opinion globalization is a complicated process, it cannot be easily defined as positive or negative, it must be understood in more complex ways. Above all, I argue that globalization is a process which is open and full of conflicts, its essence is to establish a system for culture of exchanging and communicating, consequently, it may create a new media pattern. Media globalization is an objective reality which caused by the development of economic globalization, and the emergence of it is an objective historical process of media development. The cultural imperialism thesis is a negative way to understand media globalization, and it oversimplifies this complex process of information flow. In this process, exchange, collision and convergence between different cultures are overall based on maintaining their own independence, it is a two-way process instead of a one-way course which makes majority of countries become similar to the Western style. In the process of media globalization, communication and integration of various cultures will not lead to cultural assimilation; in contrast, diversification which emphasizes the differe nces and diversity is the expected trend of human culture. Multicultural, not only refers to the cultural diversity, but also means the differences in deep-seated level of culture and these differences can be recognized on a global scale. It is a kind of cultural imperforation when it only assimilates or controls cultures of other nations but does not accept and absorb outstanding achievements from other national cultures. The real media exchange is accepting and absorbing the outstanding and advanced cultural elements, it is not only from basic structure but also the inherent quality and spirit.

Choosing a Right Major to Create My Future

Rupeng Yang Choosing a right major to create my future Undergraduates have the higher educational level than high school student, but have the lower educational level than graduates. The time we spend in college is the most important time in our lives. During this period of time, we have been changing ourselves a lot. Because we get more information from our professors and our schoolmates to make us to become â€Å"critically thinking adults†(P85). We do not want to dependent on our family very much. We are trying to think about our future independently. We want to be more independent.So we obtain a lot of information from outside world, ignoring the information is good or bad. The most important thing we are thinking about is our majors. We are lack of experiences how to make a right choice on our majors. We do not know what we can do in our future. Now we are suffering from selecting majors. We really need to get help from professors or tutors in our college. Last semester w as my first semester in baruch college. When I met new classmates or new professors, the most question to me is what my major is. My answer was always I do not decide or I do not know.Many freshmen have the same situations as me, even some second year students. Why do not we choose majors? We Yang 2 want, but we do not know what we can choose. In baruch, the first two years classes have not any relationship with our majors. We have few chances to get information about majors from our classes. Because we are always busy with studying. Some students have part time jobs. They need to focus on not only their study, but also their jobs. Because they need to make money to support their education. They have little chance to know about their majors.Why do we want to attend to college? Because we want to know about our world well and obtain more knowledge to know what we are able to do or what we are interested in doing in the future. I know we have advisers in baruch. But that is not enough to so many students. We need more professional advisers to help us to analyze what the employment situations in the world now and what it will be like after we graduate, or help us to find out what are really interested in. Baruch college is famous at accounting major. But not everyone comes here for becoming an accoutant.I do not want to be an accountant too. I hope my major is about finance. Finance comprises many branches. I need a more specific major. My question is how I can use my advantages better if I choose a major. I am good at math, but I do not want to be an accountant. What can I do in the future? Baruch college pays a lot of money to the library resources every year to give students more knowledge and help us to study well. But if we do not know what we will do, or what our life will be like in the future, what is the destination for studying well? Our majors are like our dreams about our life.We need to spend a lot of time on our major. Because our majors connect wit h our working, Yang 3 and our working connects with our life and family in the future. That is why I am really concerned about choosing a right and propriate major. Many of my family members and friends told me that the major I choose is what I am really interested in. Because I need to spend more than four years on the major, and the first formal job I find is about my major. With an old saying in China, â€Å"Man needs to select the right major, and woman needs to get married with the right man. As far as I know, it is not easy to change major in college. If you did, it really takes time to finish another major. So we hope we can make right decisions at the first time. We do not need to change our decisions and use more time and energy to finish our education. â€Å"A more serious problem for faculty at many state and city colleges is the scarcity of resources. Because schools cannot easily hire more faculty members, they increase the workloads of those they have. †(P86) B aruch college does not have that problem.We have enough and professional faculty members, and good resources and computers in the library. Every student would not say, â€Å"There is no class for me to choose. † Every student can become full time student. If baruch college can put more professional advisers in it, that would be better. We have a good student academic consulting center. There are good professors and tutors to help students with their study, such as English, mathmatic, foreign language and so on. But few people think about if we have professional advisers to help us with our majors, we can get the best benefit.Yang 4 If I know what my major is, I will make my goals clearly for my life. I can make sure what I need to learn, what I do not need to waste time on. That makes my study more efficient. Although my parents and friends gave me some suggestions. those are not professional enough. I need a professional adviser to help me clear out my struggle. I appreciate that baruch has enough faculty members, good resources and beautiful basketball playgrounds. I hope baruch can add more professional advisers in it to help our students with their majors.