The dark comedy Scotland, PA relates the story in an understandable manner

1. The original Macbeth takes place in the 11th century Scotland, while Scotland, PA takes place in the American 1970s. Thousands of historical events and many generations set these two time periods apart. Yet, while the time span seems immense, noting really changed in human nature. People undoubtedly were and remain social creatures who intensively struggle for their rights, and, in extreme circumstances, power. Of course the setting of Medieval Scotland and modern America contrast each other, but what doesn't change is the characters' drive. Both in the play and in the movie, Macbeth wants recognition and rewards for his work, whether it will be a throne or a boss chair. Macbeth and his lady want to emancipate themselves from subjection and be the ones to take control. Thus the issues of social struggles are visible throughout both versions. Another human quality revealed is the abuse of power. In the original Macbeth, the lovers become absolute, despotic rulers of Scotland. They throw feasts, rejoice in their glory, and, unfortunately, often forget about their subjects. Although the film couple does not obtain this much control, its excessive pride does shine through. Pat used to complain about her boss, but once she herself took the position, she didn't change any of the things she disliked not so long ago. She couldn't remember an employee's name, annoyingly calling him ‘Richard,' and wore beautiful clothing, while the employees wore ugly, orange uniforms. Additionally, in both versions, Macbeth falls under pressure. In persuading her husband, Lady Macbeth uses her eloquence to achieve her greedy means, while Bet cunningly employs her charming looks. Macbeth also lets the witches/hippies guide him, albeit he suspects that they aren't the best advisors. It must be admitted that Scotland, PA did lose some of Macbeth's themes by switching the time setting. For instance, there are no battles between Norway and Scotland, no problems with the tyrannical ruler, no loss of followers, and no strong social dissatisfaction. However, the unrest and struggle between the subjects and the state can still be observed, only in the form of the workers versus the Duncan's restaurant. It can even be argued that the narrowing of the population circle serves well, because the struggles of the workers are easier to follow. 2. Macbeth is a noble work of literature that for many centuries was accessible only to the elite or educated people. By adapting the play into a film that contains things familiar to everyone, the creators of the film gain a larger audience. Now, the viewers don't have to relate the events to history or have any background information on the beliefs of the age. Keeping the work up to date also makes it easier for the audience to relate to it, while the themes of revenge, manipulation, guilt, and fate are well preserved. Additionally, for people who are familiar with the actual play the movie is particularly interesting. It is entertaining to parallel the events of the play with those on the screen. On the one hand, some details are cut out or diminished. For instance, instead of the commander's acclaim of Macbeth's performance on the frontline, the viewers see a scene in which Joe throws two troublemakers out of the restaurant. On the other hand, some events are completely new to the plot. For instance, the play avoids the actual killing of Duncan, while the film clearly shows how he gets boiled. If in the play the murder was intentional, in the movie the murder is shown as a result of Macbeth's carelessness. Other events are interwoven strictly with the original plot. For instance, Pat's guilt manifests itself as a burn that cannot heal, and the viewer immediately recalls Lady Macbeth's famous sleepwalking. The alterations in the plot somewhat dilute Shakespeare's tragedy, but yet keep it recogniza ble. Of course the â€Å"descending† of Macbeth to such level is open to criticism. For instance, conformists and lovers of classics would argue against such a rebuilding of Shakespeare's work. They might view the cutting out of important scenes and Shakespearean language and addition of too many kisses and curses as a bad reflection of modern culture. Also, if in the play there are slight hints on Macbeth's intellectual level, in the play he is openly displayed as a dummy. I would also agree that this is a wrong interpretation of his character, that doesn't look in the depth of him inner conflict. From my own standpoint, I would say that it has to be kept in mind how much time passed between the two versions. I would appreciate the way this film finds an inventive approach and risks standing out from the rest of the interpretations. 3. Scotland, PA completely revolutionizes the play by turning it from a tragedy into a comedy, and thus missing some of the play's serious issues. The film is also visibly low budgeted and should probably be viewed as an experiment. Nonetheless, through comical approach the film serves a purpose of social criticism. Morrissette satirically comments on fast-food, small towns, and culture of the 1970s. The viewer recognizes the people, the shops, the cars, and many other aspects of the 70s, but this recognition comes through a new light. By watching the events unfold from a side, the viewer sees how the lack of opportunities in the 70s created the most appropriate atmosphere for greed, lust, and dishonestly to proliferate. Since the film is an overall comment on human greed and desire for leadership, it can be viewed as a subliminal message about Richard Nixon, who covered up the Watergate break-in that led to his resignation. However, from a positive side, the viewer gets acquainted with the goodness of the age. For instance, the witty slang of 70's Middle America, the clothing, and the sneaky fellows introduce the culture of the time. Also, the soundtracks play the Bad Company's songs, which were extremely moving and valuable to the youth of the 70s. The youth itself is very well portrayed with Malcolm as a rock ‘n' roller, and Donald an enigmatic gay teenager. The progress and innovation are also showed in how Macbeth invented the â€Å"drive-thru† in the restaurant. This is the time when some of the major corporations begin to arise and attract customers. For example, in the matter of a few weeks after it underwent the renovations, the restaurant skyrocked in its popularity. 4. Many students have trouble following the events in Macbeth and interpreting Shakespeare's complex language. The dark comedy Scotland, PA relates the story in an understandable manner, but spares students of the real Shakespearean classic. The adaptation is oversaturated with its own whimsy, which obliterates most of the drama in the play. Shakespeare's dictions, allusions, and symbols, which are essential to the play, are completely obliterated. Instead, the addition of the references to the 1970s forces one to view the play as â€Å"American-made.† By over-simplifying the play and giving it new cultural references, the creators leave only superficial plot references to the tragedy. Thus the highly intellectual ideas that Shakespeare incorporated in his work are lost along the way. Very clever writing and great casting make this a comedy that is fun to watch even if one is not familiar with the source material. However, the adaptation can supplement the understanding of the play, but absolutely cannot take its place in the school's curriculum. The witches as three hippies, Duncan as a hamburger joint owner, Banqo as a hamburger seller, and Macbeth and his wife as self-advantageous couple undoubtedly may help the youth to perceive the characters' relationships. However, their original connections and motivations are not demonstrated in-depth. For example, the desire to become a King is much more powerful than desire to become a restaurant's owner. Similarly, predictions given by supernatural beings are much more convincing than those given by the three hippies on marijuana. Thus the power Shakespeare invested in his play is indeed undervalued and â€Å"dumbed-down.† 5. It sure was an original decision to give Macbeth a new birth by bringing it into the American 1970s. Although low-budgeted, the film literally re-builds the 1970s. This is partly achieved through shooting the film in a Canadian suburb that resembles the 1970s' streets. The shooting in the Nova Scotia, whether planned or serendipitous, adds a nice touch to the film production and even more unexpected irony to the modern interpretation of Macbeth. The switch of the settings may seem dramatic, but the Moorissette's underlying message is that human nature applies to every historical period and section of society. One can be a dignified man in 11th century Scotland, a homeless guy in American 1970s, or any other person in any other place and time, but the humiliation and power games will always exist. The adaptation proves that although Shakespearean epoch passed, his work is still appreciated in America. 6. On the one hand, Macbeth has always been considered one of the literary world's most celebrated tragedies. It is possibly the darkest and most gruesome of Shakespeare's plays. Scotland, PA steals all of the play's seriousness by turning it into something sloppily simple and funny. If the original version centered on characters' development, the reworking was unable to create characters of even the slightest interest and fully show how they change after their gruesome actions. The result is a lifeless film, which is only saved by its setting and soundtracks. The film will most likely be enjoyed by someone who knows absolutely nothing about Shakespeare, because those who know the original work would view Scotland, PA as a silly parody. Also, although much gets cut out, the added details get unnecessarily overcomplicated and the film gets unexciting. On the other hand, Scotland, PA stays on the task. It has many parallels with Macbeth and enhances some of its themes. Major themes from the original work: revenge, guilt, self-doubt, fate, and prophecy still exist in this manipulated adaptation, even in a new light. These themes are revealed straightforward through peculiar, funny, and incredibly well-conceived approach. The adaptation is also educational, for it shows an interesting piece of American history. For teenagers like me, the setting in the 1970s is very exciting to see because this is the time of our parents' youth. So looking at contrasting young characters – bold, rebellious Malcolm and gentle Donald – it is interesting to think about to which extreme our parents appealed. Also, the portrayal of vegetarian lieutenant McDuff and suspicious Banconi captivate the reader. Actors who played these two characters, in my opinion, showed the best effort and understanding of the actual characters in Macbeth. With both its drawbacks and its wonderful additions, Scotland, PA causes a lot of mirth and leaves the viewers with positive impressions.

Negative Effects of Social Media Essay

Social media has had made many impacts on society. Any website that allows social interaction is considered a social media site (Schurgin O’Keeffe, Clarke-Pearson). Due to the new technology taking over, social media has been easier than ever to get a hold of by the applications that have been made for portable devices. Through these devices and applications, being socially connected has made it easier to communicate with each other. Unfortunately, it all hasn’t been positive communications. There are many negative effects of social media, the biggest being addiction and self esteem. The definition of an addiction according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary is: an unusually great interest in something or a need to do or have something (addiction). While social media addiction is not clinically diagnosed at this point, the behavior displayed and language of the students use suggests that society is not that far from becoming physically dependant on mobile devices (Westfa ll). With the new technologies right at the fingertips of society and easy access to check the newsfeed of the word, addiction to social media is on the rise. There are many factors that classify someone as an addict in different parts of the world. According to psychology professor and author Larry Rosen, â€Å"Social media addicts spend most of their waking moments checking for updates, chatting in instant messaging rooms, posting updates and checking their friend’s latest postings. Even when they delete their accounts, they usually are driven to make new accounts within twenty-four hours† (Gabriel). Some cases of addiction to social media are not as severe as others. In some extreme cases there are symptoms that can be observed. These symptoms include: spending at least four hours per day using social media, canceling more and more activities with family, friends or coworkers, bringing cell phones or other internet capable devices into the bathroom, and feeling anxi ous when you cannot get onto the internet. Once the individual has gotten involved in networking sites, things can escalate quickly. One reason these sites are so addictive is that there is a nonstop stream of messages, photos, updates and information coming from those in the network. If you have ten friends, it should not be a problem keeping up with them. If an individual’s network is one hundred friends or more, the individual might end up online for hours  every day, trying to check all of the updates. Trading messages back and forth with other members, the individual might find himself or herself even more caught up in the exchange, just as it would be in a normal conversation. see more:speech on social networking Social networking sites are meant to be casual, relaxed ways to connect with others. If you start losing sleep or are unable to concentrate because you’re always thinking about going online to check your friends’ statuses, then that is a sign of trouble. Social media has become an addiction to people because it is a form, or a way, to escape reality. It is also a way that someone can create their own cyber reality (Cosper). According to an associate professor in a program of science, technology, and society, Natasha Schull states, â€Å"Online games and social networking sites use psychological principles to keep you hooked† . Recent study shows that online dependency is not so different from a physical addiction. â€Å"MRI scans of patients checking their social media feed and those using cocaine look exactly the same,† says Schull. Most addictions begin as a harmless satisfaction of needs and desires; checking a few media sites stimulates those pleasure centers in the brain (Jensen). Another reason these sites are so addictive is that they provide outlets for when you are feeling down. People post fewer negative than positive updates on networking sites. They might mention trips they have taken or new cars, but they will rarely mention when they get poor grades or if they gained twenty pounds. If the individual’s own â€Å"real† life is not going so great, they can always go online and pretend it to be better. This in most cases, is how depression from social media usage is started. It is easy for someone to lose himself or herself in what experts say, â€Å"happyland† and forget about the hurdles in everyday life (Bocco). With new studies there has been known to be at least ten different types of social media addiction. A few of these types of addiction are: â€Å"The Alert-Lover†, â€Å"The Social Guru†, â€Å" The Verb Creator†, â€Å"The Blog Referencer†, â€Å"The Multi-Mayorâ € , and â€Å"The Freak Out-er† (Laird). Just like any other addiction, social media addiction is a disease. Social media addiction can become a destructive compulsive habit which as with any addiction can lead to broken relationships, job loss, and even financial issues. Individuals addicted to social media often feel anxiety or even may feel physically ill if not able to connect to the internet or their favorite social media sites. Evidence suggests that that the typical addict is  usually a teenager, usually male, and has no social life outside of their computer and or mobile devices. Though this is not truefor all. This disease has been known to affect millions of people all over the world. The most important being the â€Å"constant checker† and the â€Å"vowel hater† (Laird). In today’s world, checking social media on a regular basis can be easier than ever before. For some, this great access is not all that great. Those people are known as the â€Å" constant checkers†. They feel the need to check their handheld devices on a regular basis to feel up-to-date on the newest news that they may have missed, in what they may feel, has been a very long time. A study done by the University of California suggests that on average, study subjects check their mobile devices thirty-five times out of habit. It was also shown that nearly eighty- eight percent of teenagers and young adults check their news feed before even getting out of their bed in the morning. Through this study those subjects then realized that they were losing the relationship s that they have had with the people closest to them because they were being annoying. Some, but not all, of those studied admitted to having a physical attachment to their mobile devices and having withdrawls when taken away. Lisa Merlo, a psychologist at the University of Florida, says, â€Å"If you hear ‘put the phone away’ more than once a day, you probably have a problem† (Cohen). Another type of social media addiction is being a â€Å"vowel hater†. These people are known to take out every vowel possible in order to save time and space in either a text message or posting onto any form of social media site. This addiction has been known to alter all parts of the individual’s specific speech. It alters their speech in regular conversation and those electronically. From it leaking into the regular everyday conversation it can cause confusion to those around. Some may not know all the up to date slang terms that are used in instant messaging and so cial media. The same is for electronic messaging. This could be email or instant messaging on a media site. The most common type of people that this kind of addiction has been found is the younger generation. This is the age group of those from the age thirty to seventeen. It has been found that the younger the individual the more vowels are taken out of each word in each sentence. Some of the most noticeable symptoms of being a †vowel hater† is when posting on a social media site, such as Twitter, they are known for dropping vowels just to reach the one hundred forty character  limit (Hivesocial). Like any other disease there are a variety of treatment options. These treatment option vary from AA type meetings to meetings that can be held via webcam, other instant messaging alternatives or sometimes even a therapist. Unlike drug or alcohol addiction there will be no physical side effects from lowering your usage and stopping completely. The individual will be battling behaviors that have built up over time so it will be difficult to cut back on social media time. However, it is extremely doable. One of the first steps in addiction treatment is the individual must admit to himself or herself that there is a problem. Once the problem is recognized it is best that the subject take note on which kind of social media or technology that are addicted to. This may be hard for the individual for they in most cases, do not realize that they are checking their mobile devices and social media sites. Therapy can give the individual a tremendous boost in controlling internet use. Cognitive-behavioral therapy provides step-by-step ways to stop compulsive internet behaviors and change the individual’s perceptions regarding internet, mobile phone, and computer use. Therapy can also help you learn healthier ways of coping with uncomfortable emotions, such as stress, anxiety, or depression. Joining a support group is also another great way to help the addict make them feel like they are not alone. Ironically, some of these support groups are online which may not be too supportive to those who have a heavy addiction. Which in some cases should be monitored carefully (Sherwood). Research from the University of Buffalo indicates that women who base their self worth on their appearance are likely to post more pictures of themselves online for validation and to have larger social media networks (Henderson). Positive comments on social media can and do boost self esteem. Some people get a boost of healthy self esteem and get ego driven self love based on how many â€Å"Likes† they get on a social media site. Everyone wants to feel worthy of love and belonging. In some ways, the â€Å"Likes† we get on social media sites satisfies this need in almost a distorted way. Perhaps we are looking for love, or †Likes† in all the wrong places. According to lead author Elliot Panek, â€Å"Among young college students, we found that those who scored higher in certain types of self worth posted more often on Twitter. But among middle- aged adults from the general population, those that had more self love posted more frequent status updates on Facebook† (Bergland).  Fac ebook serves self loved adults as a mirror. As for a middle- aged adult, these findings of the difference between Facebook and Twitter may be influenced by a generation technology gap. Panek says of Facebook, â€Å"It is about creating your own image, how you are seen, and also checking on how others respond to this image.† Many middle-aged adults have already formed their social selves. They use social media to gain approval from those who are already in their social circle. For some self loved college students, the social media is a tool for them in helping them reach there wanted social standings (Bergland). Along with being addicted and having a low self esteem there is yet another negative effect of social media, cyberbullying. Access to electronic devices like smartphones that capture photos, videos and have the ability to upload to video sites or be sent through a mass messages within seconds mean the bullying never ends. Reports of teens recording fights, sexual assaults and more have been in the news with several being caught after sharing it on their Facebook pages. There are even sites dedicated to publishing and promoting teen fight videos which does not warrant a link. Teens already dealing with the pressures of fitting in now have to fear being targeted by bullies, who can easily smear their reputation with a few clicks of the mouse. The most dangerous part is this content lives on well after the damage is done, a daily reminder to the victim. Most commonly cyberbullying is found on chat sites and social media that has had a huge boom within ten years or less such as Facebook. MySpace, LinkedIn and Twitter. It is easier for the bullier to pick on their victim because they are not talking to them di rectly. In fact, in almost all cases it is not face to face but rather, typed, hateful words. Saying hurtful words is not the only form of cyberbullying. Cyberbullying can also be done through impersonation. Impersonation means that the person does not even have to know the individual that is bullying them. These types of online harassments should not be taken lightly. Many teens and even professionals have been known to quit what they love or even in severe cases, have committed suicide. On average, those that are bullied tend to all have the same or nearly the same symptoms. Those symptoms include: skipping school, experience in-person bullying, be unwilling to attend school, receive poor grades, have lower self-esteem, have more health problems, and the used of alcohol and drugs. Cyberbullying is different from any other kind of  bullying because it can reach the individual at any time of the day, any time of the week (Social Media Makes Cyberbullying More Dangerous). Granted, not all cyberbullying is no all done on Facebook, but since the social networking site is so popular among tweens and teenagers everywhere, it is a regular source of problems. Nearly half of all teenagers in the United States have experienced some online bullying, according to statistics from the National Crime Prevention Council. Twenty percent of middle school students said they have seriously thought about suicide due to online bullying, according to a recent survey conducted by the Cyberbullying Research Center (Levine). It doesn’t take a scientist to figure out that victims of cyberbullying have lower self-esteem than those who have not experienced it. On the other hand, research has also surprisingly shown that the actual cyberbullying offenders have lower self-esteem than their peers. It would seem that when it comes to bullying, everyone loses. Since low self-esteem has been linked in many studies to poor grades in school, health issues, excessive absences, and crimin al behavior, it would be in everyone’s best interest to take steps to shut bullying down early on. Addiction and self esteem are some of the many negative effects of social media. In review, addiction not only hurts the individual but also how the individual acts and may participate in events. Not only does it hurt them but it also hurts the relationships that they are in. This includes family, friends and co-workers. Addiction also can play a role in how they treat people on a day to day basis. From being addicted to social media the individual can start to lose their sense of how to communicate with others face to face. Luckily, with this understudied addiction there are treatment options that are beginning to take place for those that would like to take a stand on their addiction. Self esteem is also a negative factor in social media today. Those individuals that have a higher and possibly lower self esteem tend to post more online than those that do not. This is dependant on how much self worth an individual may have for him or her self. Some people keep posting online just he lp themselves boost their self esteem because they may have a hardship outside of the â€Å"cyberworld.† In that case, for some the only way to boost their self esteem is to cyber bully others. Impersonation is one of the more common types of cyberbullying because the individual does not have to know the victim on a personal level or even at all. Addiction and self  esteem are only a few of the numerous negative effects of social media. Works Cited â€Å"addiction†. Merriam-Webster.com. Merriam-Webster, 2014. Web. 14 January 2014. Bergland, Christopher. â€Å"Social Media’s Dual-Edged Sword: Narcissism vs. Self-Esteem†. Psychology Today. 12 June 2013. Web. 2 February 2014. Bocco, Diana. â€Å"What makes Social Media Networking Sites So Addictive?†. N.D. 12 February 2014. Cohen, Elizabeth. â€Å"Do You Obsessively Check your Smartphone?†. CNN Health. 28 July 2011. Web. 18 January 2014. Cosper, Alex. â€Å"Why People are Addicted to Facebook & MySpace†. eHow. Web. 12 February 2014. Gabriel, Peter. â€Å"Social Media Addiction: Symptoms and Treatment.† Voices.Yahoo.com. Sherwood, Rena. 6 March 2013. Web. 14 January 2014. Henderson, Maureena. â€Å"Is Social Media Destroying Your Self-Esteem?†. Forbes. 11 July 2012. Web. 4 February 2014. Hivesocial, Tom. â€Å"Disconnect to Reconnect†. Tom Locke. 26 June 2013. Web. 28 January 2013. Jensen, Sarah. â€Å"How Do People Be come Addicted to Online Games and Social Networking Sites?†. 22 October 2013. Web. 12 February 2014. Laird, Sam. â€Å"The 10 Types of Social Media Addicts [INFOGRAPHIC]†. Mashable. 11 October 2012. Web. 14 January 2014. Levine, Beth. â€Å"Facebook’s Effects on Self-Esteem†. 26 March 2013. Web. 12 February 2014. Potarazu, Sreedhar Dr. â€Å"Addicted to Facebook? Studies show users are lonelier†. Fox News. 24 January 2013. Web. 28 January 2014. Schurgin O’Keeffe, Gwen, MD, Clarke-Pearson, Kathleen, MD. The Impact of Social Media on Children, Adolescents, and Families. Vol.127 No 4. American Academy of Pediatrics. 23 March 2011. Web. 14 January 2014. â€Å"Social Media Makes Cyberbullying More Dangerous†. Social Media Club. 17 May 2013. Web. 11 February 2014. Westfall, Leah. â€Å"Student’s Becoming Addicted to Social Media†. Fastweb. 13 April 2011. Web. 28 January 2014. â€Å"What is Cyberbullying†. Web. 12 Februar y 2014.

Business Ethics and dilemma Essay

1. Review the assigned readings from the text and article by Carroll (1991). 2. Prepare a 3- to 5-page paper titled, Corporate Social Responsibility. 3. Reflect upon your text readings from Chapters 1 and 9 with a focus on the following core concepts: Organizational Social Responsibility (Chapters 1 and 9) The Ethical Decision-making Process (Chapter 1) Corporate Reputation (Chapter 9) The Corporate Social Responsibility Pyramid (Chapter 9) The Importance of Trust (Chapter 9) The Pyramid of Corporate Social Responsibility (article by Carroll and Chapter 9) 4. Read The Merck and River Blindness Case at the end of Chapter 9 of your text. 5. Compose your paper in Microsoft Word. Include your name, the assignment name and number, the course and section number, and the date on your title page. Follow APA guidelines for formatting and citations.. NOTE: Your paper must meet the minimum requirements as outlined in the section of Weekly Written Assignments of the Assignment Guidelines and the grading criteria of this assignment. You are to provide a minimum of 2-3 references in your work. For this assignment, use of general google.com or Internet search references is not acceptable. Use the university library’s scholarly databases. 6. Respond to each of the following questions and statements: Stakeholders: Produce a list of all key stakeholders that you perceive to have a bona fide interest in the Merck company’s dilemma. Corporate Social Responsibility Pyramid: Frame the Merck company’s ethical dilemma within the Corporate Social Responsibility Pyramid. E.g. State briefly the key economic, legal, ethical, and philanthropic responsibilities. As a focal point, compare and contrast the economic implications against the ethical and philanthropic considerations. Organizational Values: State briefly and specifically whether the decision to a) proceed with the drug project or b) not to proceed with the drug development best fits with the company’s declared organizational values and its principles of profitability. Stakeholder Impact and Trust: If the drug development failed and cost hundreds of millions of dollars, would that harm to the company and its stakeholders be justifiable? If Merck decided not to pursue development of the new drug, what implications do you see this having for stakeholder relations such as the scientists who desire the development. E.g. Is this a trust and leadership consideration? Final Decision: If you were the CEO of Merck and the final decision on this risky new drug development was yours, what would you do and why? Justify your decision. Using Carroll’s theory, are you comfortable stating your opinion to the board of trustees, employees, and media? NOTE: Since this is an actual, real-life case, your focus should be on producing creative and new thinking that applies the ethical concepts to the material. Also, include an introduction and conclusion in your paper. You are encouraged to use the headings above in Action Item 7 in your paper for organizational purposes. 7. Submit your paper to Turnitin.com. NOTE: Turnitin.com is used by Franklin University to assist students in detecting plagiarism. Turnitin generates a report within minutes of submitting your paper. Your results will not be e-mailed to you; you must login to review your results. Submitting a paper ahead of an assignment deadline provides you with the opportunity to take action if you need to rewrite any part of the paper. Your professor will provide you with a class ID and password as an e-mail or a Class Communication object. Submission Instructions By Sunday, upload your paper using the Submit tool. Grading Criteria Content and focus: Response addressed the question(s) posed in a logical, cohesive manner: 0 – 35 points Analysis and critical thinking: Writing illustrates higher order critical thinking, analysis, synthesis, and/or evaluation: 0 – 35 points Writing style, grammar, sentence structure: Sentences are consistently clear, concise, well written; grammar and punctuation are correct: 0 – 15 points APA and research: Correct use of APA style in body of paper and appropriately references the text and/or other research sources: 0 – 15 points

Forum 3 research methods Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Forum 3 research methods - Essay Example It was found that people who wanted the inclusion of homosexuals into the protected group supported the hate crime law whereas others that wanted homosexuals out of the protected group rejected the hate crime law. As contained by the theory of identity politics, the data-supported path model helped the researchers find that the people who considered the hate crimes a source of fear among the victim group’s members as well as the economic and social liberals raised their support for the inclusion of the homosexuals into the hate crime laws. Rest of the research findings were not consistent with the theory of identity politics that considers the movement a united front. A surprising finding of the research was that the likelihood of belief in the increase of hate crimes was found to be more in the social conservatives as compared to the economic conservatives. All variables possibly having some kind of indirect or direct relationship with the dependent model included in the study were displayed in the form of a skeletal model shown in the article as Fig. 1. The skeletal model’s fundamental dependent variable was the general extent of support of a respondent for a hate crime law containing the condition of penalty enhancement. The definition of a variable as the dependent or independent variable depended upon the regression. In total, seven regressions were performed. In the first regression, the dependent variable in the skeletal model i.e. general hate crime law attitude was shown towards the extreme right with all of the independent variables towards the left. In the subsequent six regressions, â€Å"the dependent variables were homosexual inclusion, verbal aggression inclusion, hate crimes increased, fear among other group members, social liberalism/conservatism, and economic liberalism/conservatism† (Johnson and Byers, 2 003, p. 232), whereas the independent variables in these six regressions were all variables towards the left of but not above or

The Values of Online Advertisement on Social Media Sites Essay

The Values of Online Advertisement on Social Media Sites - Essay Example This paper illustrates that various studies have been carried out on Facebook and how it has now been used in online advertisements and for commercial purposes. In a study by Clemons, Barnett, and Appadurai, the authors set out to establish the value of social media networks such as Facebook to the future of advertising. The authors were able to establish that the social media are a tool which has allowed the consumers to determine what they want to be made aware of the products themselves without being influenced by profiteering companies. The authors, therefore, were able to point out that consumers are now using the Internet and the social media in order to carry out what they want at the time of their choosing. These consumers are also able to escape TV ads through TiVO and seemingly, the social media network is the last resort for advertisers. With the growth of the Internet and the social media, consumers have now become more discerning and not totally trusting what is advertis ed on TV or in newspapers or magazines. These consumers have now become more empowered in their consumption as they are able to use the social media to review products and determine how well a produce would work for them. This study is, however, based on secondary information gathered from a database and from the research of other authors on the subject matter. Nevertheless, the data established by the authors are reliable as they confirm trends already established in previous studies. The authors were also able to provide a clear and valid assessment of the data, linking these to current trends in advertisement and social media applications. Gaps in the data are apparent in relation to the primary database needed to support reliable and evidence-based research. Nevertheless, the value of the social media in advertising has been apparent in this study and in other related studies. In the study by Tucker, the author sought to evaluate how Internet users’ conceptualization of c ontrol over their personal data impacts the likelihood of their clicking on online advertising. The authors used data they gathered from a randomised field experiment where they sought to examine the general efficacy of personalizing ads on social networking sites including Facebook. The authors revealed that the website gave the users the chance to have greater control over their personally identifiable data. The website also did not change how the advertisers utilised data to target and modify the ads. When privacy measures were introduced, the users were even more likely to click on personalized ads. The study suggested that it may be important to give the users control over their private data in order to assist advertising-supported media and advertisers on said sites. This also means that privacy controls can have harmful advertising outcomes. For advertisers, such controls are not enticing prospects, but for consumers, are welcome prospects. As a randomized controlled field st udy, this study provided strong primary evidence for this research. The methodology was well explained and replicable, with the design appropriate for the variables being studied.

Anti-competitive Behavior of the Wisconsin Chiropractic Association Essay - 3

Anti-competitive Behavior of the Wisconsin Chiropractic Association - Essay Example The FTC functions as an equalizer between the vulnerable consumers and the wealthy and powerful businessmen and corporations. It serves as a monitoring agency in the regulation of commodity prices. It also serves to protect businesses from each other by giving all of them fair and equal opportunities to trade their wares in the consumer market. Public policy considerations against anti-competitive behavior revolve around keeping the prices of commodities and services affordable to the public while still achieving a high level of quality in goods and services. The FTC monitors the consumer market for possible violations in anti-competition and anti-trust policies. This monitoring is done with the help of the consumers. Consumers are encouraged to report unfair competition practices of businesses and industries. Through the FTC, many industries are encouraged and motivated to produce high-end goods and services while still making them available to the consumer at affordable prices. The public has the right to expect an assortment of choices in their goods and services. It also has the right to be protected against businessmen and corporations who may take it upon themselves to agree about prices in order to manipulate the market. The public has the right to be protected against monopolies. Monopolies restrict the public’s right to avail of similar products traded by other companies. This practice restricts the participation of industries in similar trading lines controlled by more dominant corporations.

Political ideas, under international relations Coursework

Political ideas, under international relations - Coursework Example It is perhaps better conceived as two aspects of the same thing that can not be separated with clear lines. First, it is a practice or method of government, a set of forms and procedures. Second, it relates to ends rather than means, to an ideal or set of ideals. A direct democracy is a political system in which all citizens are allowed to influence policy by means of a direct vote on any particular issue. However it is impracticable except in a very small polity. Even though it was practiced in Athens, it didn't involve all the people, only adult male citizens. Representative democracy can simply be defined as an indirect democracy in which the people do not themselves govern but elect representatives who govern them. As for the relation between electoral and representative democracy, it will suffice to note that the former is a necessary, though not sufficient, condition of the latter. This is also to say that the concept of representative democracy comprehends electoral democracy; but the reverse is not true. While modern democracies are jointly electoral and representative, an electoral democracy that does not elect representatives is a distinct possibility. The other two notions--direct democracy and referendum democracy--require a somewhat more detailed explication. Although a direct democracy can be simply defined a contrario, that is, as a democracy without representatives and without representational transmission belts, yet this specimen displays subspecies that command separate recognition. Any direct democracy is, in some sense, a self-governing democracy. But we know that the meaning of self-government crucially hinges on the size factor; (Banducci, 1998, 116) so does the meaning and reality of direct democracy. A literal, authentically self-governing direct democracy can be said to exist only with reference to relatively small groups--say, up to assembly-size groups. Beyond the assembly size, the most meaningful distinction is between observable di rect democracy, and a direct democracy whose size escapes direct observability, that is, a greater than observable one. The democracy of the ancients qualifies as observable, for it resolved itself not only in the gathering of the citizens in a single place but in an observable behaviour of the participants. But the magnitude that allows for such observability is in the order of a few thousands. And that order of magnitude already brings about a great deal of indirectness in a direct democracy. Only in part was Greek democracy truly and authentically "direct." And when we come to a greater-than-observable direct democracy, what makes it direct is only, or basically, the inference that it is not a representative kind of democracy. The notion of referendum democracy will help to qualify this last assertion. The original idea of a representative was of a person elected to express or reflect the views of his constituents. (Raphael, 1990, 91) However, this does not seem possible, the rep resentative needs to gather his constituents and get the view of them on every issue. Therefore the representative chosen is not obliged to mirror the ideas of his constituents rather he is elected as a man of good judgement. This is a doctrine often known as Edmund Burke's Principle, which states that representatives should act upon their own conscience in the affairs of a representative democracy. Nevertheless in practice, the inevitable rise of the well disciplined party system has caused representatives to decide under the

Training Session Reflective Write-up Coursework

Training Session Reflective Write-up - Coursework Example upportive and positive attitude during the entire training session successfully attained high level of satisfaction; whereas the one with negative attitude during this whole training session did not gain sufficient effective knowledge. Many of the managers present in the training session were also able to successfully develop a personal connection with the me, and were also seen effectively communicating few times with me and as a result they are not only received guidance from me but they also received praise rather than criticism and in this brief session end up developing a trustful relationship between me and the audience that was the result of developing positive learning environment. The objective of the training session was to be able to differentiate between listening and hearing and to implement it in the professional as well as personal life. The objective also included gaining knowledge about different listening techniques. For example it was important to make the participants understand that when they are multitasking during a lecture, they may not be able to gain enough knowledge from it as their attention may not be fully devoted towards the speaker. The aim of this training session is to understand the importance of listening. The aim of this training session for me as a trainer also included the development of effective communication and interaction with the audience to achieves the goal of the session i.e. helping the manger to learn and develop effective listening technique, learn about difference between listening and hearing, etc. (Cavanaugh, 2001). The chosen training method for the session was lecture, it is considered to be a transmittal training technique is a method that is widely being used all around the world for teaching adults. An effective lecture should be based on a 10-15 minute information session followed by a learning activity for energizing the participants. It is an effective tool for summarizing information collected

Increasing use of Medical Marijuana Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Increasing use of Medical Marijuana - Essay Example So, the medicines developed from cannabis are also known as psychoactive drugs. So, these drugs are offered high attention by the young generations of this era as compared to many other medical drugs (Politics. Co.UK. n. d). Cannabis is recognized as marijuana. Cannabis or marijuana drugs are mainly used as a stimulant to increase the appetite of the body, improve the mood or relaxation of the entire body. So, it is also recognized as recreational drugs and excess intake of these drugs might cause negative impacts over the health of the body such as anxiety, reddening of the eyes, dry mouth, loss of memory and many others. Therefore, due to these sorts of side effects, it is illegal to carry or consuming a small amount of cannabis or medical marijuana in any of its form. But, in-spite of implementation of numerous rights and regulations of the government, the use of cannabis or medical marijuana is increasing at a rapid rate among the individual of all age groups and all income groups (Politics. Co.UK. n. d). Cannabis or medical marijuana is considered as one of the most illicit drug in the entire globe, but legalizing its use for medical purposes created a considerable challenge for all. Due to such legalization, the usage rate of medical marijuana increased mainly among the youth adults of age-groups, 12 to 20 years. However, the rate of consumption of medical marijuana is also extremely high in the nations comprising of numerous rules and laws against its consumption rather than those, without comprising any laws. Therefore, due to increased rate of consumption of medical marijuana, the rate of crimes, alcohol consumption, loss of memory and deaths increased to a significant extent as compared to previous era. According to a research, conducted by Moir & et. al. (2008), it might be clearly depicted that the smoke of cannabis or marijuana comprises of more than 15,00 harmful and toxic chemicals such as carbon monoxide, irritants, hydrogen cyanide,

Conferences in Cairo and Teheran in 1943 Research Paper

Conferences in Cairo and Teheran in 1943 - Research Paper Example This time Joseph Stalin of Soviet Union joined the meeting and hence it is considered to be the first conference between the Big Three1. It immediately followed the Cairo Conference and was held during November 28 and December 1, 1943 in Teheran, Iran. This meeting focused on the opening of the second front in Western Europe and finalized the stratagem for the war against Nazi Germany and its allies2. The purpose of this paper is to attempt a close study of the conferences held in Cairo and Teheran in order to evaluate the larger picture of the World War situation. It is through revisiting these conferences that one can properly assess and analyze the occurrences that led to the world war. The main purpose of the argument at both the conferences in Cairo and Teheran was the act and measures taken by the U.S. and the U.K. regarding the Overlord and the Mediterranean invasion, for which they needed support3. The U.S. leaders were keen on grabbing the opportunity to attack from the nort hwest, which was the Overlord from which the British seemed to withdraw. What mainly came into conflict between the core parties was whether to postpone the Overlord operation to proceed with the eastern invasion of Mediterranean during the war. This decision depended upon the availability of landing craft which was provided by the United States, called the Landing Ship Tank (LST). There were almost 139 of these, headed towards the Mediterranean and 67 allocated to the United Kingdom for the Overlord right after the Italian campaign was finished4. The Cairo-Teheran Conferences allow the historians to analyze and develop a deeper understanding of the intricacies of the cross-channel invasion which was resisted by both Stalin and Roosevelt for different reasons. One can get a closer look at the real intentions of the American ideas and suspicions towards their ally5. The Cairo Conference led to the defeat of Japan and eventually the Cold War was aggravated in East Asia. Hence, the mee ting was significant in relation to the bond developed between the Great Britain, the United States and China. The conference took its official start by Generalissimo demanding a fixed amount for military equipment for the South East Asia Command operations. The Generalissimo reasserted the demand of providing 10,000 of tonnage per month expressing the need to Mountbatten irrespective of his own demands. In a series of meetings in Cairo other demands were heard and possible solutions were derived. General Eisenhower the Allies Supreme Commander laid stress on the significance of â€Å"maximum possible operations† in the existing scenario because a new base would take up a lot of time6. These were some of the major demands that were placed in the conference and these demands had an impact on the overall result of the conference. The same can be said about the Teheran collaborations of Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin. But there was a clash of cultures as the decisions were fina lized at a high level and Heiferman writes, â€Å"Summit conferences may make for good theater, but do not necessarily result in good policies, as an examination of the Cairo Conference reveals.†7 Heiferman reasserts that the conferences were a mixture of contradictory agendas due to differences in culture and various stereotypes and myths about realities. China’s inclusion in the Cairo conference was primarily Roosevelt’s concern. He gave Chiang the impression that he would

Fine Dining & Culinary Management Thesis Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Fine Dining & Culinary Management - Thesis Example In order for this to occur, however, one must know what the cultural differences are. Knowing cultural differences will assist the instructor to know why certain students behave differently from other students, and why certain cultures have different customs and ways of learning then do others. Another major focus that hospitality instruction should focus upon is using technology to assist in learning environments. On-line learning is, or should be, an important part of the learning culture. Other important aspects should include blogging, virtual learning and podcasting. Developing a culture of learning, therefore, must not only take into account different learning styles, but also different cultures, and must use different approaches to keep up with today's changing world. 1.1 Learning Styles Developing a culture of learning requires one to be sensitive to the fact that students have different styles of learning, and be able to adapt to this. Dale & McCarthy(2006) explain that the approaches to learning, with regards to the hospitality students they study, are activist, instrumentalist, autonomous and perplexed. The activist students are actively engaged in learning, and prefer a hands-on approach to their studies and wish to engage in practical and vocational experiences. As for lecturers, activist learners want an instructor that they can communicate with and relate to, as want their methods of assessment to be interactive, such as making presentations. The instrumentalist is the learner who is competitive, and their motivation for learning is getting the best grade. To this end, they are strategic. Their enthusiasm for learning is secondary to the desire to succeed and reach the external goal of getting a good grade. The autonomous learner is one who wants to learn on one's own, with minimal instruction or interaction with peers. The perplexed learner is the fourth kind of learner, and the perplexed learner is one who is confused about what needs to be don e to get a good grade. These learners need extra support and guidance (Dale & McCarthy, 2006, p. 51). Lashley (1999) states that the field of hospitality naturally attracts activist learners, as the students of hospitality tend to enjoy hands-on, concrete ways of learning and have lower preferences for theories and abstraction. To this end, he recommends an integrated approach, wherein the students learn theory and apply theory to concrete situations. The blocks that Lashley recommends include a block where students reflect on their own experiences in their work placement, exploring issues and reflecting and analyzing experiences. The next block is one where the students study and report on the service quality of major high street hospitality retail brands, acting as mystery diners and reporting, using the concepts and theories learned by instruction. The third block, Block C, provides an integrating context for the themes, concepts and theories learned. The assessment is based upon a hospitality hotel services context, â€Å"which provides both the setting for developing knowledge and understanding, and the scenario for a suite of assignments including the final examination† (Lashley, 1999, p. 180). Barron and Arcodia (2002) concur that the vast majority of hospitality students are activist, as they enjoy the hands-on approach. That said, they found that the

Scientific method Essay Example for Free

Scientific method Essay 1)What type of team was formed here? Was it necessary, in your opinion? 2)Use the team effectiveness model and related information in chapter 8, to identify the strengths and weaknesses of this team’s environment, design and processes. 3)Assuming that these four people must continue to work as a team, recommend ways to improve the team’s effectiveness. An average, or typical, case is often not the richest in information. In clarifying lines of history and causation it is more useful to select subjects that offer an interesting, unusual or particularly revealing set of circumstances. A case selection that is based on representativeness will seldom be able to produce these kinds of insights. When selecting a subject for a case study, researchers will therefore use information-oriented sampling, as opposed to random sampling. Outlier cases (that is, those which are extreme, deviant or atypical) reveal more information than the potentially representative case. Alternatively, a case may be selected as a key case, chosen because of the inherent interest of the case or the circumstances surrounding it. Or it may be chosen because of researchers in-depth local knowledge; where researchers have this local knowledge they are in a position to â€Å"soak and poke† as Fenno[6] puts it, and thereby to offer reasoned lines of explanation based on this rich knowledge of setting and circumstances. Three types of cases may thus be distinguished: Key cases Outlier cases Local knowledge cases Whatever the frame of reference for the choice of the subject of the case study (key, outlier, local knowledge), there is a distinction to be made between the subjestorical unity [7] through which the theoretical focus of the study is being viewed. The object is that theoretical focus – the analytical frame. Thus, for example, if a researcher were interested in US resistance to communist expansion as a theoretical focus, then the Korean War might be taken to be the subject, the lens, the case study through which the theoretical focus, the object, could be viewed and explicated. [8] Beyond decisions about case selection and the subject and object of the study, decisions need to be made about purpose, approach and process in the case study. Thomas[3] thus proposes a typology for the case study wherein purposes are first identified (evaluative or exploratory), then approaches are delineated (theory-testing, theory-building or illustrative), then processes are decided upon, with a principal choice being between whether the study is to be single or multiple, and choices also about whether the study is to be retrospective, snapshot or diachronic, and whether it is nested, parallel or sequential. It is thus possible to take many routes through this typology, with, for example, an exploratory, theory-building, multiple, nested study, or an evaluative, theory-testing, single, retrospective study. The typology thus offers many permutations for case study structure. A closely related study in medicine is the case report, which identifies a specific case as treated and/or examined by the authors as presented in a novel form. These are, to a differentiable degree, similar to the case study in that many contain reviews of the relevant literature of the topic discussed in the thorough examination of an array of cases published to fit the criterion of the report being presented. These case reports can be thought of as brief case studies with a principal discussion of the new, presented case at hand that presents a novel interest.

The benefits of trade openness to developing countries

The benefits of trade openness to developing countries Trade openness is beneficial to a developing country not only to foster foreign investment and technology transfer, but also to reduce poverty and child labour and to encourage human capital accumulation Introduction Trade liberalisation and integration of domestic economy to the world economy (although widely debated) has long been touted as one of the most suitable ways of inclusive economic development of third world countries. The proponents of globalisation often cite the stupendous economic growth of Asian countries like Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea and Singapore and emerging economies like China and India as success stories of globalisation. Moreover, the initial notion of trade openness of developing countries, largely motivated by access to FDI and technology transfers from developed countries, has also been linked to rapid economic growth and in turn to reduction in poverty and child labour in those countries. The issues of poverty, child labour, education and employability, health and housing, and basic infrastructure development are central challenges to all developing countries; however, the issue of poverty and child labour is most appalling. Chen and Ravallion (2004) reported tha t as per estimates in 2001 about half of the developing world population (approx. 2.7 billion) survive on US$2 or less per day and a fifth of the total population (approx 1.2 billion) survive on a dollar or less per day. ILO (2002a) estimated that approximately 211 million children in the age group of 5-14, in 2000, were involved in some form of employment worldwide. There has been no disagreement that poverty alleviation is the ultimate aim of economic policies but the more suitable way to achieve this goal is ardently argued and there seems no agreement on that. One of the important questions that have been consistently raised in development economics is Does poor gain from high economic growth irrespective of its characteristics? There are two opinions on that. The opponents of globalisation argue that trade-led economic growth of developing countries have helped only middle and upper classes and have caused further income inequity. Moreover, trade openness has caused severe dama ges to the world environment. On the other hand, many scholars believe in the so-called Bhagawati Hypothesis according to which high rate of economic growth can help reduce poverty and what drives the economic growth of a given economy is of less significance (Tsai and Huang, 2007; Bhagwati, 2005; Bhagwati and Srinivasan, 2002; Dollar and Kraay, 2002, 2004). Tsai and Huang (2007) studied economic progress of Taiwan for the period 1964- 2003 suggested that distributional and growth effect of trade-led sustained economic growth had been the major driving factor for poverty alleviation in Taiwan over the period. Similarly a number of empirical studies done by Agenor (2004), Sharma (2003), and Winter et al (2004) have suggested a close linkage between the fast economic growth and poverty alleviation leading to an agreement among scholars that participation in international trade can be the useful way for tackling poverty in developing countries. However, Tsai and Huang (2007) argue that there is no straightforward linkage between the trade openness and poverty. In addition to the two strands on the benefits of trade openness to developing economies there is another perspective to the argument which is the benefits of trade openness to developed economies. Dowrick and Golley (2004) in their study of dynamic benefits of trade openness suggested that the benefits of trade liberalisation were substantially greater for developed economies as compared to benefits to the least developed countries. The brief examines the role of trade openness in the reduction of poverty and child labour incidences, and development of human capital in developing economies. Firstly, the phenomenon of trade openness has been discussed. In the subsequent sections the effects (both positive and negative) of trade openness on poverty, child labour and human capital accumulations has been assessed in the light of empirical studies. In the end concluding remarks on trade openness as means of poverty and child labour reduction and human capital accumulation is presented. Trade Openness Trade openness may be defined as the extent of which a country partakes in the global trade and allow foreign firms to do business in its domestic market. It is of two types revealed openness and policy openness. Revealed openness is measured in terms of ratio of total foreign trade to GDP. It is clearly defined and well measured; however, use of prices (domestic or international) to value the trade ratio has been a cause of disagreement among economists. Studies that focus on revealed openness always attempt to understand the linkage between trade openness and economic performance. In other words, deals with finding about the fact that whether economies (and particularly developing) who partake more in global trade have high rate of economic growth that those who abstain from it. This approach has several disadvantages such as it does not explain why some countries might trade more as the high trade openness of a country may be the result of small domestic market, easy access to fo reign market and policy openness. Policy openness, as the name suggest, is measured in various ways such as 1) in terms of incidence measures of trade barriers; 2) trade flow measures adjusted for structural characteristics such as size and factor endowments; and 3) price distortions. However, policy openness is difficult to measure and all these measures discussed above have their limitations and reliability issues. The policy openness measure by Sachs and Warner (1995) is considered as the most influential and useful in estimating its effects on economic performance. They classified a country as having policy openness if it does not exhibited characteristics such as 1) typical tariff rates of 40 percent or above on imported goods; 2) non-tariff barriers amounting to 40 percent or more on imported goods; 3) a black market exchange rate premium of 20% or more; 4) an economic system based on socialist vision; and 5) state monopoly on major exports. However, the model has been critici sed by Rodriguez and Rodrik (2001) (cited in Dowrick and Golley; 2004) for many reasons. They argued that the crucial components of the model export monopoly and black market premium are hard to analyse for some Latin American and African economies due to their macroeconomic and political difficulties. Frankel and Romer (1999) (cited in Dowrick and Golley; 2004) produced a measure of constructed openness to trade by obtaining predicted value from regression of bilateral trade relations on geographic variables and created national constructed trade shares by aggregating it. The method has been used by various studies in determining the effects of trade openness on economic development (Dowrick and Golley, 2004). As far as the empirical studies on impact of trade liberalisation on economic development are concerned, it has been found that trade openness positively correlates with economic development. However, the measurement issues in those studies are highly debated. The studies by Sachs and Warner (1995), Frankel and Romer (1999) and Dollar and Kraay (2003) have been most influential. Sachs and Warner found that open economies experienced high GDP per capita (over the study period) and it promoted convergence in incomes in poor countries. Frankel and Romer analysed differences in levels of development of 150 countries and found that 10% points increase in trade integration resulted in 20% points increase in income per person (Dollar and Kraay, 2001). Dollar and Kraay, by using Frabkel-Romer measure, analysed decadal growth of per capita GDP of countries open to trade and reported that doubling of trade integration raised annual growth by 2.5% points (Dowrick and Golley, 2004). Impact of trade openness on poverty reduction Trade liberalisation can affect poverty in two ways through economic growth gains and income distribution effect. Tsai and Huang (2007, p. 1861) argued that countries open to international trade grow relatively faster than the closed economies because an open trade regime facilitates efficient transmission of price signals from the international market to the national economy, enhances diffusion of production and management knowledge, and improves domestic efficiency as a result of intensive international competition. The accurate price indicator from international market results in efficient distribution of resources in national economy based on its comparative advantage that leads to faster growth. The gains accrued through high economic growth rate further absorb in the economy and indirectly contribute to poverty reduction. In addition, higher economic growth also results in improved government earnings through direct and indirect taxes providing government sufficient fund for i nvestments in education, infrastructure, employment creation and other social needs of the poor section of society (Dollar and Kraay, 2004; Todaro and Smith, 2009). However, Tsai and Huang (2007) argued that in trade-led growing economies, the degree of poverty reduction largely depend on the efficient distribution of dynamic gains of economic growth or on the comparative advantage of the country. They suggested as most of the poor live in developing world and most of these developing economies have comparative advantages in labour intensive sectors, trade openness result in expansion of labour-intensive exports and thereby higher rate of real wage for labour. The effects of trade policies and liberalisation on economic performance have been studied by economists since 1970s. The main motivation behind the growing body of theoretical and empirical study on the subject has been the unusual growth patterns of some of the Asian, Latin American and African countries during the second half of 20th century. The observed differences in growth rate is assumed to be due to adoption of different strategies by these developing countries such as import substitution industrialisation (ISI) (by majority of Latin American and Sub-Saharan African economies) and export-promotion policies by East Asian economies. The empirical evidence shows that East Asian economies outperformed the growth rate of other developing economies who adopted ISI strategies (Yanikkaya, 2003). Dollar and Kraay (2001) identified two groups of developing countries termed as globalisers (who participated in international trade) and non globalisers (who did not participated in interna tional trade) and studied their economic growth post-1980s. They reported the fall in income inequality in half of the globaliser countries such as India, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand among others while income distribution of Costa Rica and Ecuador remained stable over a period of 20 years since 1980s. They further concluded that as changes in income inequality in most of the globaliser countries remained low the income of poor grew at an average of 3% (equal to per capita GDP growth rate) per year in China, India, Malaysia, Thailand and other developing countries. In addition, all globalisers grew faster economically and socially during the period 1980 2000. This suggests that trade liberalisation leads to decline in income inequality between the countries and reduction in poverty. The developing countries that participated in international trade grew fast during 1980s and 1990s and even faster than the rich countries during 1990s. The rapid growth led to the decline in poverty levels in most of these countries. On the other hand, countries that did not participated in international trade could not catch up with the world growth and fell further behind (Dollar and Kraay, 2001). Impact of trade openness on child labour The impact of globalisation on the incidence of child labour has recently gained much attention from researchers and scholars, primarily due to ethical concerns on exploitation of child and interest of organised labour in protecting jobs. Globalisation is defined as the active participation of countries in global trade and increased geographical spread of foreign direct investments (FDI). It is argued to have both positive and negative influences on child labour particularly in poor economies. However, the more globalised developing country have lower incidence of child labour. It is widely agreed that poverty is the main reason (if not the only) of child labour as poor parents living in extreme poverty often employ their children in full-time work for a living. Initially, in developing economies, a child engages in employment to fulfil the basic needs of the family but soon this temporary arrangement becomes permanent as children either cannot afford education due to financial const raints or lose their interest in education (Basu, 1997 and 1999; Neumayer and Soysa, 2005). The impact of trade openness and penetration of FDI on the child labour incidence in developing country has been explained from both the perspectives. The most compelling argument that shows that globalisation promote child labour is that trade openness increases the demand for unskilled labour in developing economies thereby raising the relative rate of returns to unskilled labour. As a result, incentives to invest in education and skills diminish causing increase in rate of returns to child labour which in turn forces parents to engage their children in child employment (Grootaert and Kanbur, 1995). It is also argued that free trade forces countries to gain competitive advantages through becoming cost-effective and a higher level of child labour can cut the cost significantly. Hence, trade openness could result in increase in child labour in developing countries with lax child labour laws. The recent cases of Nike, Reebok and Adidas are proofs that MNCs occasionally subcontract to enterprises that employ child labour (Palley, 2002; Neumayer and Soysa, 2005). Conversely, the proponents of globalisation argue that trade liberalisation will not only have the substitution effect but also income effect as well. The relative increase in the rate of return on unskilled labour will increase the income level of impoverished parents. Consequently, less number of parents would see need to send their children to work (Basu, 1997). It is also argued that in the long run, trade liberalisation may cause sectoral shift from low-skilled labour -abundant production to high-skilled capital intensive manufacturing due to development of technological capability making employment of children less attractive. The countries more open to trade often invest in education (primary and secondary) and skill development to increase their global competitiveness that indirectly minimises the incidence of child labour. Jafarey and Lahiri (2002) suggest that more open countries will have lower interest rate and provide better access to credit which will lower opportunity cost for education and subsequently incidence of child labour. There have been various empirical studies to analyse the correlation of trade openness with child labour. Neumayer and Soysa (2005) showed that economies that are more engaged in international trade and FDI have a lower incidence of child labour. Edmonds and Pavcnik (2002) in their study reported that a liberalised trade policy in Vietnam increased rice prices and causes reduction in child labour. They found that 30% price increase in rice resulted in 9% decrease in child labour incidence and in total the price increase caused reduction of 47% in child labour during the period 1993-1998 (Todaro and Smith, 2009). Impact of trade openness on human capital accumulation It is argued that a developing economy with a low income and low human capital accumulation can advance in a high income (and high human capital) economy by engaging in trade with a developed economy rich in human capital (Ranjan, 2003). In order to support the argument, examples of human capital accumulation, post trade liberalisation, of countries such as Japan, Italy, Singapore, Hong Kong, China, India, South Korea and Taiwan are often cited. Ranjan (2003) suggested that trade openness results in the rise of unskilled wage that further cast aside the existing constraints on investments in human capital which initiate the human capital accumulation process in developing countries. This eventually allows the developing economy to converge in to high-income and high-skilled economic state. The recent growth of East Asian economies further supports the argument which is considered as a result of rapid accumulation of physical and human capital due to increasing focus on international trade (Young, 1995). Bergin and Kearney (2007) suggested that turnaround in economic performance of Ireland during mid-1980s and even faster growth during 1990s resulted in the large scale investment in education and human capital development. The human capital accumulation in Ireland was partly due to high-demand of skilled labour as it attracted skill-intensive and high productive FDI industries through free trade policies. Ireland maintained its competiveness in international market through the combination of rising levels of education and open labour market that meant increased employment and stable unit labour cost (Tsai and Huang, 2007). The growth literature also suggests that to support high economic growth in a developing country the rise in education level and human capital accumulation is very critical (Bergin and Kearney, 2007). However, Ranjan (2003) stated that in spite the availability of substantial literature and empirical evidence showing positive relation of trade openness and human capital accumulation, earlier empirical studies (Stiglitz, 1970; Findlay and Kierzkowski, 1983) (cited in Ranjan, 2003) suggested that trade openness rather leads to widening of differences in factor endowments of more open economies instead of highly argued convergence. These studies are criticised for not taking in to account the possible influence of credit constraints on physical and human capital accumulation (Ranjan, 2003). Cartiglia (1997) suggested that as economies engage in international trade the prices of high-tech goods falls in domestic economy and demand for low-skilled labour picks up due to expansion of low-tech industries. This increased demand of low-skilled labour decreases the real wages of skilled labour in developing economies. He further argued as education sector employs skilled worker this result in the fall in cost of education making it more affordable to people. Consequently, in the long term the overall supply of skilled workers increases. On the other hand, availability of cheap high-tech goods due to trade allows developing economies to devote more of their skilled labour in the training and development of next generation skilled workers. Conclusion The assessment of various empirical studies done on the linkages of trade openness to economic development revealed that trade openness is positively correlated to the reduction of poverty and child labour, and human capital accumulation in developing countries. The economic success of East Asian studies and other developing economies such as India and China during the last two decades are testimony to that fact that integration to the world economy accelerates economic growth. It is found that higher economic growth causes reduction in poverty and child labour through income and distribution effects. Trade openness not only generates employment for unskilled labour but causes a rise in unskilled wage and improves income level of the poor. It provides higher tax revenue to government a part of which is invested in education, employment creation, infrastructure and other social projects that directly or indirectly supports poverty reduction. The reduced poverty further helps in reduct ion of child labour incidences as a result of distributional effect of economic growth. Moreover, the increased government investments in education make schooling more affordable to children and results in reduction in child labour incidences. As far as the effect of trade openness on human capital accumulation is concerned, as argued by Ranjan (2003), trade openness results in the rise of unskilled wage that further relaxes constraints on human capital investment and initiates the process of human capital development. This eventually allows the developing economy to emerge in to a wealthy and high- skilled economic state. Overall, despite the criticism of trade openness to be largely beneficial to developed economies, growing body of empirical evidence suggest that it does help the reduction of poverty and child labour and human capital accumulation in developing countries.

Leadership Styles of Middle School Principals

Leadership Styles of Middle School Principals PART 1 Introduction of the Problem The main aim of Professional Development is influencing the students’ results. From the thesaurus of the Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC) database, professional development involves the activities tha enhance the growth of a career professionally.This is effected by impacting the teachers level of practice and their level of knowledge (Robinson and Carrington, 2002). With its implications on learning skills, professional development is beyond teacher training since it encompases formal and informal means of assisting teachers in their development of new insights into their own as well as in the exploration of new and advanced resources that aid them in improving students performance. From the above statement it is clear that professional development requires the principals to support the teachers as they deal with the challenges that come along with new needs of their work. This support help the teachers to continually grow in their understanding of their nature of work as well as professional skills. According to Fullan (1991), it has been observed that in the last decade, the role of a principal has been increasingly involving, become more complicated and the roles are not clearly defined. He also noted that the principles roles have been through a kind of metamorphosis. Initially, the roles of the principle were limited and involved instruction leadership or a master teacher. With time these roles changed to transactional leadership and, most recently, to transformational leadership. This brings out the importance of examining the way principles deal with professional development of teachers, being one of the most pressing issues. The extent to which the quality of professional development of middle school teacher is influenced by their administrators’ leadership styles is not known.   According to Jackson and Davis (2000), one of the most important components in accomplishing great achievements in schools and ensuring high quality teachers is instructional leadership. For a high achieving school, an administrator should be able to supply instructional leadership. To make this possible, the administrator should have specific leadership characteristics which ensure effectiveness in professional development of teachers and also heip in sustaining an educational environment that fosters high achievement   vision in students (Jackson Davis, 2000). In the past few years, middle schools have become more and more all-encompassing (Hoy et al, 1996). In the American education systems, the notes being appear to be a replacement of the traditional junior high schools.   According to the Maryland State Department of Education (2008), the academic, social and emotional progress of a student is greatly influenced and evident in middle school. This requires educators to be highly equipped when it comes to addressing the changes undergone by students in middle school and this makes the professional development of the teachers a very critical and sensitive process.   According to (Robinson and Carrington, 2002).   Ã‚  In cases where progressive and extensive involvement of the schools administration and teachers is emphasized, their results of professional development are likely to be effective. During this stage, an adolescent’s process of education is characterized by a change in the line of thought, and also developments wh ich are both psychological and physical, and these changes may influence the student in terms of their achievement.   For example in middle school, students have more academic responsibilities than in the elementary school. There is involvement in extracurricular activities and restructuring after school may be required. There is also a change in the educational environment which is brought about by the fact that the environment is more structured and not as nurturing as the elementary school environment. This means that the students have to adopt to the riles and regulations set and that they are held responsible for their actions. Therefore, it is very important to equip the middle school teachers with   quality leadership skills as well as quality professional development so that they meet the advers social,educational and emotional needs of all their students. (Maryland State Department of Education, 2008). Most studies done on the impact of the principal-teacher relationship show that there is a possible correlation between supportive leadership style and the involvement and dedication of teachers.(Theo Wubbel, Jack Levy, 1993).   Leithwood and Montgomery say that the approval and a support of a teacher from the administrator were positively related to the satisfaction of the teacher. In a later study, (leithwood 1990) repoted tjhat a principals support and the teachers professional development were highly correlated. It is therefore very important for the principals to be involved in the activities of the teachers so that they can be able to provide the support the teachers when they need. This will aid in motivatimg teachers which will improve their commitment amd this will lead to improvement of the performance of the teachers and consequently, the students. Johnson (1986) noted that discovering the most important thing to teachers as well as motivating them to improve their work was a very complicated task and has not yet been figured out. He also wrote that the specific contribution of instructional leadership styles to professional development was not fully explored. Stepans, 2001 stated that the role of the principal was to support the professional development activities appeared to be crucial ti the   crucial professional growth of teachers since it assisted in its success. When there is a full discussion on issues and problems in a school between the teachers and the principal, the process contribute a lot in the carrer development   and professional expertise.(Hopkins 1990) This study will discuss the specific characteristics   instructional leadership styles necessary in the enhancement of quality professional development in middle schools. It will also look at the ways that the principals can try and motivate teacher by researching on what teachers find important and using it to motivate them. The research is also geared towards the evaluation of the relationship between the   characteristics leadership styles and the overall teacher performance   and higher student achievement improvement in middle schools. Further research may be done in order to evaluate whether or not the characteristics of leadership have a direct correlation to overall improvement in teacher performance and higher student achievement in middle schools. Background of the study Wiles (1983), notes that the quality of leadership that a principal exhibits determines the   success of a school system. Previous research has been carried out to determine if there was a relationship between principals leadership styles and the teachers motivation. Brown-Howard’s research carried out in 2007, identified the teachers   motivation levels were determined by teachers by age, gender and experience. He also indicated that principals leadership styles has little to no impact on motivation based on the age, gender or experience of the teachers (Brown-Howard, 2007). According to Raines (2004) the overwhelming responsibilities and demands of the   principals   professional positions   are constant challenge. In this age of increased accountability, he adds, principals are expected to manifest exemplary performance in an ever-increasingly number of fronts. One such front is the area of professional development of teachers under their command. Jurasaite-Harbison (2009) in a study of the way teachers learn it was found that teachers are put under immense pressure by the current edicational policies.thse pressurs involved the teachers having to concurrently modify their practices.   For such changes to be effective, it is very important for the professional development to enlarge areas of scope so that it can capture a wider range of areas that are within their unique epistemology that is teaching resources and instructional practices(Elmore, 2000).   On the other hand, Jurasaite-Harbison (2009) stresses that for the reforms to to be a success, various learning opportunities continuous professional growth is necessary for the teachers. According to Jurasaite-Harbison (2009)   Within schools context, this professional growth takes place under the schools administrators guidance and is part of daily workplace learning. Other researches including (Maehr and Midgeley, 1991; 1996; Maehr and Anderman, 1993; Maehr and Fyans, 1989) have come up with a considerable empirical evidence that suggest that the culture of a school can motivate both the teachers and students to learn by instilling a positive feeling in the teachers about their work.   High achieving and motivated students as well as improved teachers attitude towards their jobs and collaboration amongst themselves are factors that are highly associated to a positive school culture(Stolp and Smith, 1995). Research done by (Sashkin and Sashkin, 1990; Sashkin and Walberg, 1993; Ogawa and Bossert, 1995; Leithwood, 1994) proposed that for a school culture to operate effectively and for its creation and maintenance, the principals leadership practices used are very important. Further, evidence obtained from several studies (Leithwood and Jantzi, 1990; Sashkin and Sashkin, 1990) provides a strong base in supporting the suggestion that transformationa l leadership leads to relatively more desirable school cultures. There are other concerns ot teaching teaching principals that have been focused on in research. These concerns are; inadequate professional preparation and support, inadequate time for instructional leadership, isolation, and few opportunities for career advancement (Murdoch and Schiller, 2002). It was further discovered that principals are often overwhelmed and frustrated by the usual heavy workload and felt guilty about it to an extent that these frustrations adversely affect their family relationships and also their physical health. According to(Lashway, 2003; Lester, 2003; Wildy and Clarke, 2005) it was realized that most teaching principals lack the necessary skill to deal with the challenges, tensions and dilemmas that result from and those related to instructional leadership and management, the high system and local community expectations as well as personal and community values. However, Southworth (2002) discovered that success in principal ship came along with some signific ant development and growth in confidence and an individual’ sense of self.   These findings clearly show that a principles ability to cope and survive the challenges and trials of organization leadership helped in building their self esteem. Findings suggest a positive correlation between principals’ transformational leadership and the presence of school social organization associated with effective schools (Evans, T.J 1996).   Research studies strongly support the fact that the leadership of the school principal impacts directly on the climate of the school and, in turn, on student achievement (Norton 2003). From these findings, it is evident that   the leadership stlyles of a principal are very important in defining the success of a school and also that these styles describe the kind of climate that will be prevalent in the school. Mickey (2000) in a case study of a middle school on institutional leadership found that the principal as an instructional leader used an approach to leadership that was systematic. According to more finding, the principals realize their roles’ importance and use the position and positional power to in influencing change. The study also discovered that organizations that are successfully restructured insisted on and practiced shared leadership.   As Mickey (2000) writes, shared leadership involves a lot of teamwork and collaboration between the principle and the staff and also among the the staff themselves. In this case, the principal has to realize the need for a safe and disciplined environment. From the case study it was revealed that in shared leadership, the teachers professional development was highly facilitated. From the principals point of view ,such professional development is perceived to be an important means to an end. The end results that were intended, impleme ntation of change and teachers were found to be a useful vehicle of such change, as â€Å"empowered leaders†. The study revealed that principals provided the teachers with extensive professional development to enable the them to be empowered leaders. In 1995, a study by Kristine Hipp and Paul Bredson was published and it was about the relation ship betweenthe self efficacy of teachers and leadership styles of principals. The basic assumption of this study and two more that were done later (Hipp 1996,1997) was that the leadership style of a principle and the self efficacy of teachers were linked directly. From this study, there was empirical evidence that connected the aspects of transformational   leadership and principle teacher efficacy. This led to the conclusion that transformational leadership led to self efficacy of teachers. The importance instructional leadership responsibilities of the principal   has been emphasized in research done(Brookover Lezotte, 1982; Duke, 1983; Edmonds, 1979 and Kroeze, 1984). On the other hand, according to (Flath, 1989), literature has seemingly come to a consensus that instructional leadership is rare practice.   Stronge (1988) found out that most time of the principal is concentrated on school management and only a few of their hours are allocated to program issues. In reference to his computation,62.2% was the time used in school management , and only 6.2% of the time was allocated to program issues. He adds that in a principals typical day, out of the many tasks carried out,only11% of those tasks is instructional leadership related. Berlin, Kavanagh, and Jensen (1988) say that for schools to progress ,principals should be able to plan their tasks in a way that their daily activities come in between their leadership role in the curriculum.   McNally (1992) argues t hat there are certain middle-school principals who are effective but   Fullan (1991) says that effective institutional leaders are a rare group to find. The above cases try to identify the various attempts that have been made to explain and clarify the various relationships that exist between the principal and the teachers. Mickey (2000) case study that aimed at provide empirical evidence about a specific approach to leadership and the resulting effect on the teachers, this paper has not identified any study that focused on the leadership styles and their impact on quality professional development of teachers. The study therefore, by presenting empirical evidence, seeks to find the impact of administrators leadership styles on the professional development of teachers, focusing on middle schools. In a study by leithwood 1990, it was conluded that a principals support and the teachers professional development were highly correlated. Statement of the Problem According to the Maryland State Department of Education (2008), middle school marks a significant change in the way in which a student progresses in learning.   In order to equip the teachers to properly address the school students changes, their preparation needs to be extensively and professionally addressed.   This is a stage where adolescents change how they think   and view thinking, and there are also developments that are both psychological and physical and these changes influence the students achievements. Therefore, it is very important that the middle school teachers undergo extensive and quality professional development in order to meet the educational needs of the middle school population (Maryland State Department of Education, 2008). It is not known however, to what extent the leadership styles of middle school administrators have an impact on quality professional development of teachers in middle schools.   According to Jackson and Davis (2000), the instructional leadership in middle schools is one of the most essential components to accomplish a high achieving school and quality teachers.   This leadership in high achieving schools is supplied by an administrator who has specific characteristics which assist in effective professional development of teachers as well as the sustainment of an educational environment fostering a vision of highest student achievement (Jackson Davis, 2000). This paper therefore seeks to explore the link between middle-school administration and professional development and high student’s achievement by addressing the following questions: To what extent do leadership styles of middle school administrators affect quality professional development of teachers in middle schools? Which specific leadership style or styles contribute to effective professional development for middle school teachers? What are the experiences of middle school administrators during the process of teacher professional development? Wiles and Bondi (1994) observed that most research carried out has been directed towards gaining knowledge about and understanding leadership styles. Yet, despite the considerable thought, extensive writings and a large body of empirical research, leadership remains a rather mysterious concept. This study is aimed at contributing greatly to understanding the specific characteristics of instructional leadership styles that have influence on the quality of professional development in middle schools.   Further research may be carried out to evaluate whether thecertain characteristics of leadership have a direct or indirect correlation to overall improvement in teacher performance and higher student achievement in middle schools. Purpose of the study In 1995, a study by Kristine Hipp and Paul Bredson was published and it was about the relation ship betweenthe self efficacy of teachers and leadership styles of principals. The basic assumption of this study and two more that were done later (Hipp 1996,1997) was that the leadership style of a principle and the self efficacy of teachers were linked directly. From this study, there was empirical evidence that connected the aspects of transformational   leadership and principle teacher efficacy. This led to the conclusion that transformational leadership led to self efficacy of teachers. Continued professional development of middle school educators and their quality preparation is imperative for middle school educators.   Fo adolescents, this timeframe within the educational process is marked by changes in how student’s think about thinking, as well as other physical and psychological development that may affect students’ achievement.   Therefore, it is crucial that middle school teachers receive quality professional development in order to meet the educational needs of the middle school population so that these students are prepared to progress from middle school to high school (Maryland State Department of Education, 2008). Findings suggest a positive correlation between principals’ transformational leadership and the presence of school social organization associated with effective schools (Evans, T.J 1996).   Research studies strongly support the fact that the leadership of the school principal impacts directly on the climate of the school and, in turn, on student achievement (Norton 2003). This study will contribute to understanding the specific characteristics of instructional leadership styles that are most likely to enhance the quality of professional development in middle schools.   This research will identify high achieving schools characteristics as well as the instructional leadership styles that contribute to their success as evident from the students achievement.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In a study by leithwood 1990, it was conluded that a principals support and the teachers professional development were highly correlated.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Rationale This study will use qualitative research methods in the identification of   instructional leadership of middle school administrators in the Guam school district.   Guam,is an island in the western Pacific Ocean and is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States. It is the largest, in terms of size, of the Mariana Islands. It also has an organized established civilian government (DOI Office of Insular Affairs, 2007). In the United states, education is to a large extent provided by the public sector. The federal government, state and local government. are responsible for the funding and the control of schools. It is compulsory for all children to attend primary(elementary school) and secondary (high school.)levels. At these school levels there are locally elected school boards that se the school curricula, funding and teaching and these boards also have juriction over school districts. The School districts have distinct jurisdictions from other local bodies, and have independent budgets as well as officials. The governments are left with the role of making educational standards and standardized testing decisions.. Different states have different ages for mandatory school attendance, and mostly the beginning ages are five to eight and ending ages are between fourteen to eighteen. Increasingly, states are now requiring school attendance until the age of 18 years (U.S. Network for Education Information: U.S. Department of Education). Attending a public school, a state-accredited private school, or a certified home school program meets the requirement for compulsory education.. In most public and private schools, there are rhee levels of education;; elementary school, junior high school and high school. The junior high school level is the one that is usually referred to as middle school. Children are divided by age groups into grades, starting from the kindergarten for the youngest children in elementary school. The kindergarten is followed by first grade. The last grade is the twelfth grade which should correspond with the final year of school. However, the exact age range of students in these grade levels varies slightly from state to state (U.S. Network for Education Information: U.S. Department of Education). The entire island of Guam is served by the Guam Public School system. High rate of school dropouts and poor performance in test is a problem common in Guam Public Schools. Guam has a very diverse student body which includes many students from backgrounds that do not use the traditional United States education. In addition Guams educational system has always faced other unique challenges as a small community located 6,000  miles (9,700  km) from America mainland. The island went through an economic downturn in the mid-1990’s and this led to the education problem (Pacific Stars and Stripes, 1993; DOI Office of Insular Affairs, 2007) The U.S. Department of Defense initially partnered with the Guam Board of Education but in September 1997 the Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) opened its own schools which were initially for   the children of military personnel but later started serving the children of some federal civilian employees. DoDEA schools had an attendance of 2,500 in 2000. In Guam, there are three elementary/middle schools and one high school   that are operated by DoDEA.(http://www.gdoe.net) This study will discuss two out of the three middle schools on study in the Department of Defense Education Activity in Guam and which both are in close proximity.   The participants are two male administrators with 35-40 teachers.   One middle school is on a Navy base, while the other is on an Air Force base.   Both schools follow the same district professional development, face to face interviews and observation will form the basis Research Questions 1 According to Bennis Nanus (2003) an organization a vision and the mechanism for translating the vision into a reality is given by leadership.. This study will examine the impact tht a principal’s style of leadership has on professional development of teachers which is   aimed at ensuring high achievement of students. The following research, grounded on the leadership literature, the educational institutions’ organization culture–highly focusing on middle school and professional development. Specifically, the study will require answer to the following questions; To what extent do leadership styles of middle school administrators affect quality professional development of teachers in middle schools? Which specific leadership style or styles contribute to quality professional development for middle school teachers? What are the experiences of middle school administrators during the process of implementing quality professional development? Is there a relationship between the principals leadership stlles and teachers motivation? If there is a relationship between the leadership style and teachers motivation, what is the extent of the relationship? What is the impact of teachers motivation on their performance at work and also in their professional development process. What is the impact of techers professional development on their performance and the performance of the students. What is the impact of an schools culture on professional development of teachers and their relationships in the school. Significance of the Study According to the Maryland State Department of Education (2008), middle school marks a significant change in the manner in which a student progresses in learning.   Quality preparation and continued professional development of middle school educators is imperative in order for middle school educators.   For adolescents, this timeframe within the educational process is marked by changes in how student’s think about thinking, as well as other physical and psychological development that may affect students’ achievement.   Therefore, it is crucial that middle school teachers receive quality professional development in order to meet the educational needs of the middle school population so that these students are prepared to progress from middle school to high school (Maryland State Department of Education, 2008) Other researches including (Maehr and Midgeley, 1991; 1996; Maehr and Anderman, 1993; Maehr and Fyans, 1989) have come up with a considerable empirical evidence that suggest that the culture of a school can motivate both the teachers and students to learn by instilling a positive feeling in the teachers about their work.   High achieving and motivated students as well as improved teachers attitude towards their jobs and collaboration amongst themselves are factors that are highly associated to a positive school culture(Stolp and Smith, 1995). From this research principals will know the importance of mitivating teahers as well as the ways that best motivate the teahers and student so as to improve the performance of a shool. Research done by (Sashkin and Sashkin, 1990; Sashkin and Walberg, 1993; Ogawa and Bossert, 1995; Leithwood, 1994) proposed that for a school culture to operate effectively and for its creation and maintenance, the principals leadership practices used are very important. The principals leadershot stles that are necessary in the creation and operation an effective school culture will be discusssed in this study. Further, evidence obtained from several studies (Leithwood and Jantzi, 1990; Sashkin and Sashkin, 1990) provides a strong base in supporting the suggestion that transformational leadership leads to relatively more desirable school cultures. Southworth (2002) discovered that success in principal ship came along with some significant development and growth in confidence and an individual’ sense of self.   The study will also focus on a principals individual characteristcs that help them in their leadership of the school as well as in their role of proffesionaly devoloping the teachers. These findings clearly show that a principles ability to cope and survive the challenges and trials of The importance instructional of leadership responsibilities of the principal   has been emphasized in research done(Brookover Lezotte, 1982; Duke, 1983; Edmonds, 1979 and Kroeze, 1984). On the other hand, according to (Flath, 1989), literature has seemingly come to a consensus that instructional leadership is rare practice. Findings suggest a positive correlation between principals’ transformational leadership and the presence of school social organization associated with effective schools (Evans, T.J 1996).   Research studies strongly support the fact that the leadership of the school principal impacts directly on the climate of the school and, in turn, on student achievement (Norton 2003). Previous research has been conducted to determine if there was a relationship between leadership styles of principals and the motivation of teachers. In 2007, Janet Brown-Howard’s research identified the motivation levels of teachers by age, gender and experience and indicated that leadership styles of principals has little to no impact on motivation based on the age, gender or experience of the teachers {{221 Brown-Howard,Janet 2007}} the relationship between the principles leadership styles and teachers motivation will be expounded and the extent to which it influences the techers professional development and the overall performance of the teachers.   Definition of terms3pages   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Through out the research, the following key words will be used and their meanings are expressed below. These words include: Instructional leadership styles of principals; These are the directional forms of authority that the heads of middle schools use. transformational leadership styles. Middle school student; any scholar in the middle school is refer to as a middle school student Middle school teacher; these are the untrained or trained instructors of academics in middle school. Their involvement with the middle school students is usually direct. Middle school administrator; this is an office bearer in middle school and is charged with the responsibilities of administration of the middle schools Professional development; this refers to the growth in knowledge of an individual in a certain field or profession Quality professional development; excellent development of   an individual in middle school in terms of   a particular professional skill The process of implementing quality professional development: these are the method(s) used in seeing through development of quality professional development motivation teachers satisfaction correlation school culture school climate leadership literature educational institutions adolescents physical development psychological development empirical evidence   Assumptions Some assumptions have to be laid in place to assist in tackling the above questions.. These assumptions are just as a result of the common issues that are found within several middle schools namely; most middle schools are faced by similar shortcomings, most principals of middle school use similar educ[‘ational policies to oprete, students, teachers and parent in most middle school experience similar limitati