Cause and effect essay, topic can be general Essay - 1

Cause and effect , topic can be general - Essay Example There is a lengthy history uniform use in schools, mostly from the private sector until expanding more so into the public arena relatively recently. All of these factors clearly demonstrate the benefits of uniforms. The majority of the public school uniform policies include relatively common restrictions, such as khaki or navy pants and solid colored shirts with collars with the school insignia patch only, no brand name or symbol allowed. Despite the benefits of uniforms and somewhat relaxed standard of dress there remains great opposition to uniform policies by parents who misguidedly insist that uniform policies somehow limit a child’s ability to express themselves. The proposition of requiring K-12 students to wear uniforms is not a new idea. It has been utilized for more than a century to help promote a sense of scholastic endeavors along with respect for oneself and others within the school setting. By including students in a particular social group as a member of a singular identifiable student body, uniforms help to build a sense of cooperation and community among children who may not otherwise get along. Students who outgrow their uniforms can donate them to students who can’t afford them. Uniforms reduce clothing costs for all parents and are especially helpful to families on a strict budget. Studies into self-expression and fashion have shown that a direct link exists between the kind of clothing we wear and the way we feel about ourselves. Therefore, regardless of the kind of cloths we wear, we are making a announcement about how we wished to be perceived and what we want to be associated with. Parents often disagree with the idea of student uniforms because they think this requirement prevents students from expressing themselves. It must be acknowledged that there many types of occupations that also require a uniform.

Child Labor is a form of abuse Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Child Labor is a form of abuse - Essay Example o hazardous circumstances, prevents them from furthering their intellectual growth, and burdens them with responsibilities which are supposed to be undertaken by their parents. Child labor is a form of abuse as it exposes an individual into hazardous circumstances where his or her health and even entire life is at stake. Whenever we hear of child labor, what comes to mind is a picture is a thin and dirty child working long-hours in the factory. However, it has been found out that the agriculture sector employs the highest percentage of children who actively participates in activities like weeding, plowing, and taking care of farm animals. Both work places, whether in the manufacturing or agricultural industry, threaten the physical condition of the employed child. In a research conducted by Ashagrie in 1997, 9% of children in the manufacturing sector reports injury due to their lack of capacity in operating equipments. In the same study, the agricultural sector records a higher 12%. Edmonds and Pavcnik (2005: 208) identifies the hazards in agricultural work: â€Å"Agriculture can be hazardous to for children because of exposure to dangerous chemicals such as herbicides and insecticides, exposure to heat or weather, repetitive work injuries and threats posed by animals, reptiles, insects, parasites and some plants.† Child labor hampers children from furthering their intellectual growth by robbing them of time spend inside the classrooms to be educated. Childhood is a very significant period in the intellectual development in an individual. However, being tied in different chores hinders children from getting proper schooling. Even if it is argued that child labor equips children with some skills, empirical evidences emphasize that it significantly robs children the opportunity to be educated. Children who spend more time in work activities have less time to spare to attend their classes. Furthermore, â€Å"time spent working takes away from study, play, and sleep and

Care of a Confused Parent

Care of a Confused Parent I N T R O D U C T I O N The first FETAC Level 5 Assignment in Care Skills module requires that learners produce an assignment on the care of a confused person. This confusion can be the result of any number of causes – from an illness such as dementia or Alzheimer’s disease or the long term use or an abuse of drugs and /or alcohol. The assignment must be completed answering very specific points (as outlined in the table of contents). This assignment was compiled using various methodologies including: Classroom lectures and feedback sessions Class notes and Manual, hard copy manuals and books One to one sessions with Work Experience Skills Coach Previous life experience of caring for an ill family member Online research and library research For the purpose of this assignment the author has decided to highlight one particular client who is in the Nursing Home in which the author is completing her work experience module. The clients name has been changed in order to respect her rights to privacy and dignity. The client in this example has been diagnosed with Stage 4 Lung Cancer (T4, N3) which denotes that she suffers from a malignant tumour which has invaded the oesophagus, epicardium, pleural cavity, T5 and T6 vertebrae with Metastasis to the supraclavicular lymph node. She also suffers from osteoarthritis of L2-L5 and S1-S5, Type 2 Diabetes and Psoriasis. She is currently on a variety of medications which are listed in her Care Plan, along with creams and ointments for the Psoriasis. Presently she suffers from severe bouts of confusion as a result of her pain medications and needs constant monitoring and care. In conjunction with her family, and a multi-disciplinary team Catherine has decided to move to a Nursing Home where she will receive the type of holistic care she requires. Catherine has also documented her specific wishes regarding her death and funeral arrangements and all of which has to be respected by all involved, the details are listed in her Care Plan along with the emergency contact details if her condition should suddenly decline. INDIVIDUAL NEEDS ASSESSMENT Initial assessment of Catherine’s needs using the Logan Roper Tierney model of assessment an individualised, client-centred holistic approach to Catherine’s care has been devised. Physical Catherine loves the outdoors and she should be encouraged to continue this through gardening – taking her out for walks, especially during spells of confusion. Ensure she has her walking stick and bring the wheelchair as she gets breathless very easily. Shower rails and chair must be available in her room and always ensure that the non-slip mat is on the ground. When she is confused she forgets how to wash herself properly and will need assistance. Intellectual Catherine loves to read and complete quizzes and cross words – these are very good for stimulation and they should be made available to her in her room and in the day room. The news and primetime are two of her favourite programs – ensure that they are on the TV in her room and the day room. Diversional therapy of card games and jigsaws are great for completing when she is confused. Emotional As a result of the illness and her pending death Catherine can become depressed – she must be encouraged, made feel wanted loved, needed and always try to support her decision to move into the nursing home Social/Spiritual Socially, Catherine has a lot of friends with whom she plays cards – they are going to come visit her once a week to continue this tradition, the other residents should be encouraged to join in also as it will help integrate her more. Her large family of 8 children and 63 grand-children/great-grand-children/great-great grand-children all visit her when she is at home and will continue to do so. It is amazing the Catherine remembers all their names and dates of birth – during spells of confusion though she does tend to forget them a little. Catherine is very religious and attends mass every Sunday when she is well – the angelus must be said at 12pm and 6pm and the rosary at 9pm. I D E N T I F Y T H E L E V E L O F A S S I S T A N C E R E Q U I R E D Catherine has very low level needs when she is not confused. She needs help sitting up in the bed and cannot use the remote control as her fingers are very badly damaged from the arthritis and as such will need assistance getting out of bed. She cannot manage small buttons when dressing and most days she just wears t-shirts but on Sundays she wishes to wear a blouse going to mass and will need assistance with that. Catherine dose not wear dentures and is on a chopped diet for now, she can manage to use cutlery but prefers to use a spoon. When she is confused she forgets when to eat and sometimes forgets that she has eaten so she will need monitoring when eating rather than assistance. MAINTAINING A SAFE ENVIRONMENT During confused spells Catherine likes to walk and as such walkways will have to be completely compliant with the Health and Safety Regulations for care as set out by the Health and Safety Authority. (HSA.ie, 2014) It would also be a good intervention to ensure that her walking aid is always within arm’s reach and that her shoes/slippers have rubber soles and are well maintained. For showering, the shower stool must be readily available and ensure that the hand rails are well maintained. The toilet in her room has a raised toilet seat and rail which must be cleaned and maintained regularly. Catherine will also use a commode, but when she is confused does not realise where she is when trying to urinate therefore she should be encouraged to go to the bathroom to protect her dignity. When going on outings with her family Catherine’s wheelchair must accompany her always and kept well maintained and ensure the wheels are pumped. PROMOTE CLIENT INVOLVEMENT IN SOCIAL EVENTS AND THERAPIES Catherine likes to play cards therefore she would enjoy it as part of the available diversional therapies. The HCA can have table quizzes added to the curriculum of activities by the activities co coordinator and help her participate by writing the answers to the questions and holding the cards – when she is confused one to one games such as Patience or Snap are very helpful. Catherine is quite a sociable person and will have loads of visitors – they will help to integrate her with the other residents and they play cards, tell stories, Irish dancing and play music some days she wishes not to have any visitors or participate in activities – in order to keep her from this depression the HCA could encourage her to attend the card game or maybe say some prayers with her as her strong beliefs will help to alleviate the depression. Catherine has refused to attend the Cuisle Centre in Portlaoise which has numerous activities and therapies available to cancer sufferers. The HCA could bring her more information on the services provided and explain what they are in detail and answer any questions she may have in order to encourage her to attend. They offer a Gardening Therapy workshop each week which would really benefit her along with the CranioSacral therapy and Holistic Massage would be beneficial for her also and she should be encouraged to go by bringing her down to the centre and having a talk with other clients that attend. (Cuisle Centre, Cancer Support Centre Laois, Cancer Support Portlaoise, 2014) MOBILITY INDLUDING FALLS AND PRESSURE AREA CARE FALLS The results from the Morse Falls Assessment in Catherine’s Care Plan show that on non-confused days she is at low risk, but during spells of confusion she is moderate risk and as such – should be encouraged to walk around more during lucid days and be accompanied outdoors for short walks if her breathing allows – allow her to push the wheelchair for a while will help and support her. The activities co-ordinator has a great curriculum for mobility and Catherine should be encouraged to participate in order to help keep her arms active. PRESURE AREA CARE As Catherine suffers from Psoriasis she is even more susceptible to pressure sore development. Her skin should be cared for as per her prescribed treatment – creams and lotions to be applied daily. At the moment she is fairly mobile and does not remain in the one spot for too long – if she suffers bad pain during the day she tends to stay in bed and will need assistance turning and should be encouraged to do so – a second HCA may be needed for this as she has had two hip replacements which have to be cared for also – a hoist may be needed on occasion. Gel cushions should be used when she is playing cards with friends as she could be in the one position for hours, to break this she should be encouraged to get up and walk around every hour – even if for a few minutes. EFFECTIVE VERBAL AND WRITTEN COMMUNICATION WITH CLIENT AND HEALTHCARE TEAM Catherine has to attend various appointments for scans and pain medication updates. Any new developments need to be explained in full to her so she can make an informed decision as to what course of action she wants to pursue. Catherine must be kept informed at all times of any changes in her condition and has requested that she be told first so she can decide whether to tell her family. She has stated during meetings regarding her funeral wishes but may want to change these so ensure any changes are documented. All daily charts are to be kept updated immediately and inform the staff nurse of any noted changes in her condition at handover. As her cancer is rapid and fast progressing Catherine’s condition can and will change on a daily basis therefore food and fluid charts are vital. At the moment she is normal on the M.U.S.T scale, but as she tends not to eat when in pain this has to be carefully monitored and reported if she is refusing food or fluids. ASSIST CLIENT WITH ACTIVITIES OF DAILY LIVING Mobility Assistance Catherine needs assistance when getting in and out of bed. She can sometimes sit up on her own but during spells of confusion she forgets how to stand up and should be encouraged and supported to do it herself as long as possible without the aid of a hoist. She may also need assistance getting in and out of the shower and needs her hair to be washed as she can no longer raise her arms above elbow height. If the weather if favourable Catherine likes to go outside – she should be accompanied and ensure her wheelchair is in good working order. Allow her to walk as much as she can pushing the wheelchair but ensure she does not get too tired – encourage her to get into the wheelchair and continue until she wishes to return. Catherine’s pain medication is prescribed by the GP and monitored by the Palliative Care team. She has certain pain killers that are available to her without the nurses supervision – please record when and what she is taking and report it back to the nurse for monitoring. At the moment Catherine is normal on the M.U.S.T scale and we have to endeavour to keep her that way – she is on a chopped diet but needs to be monitored as the tumour is pressing on her oesophagus – it could cause a choking hazard – any noted changes to her swallow must be reported back to the nurse for further investigation by the MDT. When she is confused Catherine needs assistance eating as she forgets how to use the cutlery. PROMOTE THE RIGHTS OF THE CLIENT TO DIGNITY, PRIVACY, INDEPENDENCE, POSITIVE SELF IMAGE As Catherine is very self-conscious about her body – every effort must be made to give her as much privacy as possible when dressing and showering. She will need assistance dressing on occasion especially when she is confused as she gets the order of clothing mixed up. The HCA can discuss her wishes with her and come to an arrangement regarding the assistance she requires. Catherine is very independent and likes to take her own medications and feed herself. She has expressed her wishes numerous times to all her family and multidisciplinary team regarding her funeral wishes and insists that she not be left alone from now on and even when she passes she does not want to be alone until she is buried with her husband. Catherine needs to feel in control of the disease and wants to be informed if there is any changes being made to her medications or if the multidisciplinary team think that she is declining in any way regardless of the news make sure she is kept informed and involved in all decisions – it is best practice to inform Catherine first and let her decide when and how much information he and the rest of the family is to be told. BIBLIOGRAPHY http://www.upledgerclinic.com/conditions_symptoms.html http://www.cuislecentre.com/therapies/ http://www.ahrq.gov/legacy/research/ltc/fallpxtoolkit/fallpxtool3h.htm http://www.clinicaloncologyonline.net/article/S0936-6555(08)00451-2/abstract http://www.nurse2nurse.ie/Upload/NA6762article.pdf http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19059769 http://www.patient.co.uk/doctor/end-of-life-care-pro REFERENCES Cuisle Centre, Cancer Support Centre Laois, Cancer Support Portlaoise, (2014). Therapies Cuisle Centre, Cancer Support Centre Laois, Cancer Support Portlaoise. [online] Available at: http://www.cuislecentre.com/therapies/ [Accessed 19 Dec. 2014]. Knott, D. (2014). End of Life Care | Doctor | Patient.co.uk. [online] Patient.co.uk. Available at: http://www.patient.co.uk/doctor/end-of-life-care-pro [Accessed 15 Dec. 2014]. 1

Supernatural in Shakespeares Macbeth - The Three Witches :: Macbeth essays

Macbeth: The Three Witches William Shakespeare has been by far the world's most popular playwright for more than 350 years. His ingenious ability as a playwright has captivated audiences and will captivate audiences for years to come. William Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon, England, in 1564. The specific date of his birth is not known but is celebrated on the feast of St. George, April 23. Little is known about his boyhood, but through examination it is thought that he collected a lot of his information from books and from daily observation of the world around him. During his life Shakespeare wrote many brilliant tragedies. He died on April 23, 1616, at the age of 52. One of these brilliant tragedies was Macbeth. It is thought to have been written between 1603 and 1606. Macbeth is considered the shortest of Shakespeare's tragedies, but not less powerful in its depiction of evil, greed, jealousy, and the madness these emotions bring to a person. (Shakespeare, pg. v) In any work of literature or drama there is usually foreshadowing. Foreshadow can be defined to be, "a sign of something to come: indicate or suggest beforehand; prefigure; presage." (Compton's Interactive Encyclopedia) Playwrights use this technique to give the audience a sense of what is to come or what exactly is going to happen to a character. Foreshadowing can be easily detected or it cannot be noticed at all until the end of the play or story. In Shakespeare's Macbeth, Shakespeare uses the prophecies of the witches and thoughts of Macbeth himself to foreshadow within the play. And Macbeth himself detects them somewhat as does the audience. In Macbeth, Shakespeare uses the three witches as main sources foreshadowing. In the play they are conveyed as prophecies. The audience experiences a little of these prophecies almost immediately in the opening scene and act of the play. When they talk about meeting Macbeth they say they will greet him, "when the battle's lost and won." (Shakespeare, pg.1) And then they yell together, "fair is foul, and foul is fair."(Shakespeare, pg.1) These two examples foreshadow that some sort of evil will be coming and that there will also be a victory of sorts, but the audience doesn't know specifically what yet. These also suggest a great battle is to be fought against good and evil and the events that follow will unfold at a rapid pace. This foreshadowing can be detected by the audience because they can feel the emotion of doom and evil rising. The actual prophecies given by the witches occur in the third scene

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee :: To Kill a Mockingbird Essays

Throughout history, racism has played a major role in social relations. In Harper Lee's novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, this theme is presented to the reader and displays the shallowness of white people in the south during the depression. The assumption that Blacks were inferior is proved during the trial of Tom Robinson. Such characteristics served to justify the verdict of the trial. In this trial, Tom Robinson is accused of raping Mayella Ewell and is found guilty. Many examples from this novel support the fact that Tom Robinson was in fact innocent. Atticus Finch represented Tom Robinson in the trial. He showed that Tom's left arm was crippled due to a former injury using a cotton gin. Atticus expanded on this point by unexpectedly throwing a ball at Tom Robinson. Tom's only reaction was to catch the ball with his right arm. This point is connected to Heck Tate's testimony in telling the court that the right side of Mayella's face had been severely bruised. A left-handed person would logically have inflicted this injury. Tom's left hand is shriveled and totally useless. On the other side of the coin, Atticus shows the court that Mr. Ewell is not ambidextrous but is only right-handed.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  A second testimony that supports the opposite of the verdict, was the fact that Mr. Ewell never called a doctor after learning of Mayella's injuries. Following the incident, there had not been any physical examination performed by a certified physician. If indeed Mr. Robinson had committed the crime, Mr. Ewell's first instinct would have been to get his daughter checked out. Upon finding his daughter 'assaulted';, he would have wanted to have her injuries treated including the injury that might been caused by rape.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The third example of the trial that strongly contrasts with the outcome of the verdict was Mayella's testimony. If Mayella was so sure that Tom Robinson was the one that assaulted her, her testimony would have been clearly stated. Instead, during the trial, Mayella seemed to be unsure of herself at times and hesitated when thinking about certain answers. When Atticus asked Mayella if she remembered the person beating her face, she first answers that she does not recollect if the person hit her. Under her next breath, she says the man did in fact hit her. Once Atticus challenges this statement she gets flustered and continues to use the excuse that she does not remember.

Relationship influence relationships Essay

Physical attraction is based on people’s appearances. Often a caring, kind, and affectionate person will go unrecognized among others. Mostly such people find their partners due to physical proximity, â€Å"one’s actual physical nearness to others, in terms of housing, work, school, and so forth.† On the other hand, an attractive person usually would have far more attention from others. Mills had an experiment which showed that â€Å"most important determinant of desire to continue relationship was physical attractiveness.† (1982) However, in Today’s Magazine, the article read : â€Å"according to a new study, [men are] willing to overlook a woman’s body shape and weight if she’s friendly and likeable†. But, consider that the article, if you read it, doesn’t present other important information, such the percentage of people who are in the category, and to what extreme were those studies true: it’s likely that men can overlook minor unattractive traits, but it doesn’t totally disprove the study mentioned above. Even though the point if this study may have changed slightly, it is not a secret that attractive people seem to be more of everything, since with beauty, person seems happy, healthy, successful, interesting, even if it isn’t necessarily so, which is called the halo effect. Another kind of attraction is romantic attraction. It is â€Å"love that is associated with high levels of interpersonal attraction, heightened arousal, mutual absorption (‘with regard to romantic love, the nearly exclusive attention lovers give one another.’), and sexual desire.† Romantic attraction has a â€Å"like scale† and a â€Å"love scale,† that Zick Rubin brought up to measure the â€Å"attitude† towards friends and love partners. In result, love usually included passion and commitment, whereas liking lacked those things. Estimated by these scales, type of attraction can be described by the chosen attitude towards each other, as to what the two people think of each other, and whether they are intimate or not, and so on. Just as there are different reasons for forming our personalities, there are different causes which bring people together. The reason some people choose to date who they date is partially due to homogamy -â€Å"the attraction of people who are alike† and heterogamy – â€Å"the attraction of opposites.† A person may seek to find someone with similar qualities or with the opposite ones to â€Å"balance out.† To some degrees, love may be just a mere excitement. This love (which is also something like secret love) is determined by different situations, such parents’ disapproval, or when fleeing the country with someone. Just as in secret love, those events may lead to feel even stronger attraction. But even if such situations can be an attribute to the relationship, it can also bring conflict. Those relationships can be affected by uncertainty of whether there is any kind of attraction between the two people. (As Kenrick wrote, â€Å"it is sometimes hard to tell the difference among sex, love, and infatuation (1989).† There are also two problems: excitement that adds to attraction and boredom that decreases it; the influenced behavior may not be the cause of attraction. (Homans 1961) Similarly, I am sure there have been times when you’ve known or heard of someone who, for example, embraced everyone he or she was friends with. His or her behavior doesn’t necessarily mean deep attraction, but it may just be a way in culture, personal way of showing friendship, or a habit, or may be the fact that he or she misses his/her girlfriend/boyfriend. Any of those reasons may be the factor, why due to body language, a woman may take such action for affection, or, from another point, a man can misunderstand woman’s â€Å"warning signals†. References Homans, G.C. (1961) Social Behaviour: Its Elementary Forms, New York, Harcourt, Brace and World. Kenrick, D.T. and Trost, M.R. (1989) ‘A reproductive exchange model of heterosexual relationships’ in Hendrick, C. (ed) Close Relationships (Review of Personality and Social Psychology 10) Newbury Park, CA, Sage. Miell, D. & Croghan, R. (1996) ‘Examining the wider context of social relationships’ in Dallos, R. & Miell, D. (eds) Social Interaction and Personal Relationships, Milton Keynes, Open University. Mills, J. and Clark, M.S. (1982). ‘Communal and exchange relationships’ in Wheeler, L (ed.) Review of Personality and Social Psychology (Vol 3), Beverley Hills, CA, Sage

Lieducation in preliterate societies Essay

Education, History of, theories, methods, and administration of schools and other agencies of information from ancient times to the present. Education developed from the human struggle for survival and enlightenment. It may be formal or informal. Informal education refers to the general social process by which human beings acquire the knowledge and skills needed to function in their culture. Formal education refers to the process by which teachers instruct students in courses of study within institutions. Before the invention of reading and writing, people lived in an environment in which they struggled to survive against natural forces, animals, and other humans. To survive, preliterate people developed skills that grew into cultural and educational patterns. For a particular group’s culture to continue into the future, people had to transmit it, or pass it on, from adults to children. The earliest educational processes involved sharing information about gathering food and providing shelter; making weapons and other tools; learning language; and acquiring the values, behavior, and religious rites or practices of a given culture. Through direct, informal education, parents, elders, and priests taught children the skills and roles they would need as adults. These lessons eventually formed the moral codes that governed behavior. Since they lived before the invention of writing, preliterate people used an oral tradition, or story telling, to pass on their culture and history from one generation to the next. By using language, people learned to create and use symbols, words, or signs to express their ideas. When these symbols grew into pictographs and letters, human beings created a written language and made the great cultural leap to literacy. IIIEDUCATION IN ANCIENT AFRICA AND ASIA In ancient Egypt, which flourished from about 3000 BC to about 500 BC, priests in temple schools taught not only religion but also the principles of writing, the sciences, mathematics, and architecture. Similarly in India, priests conducted most of the formal education. Beginning in about 1200 BC Indian priests taught the principles of the Veda, the sacred texts of Hinduism, as well as science, grammar, and philosophy. Formal education in China dates to about 2000 BC, though it thrived particularly during the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, from 770 to 256 BC (see China: The Eastern Zhou). The curriculum stressed philosophy, poetry, and religion, in accord with the teachings of Confucius, Laozi (Lao-tzu), and other philosophers. IVEDUCATION IN ANCIENT GREECE Historians have looked to ancient Greece as one of the origins of Western formal education. The Iliad and the Odyssey, epic poems attributed to Homer and written sometime in the 8th century BC, created a cultural tradition that gave the Greeks a sense of group identity. In their dramatic account of Greek struggles, Homer’s epics served important educational purposes. The legendary Greek warriors depicted in Homer’s work, such as Agamemnon, Odysseus, and Achilles, were heroes who served as models for the young Greeks. Ancient Greece was divided into small and often competing city-states, or poleis, such as Athens, Sparta, and Thebes. Athens emphasized a humane and democratic society and education, but only about one-third of the people in Athens were free citizens. Slaves and residents from other countries or city-states made up the rest of the population. Only the sons of free citizens attended school. The Athenians believed a free man should have a liberal education in order to perform his civic duties and for his own personal development. The education of women depended upon the customs of the particular Greek city-state. In Athens, where women had no legal or economic rights, most women did not attend school. Some girls, however, were educated at home by tutors. Slaves and other noncitizens had either no formal education or very little. Sparta, the chief political enemy of Athens, was a dictatorship that used education for military training and drill. In contrast to Athens, Spartan girls received more schooling but it was almost exclusively athletic training to prepare them to be healthy mothers of future Spartan soldiers. In the 400s BC, the Sophists, a group of wandering teachers, began to teach in Athens. The Sophists claimed that they could teach any subject or skill to anyone who wished to learn it. They specialized in teaching grammar, logic, and rhetoric, subjects that eventually formed the core of the liberal arts. The Sophists were more interested in preparing their students to argue persuasively and win  arguments than in teaching principles of truth and morality. Unlike the Sophists, the Greek philosopher Socrates sought to discover and teach universal principles of truth, beauty, and goodness. Socrates, who died in 399 BC, claimed that true knowledge existed within everyone and needed to be brought to consciousness. His educational method, called the Socratic method, consisted of asking probing questions that forced his students to think deeply about the meaning of life, truth, and justice. In 387 BC Plato, who had studied under Socrates, established a school in Athens called the Academy. Plato believed in an unchanging world of perfect ideas or universal concepts. He asserted that since true knowledge is the same in every place at every time, education, like truth, should be unchanging. Plato described his educational ideal in the Republic, one of the most notable works of Western philosophy. Plato’s Republic describes a model society, or republic, ruled by highly intelligent philosopher-kings. Warriors make up the republic’s second class of people. The lowest class, the workers, provide food and the other products for all the people of the republic. In Plato’s ideal educational system, each class would receive a different kind of instruction to prepare for their various roles in society. In 335 BC Plato’s student, Aristotle, founded his own school in Athens called the Lyceum. Believing that human beings are essentially rational, Aristotle thought people could discover natural laws that governed the universe and then follow these laws in their lives. He also concluded that educated people who used reason to make decisions would lead a life of moderation in which they avoided dangerous extremes. In the 4th century BC Greek orator Isocrates developed a method of education designed to prepare students to be competent orators who could serve as government officials. Isocrates’s students studied rhetoric, politics, ethics, and history. They examined model orations and practiced public speaking. Isocrates’s methods of education directly influenced such Roman educational theorists as Cicero and Quintilian. VEDUCATION IN ANCIENT ROME While the Greeks were developing their civilization in the areas surrounding the eastern Mediterranean Sea, the Romans were gaining control of the Italian peninsula and areas of the western Mediterranean. The Greeks’ education focused on the study of philosophy. The Romans, on the other hand, were preoccupied with war, conquest, politics, and civil administration. As in Greece, only a minority of Romans attended school. Schooling was for those who had the money to pay tuition and the time to attend classes. While girls from wealthy families occasionally learned to read and write at home, boys attended a primary school, called aludus. In secondary schools boys studied Latin and Greek grammar taught by Greek slaves, called pedagogues. After primary and secondary school, wealthy young men often attended schools of rhetoric or oratory that prepared them to be leaders in government and administration. Cicero, a 1st century BC Roman senator, combined Greek and Roman ideas on how to educate orators in his book De Oratore. Like Isocrates, Cicero believed orators should be educated in liberal arts subjects such as grammar, rhetoric, logic, mathematics, and astronomy. He also asserted that they should study ethics, military science, natural science, geography, history, and law. Quintilian, an influential Roman educator who lived in the 1st century AD, wrote that education should be based on the stages of individual development from childhood to adulthood. Quintilian devised specific lessons for each stage. He also advised teachers to make their lessons suited to the student’s readiness and ability to learn new material. He urged teachers to motivate students by making learning interesting and attractive. VIANCIENT JEWISH EDUCATION Education among the Jewish people also had a profound influence on Western learning. The ancient Jews had great respect for the printed word and believed that God revealed truth to them in the Bible. Most information on ancient Jewish goals and methods of education comes from the Bible and the Talmud, a book of religious and civil law. Jewish religious leaders, known as rabbis, advised parents to teach their children religious beliefs, law, ethical practices, and vocational skills. Both boys and girls were introduced to religion by studying the Torah, the most sacred document of Judaism. Rabbis taught in schools within synagogues, places of worship and religious study. VIIMEDIEVAL EDUCATION During the Middle Ages, or the medieval period, which lasted roughly from the 5th to the 15th century, Western society and education were heavily shaped by Christianity, particularly the Roman Catholic Church. The Church operated parish, chapel, and monastery schools at the elementary level. Schools in monasteries and cathedrals offered secondary education. Much of the teaching in these schools was directed at learning Latin, the old Roman language used by the church in its ceremonies and teachings. The church provided some limited opportunities for the education of women in religious communities or convents. Convents had libraries and schools to help prepare nuns to follow the religious rules of their communities. Merchant and craft guilds also maintained some schools that provided basic education and training in specific crafts. Knights received training in military tactics and the code of chivalry. As in the Greek and Roman eras, only a minority of people went to school during the medieval period. Schools were attended primarily by persons planning to enter religious life such as priests, monks, or nuns. The vast majority of people were serfs who served as agricultural workers on the estates of feudal lords. The serfs, who did not attend school, were generally illiterate (see Serfdom). In the 10th and early 11th centuries, Arabic learning had a pronounced influence on Western education. From contact with Arab scholars in North Africa and Spain, Western educators learned new ways of thinking about mathematics, natural science, medicine, and philosophy. The Arabic number system was especially important, and became the foundation of Western arithmetic. Arab scholars also preserved and translated into Arabic the works of such influential Greek scholars as Aristotle, Euclid, Galen, and Ptolemy. Because many of these works had disappeared from Europe by the Middle Ages, they might have been lost forever if Arab scholars such as Avicenna and Averroes had not preserved them. In the 11th century medieval scholars developed Scholasticism, a philosophical and educational movement that used both human reason and revelations from the Bible. Upon encountering the works of Aristotle and other Greek philosophers from Arab scholars, the Scholastics attempted to reconcile Christian theology with Greek philosophy. Scholasticism reached its high point in the Summa Theologiae of Saint Thomas Aquinas, a 13th century Dominican theologian who taught at the University of Paris. Aquinas reconciled the authority of religious faith, represented by the Scriptures, with Greek reason, represented by Aristotle. Aquinas described the teacher’s vocation as one that combines faith, love, and learning. The work of Aquinas and other Scholastics took place in the medieval institutions of higher education, the universities. The famous European universities of Paris, Salerno, Bologna, Oxford, Cambridge, and Padua grew out of the Scholastics-led intellectual revival of the 12th and 13th centuries. The name university comes from the Latin word universitas, or associations, in reference to the associations that students and teachers organized to discuss academic issues. Medieval universities offered degrees in the liberal arts and in professional studies such as theology, law, and medicine. VIIIEDUCATION DURING THE RENAISSANCE The Renaissance, or rebirth of learning, began in Europe in the 14th century and reached its height in the 15th century. Scholars became more interested in the humanist features—that is, the secular or worldly rather than the religious aspects—of the Greek and Latin classics. Humanist educators found their models of literary style in the classics. The Renaissance was a particularly powerful force in Italy, most notably in art, literature, and architecture. In literature, the works of such Italian writers as Dante Aleghieri, Petrarch, and Giovanni Boccaccio became especially important. Humanist educators designed teaching methods to prepare well-rounded, liberally educated persons. Dutch humanist Desiderius Erasmus was particularly influential. Erasmus believed that understanding and conversing about the meaning of literature was more important than memorizing it, as had been required at many of the medieval religious schools. He advised teachers to study such fields as archaeology, astronomy, mythology, history, and Scripture. The invention of the printing press in the mid-15th century made books more widely available and increased literacy rates (see Printing). But school attendance did not increase greatly during the Renaissance. Elementary schools educated middle-class children while lower-class children received little, if any, formal schooling. Children of the nobility and upper classes attended humanist secondary schools. Educational opportunities for women improved slightly during the Renaissance, especially for the upper classes. Some girls from wealthy families attended schools of the royal court or received private lessons at home. The curriculum studied by young women was still based on the belief that only certain subjects, such as art, music, needlework, dancing, and poetry, were suited for females. For working-class girls, especially rural peasants, education was still limited to training in household duties such as cooking and sewing. IXEDUCATION DURING THE PROTESTANT REFORMATION The religious Reformation of the 16th century marked a decline in the authority of the Catholic Church and contributed to the emergence of the middle classes in Europe. Protestant religious reformers, such as John Calvin, Martin Luther, and Huldreich Zwingli, rejected the authority of the Catholic pope and created reformed Christian, or Protestant, churches. In their ardent determination to instruct followers to read the Bible in their native language, reformers extended literacy to the masses. They established vernacular primary schools that offered a basic curriculum of reading, writing, arithmetic, and religion for children in their own language. Vernacular schools in England, for example, used English to teach their pupils. As they argued with each other and with the Roman Catholics on religious matters, Protestant educators wrote catechisms—primary books that summarized their religious doctrine—in a question and answer format. While the vernacular schools educated both boys and girls at the primary level, upper-class boys attended preparatory and secondary schools that continued to emphasize Latin and Greek. The gymnasium in Germany, the Latin grammar school in England, and the lycee in France were preparatory schools that taught young men the classical languages of Latin and Greek required to enter universities. Martin Luther believed the state, family, and school, along with the church, were leaders of the Reformation. Since the family shaped children’s character, Luther encouraged parents to teach their children reading and religion. Each family should pray together, read the Bible, study the catechism, and practice a useful trade. Luther believed that government should assist schools in educating literate, productive, and religious citizens. One of Luther’s colleagues, German religious reformer Melanchthon, wrote the school code for the German region of Wurttemberg, which became a model for other regions of Germany and influenced education throughout Europe. According to this code, the government was responsible for supervising schools and licensing teachers. The Protestant reformers retained the dual-class school system that had developed in the Renaissance. Vernacular schools provided primary instruction for the lower classes, and the various classical humanist and Latin grammar schools prepared upper-class males for higher education. XEDUCATIONAL THEORY IN THE 17TH CENTURY Educators of the 17th century developed new ways of thinking about education. Czech education reformer Jan Komensky, known as Comenius, was particularly influential. A bishop of the Moravian Church, Comenius escaped religious persecution by taking refuge in Poland, Hungary, Sweden, and The Netherlands. He created a new educational philosophy called Pansophism, or universal knowledge, designed to bring about worldwide understanding and peace. Comenius advised teachers to use children’s senses rather than memorization in instruction. To make learning interesting for children, he wrote The Gate of Tongues Unlocked (1631), a book for teaching Latin in the student’s own language. He also wrote Orbis Sensualium Pictus (1658; The Visible World in Pictures, 1659) consisting of illustrations that labeled objects in both their Latin and vernacular names. It was one of the first illustrated books written especially for children. The work of English philosopher John Locke influenced education in Britain and North America. Locke examined how people acquire ideas in An Essay Concerning Human Understanding (1690). He asserted that at birth the human mind is a blank slate, or tabula rasa, and empty of ideas. We acquire knowledge, he argued, from the information about the objects in the world that our senses bring to us. We begin with simple ideas and then combine them into more complex ones. Locke believed that individuals acquire knowledge most easily when they first consider simple ideas and then gradually combine them into more complex ones. In Some Thoughts Concerning Education (1697), Locke recommended practical learning to prepare people to manage their social, economic, and political affairs efficiently. He believed that a sound education began in early childhood and insisted that the teaching of reading, writing, and arithmetic be gradual and cumulative. Locke’s curriculum included conversational learning of foreign languages, especially French, mathematics, history, physical education, and games. XIEDUCATION DURING THE ENLIGHTENMENT The Age of Enlightenment in the 18th century produced important changes in education and educational theory. During the Enlightenment, also called the Age of Reason, educators believed people could improve their lives and society by using their reason, their powers of critical thinking. The Enlightenment’s ideas had a significant impact on the American Revolution (1775-1783) and early educational policy in the United States. In particular, American philosopher and scientist Benjamin Franklin emphasized the value of utilitarian and scientific education in American schools. Thomas Jefferson, the third president of the United States, stressed the importance of civic education to the citizens of a democratic nation. The Enlightenment principles that considered education as an instrument of social reform and improvement remain fundamental characteristics of American education policy. XIIEDUCATION IN THE 19TH CENTURY The foundations of modern education were established in the 19th century. Swiss educator Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi, inspired by the work of French philosopher Jean Jacques Rousseau, developed an educational method based on the natural world and the senses. Pestalozzi established schools in Switzerland and Germany to educate children and train teachers. He affirmed that schools should resemble secure and loving homes. Like Locke and Rousseau, Pestalozzi believed that thought began with sensation and that teaching should use the senses. Holding that children should study the objects in their natural environment, Pestalozzi developed a so-called â€Å"object lesson† that involved exercises in learning form, number, and language. Pupils determined and traced an object’s form, counted objects, and named them. Students progressed from these lessons to exercises in drawing, writing, adding, subtracting, multiplying, dividing, and reading. Pestalozzi employed the following principles in teaching: (1) begin with the concrete object before introducing abstract concepts; (2) begin with the immediate environment before dealing with what is distant and remote; (3) begin with easy exercises before introducing complex ones; and (4) always proceed gradually, cumulatively, and slowly. American educator Henry Barnard, the first U. S. Commissioner of Education, introduced Pestalozzi’s ideas to the United States in the late 19th century. Barnard also worked for the establishment of free public high schools for students of all classes of American society. German philosopher Johann Herbart emphasized moral education and designed a highly structured teaching technique. Maintaining that education’s primary goal is moral development, Herbart claimed good character rested on knowledge while misconduct resulted from an inadequate education. Knowledge, he said, should create an â€Å"apperceptive mass†Ã¢â‚¬â€a network of ideas—in a person’s mind to which new ideas can be added. He wanted to include history, geography, and literature in the school curriculum as well as reading, writing, and arithmetic. Based on his work, Herbart’s followers designed a five-step teaching method: (1) prepare the pupils to be ready for the new lesson, (2) present the new lesson, (3) associate the new lesson with ideas studied earlier, (4) use examples to illustrate the lesson’s major points, and (5) test pupils to ensure they had learned the new lesson. AKindergarten German educator Friedrich Froebel created the earliest kindergarten, a form of preschool education that literally means â€Å"child’s garden† in German. Froebel, who had an unhappy childhood, urged teachers to think back to their own childhoods to find insights they could use in their teaching. Froebel studied at Pestalozzi’s institute in Yverdon, Switzerland, from 1808 to 1810. While agreeing with Pestalozzi’s emphasis on the natural world, a kindly school atmosphere, and the object lesson, Froebel felt that Pestalozzi’s method was not philosophical enough. Froebel believed that every child’s inner self contained a spiritual essence—a spark of divine energy—that enabled a child to learn independently. In 1837 Froebel opened a kindergarten in Blankenburg with a curriculum that featured songs, stories, games, gifts, and occupations. The songs and stories stimulated the imaginations of children and introduced them to folk heroes and cultural values. Games developed children’s social and physical skills. By playing with each other, children learned to participate in a group. Froebel’s gifts, including such objects as spheres, cubes, and cylinders, were designed to enable the child to understand the concept that the object represented. Occupations consisted of materials children could use in building activities. For example, clay, sand, cardboard, and sticks could be used to build castles, cities, and mountains. Immigrants from Germany brought the kindergarten concept to the United States, where it became part of the American school system. Margarethe Meyer Schurz opened a German-language kindergarten in Watertown, Wisconsin, in 1855. Elizabeth Peabody established an English-language kindergarten and a training school for kindergarten teachers in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1860. William Torrey Harris, superintendent of schools in St. Louis, Missouri, and later a U. S. commissioner of education, made the kindergarten part of the American public school system. BSocial Darwinism British sociologist Herbert Spencer strongly influenced education in the mid-19th century with social theories based on the theory of evolution developed by British naturalist Charles Darwin. Spencer revised Darwin’s biological theory into social Darwinism, a body of ideas that applied the theory of evolution to society, politics, the economy, and education. Spencer maintained that in modern industrialized societies, as in earlier simpler societies, the â€Å"fittest† individuals of each generation survived because they were intelligent and adaptable. Competition caused the brightest and strongest individuals to climb to the top of the society. Urging unlimited competition, Spencer wanted government to restrict its activities to the bare minimum. He opposed public schools, claiming that they would create a monopoly for mediocrity by catering to students of low ability. He wanted private schools to compete against each other in trying to attract the brightest students and most capable teachers. Spencer’s social Darwinism became very popular in the last half of the 19th century when industrialization was changing American and Western European societies. Spencer believed that people in industrialized society needed scientific rather than classical education. Emphasizing education in practical skills, he advocated a curriculum featuring lessons in five basic human activities: (1) those needed for self-preservation such as health, diet, and exercise; (2) those needed to perform one’s occupation so that a person can earn a living, including the basic skills of reading, writing, computation, and knowledge of the sciences; (3) those needed for parenting, to raise children properly; (4) those needed to participate in society and politics; and (5) those needed for leisure and recreation. Spencer’s ideas on education were eagerly accepted in the United States. In 1918 the Cardinal Principles of Secondary Education, a report issued by the National Education Association, used Spencer’s list of activities in its recommendations for American education. XIIINATIONAL SYSTEMS OF EDUCATION In the 19th century, governments in the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, and other European countries organized national systems of public education. The United States, Canada, Argentina, Uruguay, and other countries in North and South America also established national education systems based largely on European models. AIn the United Kingdom. The Church of England and other churches often operated primary schools in the United Kingdom, where students paid a small fee to study the Bible, catechism, reading, writing, and arithmetic. In 1833 the British Parliament passed a law that gave some government funds to these schools. In 1862 the United Kingdom established a school grant system, called payment by results, in which schools received funds based on their students’ performance on reading, writing, and arithmetic tests. The Education Act of 1870, called the Forster Act, authorized local government boards to establish public board schools. The United Kingdom then had two schools systems: board schools operated by the government and voluntary schools conducted by the churches and other private organizations. In 1878 the United Kingdom passed laws that limited child labor in factories and made it possible for more children to attend school. To make schooling available to working-class children, many schools with limited public and private funds used monitorial methods of instruction. Monitorial education, developed by British educators Joseph Lancaster and Andrew Bell, used student monitors to conduct lessons. It offered the fledgling public education system the advantage of allowing schools to hire fewer teachers to instruct the large number of new students. Schools featuring monitorial education used older boys, called monitors, who were more advanced in their studies, to teach younger children. Monitorial education concentrated on basic skills—reading, writing, and arithmetic—that were broken down into small parts or units. After a monitor had learned a unit—such as spelling words of two or three letters that began with the letter A—he would, under the master teacher’s supervision, teach this unit to a group of students. By the end of the 19th century, the monitorial system was abandoned in British schools because it provided a very limited education. BIn Russia Russian tsar Alexander II initiated education reforms leading to the Education Statute of 1864. This law created zemstvos, local government units, which operated primary schools. In addition to zemstvo schools, the Russian Orthodox Church conducted parish schools. While the number of children attending school slowly increased, most of Russia’s population remained illiterate. Peasants often refused to send their children to school so that they could work on the farms. More boys attended school than girls since many peasant parents considered female education unnecessary. Fearing that too much education would make people discontented with their lives, the tsar’s government provided only limited schooling to instill political loyalty and religious piety. CIn the United States Before the 19th century elementary and secondary education in the United States was organized on a local or regional level. Nearly all schools operated on private funds exclusively. However, beginning in the 1830s and 1840s, American educators such as Henry Barnard and Horace Mann argued for the creation of a school system operated by individual states that would provide an equal education for all American children. In 1852 Massachusetts passed the first laws calling for free public education, and by 1918 all U. S. states had passed compulsory school attendance laws. See Public Education in the United States. XIVEDUCATION IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY At the beginning of the 20th century, the writings of Swedish feminist and educator Ellen Key influenced education around the world. Key’s book Barnets arhundrade (1900; The Century of the Child,1909) was translated into many languages and inspired so-called progressive educators in various countries. Progressive education was a system of teaching that emphasized the needs and potentials of the child, rather than the needs of society or the principles of religion. Among the influential progressive educators were Hermann Lietz and Georg Michael Kerschensteiner of Germany, Bertrand Russell of England, and Maria Montessori of Italy. AMontessori Montessori’s methods of early childhood education have become internationally popular. Trained in medicine, Montessori worked with developmentally disabled children early in her career. The results of her work were so effective that she believed her teaching methods could be used to educate all children. In 1907 Montessori established a children’s school, the Casa dei Bambini (Children’s House), for poor children from the San Lorenzo district of Rome. Here she developed a specially prepared environment that featured materials and activities based on her observations of children. She found that children enjoy mastering specific skills, prefer work to play, and can sustain concentration. She also believed that children have a power to learn independently if provided a properly stimulating environment. Montessori’s curriculum emphasized three major classes of activity: (1) practical, (2) sensory, and (3) formal skills and studies. It introduced children to such practical activities as setting the table, serving a meal, washing dishes, tying and buttoning clothing, and practicing basic social manners. Repetitive exercises developed sensory and muscular coordination. Formal skills and subjects included reading, writing, and arithmetic. Montessori designed special teaching materials to develop these skills, including laces, buttons, weights, and materials identifiable by their sound or smell. Instructors provided the materials for the children and demonstrated the lessons but allowed each child to independently learn the particular skill or behavior. In 1913 Montessori lectured in the United States on her educational method.