Services and the marketing strategies Essay Example for Free

Services and the marketing strategies Essay Qns: Discuss the 4 major characteristics of services and the marketing strategies available for the service organization. Qns: What are the primary differences between product and services? Give examples that highlight these differences between product and services. Give examples that highlight these differences and provide examples of hybrid offer. Qns. Using a service example of your choice, explain how the service company can deal with intangibility, inseparability, variability and perishability. Four Major characteristics of services:1) Intangibility 2) Inseparability 3) Variability 4) Perishability Intangibility *Lack of tangible assets which can be seen, touched, smelled, heard or taste prior to purchase. E.g., education, air travel, sporting events, highly intangible *Purchasing movie ticket, buy you an experience, services subjectively evaluated *Own set of perceptions and expectations, opinions differ regarding value of experience *Customer returns home with a memory of experience and obtain physical ownership Tangibility *Anything that can be offered to a market for attention, acquisition, use, or consumption that might satisfy a want or need *Tangible assets; seen, felt, tasted or touched *E.g. shoes, objectively evaluated before actual purchase *Take shoes home, have ownership and physical possession of a tangible object Hybrid Offer *Offer a tangible product with their service, service is still intangible because consumer are purchasing the service, not the good *Restaurant, consumer are paying the restaurant to prepare the food for them *Evaluation of service is based on how well the restaurant prepared the food *To reduce intangibility, an airline company feature tangible assets such as their airplanes, pilots, flight attendants, or other personnel in an advertisement Inseparability *Refers to the service providers physical connection to the service being provided *Involve customers involvement in the service production process *Service is performed and consumed at the same time, with the quality of service highly dependant on the ability of the service provider and quality of interaction between the service provider and the customer *E.g., getting a haircut, customer will go to the hair stylist and being  present while the service is being produced Separability *In contrast, products are produced and sold at a later time *E.g., television is produced at the factory and sold at a later time Hybrid Offer *Is in the case of getting medical services. Dentist is using filling to fill cavities for the customer while the customer is present *To reduce inseparability or the dependence on the customer-employee interaction, an airline company can sell its air tickets through the internet where customers can buy air tickets directly from their website. Variability *Unwanted at random levels of service quality customers receive when they patronize a service *Primarily caused by human element, although machines may malfunction causing a variation in the service *Various employees will perform the same service differently and even the same service *E.g, commercial window cleaning, the outcome will differ if the firm uses different employees each time a business is services Contrast *Goods are mass-produced by factories and as such their features, ability and usage are the same *E.g. telephone are mass-produced in the factories and sold to customers offering the same features, abilities and usage Hybrid Offer *Fast food restaurant, the hamburgers, French fries and other food are mass produced and put in warming bins. Customers are served with hamburgers, French fries and other food when they ordered and served by service staff at the counter *To reduce variability, the airline company can put their service staff through intensive training or customize the service based on the customers specific instructions by asking the customers to fill in details on how they expect to be treated and what they want from the service staff when they purchase the air tickets from the company Perishability *Refers to the trait that services cannot be saved, their unused capacity cannot be reserved and they cannot be inventoried *Most services consumed at a point of production *E.g. Hotel rooms that go unoccupied for the evening cannot be stored and used it at a later date *Caused the reverse to occur where the demand is greater than supply. E.g. Airline does not have enough seats for everyone Contrast *Products can be mass produced and stored in the warehouses until consumer are ready to purchase *The ability not creates an inventory of the good that will eventually be purchased by the consumer means that production and consumption of the good can be separated in time and space. E.g., in the case of a pair of jeans does not sell today, a retailer can store it and sell it at a later time Hybrid Offer *In a fast food restaurant, they can inventory part of their service process example, inventory hamburgers for a limited period of time *However, the outlet cannot inventory the entire service experience, the counter staff still need to serve the customers with the hamburgers and the hamburgers cannot be saved for the next day *To reduce perishability, the airline must develop strategies to cope with fluctuating demand. This goal can be accomplished by making simultaneous adjustments in demand, supply and capacity *One method of adjusting the demand is that the airline company can reduce the price or offer promotions during the low peak season to attract customer to travel and utilize the airline seats during the low peak season instead of the peak season. *Supply can be adjusted by increasing the number of in flights departing the country during the peak season. To increase capacity, the airline company can arrange to increase the number of flights departing at the same time. Marketing Strategy It is defined as the process of adjusting controllable marketing factors to cope with or exploit uncontrollable environment. Four strategies that are available for the service organizations are so follows: 1.Three additional Ps 2.Managing service differentiation 3.Managing Service Quality 4.Managing Service Productivity Three Additional Ps The traditional four Ps marketing approaches work well for goods, but additional elements require attention in service business. Three additional Ps for service marketing: 1.People Most services are provided by people. Therefore, the selection, training and motivation of employees can make a huge difference in customer satisfaction. Ideally, employees should exhibit competence, a caring attitude, responsiveness, initiative, problem-solving attitude and goodwill. E.g. At Marriot, their front-line personnel are empowered to spend up to $100 to resolve a customer problem. 2.Physical Evidence Companies also try to demonstrate their service quality through physical and presentation. A hotel will develop a look and style of dealing with customers that realizes its intended customer value proposition, whether it is cleanliness, speed or some other benefit. 3.Process Service companies can choose among different processes to deliver their service. For example, restaurants to develop different formats such as buffet candlelight dinner and fast food. Service marketing requires not only external marketing but also internal and interactive marketing. External marketing describes the normal work to prepare, price, distribute and promote the service to the customer. Internal Marketing describes the work to train and motivate employees to serve customer. Interactive marketing describes the employees skills in serving the client. Client judges service not only by technical quality but also by its functional quality, therefore service providers must deliver high touch as well as High tech. Managing Service Differentiation In these days of intense price competition, service marketers often complain about the difficulty of differentiating their services from those of competitors. If customers view the services of different providers as similar, they care less about the provider than the price. The solution to price competition is to develop a differentiated offer, delivery and image. The offer can include innovative features that set one companys offer apart from their competitors offers. What the customer expects is called primary service package; the provider can add secondary service features. E.g. airlines have introduced innovation such as advance seating, sleeping compartment, hot showers to differentiate their offers. The major challenge is that most service offerings and innovations are easily copied. However, the company that regularly introduces innovations will gain a succession of temporary advantages over competitors. Service companies can differentiate itself by designing a better and faster delivery system. There are three levels of differentiation. The first is reliability: Some suppliers are more reliable in their on-time delivery, order completeness and order cycle time. Second is resilience: some suppliers are better at handling emergencies, product recalls and answering inquiries. The third is innovativeness; some suppliers create better information systems, introduce bar coding and mixed pallets and in other ways to help the customer. An example is banking system, a bank might offer its customers electronic home banking as a better way to deliver banking services thank having to drive, park and wait in line. Service companies can work on differentiating their images through symbols and branding. E.g. Merill Lynchs bill. Managing Service Quality One of the ways that a service firm can differentiate itself is by delivering consistently higher quality than its competitors do and meets or exceed customer expectations. Customers form service expectations from past experiences, word of mouth and advertising. Customers compare the perceived service with expected service. If the perceived service falls below the expected service, customers are disappointed. If the perceived service e meets or exceeds their expectations, they are apt to use the provider again. Service provider need to identify the expectations of target customers concerning service qualities. Although greater service quality results in greater customer satisfaction, it also results in high costs. Still, investments in service usually pay off through increased customer retention and sales. 5 determinants of service quality: 1. Reliability The ability to perform the promised service dependably and accurately. 2. Responsiveness The willingness to help customers and to provide prompt service 3. Assurance The knowledge and courtesy of employees and their ability to convey trust and confidence 4. Empathy The provision of caring, individualized attention to the customer. 5. Tangibles The appearance of physical facilities, equipment, personnel and communication materials. Even though the companies have invested heavily to develop streamlined and  efficient service-delivery systems, problems will inevitably occur. However, even though the company cannot always prevent service problems, it can learn to recover from them and good service recovery can turn angry customers into loyal ones. In fact, good recovery can win more customers purchasing and loyal than if things had gone well in the first place. Therefore, companies should take steps not only to provide good service every time but also to recover from service mistakes when they do occur. The first step is to empower front-line service employees where authority, responsibility and incentives are given to the employees that they need to recognize, care about and tend to customer needs. Studies of well-managed service companies show that they share a number of common virtues regarding service quality. First they are customer obsessed. They have a distinctive strategy for satisfying customer needs that wins enduring customer loyalty. Second, they have top management commitment to quality. Management such as Ritz-Carlton looks not only at financial performance but also at service performance. Third, the best service providers set high service quality standards. They dont settle for good service, they aim at 100% defect-free service. Forth, the top service firms watch service performance closely. Both their own and competitors. They use methods such as comparison-shopping, complaints from and etc. Fifth, the service companies replaced person-to-person service interactions to self-service technologies, e.g. self-pumping at gas stations. Even though not all self-service technologies improve service quality, they have the potential of making service transactions more accurate, convenient and faster. Every company needs to think about how it might improve its services using SSTs, Sixth, excellent service companies know that positive employee attitudes will promote stronger customer loyalty. Service companies must attract the best employees they can find; they need to market a career rather than just a job. They must design a sound training program and provide support and rewards for good performance. They can use intranet, internal newsletter, daily reminders and employee roundtables to reinforce customer-centered  attitudes. It is important to audit employee job-satisfaction regularly. However, a company must be careful in training its employees to be friendly. In additional, good service companies should communicate their concerns about service quality to employees and provide performance feedback. Managing Service Productivity With the rising costs, service firms are under pressure to increase productivity. They can do so in several ways. First the company can hire and foster more skilful workers through better selection and training. Second the service firms can also increase the quantity of their service by giving up some quality, e.g. doctors working fro some HMOs have moved towards handling more patients and giving less time to each patient. Third Industrialize the Service by adding equipment and standardizing production. E.g. Macdonalds assembly-line approaches to fast food retailing, culminating in the technological hamburger. Fourth reduce or make obsolete the need for service by inventing a product solution. E.g. the wash-and-wear shirt reduced the need commercial laundries. Fifth the company can design a more effective service. E.g. The hiring of paralegal workers reduces the need for more expensive legal professionals. Sixth the company can present customers with incentives to substitute their own labor for company labor, E.g. banks have turned their customers into tellers Seventh the service provider can harness the power of technology. E.g. therapists can call up the information on hand-held computers, which pluck the data from a central computer. As a result, they can spend more time working directly with patients. However, companies must avoid pushing productivity so hard that quality is reduced. Some productivity steps help standardizes quality, increasing customer satisfaction but others might lead to over-standardization and can diminish customized service. Companies should also try to enhance the quality.

Science field trips | Teaching

Science field trips | Teaching Introduction For several years, many science concepts have been accepted and included into the curriculum, however more often than not these concepts are incorporated as a division of topics within a specific discipline. For example, specialty science courses like environmental biology, environmental chemistry, environmental physics, and environmental geology. Field trips to local spots of interest can be an educational and enlightening component of a science course. In spite of the complexity of arranging these and creating them into the course curriculum, they should be strongly measured. Plan field trips in advance so that the time is used efficiently. For example, if a visit to the local zoo is considered, give students some initial worksheets on animal behaviour while they are there. A visit to a local water resource, information about environment and flora and fauna should come first and follow the trip. Procedures for environment assessment are available from many sources, including the local department of natural resources, the local EPA office, or other professionals like the scenic rivers coordinator in your state. However the acceptance of science teachers on the use or the incorporation of science fieldtrips in the curriculum has been put in question. Some teachers are hesitant to conduct fieldtrips for various different reasons. Their attitude and behaviour towards this well accepted practice varies from training to a personal judge of their capacity. A study regarding the effect of training on urban science teachers perspective on the educational potential of science fieldtrips had been conceptualized to address the trend and its implication to the academe. Review of Literature The quality of learning that students acquire and the degree of experience that students have from their educational activities depend greatly on their teachers. The National Standards for Science Education has incorporated a detailed parameter for teachers and teacher preparation programs that will assist in advancing science literacy in their students. There are a very limited number of researches published that evaluates teachers opinions with regards to taking their students to natural environments such as museums to learn. The research proposes that teachers give importance to outside learning experiences but also report disincentives and significant institutional roadblocks that stand in their way. This review of studies and literatures will discuss how teachers are motivated by this other form of teaching environment and teaching mechanism. Insight from studies in the last thirty years as to what factors facilitate the learning experience for school field trips were discussed (Bitgood, 1989; Price Hein, 1991; Griffin, 1998). Falk and Dierking (1992) discuss perceptions that John Falk and associates have gained from their various studies involving field trips. They said that children begin a field trip with two programmes. The first programme is child-centered and focuses on what students imagine they will be doing: seeing exhibits; having fun travelling there; buying gift shop items; and having a day off from their normal school routine. The second programme communicates to the schools and museums expectations. These programmes are that they assume they will learn things and be meeting people who work at the museum. Field trips are undertaken with a particular reason. These purposes vary. Griffin (1998) did a study involving school excursions to museums in Sydney Australia, and found teachers stated disagreeing purposes for going on field trips. Some of the teachers viewed the field trip as a change of tempo for students and a social experience. Some teachers formulated learning oriented objectives pertaining to the curriculum presented to them. Griffin found that teachers explicit and implicit purposes may differ. There are teachers who wishes to incorporate social interaction and enrichment of previously discussed or presented topics therefore resolve the field trip in highly educated manner in which their knowledge and skills will be further enhanced. She suggests that teachers may react in this manner because they are uncomfortable with their capacity to manage their students in an unfamiliar environment. She feels that teachers are perhaps ignorant of, or unable to understand many of the pr inciples of learning in informal environments, such as learning through play and direct involvement with phenomena. In addition, she found that the teachers purpose for the field trip influences the students rationale for the visit. Therefore it can be said that students attitudes tend to mirror the teachers attitude (Griffin, 1998; Griffin Symington, 1980). Research studies by Gottfried (1980) and others support the idea that teachers view field trips as enrichment experiences (Gottfried, 1980; Brigham Robinson, 1992; Griffin, 1998). With this given analysis it presupposes that fieldtrips appeal to the educating world as means of escape to a usual habit or pattern. Sometimes it holds true that teachers are not sure of how to facilitate a learning environment outside the four corners of the classroom. As observed some may let the students wander off to the new environment without making any further information on what is seen and observed in the environment to where the educational fieldtrip is conducted. The author was quick to assume that teachers attitudes and motivation to adapt a science fieldtrip in the curriculum relies on their outlook of how they will perform or how prepared they are to facilitated and head the said trips. The accountability is overwhelming for teachers in the eyes of the author. In this case I presume that the author knows the essence or the importance of the teachers readiness to hold such responsibility in being motivated to include a science fieldtrip in their curriculum. Connections between Informal Science Sites and Schools In recent times, there has been a growing interest in the development of relationships between informal science sites and schools. This is conceptualized to the detection that informal education sites have the potential to offer more than a one-time field trip to teachers and students. According to Ramey-Gassert (1997), science fieldtrips has many potential benefits. These include improving motivation and attitudes, interactive participation, and fostering curiosity. In itself this may be reason enough for teachers to be interested in promoting connections between schools and informal education sites. In a sense, fieldtrips may encourage students to actively take part in the study. In fact the application of what is taught at school may be seen and experienced firsthand during fieldtrips. Having done so, teachers may use this to stir students curiosity and further encourage them to find means to improve or develop what they have seen. Technology is best taught if the application is seen and viewed by the students. Michie (1998) found that the environment of informal science learning, which incorporated features such as voluntary, unstructured, non-assessed, open-ended, and learner-centered (p. 248) led to heightened student interest. This open-ended learning experience can also have optimistic effects on how students feel about science learning. (Gottfried, 1980). While the most beneficial facet of informal science learning may be the often incalculable notions of appreciation and motivation for further learning, researchers have also reported gains in content knowledge by students (Gottfried, 1980; Fiso, 1982; Munley, 1991). The freedom to manipulate, operate and explore the learning environment makes learning highly conducive and interesting. This attitude may be encouraged to further stress a point or a concept. Teachers may utilize this to explore the students perception and opinion regarding a particular topic. Teachers may very well plan a curriculum under which interactive participation may be facilitated. Most importantly, informal science sites can offer teachers and students something which they often cannot experience in the formal classroom. Mullins (1998) illustrates the experience this way: it is precisely because informal science sites are informal learning settings, where attendance is voluntary. In an informal science sites, the visitor is at liberty to wander at will, taking in things that connect to previous knowledge and experience, and discovering new ideas with pleasure (p.42). The appeal of fieldtrips to students is not confound to it being compulsory and rigid. In fact as previously mentioned the idea that this environment is less strict and more open has its appeal to students more and more interesting. However, before teachers aspire to make schools more like an informal science sites, it is important to understand the inherent differences between schools and informal science sites. Despite doing a similar activity as with the classroom as students in an informal environment, there are important disparities between the assumptions that are made as the teaching/learning is taking place. Informal learning stands separately from school learning in that it is free-choice, non-sequential, self-paced, and voluntary. The formal education system was not designed in this way. Schools are designed to teach students so that they are equipped to function successfully in society. The learning requirements are set as standards that all students are expected to learn. The teaching and learning that most often occurs in schools involves obligatory learning in which learning is focused by a programmed set of requirements imposed externally by a forced authority (Falk, 2001). Unfortunately, as Falk and Dierking (1992) point out, learning has become tantamount with the words education and school where learning is perceived as primarily the attainment of new ideas, facts, or information, rather than the consolidation and slow, incremental growth of existing ideas and information (p. 98). Recognizing these disparities is vital to understanding how each approach and their associated fundamental assumptions are part of the whole learning experience for students and teachers. Instead of trying to make one institution be like the other, a suitable approach may be to recognize the strengths of both informal sciences sites and schools and to bring those resources together to better serve both teachers and students. Anderson (2004) points out that the informal and formal education communities are pursuing the same goal of educating the public even if it originates from different assumptions and inherent qualities. One way that informal science sites can contribute to this objective is by helping teachers to gain assurance in teaching science. Science teaching assurance, or science teaching self-efficacy, is an essential component of effective science teaching. Teacher effectiveness has been found to be one of the most important factors influencing teachers work (Bitgood, 1993; Lessow, 1990) and is an important factor in teacher motivation. Horizon Research, Inc. (2001a) reported that long-term association with an informal science sites can begin to shift a teachers confidence in science teaching. For example, one teacher in their study reports, This museum has done a lot for the individual teacher. I think many of us have undergone a long-term change in our teaching style, and are more confiden t and comfortable in a student-centered teaching approach (p.16). Price and Hein (1991) assures that gains in science assurance and enthusiasm by elementary school teachers after they were engaged in collaborative projects with an informal science sites. According to a national survey which appeared in 2001, only approximately 25 percent of elementary teachers feel they are well qualified to teach science (Horizon Research, 2001a). Furthermore, teachers will normally avoid situations where they qualm their ability to perform successfully. Improving elementary teachers science teaching confidence is therefore an imperative factor in the development of science education. As results of this recognition of the advantages of informal science learning, an increasing number of universities are collaborating with informal science sites in preparing their future teachers. Muse, et.al (1982) describes the many benefits includes the chance to work with children of different ages and backgrounds, the chance to work with other teachers, the chance to practice good science teaching and gain assurance, and the knowledge of science teaching resources. Across all of these partnerships, the specific strengths of the informal sites are acknowledgement and brought into the training of future teachers. As suggested by a university professor, in addition to the benefits of a unique kind of teaching and learning that occurs in informal environments, research also advocates teachers can benefit from the resources and programs offered by informal science sites. This can include interactive exhibits, educational materials and science equipment that many teachers and school districts cannot afford or do not have access to in school (Rennie, 1995). Teachers who not using Informal Science Horizon Research Inc. (2001a) established that there is nearly one informal science education institution for every 1,000 elementary school teachers in the United States. Yet these institutions serve only 10 percent of all U.S. teachers teaching science. While there has been a changing focus to heightened the numbers of these relationships with teachers, many teachers do not seem to be using museum resources in partnering ways where unambiguous links are made to classroom curricula and teachers return for additional assistance and partnership as needed throughout the school year. The literature on this subject revolves around the assumption that using informal science actually pertains to taking field trips. These studies do not openly concentrate on those teachers who continually use informal science sites in many different ways. Nonetheless, these studies show why teachers may not be as likely to take their students on field trips as other teachers. Explanations for why teachers are not taking field trips can be arranged into several categories. Logistics: transportation coordination and cost (Lessow, 1990; Michie, 1998; Price and Hein, 1991), safety concerns (Michie, 1998); and student misbehaviour and large class size (Fido and Gayford, 1982; Lessow, 1990; Price and Hein, 1991) External Support System: a lack of support from the government who see the field trip as a vacation (Michie, 1998; Mullins, 1998; Price and Hein, 1991); and a lack of support from other teachers who are uncomfortable with new experiences and getting out of the classroom (Michie, 1998; Mullins, 1998) Personal Motivation: such as fear of failure (Mullins, 1998), lack of energy and time (Lessow, 1990; Michie, 1998; Mullins, 1998; Price and Hein, 1991) low interest (Mullins, 1998); and lack of personal knowledge of and positive experiences with informal science sites (Fido and Gayford, 1982; Michie, 1998) Availability of Resources: inadequate choice of informal science sites (Michie, 1998) Orion (1993) points out that many of the complications involved in linking informal science institutions and the formal education system can be addressed to differences in size, orientation, and mission. Informal science sites tend to be smaller than school systems, are profit oriented and are mostly private. Ramey-Gasset (1996) asserts that these obvious differences can make associations very difficult to attain. While both classroom teachers and informal science sites educators have the similar Objectives of educating students, they approach it from very different outlooks. Schools and informal science sites have not viewed themselves as equal partners; asserting that each feels that they are performing different things in terms of science education, and one does not necessarily complement the other. There is also a common view of informal science educators as pseudo-educators. Claiming that museum educators practice some of the best teaching in a community may not be entirely correct and may overestimate the teaching proficiency of these teachers (Munley, 1991, p. 14). While many informal science sites educators are superior teachers, many do not have the experience or training to serve as model teachers. For this truth, many school administrators and teachers may not view the informal community as a competent partner in science education. However, this may change. Creating standards for informal science educators has the impending to positively impact future partnership between the informal science community and schools. Factors Influencing Teachers to take Field Trips The focal point of this research is on teachers who use the resources of informal science on a regular basis. This subject appears to be focused on the actual field trip and not on using informal science resources in different ways and on a regular basis. There are numerous studies that address this concern of the factors influencing teachers to take field trips. Lessow (1990) surveyed 585 teachers on their use of informal science and used quantitative analysis to settle on the possible correlations between teacher quality and use of informal science. Some of his major findings were that teachers took more field trips when they had taken personal trips to a particular site felt that their students gained either cognitively or affectively. Lessow (1990) did not find that those teachers who assumed having a science related hobby, read science journals or attended more professional development took more field trips. And those teachers with more experience teaching also did not take more trips than other teachers. While this study had some interesting findings, it did not disclose the nature of these trips or teachers personal thoughts on taking them. While Lessow (1990) addressed the efficiency of the field trips, this was determined primarily through survey answers and focused around the use of pre-visit and post-visit activities. Therefore, ho w these teachers used these sites was not revealed. Michie (1998) interviewed 28 secondary science teachers in Australia to determine the influences on them to organize and conduct field trips. It was found that teachers who took field trips wanted to give students hands-on, real life experiences which they could not have in the classroom. He also said that while there was some perplexity on the usefulness of field trips, most teachers accepted the cognitive gains associated with the trips. There were some teachers who commented on the emotional values. In addition, six more experienced teachers elementary teacher to college professors were chosen for follow-up interviews. These expert teachers reported that they conducted field trips for three reasons. The first was because of the positive benefits they and their students receive in reference to the relationships that developed among students, between students and teachers, and between students and informal educators. Mullins (1998) reported that these relationships raised confidence , invigorated lives and enhanced their questioning and learning (Mullins, 1998, p. 165). The second reason these teachers chose to take these outdoor trips was that they acknowledged that their thinking on how learning takes place had changed after engaging in these environmentally based trips. They realized the worth of interactive learning and project-based learning where the students were involved in real-life projects. The third reason was simply because of the experiential benefits. They said that nature taught them how to teach; and that observing students attach with nature was their main purpose for having field trips. This study also reported that most of the experienced teachers all had positive field experiences as children. While the literature concerning the factors motivating teachers to take field trips is informative, there is the absence of a clear picture of teachers who choose to frequently use the resources of informal science. Further, at a time when the majority of elementary teachers do not feel well-equipped and credible to teach science and are teaching less science (Horizon Research, 2001a), hearing from those elementary teachers that do feel confident in their ability to teach science and incorporate informal science in their teaching can inform this issue. While many teachers will take their students on at least one field trip during the year, fewer will lead effective field trips where students gain both cognitively and affectively. Many teachers will use it as a form of leisure or will not amalgamate it into their curriculum (Lessow, 1990). Support for Using Informal Science Realizing how and why these teachers continually use informal science was the focal point of this study. And directly related to this is the support they receive for using informal science. An important result of this study is that the existence of support is indispensable to whether these teachers use the resources of informal science for the gain of their students. However, it is paramount that they have support. This can have significant effects on less experienced teachers. Mullins (1998) found that a teacher support system, either from peers or administrators, makes the distinction in whether a novice teacher chooses to pursue informal science opportunities. A large portion of the required assistance for using informal science is budget. This is especially the case for taking students on field trips which is the primary way in which these teachers and most other teachers tend to use informal science (Inverness Research Associates, 1995). The cost will be used for transportation and money for entrance fees. A school (or most often, the school district) allots a certain amount of field trips based on priorities and what can be afforded. These costs can be huge obstructions to teachers use of informal science. Teachers identified transportation costs as a major limiting factor to using informal science in studies by Lessow (1990) and Michie (1998). These two studies focused on teachers who did not necessarily use informal science on a regular basis. The teachers in those studies were accompanying their grade level on their allotted yearly field trips. The teachers do not directly refer to money as a limiting factor. Kaspar (1998), in his survey of administrators and teachers in regards to the use of informal science, also found that more experienced teachers did not list administrative tasks and logistics as obstacles. The teachers are experts at navigating these barriers. While funding is always important to their use of informal science, these teachers talk more about the basis of the funding. Based on the teachers stories, they are more concerned with the emotional support they receive from these sources. This importance of administrator support is reflected in Mullins (1998) study where a lack of support by the school administration was one of the most frequently mentioned obstacles to taking field trips. This is further supported in a statement made by an experienced teacher who uses informal science regularly in her teaching. Those teachers have to somehow have an administration that understands that a field trip is not just kids getting away from school; its not a play day. The administration has to understand that it is an extension of the classroom. Five hours on a field trip can be worth far more than five hours in the classroom. Administrations and school boards have to be able to see how field trips can positively impact grades and see that its okay to be different (Mullins, 1998, p. 134). Further, administrative support has been described as being extremely important to teachers ability to effectively teach science (Ramey-Gassert et al., 1996). District and state current policy on science education likely affects some teachers use of informal science. This is especially true for Betty, who expresses how the de-emphasis on science and focus on passing the state standardized tests has hindered her teaching of science and use of informal science. None of the other teachers expressed this same sort of frustration. Teaching at a school in a low-income area where passing the tests was of major concern was likely an important factor. While Greg also teaches in a high-poverty school, he is somewhat protected due to his district-approved and specially funded science-focused classroom. Without administrative support of some kind, even a highly motivated teacher will find it difficult to do the things he/she would like to do with students in science inside or outside of the clas sroom. Administrative support is narrated as a motivating factor in these teachers ability to use the resources of informal science although to different degrees among them. A teacher in a small school in a large district relies heavily on principal support, while another in a large school in a smaller district relies mainly on district level support. Administrative support is likely to be especially significant for teachers in low-income areas. Without district support of non-profit program, most teachers would have difficulty involving their class in such an extensive off-campus project with an informal science site. The success of that program has largely been due to the collaborative nature of its beginnings and the community encouragement it has received. While the fact that most teachers do not discuss it does not mean that it has not been an essential factor, it is a factor that they may have taken for granted. This is the case in the higher-income schools where there tends to be mo re parent support for these trips and projects especially in terms of funding. Parents, in turn, are able to financially support these projects and trips and since many mothers work at home, they can act as chaperones. Surprisingly, there is little in the discussions on the importance of parent support in teachers use of informal community resources. The studies of teachers use of informal science tend to focus more specifically on the field trip and not the teachers themselves (e.g. Lessow, 1991; Michie, 1998; Mullins, 1998). Further, those studies focus on either experienced science teachers from all levels of education (Mullins, 1998) or on more typical teachers on a grade level field trip (Lessow, 1991; Michie, 1998). Yet, parent support was found to be a significant authority on all of the teachers in this study. Teachers realize the significant role that parents play in making that possible. When parents are not able to pinch as much due to financial limitations or work schedules, those teachers rely more heavily on administrative and outside support and must try harder to provide informal science experiences for their students. Because the teachers in this study are often responsible for planning the field trips for their grade level, many of them express frustration at the negative attitudes of other teachers towards project involvement and science in general. On a finding supported by Michie (1998), it shows that teachers reported some resentment from other teachers if they took students on field trips. However, in Michies study, the students were in secondary school. The teachers protested because students were taken out of class or were late for another class. The teachers in this study are experienced, science-oriented, curious teachers. And unfortunately, they are not the standard in the mentoring profession. They are more like the teachers in Mullins (1998) study, even though those teachers were mostly secondary-level teachers and college professors. They were clearly passionate about teaching science. Mullins (1998) found that the more experienced teachers reported fear within the teacher to be the most significant obstacle to teachers implementing field trips. One teacher said, Its just not familiar. Teachers need someone because most of them are troubled by the idea that they are in fact clueless as to what may transpire during fieldtrips. Youre likely to do things the way youve always done them unless you have some good reason to do something differentlike if there is a real good program and someone suggests field trips and they take teachers out and then teachers say, Oh, thats not so hard, I can do this. Teachers want to; they just dont know what to do because we do so little of this in our teacher training programs (Mullins, 1998, p. 136). While the teachers in this study have ultimately been responsible for their choice to use informal science in their teaching, they are the first to admit that it has required plenty of support financial, logistical and emotional. All of these teachers claimed to require support to use informal science. It is not something they can easily do on their own. These teachers are excellent at navigating the barriers in terms of their use of informal science whether it is simply rallying parent support despite a lack of funds, holding bake sales, or finding ways to bring informal science into their classroom. And if these teachers, who are clearly exemplary science teachers, require support and encouragement, then it is likely that other teachers need even more encouragement in using informal science. As mentioned earlier, the average elementary teacher is likely to feel apprehensive about teaching science, and will lack the confidence needed to seek out informal science opportunities. The exceptional teachers in this study often found this on their own it was the emotional support that they needed in order to continue the pursuit of their science teaching goals. Based on my interpretations, providing more support for teachers in using informal science is a logical place to begin to focus energy so that more teachers are likely to look to these community resources. Highlights of the Teachers Attitudes towards Conducting Science Field Trips Field trips can be referred as one of the three ways through which science can be taught through formal classroom teaching, practical work and field trips. In the United States teachers tend to use the term field trip instead of excursion. There have been a number of challenges to define field trips. The definition used in most the researches is taken from Krepel and Duvall (1981): a trip arranged by the school and undertaken for educational purposes, in which the students go to places where the materials of instruction may be observed and studied directly in their functional setting: for example, a trip to a factory, a city waterworks, a library, a museum etc. (p. 7). The use of the term field work emphasizes some of the formal exercises which are conducted outside of the classroom, usually in biology and geology at senior high school and tertiary levels. These activities may be referred to be a subset of field trips or excursions. Much of the literature start off from museums and science centers, other noted venues such as zoos, aquariums, planetariums and field study or nature centers (see reviews such as Falk Dierking, 1992; Ramey-Gassert, Walberg Walberg, 1994; Rennie McClafferty, 1995, 1996). It often relates a range of effects on visitors, rather than students per se, Quantitative studies of the attitudes of teachers towards field trips were done and facilitated by Falk and Balling (1979), Fido and Gayford (1982) and Muse, Chiarelott and Davidman (1982). The researchers found that, in the opinion of teachers, the positive benefits derived from field trips were Ha

Evolution Vs. Creationism Essay -- Environmental Compare Contrast Essa

Evolution vs. Creationism Abstract In the history of science vs. religion there have been no issues more intensely debated than evolution vs. creationism. The issue is passionately debated since the majority of evidence is in favor of evolution, but the creation point of view can never be proved wrong because of religious belief. Human creation breaks down into three simple beliefs; creation theory, naturalistic evolution theory, and theistic evolution theory. The complexities of all three sides create a dilemma for what theory to support among all people, religious and non-religious. Evolution vs. Creationism The theories of human evolution may always cause a heated dispute. Each theory presents its own evidence proving its acceptance, but lacks enough evidence to prove the other theories incorrect. All the theories that attempt to explain human existence fall under the categories of creation theory, naturalistic evolution theory, and the theistic evolution theory. The creation theory explains that a certain God created the humans, and evolution does not exist. The naturalistic evolution theory states that evolution is driven by purely natural forces, and is not controlled by any input from a god, goddess, or multiple deities. The theistic evolution is a mixture of both creation and naturalistic theories. The theistic evolution theory states that god created the world and guides the evolution process (Religious Tolerance, 2004). The information presented in evolution studies must be viewed with an open mind since there is no definite proof or law of evolution. The dilemma boils down to science vs. religion. God has been our creator since beginning of time, but the discoveries of recent science are sudde... ...ive as long as religion. Evolution vs. creationism is in fact science vs. religion, and no theory will ever be unanimously accepted until religion or science is eliminated. Evolution vs. creationism is a controversy that may never be solved. References Steen, Francis. (2001, March 25). Evolutionary Theory. Retrieved November 30, 2004, from <a href="http://cogweb.ucla.edu/ep/Evolution.html">http://cogweb.ucla.edu/ep/Evolution.html</a> Religious Tolerance. (2004). Evolution. Retrieved November 30, 2004, from <a href="http://www.religioustolerance.org/evolutio.htm">http://www.religioustolerance.org/evolutio.htm</a> Stewart, Ian. (2003). How the Species Became. New Science, Vol. 180, Iss. 2416, 32. Monastersky, Richard. (2004). Society Disowns Paper Attacking Darwinism. The Chronicle of Higher Education, Vol. 51, Iss. 5, A.16.

The Boomerang Effect in our Modern Times Essay examples -- Foreign Pol

The Boomerang Effect in our Modern Times Reason, I sacrifice you to the evening breeze. Aime Cesaire    I agree with the assertion that Aime Cesaire  made on  Discourse on Colonialism  that the process of colonialism inflicts a â€Å"boomerang effect† on the colonizer. It is important to determine that colonialism is defined as â€Å"a practice of domination, which involves the subjugation of one people to another...† by the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Aime Cesaire prefers to define colonization as what is not: †¦neither evangelization, nor a philanthropic enterprise, nor a desire to push back the frontiers of ignorance, disease, and tyranny, nor a project undertaken for the greater glory of God, nor an attempt to extend the rule of law.(32) Cesaire’s words are aware of the European voices that excuse the horrors of colonialism behind the lie of bringing civilization to the savages. But colonizers didn’t know that they were planting the seeds of hate, the roots for fantastic tales about superior races and skin colors. Inevitable, the colonizers found themselves oppressed by the same savagery that they had tolerated during the colony. Historically, the process of colonization was almost the same for any region since the discovery of the so-called New World in 1492. The king sends an ambassador to the new territory. The ambassador negotiates with local powers and other foreign power the borders of the new colony and establishes a central office as the new administrative power. This new office was in charge of the caudation of taxes, managing the army and giving justice. After some years the foreign power absorbs local powers thanks to its technological and military advances. The process to achieve domination is characteristic by ... ...ith the â€Å"creativity† of the â€Å"ocuppys†, and the city said that in general there were not incidents to report, more than 200 people spend the night in jail just to think different. The brutality that U.S. accused the Taliban to promote now is promoted by this country. The boomerang is coming back. Bibliography A Poetics of Anticolonialism. Robin D.G, Kelley. Monthly Review Press. New York: 2000. Book. Aimà © Cà ©saire."  London Independent  (19 Apr. 2008): 46. Rpt. in  Contemporary Literary Criticism. Ed. Jeffrey W. Hunter. Vol. 280. Detroit: Gale, 2010.  Literature Resource Center. Web. 6 Mar. 2012. Contemporary Literary Criticism.  Ed. Jeffrey W. Hunter and Deborah A. Schmitt. Vol. 112. Detroit: Gale Group, 1999.  From  Literature Resource Center. Discourse on Colonialism. Aime Cesaire. Monthly Review Press. New York: 2000. Book.

Fossil Gaps Essay examples -- Geology Evolution Essays Biology

Fossil Gaps â€Å"The study of fossils provides strong evidence for evolution.† (Campbell, 260) Or does it? The fact is that the fossil record is a silent testimony against Darwin’s erroneous theories of the fossil record documenting his idea of macroevolution. The book, Biology: Concepts and Connections (hereafter referred to as Biology), clearly agrees with the evolutionary outlook of â€Å"fossils [being] a rich source of evidence for evolution.† (Campbell, 260) However, this book, along with most evolutionists, avoids the substantial questions the fossil record actually represents. In the rock layers of the earth, scientists have found many fossils (preserved traces of plants and animals). According to evolutionary paleontologists (scientists studying fossil remains), the history of this world is recorded in the rocks that make up the earth’s crust and the fossils that they contain. Evolutionists claim that these rocks have been forming, wearing away, and reforming since the world began. (Halbach, 387) Although Biology often overlooks the criteria arguing against evolution, it still contains the gaps that the evolutionary theory possesses. Among these gaps are the arguments against the fossil record – circular reasoning, reversed geological columns, polystrate fossils, sediment accumulation, inconclusive physical evidence, and lack of transitional fossils. A scientist named Gliedman gives an excellent summary reflecting upon the latter dispute: â€Å"No fossil or other physical evidence directly connects man to ape.... The problem for gradualists [those who support gradual evolution or orthodox Darwinian evolution] is that... these ancestral species remain essentially unchanged throughout their ‘million-year life spans’, yet each of them differs substantially from its immediate predecessor.† (Glideman, 90-91) Biology holds the evolutionary view of older fossils deep in the strata are those of the primitive evolving organisms. The youngest rocks, which are on the topmost strata of the earth’s crust, are supposed to contain fossils of organisms which have more recently evolved – and therefore are similar to organisms alive today. Geologists and paleontologists have devised a geological time chart to show what they assume to be the evolutionary outline of the earth’s history. According to this time scale, the earth’s history can be divided into eras; each ... ...ry tales with facts. It is true that evolution has been mixed with science for the last thirty years, but that does not mean that it is the same as science – it is simply another scientific theory. Bibliography 1. Baker, Sylvia. Bone of Contention: Is Evolution true? USA: Presbyterian & Reformed Publishing Company, 1996. 2. Campbell, Neil A., Lawrence G. Mitchlell, and Jane B. Reece. Biology: Concepts and Connections, Third ed. Canada: Addison Wesley Longman, Inc., 1994. 3. Darwin, Charles. The Origin of Species. New York: Princeton University Press, 1962. 4. Gliedman, John. â€Å"Mutations.† Science Digest. New York: Hafner, 1982. 5. Hakbach, John. Science: Order and Reality. USA: A Beka Book Publications, 1995. 6. McLean, G. S.; McLean, Larry; Oakland, Roger. The Bible Key to Understanding the Early Earth. Oklahoma City, Oklahoma: Southwest Radio Church, 1987. 7. Morris, Henry M. Scientific Creationism. El Cajon, California: Master Books, April 1985. 8. Schuchert, Charles. A TextBook of Geology. London: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1995. 9. Stanley, Steven M. "Fossil." World Book Online. America’s Ed., Worldbookonline.com. Chicago: World Book, Inc., 2002.

“Of Mice and Men” By John Steinbeck †Coursework Essay

â€Å"Of Mice and Men† was set in the 1930’s in North California. This was a time of economic hardship due to the Wall Street Crash. Men were forced to leave their families and find work on ranches. Pay and working conditions were poor. Men scraped by, spending any extra money they had gambling or in one of the many whore houses. This is where Steinbeck drew his inspiration from; he spent time on the ranches experiencing the hardships experienced by the workers. The book is about these workers and the extremely lonely lives they led. It also exposes underlying themes of racism and how badly the disabled were treated. This was a time when people looked after number one, as there was nobody else to do this for them. The two main characters are somewhat different, as they travel and work together, looking out for each other. This was very unusual because life would have been hard enough without the extra responsibility of looking after another person. The two main characters have just been evicted from their work in a town called â€Å"Soledad† (which means loneliness). They are the only people in the book whose names Christian names are actually used. It shows that nobody makes the effort to make friends enough to be on first name terms. This is symbolic of the loneliness of each of the characters and shows how unusual the two main characters are. The two main characters are called George ands Lennie. There is very little information about them in the book. They work for their keep on the ranches. Lennie is slightly brain damaged and has a very limited memory. He is an enormous man and Steinbeck often compares his actions with those of a large, clumsy animal using similes and metaphors: â€Å"Dragging his feet a little, the way a bear drags his paws.† These are intended to subtly give the reader the impression that Lennie is big and clumsy, like an animal that does not know its own strength; â€Å"Lennie dabbled his big paw in the water.† George is exactly the opposite of Lennie. He is small, dark and quick, and is cautious about his surroundings; â€Å"The small man stepped nervously†¦Ã¢â‚¬  George is always on the look out and he knows how to look after himself. The town they had just come from was called â€Å"Weed† which could signify that they were unwanted, like a weed, there: they were forced out of there because Lennie made a mistake. He had grabbed a woman and she said that he had raped her. George is very much the dominant figure in the relationship and makes all the decisions. At the very start you can tell this because Lennie copies George in the way he looks and acts; â€Å"Lennie, who had been watching imitated George exactly.† This suggests that Lennie looks up to George and wants to be j ust like him. This is quite sad really as he has ended up nothing like him. Lennie hates to make George angry, like a dog that hates to make his master angry. George feels responsible for Lennie. He is like a father figure to him, and he knows that Lennie would never be able to survive without him. He feels a sense of duty because â€Å"Aunt Clara† told him to look after Lennie. The other reason they travel together is George, though he doesn’t like to admit it, enjoys Lennie’s company and he doesn’t want to let go of the â€Å"American Dream†. They share the dream of owning their own place with a few animals; â€Å"livin’ off the fatta’ the lan'†. George knows it is very unlikely to happen but Lennie still believes and always likes to hear the story of â€Å"how it’s gonna be†. This is painful for George and he is reluctant to talk about it. You can tell it is important to Lennie because he forgets anything he is told but he re members the dream. George and Lennie are always dreaming of the future. When George and Lennie arrive on the ranch, the ranch hands and the boss are suspicious of their relationship. They suspect that George is taking Lennie’s stake for himself; â€Å"I said what stake you got in this guy? You takin’ his pay away from him?† They cannot see why someone else would travel with someone who would restrict them unless they were getting paid. They are lonelier than George and Lennie, and have no real concept of friendship. Despite having Lennie as a companion, George is also lonely. He is alone in his responsibility for Lennie. In a way it is more like speaking to an animal than a human when speaking to Lennie because George knows that whatever he says to him will be forgotten and mean nothing. From the very beginning we get a hint of this by the way Lennie is made to seem more like a responsibility than a friend to George. Lennie is made to seen like an animal, â€Å"like a terrier that doesn’t want to bring his ball back to his master†, maybe signifying that he is like a pet that always needs looking after. Steinbeck also uses George playing solitaire as a metaphor for his loneliness; â€Å"George cut the cards again and put out a solitaire lay, slowly and deliberately.† George lays the cards out like he has done it many time’ before. Solitaire is a single player game (and solitaire is derived from solitary), this shows that Lennie is not capable of acting like an adult and so George must play on his own. George is held from having his own life by the responsibility of caring for Lennie. He continuously tells Lennie how life would be without him; how he could have a girl and a decent job: â€Å"God a’mighty, if I was alone I could live so easy† The truth though, is that George would be even lonely without Lennie. It is ironic at the end of the book that George should be so upset by the death of Lennie, because then he realizes that he will have to spend all the rest if his time alone. You never know what you have until it is gone. One of the ranch workers, Candy, features heavily in the book. He tries to join the friendship of George and Lennie. Candy is extremely lonely. He has been working on the ranch for many years and due to his disability. He is unable to leave because he knows that no other employer would take him on. The only reason he has got work now, is that he suffered the injury to his hand on the ranch. He has seen many men come and go but he cannot move on. Candy knows he will probably die on the ranch. Candy is very talkative because he is so eager to make friends. He warms to this gossip because he on his own when all the workers are in the fields. As soon as he meets George and Lennie he engages them in conversation, hardly letting them speak. He lets out all the opinions, about Curley and his wife and the other ranch hands that he has formed and never had anybody to tell them to. In fact the only sort of a friend he has is an old dog. The dog is old, has no teeth and it stinks. The dog is used to symbolise Candy: old and useless. The dog is also used as a foreshadowing device for Lennie’s death. When Carlson tells him that he should kill the dog he tries to stop him by making up excuses: â€Å"Maybe it’d hurt him,† and tries to put the inevitable off; wants to spend just one more day with the dog by killing it in the morning. The only reason Candy had left to live was the dog so in a way Carlson killed a part of him. The dog is also used as a second foreshadowing device for what George has to do to Lennie in the conclusion of the book. Lennie, unlike the dog, however will be killed by the only person he trusts in the world. This will come from the pressure of other people. In the early 20th Century, blacks were heavily persecuted because of their colour. The stable buck is called Crooks and is discriminated because he is a black; â€Å"S’pose you couldn’t go into the bunkhouse and place rummy ’cause you were blackà ¢â‚¬ . He is kept apart from the other ranch hands because of his race. He is very nervous when Lennie enters his room. This is because crooks has his own living space away from the other men. The only people he sees are probably going to insult or hurt him so he is immediately on guard when someone comes in to his room. He is also discriminated against because of his crippled back, which means that he can’t work in the fields like the other men. Crooks reveals his past to Lennie in his barn. The irony that his father used to own his own ranch and once he used to lead a comfortable life must be extremely painful for him to relive when he thinks about his present lonely self. That is probably why he is so bitter towards the other men who are treating him so harshly. Crooks is always dreaming of the past; â€Å"Remember when I was a little kid on old man’s chicken ranch.† The other men would probably dream of having their own space but Crooks is so lonely he would rather be with other people; â€Å"A guy needs somebody to be near him.† All Crooks has for company is a small collection of books that he reads over and over again. It must be very lonely being on your own all the time when he thinks about what it had been like when he owned his own ranch. Sometimes he almost goes crazy with loneliness; â€Å"Maybe if he sees somethin’, he don’t know whether it’s right or not. He can’t turn to the other guy and ast him if he sees it too,† He is only admitting this because he knows that Lennie is not listening, and even if he was, he couldn’t remember and repeat what was being said anyway. Crooks is proud and doesn’t want to admit that he is lonely or that the men are getting to him by calling him names and abusing him, â€Å"If I say something, why it’s just a nigger saying it.† When someone calls somebody something enough times a person will start to absorb the names and start to believe that there is some truth to what the person is saying about them. Crooks is treated like an animal. One Christmas time they â€Å"let† him into the bunkhouse and made him fight. The word â€Å"let† is used like letting an animal in for a treat. He then leaves after his fight, for his own room. The men just use him as entertainment. His life is always under threat because he means nothing them. Curley’s wife plays a very prominent role in the book as she brings the death of Lennie and herself. She is not given a name through the whole book. This signifies how little everyone thinks of her. She is referred to as â€Å"jail bait† and â€Å"slut† by all the ranch hands. This is due to the manner she has adopted to befriend the men. She constantly flirts with any man she meets and being pretty at the same time, she is bound to get herself into some sort of trouble. She acts like this because she is lonely and it is her way of attracting attention to herself. The problem is that all the workers are afraid to talk to her because they fear what Curley would do to them if they did. Curley is always looking for a fight to show how much of man he is. If he got just the faint scent of her cheating on him he would fight. Nobody want to get on the wrong side of Curley because they know he is a good boxer and because he is the boss’s son he can probably get anyone â€Å"canned† if he wants, In reality, Curley’s wife doesn’t actually like Curley and even admits to Lennie: â€Å"I don’t like Curley.† She married him to show her mother that she could be independent and to get back at her for the letter that could have been her big break that she thinks her mother stole. Curley’s wife is dreaming of what could have been, how she could have been in the movies and what a lifestyle she could have had. The marriage between Curley and Curley’s wife is not based on love but on sexual attraction Curley’s wife is also very lonely, that is why she is always skulking around the bunkhouse with the men. She needs someone to talk to; She uses the excuse that she is looking for her husband. In the end her loneliness is the end of her when she tries to talk to Lennie (much the same way as Crooks let out his thoughts to him). The climax of the book starts in the barn. The scene begins with Lennie worrying about his puppy which he has just killed accidentally. Curley’s wife enters, as usual looking for someone to talk to. She begins telling Lennie her life story. All through the book she has been portrayed as a spiteful woman; â€Å"foolin’ around with other guys, causin’ trouble.†, but here her true character comes out. Lennie ends up telling her about his love for soft things so she lets him stroke her hair. The other men can resist her charms but Lennie is not clever enough to know. Lennie strokes it a bit too vigorously and her panic affects Lennie. He breaks her neck by accident, then thinks that if he hides the puppy, which is used as a foreshadowing device to Curley’s wife’s death George will be more likely to let him tend his precious rabbits. This is sad and ironic, as Lennie cannot grasp the enormity of the thing he has just done. Curley’s wife seemed peaceful after her death; â€Å"the ache for attention were gone from her face.† She was realised from her prison on the ranch and was now free and happy. When George hears, he despairs, for Lennie has ended their chance of achieving the impossible â€Å"American Dream†. One of the themes of this book is certainly loneliness. The people are segregated into groups. Age, disabilities, race and sex separate many people. Also the time of economic hardship forced men to look after number one. It made it very hard for the men to form friendships as they have very few responsibilities. The book is about the unusual friendship of George and Lennie who have nothing in common with each other apart from they share the American Dream. That is all that keeps them going. It is extremely sad when George is forced to kill Lennie because he was all that George had left. It was ironic because George had always spoken about what life would be like without Lennie; how he could be free. Now he had his wish he was devastated that he had had to kill the only friend that he had in the world.

A History Of Ethnical Convergence History Essay

Many archeologists, scientists, and bookmans agree that earliest beginnings of world semen from Africa. Strong, disordering currents, a deficiency of natural seaports, and wild seasonal conditions environing South Africa made the undertaking of voyaging its seashore rather hard for sea fairing civilisations ; this besides left the country mostly in isolation from the remainder of the universe. The people of South Africa lived in typical groups and countries and with different life styles, but many of them shared similar linguistic communications and agencies of endurance. When Europeans arrived and settled in South Africa, its one time isolated and limited cultural population was all of the sudden opened up to wholly different races of people. The cultural populations and civilizations of South Africa have changed dramatically throughout history, particularly because of the influence of European colony. Homosexual sapiens, modern worlds, have lived in the Southern Africa for around one hundred millenary. By the clip â€Å" of the Christian epoch, human communities had lived in Southern Africa by runing, fishing, and roll uping comestible workss for many 1000s of old ages † ( Thompson 6 ) . These people were the Khoikhoi and San. Together, they were known as the Khoisan, but they were separate and typical people groups. They lived and survived by distinguishable yet blended life styles. Populating in the most waterless of countries, the San survived by taking advantage of their milieus and lived as hunter-gatherers. Their communities and lives were based around their mobility as they had to travel continuously throughout the twelvemonth to happen nutrient. They took with them merely what they could transport and care for. Often, seniors were left behind when they could no longer care for themselves, and babes and other kids were killed because there was small to care for them with ( Thompson 9 ) . To the West of the South Africa ‘s 20 inch rainfall line, the Khoikhoi were crowding sheep and cowss where they could happen and claim equal croping countries. They were similar to the hunter-gatherers genetically and in the fact that their lives, excessively, were based around mobility. To the E of the 20 inch rainfall line, people lived as assorted husbandmans. They herded sheep and cowss but besides grew harvests. They lived in more lasting small towns during the twelvemonth and had a stronger, more complex political system than that of the Khoikhoi or the San. They spoke the Bantu linguistic communication and â€Å" were the ascendants of the bulk of dwellers of contemporary Southern Africa † ( Thompson 10 ) . When Europeans began to research and topographic point bases in the country, they knew the hunter-gatherers as Bushmen, the Herders as Hottentots, and the assorted husbandmans as Kaffirs ( Thompson 10 ) . Throughout the 15 century, Lusitanian seamans were researching farther and further along the western seashore of Africa. In 1487, Bartholomeu Dias ‘ led an expedition of two caravels, little Portuguese seafaring vass, and rounded the Cape peninsula in the thick of a storm ; they so traveled another three hundred and 40 stat mis along the southern seashore before sailing back to Lisbon. Ten old ages subsequently, Vasco de Gama led a two twelvemonth Lusitanian expedition that rounded the Cape, sailed along the eastern coastline to Malindi ( now known as Mombasa ) , and so crossed the Indian Ocean to Calicut, India. He returned place with lone two of his four ships ( Thompson 31 ) . Throughout the 16th century, the Lusitanian authorities sent one-year fleets around the Cape of Good Hope into the Indian Ocean and destroyed the Arab transportation they encountered in the Indian Ocean. Finally, they began to deviate transportation from the antediluvian Persian Gulf and Red Sea tradin g paths to the pelagic paths around the Cape ( Thompson 32 ) . In the mid 17th century, a Dutch crew wrecked along the southern seashore of Africa and they remained there for the winter until they were rescued. The undermentioned twelvemonth in 1652, the Dutch East India Company created a bracing station in Table Bay called Cape Town to supply fresh H2O, veggies, and meat to go throughing ships and to move besides as a hospital/resting topographic point for sick crewmans ( â€Å" South Africa History † ) . The Cape station was non intended to do a net income, but the disbursals of disposal were intended to be kept at a lower limit ( Thompson 33 ) . Under rigorous instructions that the local people were non to be enslaved, Jan new wave Riebeek, commanding officer of the Cape, requested that Asiatic slaves would be imported to the station to make the agriculture required to supply for go throughing ships and to construct a fortress. Slaves did non get in Cape Town for another f ive old ages and the station ‘s lone slaves were stowaways and those given to them by ships go throughing by ; therefore, South Africa ‘s passage into a great multiracial land began ( â€Å" South Africa Timeline 3 † ) . The people of Cape Town traded with Khoikhoi peoples, known to the white colonists as Hottentots, for cowss and sheep, and the local people became skilled in bartering for European metals and â€Å" organic structure decorations † ( â€Å" Thompson 37 † ) . Van Riebeek used Autsumao, head of the Goringhaikonas and known to the Dutch as Herry, as a transcriber for these trades ( â€Å" South Africa Timeline 3 † ) . As the Dutch settlement continued to put claims towards southwesterly Africa, the Khoikhoi were forced to bear the unanticipated challenge that the Dutch invasion presented them. The colonists ‘ dealingss with the Khoikhoi peoples rapidly degenerated into busting and warfare ( â€Å" South African History † ) ; in 1653, Autsumao murdered the colonists ‘ cowss herder and left with about the entireness of the colonists ‘ herd. Autsumao returned old ages subsequently, being accepted back into Cape Town, and was non punished for his actions ( â€Å" South Africa Timeline 3 † ) . In 1657, the Dutch East Company released nine employees, known as free burgesss, from their contracts and allotted them twenty-acre landholdings at Rondebosch six stat mis south of Table Bay to bring forth grains and veggies and to sell them at a set monetary value for the interest of economic advantages ( Thompson 35 ) . Using the Dutch theoretical account of agriculture, the free burgesss tried in vain to farm and work the lands, but they lacked the accomplishments and adult male power necessary for the occupation. After the company â€Å" imported one boatload of slaves from Dahomey and another boatload of Angolan slaves † in 1658, the Cape settlement became a slave dependant colony ( Thompson 36 ) . As the settlement entered into the 1700 ‘s, its free burgess, retainer, and break one's back population grew and began to develop its ain construction and form. Among the colony ‘s population, colonists came from the lower categories of â€Å" Hierarchical Dutch [ and ] German society † and Huguenots flying the Protestant persecution from France. By 1711, its slaves were far more legion than the free burgesss and came from topographic points like Mozambique, Madagascar, Indonesia, India and Sri Lanka ( Thompson 36 ) . In the undermentioned twosome of old ages, an outbreak European diseases such as little syphilis, which South Africa ‘s autochthonal people had small to no immunisation against, resulted in â€Å" practical decimation of the south-western Cape Khoikhoi † population and the deceases of a one-fourth of the European population ( â€Å" South Africa Timeline 4 † ) . A midcentury nose count of the Cape showed that a bulk of the settleme nt ‘s Asiatic slaves were focused in town and its slaves of African descent were found more normally working on the outlying, boundary line farms. The Asiatic slaves created an artisan category ; they brought with them their Islamic faith and had a enormous consequence on the working category of South Africa ( â€Å" South Africa History † ) . As the settlement reached into the 1770 ‘s it pushed its boundary line to the Algoa Bay and Graaf-Reinet. The husbandmans of these outlying territories were the first colonist to come into contact with the AmaXhosa ; when the settlement extended its range once more to the Upper Fish and Bushmen rivers, a series of â€Å" anti-colonial † wars with the AmaXhosa began. Many of the Khoikhoi struggled with their ideals of trueness to the white husbandmans, who they obeyed, and to the Xhosa, who had already accepted assorted Khoikhoi into their chiefdoms ( Thompson 50 ) . The Xhosa and Khoikhoi foray and assail the outlying farms, killing people, stealing farm animal, and destructing belongings. Many husbandmans abandoned their land but subsequently retaliated by puting up two rangers that followed the Xhosa back into their ain land. The ranger took advantage of the Xhosa ‘s split chiefdoms and used hocus-pocus to rupture apart the Xhosa chiefdoms. These onslaughts and events have been written â€Å" down in history as the First War of Dispossession † ( â€Å" South Africa Timeline 4 † ) . In the ulterior portion of the twelvemonth 1795, the British captured the Cape from the Dutch, and though the Dutch regulation was briefly restored in the early 1800 ‘s, this finally marked the terminal of the Dutch Cape settlement and the beginning of the British Cape Colony. John Cradock replaced Governor Caledon in the twelvemonth 1811. He created a program to wholly clear the Xhosa out of the eastern lands of the Cape, and these undertakings were done ruthlessly, ensuing in the slaying of non merely the Xhosa work forces but besides adult females and kids. Eight old ages subsequently, the Xhosa made a awful and despairing effort to derive back control of some of their former land, but they were defeated and pushed back in a mode similar to their first onslaught. These racial glades are known individually as the Fourth and Fifth War of Dispossession ( â€Å" South Africa Timeline 5 † ) . In 1820, the British Government created a grant and selected some four thousand people to settle in the lands late cleared of the Xhosa. The settlement was now non merely inclusive of Dutch, German, and Gallic colonists, a battalion of diverse slaves, and the Khoisian people, but besides â€Å" a mixture of people from England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland † ( Thompson 55 ) . Another 1000 colonists came on their ain agencies of payment. The earlier Dutch, German, and Gallic colonists were given the label â€Å" Boer † , which means famer and had an implied negative significance, and the 1820 Settlers took on the label â€Å" Afrikaner † ; the Afrikaners have therefore â€Å" ever formed at least 55 per centum of the white population † ( Thompson 56 ) . In the really same twelvemonth, the Zulu land began to lift and added to the ageless force of the South African peoples. In each decennary for the 30 ‘s, the 40 ‘s, and the 50 ‘s, frontier wars were fought as the colony sought to cover with those Xhosa husbandmans who began to dribble back into the country accompanied by the Mfengu, who were flying â€Å" from the spread outing Zulu imperium † ( Thompson 62 ) . Slaves were officially freed in the British Cape settlement in 1838. However, they still did non basically have the same rights as the white colonists. Around the mid 19th century, many of the Boers left the British Cape settlement and â€Å" set about a northern migrationaˆÂ ¦known as the ‘Great Trek ‘ † ( â€Å" Background Notes 4 † ) . They subsequently became known as â€Å" Voortrekkers † . After migrating through Zulu countries of struggle for about ten to fifteen old ages, the independent Boer Republics of Transvaal and Orange Free State were created in 1852 and 1854 ( â€Å" South Africa Timeline 5 † ) . Natal became a 2nd focal point for the British in Southern Africa. While 1000s of Boers, or Voortrekkers, had left on the Great Trek, 1000s of people were geting from Britain to settle in Natal throughout the old ages of 1849 and 1851. The population more than tripled in size within 20 old ages: 15 thousand British colonists and three 1000 Afrikanders. Through the old ages of â€Å" 1860 and 1866, six thousand Indians arrived in Natal from Madras and Calcutta † to work plantations as apprenticed retainers. They brought with them their faiths and societal systems with them. Within six to ten old ages, the first Indians were permitted to return to their places in India, but most opted to remain. This remained a form until a â€Å" ample Indian population † had been created that would even finally outnumber the Whites of Natal ( Thompson 100 ) . Between 1870 and 1910, British imperialism peaked with the find of rich mineral resources in South Africa. An thought of racism, ever back uping white domination, had been developing, and black workers were forced to populate in compounds while they worked the mines in hapless conditions and for hapless wage. They lived in rigorous subject and were non allowed to see their households sometimes for six months or more at a clip ( Thompson 119 ) . Between 1910 and 1939, was a clip of tremendous political agitation and racial segregation and bias, particularly aimed negatively towards the African and â€Å" Coloured † population. Harmonizing to a 1936 nose count of the urban population, people numbered more than three million and made up 31 per centum of the overall population. From this, â€Å" 1.3 million were classified as White, 1.1 million as African, 400,000 as coloured, and 200,000 as Asiatic † . In the towns of South Africa was â€Å" 60 five per centum of the White populationaˆÂ ¦44 per centum of the Coloured, 66 per centum of the Asian, and 17 per centum of the African population † ( Thompson 166 ) . Mineral mining continued to command the lives of the destitute hapless and the pockets of the wealthy. Strikes were frequently organized and addresss were made as workers tried in vain to assume their rights from those keep backing them, but without a widespread organisation amongst the strikers and a agency of support, these normally fell through rapidly. The longest work stoppage attempt was in 1946, lasted four yearss and brought eight gold mines to standstill. Many of the mineworkers were forced back into the mines by barbarous agencies ( Thompson 179-180 ) . In May of 1948, Dr. D.F. Malan came into power with the Nationalist Party and made apartheid, racial segregation, functionary and legal in South Africa, non to be changed until the presidential term of Nelson Mandela about half a century subsequently. Originally a geographically closed off and stray country, the autochthonal people of South Africa developed their ain civilizations, political systems, and agencies of endurance. Yet their isolation was obvious in that groups such as the Khoikhoi and San were genetically similar and shared similar linguistic communications. If the Dutch had non been the first to settle on South Africa ‘s shores, no uncertainty it would hold most likely been settled by the British or another European power. Because of the original European influence in South Africa in fifteenth and 16th centuries, South Africa is now place to an improbably diverse cultural and cultural population with a alone history that binds them all together.