Tuesday, August 6, 2019
Conservation of Races Essay Example for Free
Conservation of Races Essay The United States of America, since its commencement, has been a ââ¬Å"melting potâ⬠of different nationalities. While the term melting pot sounds forthcoming, this is not the case in reality. Many times cultures collide due their differences in ideology, culture, and geographical proximity. Such culture clashes have marked the history of the United States. Race is usually thought of in the physical sense with difference in skin color, hair, facial features, and language. Although race usually follows along physical lines, it is much more far reaching and extends into the social and cultural beliefs. In the past, the dominant trend was to keep these beliefs separate, consequently increasing the feeling of racial unity and racism in society. History has shown us that man has used segregation as a method of not only keeping the peace, but also of keeping the purity of a race in tact. In 1897, an address to the Negro Academy entitled ââ¬Å"The Conservation of Races,â⬠W. E. B. Dubois states: ââ¬Å"The question, then which we must seriously consider is this: What is the real meaning of Race; what has, in the past, been the law of race development, and what lessons has the past history of race development to teach the rising Negro people? I thought the caliber of Duboisââ¬â¢ intelligence and boldness to ask the question was compelling. Throughout this essay I will explore and illustrate how Dubois comes to answer the questions, which he asked his audience. I found it easier to dissect the complex question into three separate questions. First I will illustrate how Dubois defines race. Then I will pinpoint where the basis of the law of race development is formulated. Finally, he answers the question; what can lessons of past history of race development teach the rising Negro? W. E. B Dubois writes that he believes that the conservation of races is the cornerstone of keeping the Negro race pure and intact. Thus, for him, race preservation is not backed only with racial motives, but to help society better itself as a whole. The history of the world is outlined by the historiesââ¬â¢ of different groups and races. He states, ââ¬Å"If it be true the history of the world is the history, not of individuals, but of groups, not of nations, but of races, and he who ignores or seeks to override the race idea in human history ignores and overrides the central thought of history (pg.142). In The Conservation of Races Dubois stresses the importance of surveying the whole question of race. He criticizes a biological account of race. He claims that such an account is inadequate because it fails to explain both the wide variety of physical traits within a race and the physical likenesses shared by all humans. For example he states, ââ¬Å"Many criteria of race differences have in the past been proposed, as color, hair, cranial measurements and language. And manifestly in each of these respects differ widely (pg 142)â⬠. Instead, Du Bois proposes a definition of race based on sociohistorical criteria that emphasized cultural and political loyalty. He defines race as: a vast family of human beings, generally of common blood and language, always of common history, traditions and impulses, who are both voluntarily and involuntarily striving together for the accomplishment of certain more or less vividly conceived ideals of life (pg. 142). I would have to agree with Dubois that race is a combination of language, traditions, color, impulses, common blood and ideals of life. This is extremely evident in the anatomy of the world. You can have people who are physically, spiritually, politically, socially, etc. very different be members of the same race. ââ¬Å"Although the wonderful developments of human history teach that the grosser physical differences of color, hair and bone go but a short way towards explaining the different roles which groups of men has played in Human Progress, yet there are differences- subtle, delicate, and elusive, though they may be which have silently but definitely separated men into groupsâ⬠(pg 142). Here Du Bois suggest an ideal of the law of race development. He further adds, ââ¬Å"At all times, however, they have divided human beings into races, which, while they perhaps transcend scientific definition nerveless, are clearly defined to the eye of the Historian and Sociologistâ⬠(pg. 142). I think and maybe Du Bois would agree that the idea of race is an outdated, invalid scientific concept used to categorize individuals and validate who is superior or inferior. As discussed in class I donââ¬Ët think racism will ever cease to exist, because the ideal of race is far too prevalent from individuals of all sizes, shapes, and colors. And focusing on the illusion of race will never solve the problem of racism. The only way to stop racism is to end the classification of individuals based on meaningless physical characteristics as a whole and celebrate diversity. Finally, he answers the third part to his complex what can the lessons of past laws of racial development teach rising Negro people. By answering this question he attempts to motivate African Americans to create a recognizable culture and make a difference in the world. He believed that African Americans had potential. He thought that in order eliminate the problems African Americans were facing the focus must first be on boosting the African American culture. He states, As such, it is our duty to conserve our physical powers, our intellectual endowments, our spiritual ideals; as a race we must strive by race organization, by race solidarity, by race unity to the realization of the broader humanity which freely recognizes differences in men, but sternly deprecates inequality in their opportunities of developmentâ⬠(pg. 145). Dubois also saw the need for one main intellectual entity, a Negro Academy. Dubois eloquently stated, ââ¬Å" for all these products of the Negro mind, which we may call a Negro Academy. Not only is all this necessary for positive advancements, it is absolutely imperative for negative defenseâ⬠(pg. 145). He also notes that the African race has not yet been able to share its message. He sates, ââ¬Å"For the development of Negro genius, of Negro literature and art, of Negro spirit Negroes inspired by the vast ideal, can work out in its fullness the great message of humanityâ⬠(pg. 144). In closing, races embody within themselves the answers modern societyââ¬â¢s problems. However, a better description of the status of the Negro message would be a work in progress.
Monday, August 5, 2019
The HR policies in multinational companies
The HR policies in multinational companies A critical issue faced by host-country nationals with respect to HR management is the degree to which Multinational Companies (MNCs) include parent HR policies as part of global HR policies (Lawler, 1999). This greatly depends on the company structure, market structure, and its global presence. However, HR policies are affected by various factors that these MNCs need to incorporate once they start operating in host countries. A major factor because of which MNCs incorporate these factors in their HR policies is due to culture; many of the HR policies of MNCs take into account the culture of the host country of which gender is an important factor (Lawler, 1999). If gender discrimination is not appreciated in the host country, companies will need to formulate HR policies accordingly, whereas in countries that discriminate on the basis of gender and is culturally and socially acceptable, then MNCs may or may not formulate policies based on it as then it would be the parent companies discretion as to how they would want to approach the matter keeping in mind the company values and objectives. One way to study the culture of countries and understand how important the issue of gender discrimination is is by examining factors using Hofstedes cultural dimensions. These dimensions are power distance, individualism/collectivism, masculinity/femininity, and uncertainty avoidance (Hofstede, 1991). To study the extent to which gender issues affect the HR policies of MNCs, it is more appropriate to look at individualism/collectivism rather than masculinity/femininity; gender issues in the context of HR is more about the degree to which women liberalisation is prevalent in the country rather than how masculine or feminine the culture of the country is. Individualistic cultures focus more on personal accomplishments hence those cultures are more likely to influence MNCs to formulate gender bias-free HR policies when operating in that particular country; the study reveals that in individualistic countries, HR policies of MNCs do not discriminate people on the basis of gender (Lawler, 1999). Globalization The world today has become highly dynamic and competitive; globalisation has become the catchphrase in the business world where policies and strategies are developed as per global competitiveness (Joynt and Morton, 2005). Due to this factor which affects revenue generation and profits of organisations greatly, multinationals try and formulate bias-free policies when it comes to gender. A research was conducted to compare the HR practices in insurance companies of Indian and multinational companies; results showed that Indian companies discriminated salaries and job positions on gender basis; however, in multinationals, this practice was not evident (Kundu and Malhan, 2009). Today, what companies are looking for is a competent skilled employee who is the right person for the job; jobs are not restricted to males or females, rather they are about the right person. Hence, it can be concluded that in multinational companies gender does not affect HR policies if organisations are revolvin g their strategies and corporate objectives around globalisation and are trying to gain corporate and competitive advantage on a global level. European Cases The European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (2005) studied a number of European corporate cases that included the HR practices of companies operating in Europe. All these examples focus on how important gender has been in being a part of HR policies and finally in achieving corporate objectives. Grupo Texto Editores is a Portuguese company that realised the importance of gender equality and made it a part of its HR policies as the management felt that gender balance was extremely important in order to make the company competitive; this HR policy of the company has won it the Gender Equality and Quality Award by CITE in 2000 (European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions, 2005). According to Mr. Luis Pedro Nunes, Head of Global Human Resources Operations of the group, the companys success is largely due to the gender policy of the group; the HR policies have been built on the principle of hiring the right people and hence it automatically maintains a gender balance in the organisation. Another case that the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (2005) has studied with respect to gender and HR policies is that of Nestle. Nestle France has faced major challenges with respect to gender imbalances in the company which has affected its reputation globally. The multinationals HR policies in recruitment and other areas such as training are seen to be highly discriminatory by the union; women are not promoted to senior positions, they are not sent on training, and much of their demands are not addressed by the senior management. This resulted in unbalanced salary structures between men and women, limited training opportunities for women, and very few promotions for women to senior levels. French legislation has passed considerable bills that force firms not to discriminate on the basis of gender; companies with a workforce of over 200 are required to even have equality commissions. Nestle France however falls short in displaying gender quality and hence falls behind other global competitors such as Danone. The management did get concern about the discriminatory practices in the company and hence conducted a survey which showed drastic discrimination against women. Nestle France consequently made changes in its HR policies to tackle this problem and by 2003 the company had female managers in high positions and a female member on its board. Nestle has also put certain mechanisms to ensure gender equality as part of its global HR policy. Nestle France clearly illustrates an example whereby how gender-biased HR policies can affect the reputation of companies. If companies do not address these issues, they fail to gain competitive advantage over other firms, just like Nestle France has lost it to Danone. The Case of Norway Gender greatly affects the reputation of countries because of which they continue including it in HR policy formation. Norway has been given the status of forerunners regarding gender equality in Europe; it is also among the top countries that promote female participation in the workforce. However, the government of Norway, even after these statuses regarding gender equality, realised that the companies operating in Norway did not have much representation of women in leadership positions. To counter this issue, the government encouraged companies to formulate HR policies that give more opportunities to women and increase their role in leadership positions. Another reason they formulated such policies was because the country realised that they are wasting the 50% female population of the country and were not utilising these resources when females could contribute to the society in similar ways as men could. The Ministerial Intervention at the EU Informal Ministerial Meeting on Gender Equality (2008) discussed gender bias-free HR policies as a precondition for building competitive organisations in the global corporate world. The MNCs also saw women as the future and a sign of modernity for them which encouraged them to formulate gender-friendly HR policies. Due to these reasons, the gender balance requirement was set in Norway which was at 40% in all companies. This has proven successful across Norway; hence, it can be concluded that gender does affect HR policies in multinational companies and other companies, especially when countries, as a whole, realise the strategic importance of gender bias-free policies. Gender Pay Inequalities One of the major reasons for gender-based discrimination in MNCs is pay (Blau and Kahn, 2007). Many labor force statistics reveal the existence of gender pay gaps. In the USA, an average woman had to work until April 2008 at the present gap rate in order to earn what an average man earned towards the end of 2007 (The National Womens Law Center, 2008). Likewise, in the European Union, there are a number of MNCs being biased in their HR policies where the matter is related to pay structures. An average full time working woman in the UK would miss approximately à £369,000 in her working life (BBC News, 14.11.2008). At times, women do not even realise that they are being discriminated against on the basis of pay structures; in some cases, women may be aware of the discrimination as per company HR policies; however, they might not consider pay disparities as important when compared to other dimensions of work (Khoreva, 2009). The Global Gender Gap Index Gender, being a discriminatory factor in global HR policies, has become so important in todays globalised world that a need for a Global Gender Gap Index has arisen. Gender greatly affects the HR policies of MNCs, consequently creating gender gaps. The Global Gender Gap Index scrutinises the gap between women and men in four basic yet extremely important areas: economic participation and opportunity, educational attainment, political empowerment and health and survival (The Global Gender Gap, 2008). It can be concluded form the report that the gap has been widening globally as the number of countries with widening gaps in 2006-2007 was 24, where as in 2007-2008 the number was 41 (The Global Gender Gap, 2008). Although countries with narrowing gaps are more than countries with widening gaps, the percentage of improvement is decreasing over the years; from 91% in 2006-2007, the rate has gone down to 87% in 2007-2008 (The Global Gender Gap, 2008). Hence, it is evident that MNCs globally are not addressing gender discriminatory issues in their HR policies as the Global Gender Gap Index is continuously increasing. Conclusion The discussion throughout this paper focused on different factors and reasons that affect HR policy formation; policy formation is not only based on corporate philosophies that promote gender equality or favor women, however there are multiple ways by which gender affects HR policy formation in multinational companies. Gender equality greatly affects HR policies in multinational companies primarily because of the global village the world has shrunk into. The need of the hour is the integration of the entire world where gender plays an extremely important and crucial role. Gender equality has become a prerequisite in developing multinational companies into highly competitive organisations. The world has become so competitive that in order to survive, companies will not just have to include women in its workforce but also invest in their training and development in order to help them reach leadership positions in top management. If companies favour either of the two genders, they will never be able to achieve success levels that organisations having gender bias-free HR policies might have achieved or will achieve in the future. Incorporating gender as a major factor in formulating HR policies especially in multinational companies motivates the local population of the host country. It helps bring the youth of the country, both men and women, together in contributing to society and more by being part of these companies. Finally, equal opportunity policies should be formulated as HR policies of multinational companies so that these companies are able to develop trust between the people of host countries they are operating in and the MNCs as that will facilitate the entire process of global communication and make the world a better place to live and work in.
Sunday, August 4, 2019
Comparing Christianity and Buddhism :: Papers Compare Contrast Religion Essays
Comparing Christianity and Buddhism This paper is a comparison between two very different religions. Specifically Christianity and Buddhism. Coming from opposite sides of the globe these two religions could not be any farther apart in any aspect. I will discuss who Christ is for Christians and who Buddha is for Buddhists. I will also get into the aspects of charity, love, and compassion in both religions and I will be looking at the individual self and how christians see resurrection where the buddhists feel about the afterlife. One thing to keep in mind is that the two religions are very different but they seem to have a very similar underlying pattern. Both believe that there was a savior of their people, Buddha and Christ, and both believe that there is something good that happens to us when our time is done here on earth. This is a very generalized summarization but in order to go in to depth I need to explain the two religions more to fully convey this theory. The Christian religion, like all other religions has its strengths and weaknesses in our modern society. Perhaps the strengths out weight the weaknesses as this is one of the largest religions in the world. Hundreds of people follow the Catholic/Christian religion yet still a greater number follow yet other religions. Perhaps this is because they see the weaknesses or perhaps it is simply because their parents have taught them that it is a sin to follow this religion. The Christian religions do however present much more of an appealing atmosphere than such other religions which are as large as the Christian. The Christian religion is one of few religions where punishments for sins are not severe. In the Christian religion, even if you have lived a life of sin, so long as you repent in the end, you will be saved and given eternal life. This is not so in other religions. Such religions as Hinduism for instance do not believe this. For everything you do wrong you will be punished. For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction, if not in this life, then the next. Hindu's also believe that punishing the body is part of the path to salvation. Christianity is nothing like this. Many Christians live in high class society. Christianity is one of the most appealing in that any sins may easily be corrected and that Christians may live comfortable, if not wealthy lives without guilt.
Saturday, August 3, 2019
Depiction of Nature in Ernest Hemingways Unfinished Story, The Last Go
The Depiction of Nature in Ernest Hemingway's Unfinished Story, The Last Good Country Ecological criticism in the 1990s has declared many works, including Ernest Hemingway's novels like The Old Man and the Sea, and many of his nonfiction works and short stories as nature-oriented masterpieces. "The Last Good Country," one of Ernest Hemingway's later short stories, however, still remains to be reinterpreted as more than merely, "a metaphor for childhood innocence" (Werlock 131), and his usual "imaginative use of the natural world" (Fleming 2). Unlike other short stories in Hemingway's early days, this unfinished story has a unique background on writing. No other Nick Adams story had previously been planned to be a form of novel. But Hemingway left the draft halfway in order to concentrate on another mythical tale of romance, The Garden of Eden. Since 1990 when Mark Spilka opened up a revolutionary "quarrel" over Hemingway's sexual ambivalence in the novel, modern critics have frequently referred to a hypothetically incestuous relationship between Nick and his younger sister Littless in "The Last Good Country" as an indication that Hemingway in his later days was fascinated with the androgynous characters.*1 Meanwhile, originating with Malcolm Cowley's reference to the primitivism of Hemingway's fictional heroes in the 1940s, environmentally conscious arguments have gradually become the mainstream of critical support for Hemingway's nature writings. Ranging from the early collection of short stories, In Our Time, to the later masterpiece, The Old Man and the Sea, Hemingway's landscapes provide the natural resources for his heroes as Western archetypes to heal their wounds or the settings in which they manifest their male... ...ll Glotfelty and Harold Fromm. Athens, GA: U of Georgia P, 1996. 204-22. Spilka, Mark. Hemingway's Quarrel with Androgyny. Lincoln: U of Nebraska P, 1990. ---. "Original Sin in 'The Last Good Country': Or, The Return of Catherine Barkley." The Modernists: Studies in a Literary Phenomenon. Ed. Lawrence B. Gamache and Ian S. MacNiven. Rutherford: Fairleigh Dickinson U P, 1987. 210-33. Sylvester, Bickford. "The Sexual Impasse to Romantic Order in Hemingway's Fiction: A Farewell to Arms, Othello, 'Orpen,' and the Hemingway Canon." Hemingway: Up in Michigan Perspectives. Ed. Frederic J. Svoboda and Joseph J. Waldmeir. East Lansing: Michigan State U P, 1995. 177-87. Werlock, Abby H. P. "Women in the Garden: Hemingway's 'Summer People' and 'The Last Good Country'." Ernest Hemingway: The Oak Park Legacy. Ed. James Nagel. Tuscaloosa: U of Alabama P, 1996. 124-44.
Friday, August 2, 2019
Egyptian Jewerly and Makeup :: essays research papers
Egyptian Jewelry and Makeup à à à à à Everyday in the Egyptian way of life, both men and women would adorn themselves with beautiful jewelry and makeup. Wearing these pieces of jewelry and makeup was part of their everyday life. à à à à à Everyone, man or woman, Egypt wore more type of jewelry. What kind of jewelry they wore was usually dependent on how wealthy they were. The rich wore fine jewelry made from gold, silver, or electrum inlaid with precious stones. The less wealthy wore jewelry that was made of copper or faience, which is made by heating powdered quartz. à à à à à Ring and amulets were especially worn to ward off evil spirits and/or injury. Cowrie shells were worn to show the desire of the wearer to have children. They also wore jewelry with the god Heh, which means the god of ââ¬Ëmillions of yearsââ¬â¢, which symbolizes long life. Younger Egyptians wore charms that resembled beards or side locks of hair to symbolize youth and innocence. Perhaps the most interesting fact about jewelry was that many children wore fish amulets to prevent from downing and accidents in the Nile River. à à à à à Jewelry was also a reward to people for outstanding services to the community. The jewelry was hanged out by the king. The king would lean out of windows and drops bracelets or collars to the nobles waiting respectfully below. à à à à à The gold that was used to make jewelry in Egyptian times was not scarce like it is in present day. Mines between the Nile River and Red Sea coast yielded large quantities of this precious metal. They also imported precious stones from the Sinai Peninsula and even Afghanistan. The Egyptians, however, had no knowledge of the gemstones and jewels we have today, such as diamonds, emeralds, and rubies. à à à à à The Egyptians were big lovers of all beauty and fashion. They were such lovers of beauty that some of their names were based on the word ââ¬Ëneferââ¬â¢, which means beautiful. Examples of such were Nefert, Nefertiti, and Nefertari. The goddess associated with adornment was ââ¬Å"Hathor the Goldenâ⬠, who is seen as the ideal of beauty in love and poetry of the time. à à à à à Both Egyptian men and women wore makeup, such as eye paint. For their eye paint and eye shadow they used a mineral called Kohl. Apart from making their eyes look brighter, and larger, Kohl was once believed to have the value as a protection against eye disease. Its blackness also controls the sunââ¬â¢s glare in the desert.
How Does Tesco Communicate With Customers?
Tesco communicate with their customers through a variety of ways. Mobile communications is one of the ways in which Tesco communicate with their customers. This technology is brand new but it does not mean that it is not as important as other technologies that help big companies such as Tesco. Todayââ¬â¢s mobile marketing applications such as ââ¬Ëââ¬â¢Tesco club card appââ¬â¢ it helps customers keep us with their points that theyââ¬â¢ve gained though shopping & it lets you know of the latest offers that the store has. This technology allows companies to improve communications in a focused and highly personal context to interact with their customers. Systems like this allows Tesco to package commercial messages, then make information available to a global audience easily, without irritating the customer by sending them letters via the post as the customers will get a regular update through their phone app. The system also offers an immediate response to customers that have questions that need answering. Blogging is also a new technology that Tesco uses as a way of getting personal communications because it is as an essential marketing tool. This is because the public can discuss on the Tesco website about anything they like for example Tesco have provided a place on the website where customers can have discussions about books available at the store and then decide whether they want to purchase it or not. For this particular type of communication Tesco needs an employee who likes to write via internet and put some commercial messages up. The audience should take care of the rest when thatââ¬â¢s been completed. Tesco use streaming media by this term I mean using adverts that Tesco produce and display on platforms such as YouTube which allows Tesco to literally put ââ¬Ëââ¬â¢anyââ¬â¢Ã¢â¬â¢ message in front of a global audience. All the company needs is a script, a computer and a good quality camera to record their adverts, if Tesco does this then the message that they are trying to get across can be displayed in front of buyers, sellers and business partners anywhere in the world. Social networking is another way which Tesco communicate with their customers. For Tesco in the case of marketing, there is nothing better than having the ability to put commercial messages out in front of the public. Although there is a number of social networks that can do this, the best of these is Twitter. Since a user only gets 140 characters to make a point. For Tesco this means that a number of messages can be created and delivered very quickly. The amount of opt-in ââ¬Ëââ¬â¢followersââ¬â¢Ã¢â¬â¢ which will be your customers who find your global messages interesting enough to continue to read them, this is also an obvious source to understand what your audience likes or doesnââ¬â¢t like as they can retweet of favourite your messages if they do or do not like them. We can communicate in many ways that suits the customer.
Thursday, August 1, 2019
Preschool for all
As a father of three boys, ages four, two, and most recently, a two month old, I have been Interested about the education options available for them. It was not until I attempted to conduct my own research on the early childhood education, specifically preschool for my oldest son, then three years old, did I realize the difficulty In doing so. Having been a member of The united States Air Force, I was afforded the opportunity to enroll my children into the robust, yet sometimes frustrating, Child Development Center that is established on each Air Force base.Living in a world of checklists and constant inspections, I did not worry about the quality of the program. As I transitioned to be a civilian, my head began to swim at what is considered high quality education for my growing boys. I thought that I knew about preschools, it seemed like common sense to me. After the first few classroom discussions into our exploratory research papers, the overarching topic for my fellow students wa s ââ¬Å"Twenty First Century Familiesâ⬠. I knew that my recent struggle would fit perfectly.Starting with only a question and without a clue, I set out to find out why here were not any affordable options for high quality preschools. The Investigation began with a conversation with my wife about the topic. She reminded me that President Obama spoke about this very topic In the ââ¬Å"2013 State of the union Addressâ⬠. In a speech that took just over an hour, President Beam's address to the nation set forth many challenges for Congress as well as the citizens of The united States of America. One challenge in particular came about half way through the speech.Obama noted that although the secondary and collegiate education is something that should be pursed, the education of our youngest citizens would not e ignored by his administration. He goes on to state, ââ¬Å"Every dollar we invest in high- quality early childhood education can save more than seven dollars later on by boosting graduation rates, reducing teen pregnancy, even reducing violent crimeâ⬠(ââ¬Å"Remarksâ⬠). I fully support this Initiative by the President. It seems easy for law makers to get wrapped up In meeting the demands for their constituents, but what about the youngest constituents?It did not take me long to realize that what I thought I knew about the subject was about to get more complicated. However, for the future of my three boys, I looked deeper into the debate. To my surprise, President Obama brought up the same topic in the ââ¬Å"2014 State of the Union Addressâ⬠. Buried about one third of the way into the speech, President Obama transitioned into the early childhood education topic yet again. At first, I thought to myself, ââ¬Å"If he cannot push this forward, this issue must run even deeper than I thoughtâ⬠. President Obama explains that the best investment in young child's life is one of a high-quality education.As he brought the topic to a clos e in his speech, President Obama states that despite Congress stalling, ââ¬Å"thirty states have raised pre-K funding on their ownâ⬠(ââ¬Å"Presidentâ⬠). He added, ââ¬Å"As Congress decides what It's going to do, I'm going to pull together a coalition of elected officials, business leaders, and philanthropists willing to help more kids access the high-quality pre-K they needâ⬠(ââ¬Å"Presidentâ⬠). This put me at ease, but I was convinced that President there were going to be several political gains to be made if each state were to follow through with their end of the bargain.Although it seemed like a strong use of taxpayer funds, I was not convinced that the expenditure was worth it. While I still support his proposal, I felt there were more layers to the onion that needed to be led back. I still did not have an answer as to why there were not any affordable preschools that I considered to be high quality. While I was sifting through dozens of abstracts throu gh the Academic Search Complete database, there was one in particular that caught my eye from the Congressional Digest, entitled ââ¬Å"Early Childhood Educationâ⬠.As the third source for my exploratory research paper, this article shed some light on the history of the Universal Preschool debate. The origins of the universal preschool debate began in 1965 with President Lyndon B. Johnny's Head Start program. This eight-week summer course was aimed at low-income families with children in the kindergarten age group. It did not take long for this program to become popular both as a political topic, but also as a tool for social change. The program came at a time in America that was plagued by the war in Vietnam.Head Start grew in size over the next 40 years. Today, there are forty-five different Federal programs that provide assistance and services to families with children under the age of five. However, there is still a long-standing debate over the continuing performance in ter ms of supportive services and curriculum for children ender the age of five. There is, however, no standing debate to the powerful remarks made by President Johnson in 1965 regarding the newly developed Head Start program, ââ¬Å"Children are inheritors of poverty's curse and not its creators.Unless we act, these children will pass it on to the next generationâ⬠(CTD. In Early). My thought process began to shift a little. While I did know that the Head Start program existed, I did not know that it was so closely related to preschool age children. In my experience, the Head Start program was intended for those with difficulties adapting or learning in a public school setting. Still, I peeled back another layer from this debate. Using the discovery that a large number of separate Federal programs are involved with assisting families, I sought out a source from the opposite end of the debate.The forth source I selected to help me understand the debate of ââ¬Å"Preschool for Allâ ⬠was from the National Affairs Journal. David Armor and Sonic Souse wrote the article, ââ¬Å"The Dubious Promise of Universal Preschoolâ⬠. Both authors are professors at the School of Public Policy at George Mason University. I read the article with an open mind already knowing the opposing conservative lean on the Journal. David Amour and Sonic Souse recapped a brief history of the debate, also mentioning President Johnny's initial Head Start proposal in 1965. But they quickly moved on to statistics and interpreting surveys that had been conducted.I found myself taking notes as I learned about the rapid growth in the asses of the Head Start program that ballooned from 400,000 in the asses to nearly 900,000 children (Armor Souse 37). The authors soon dive into concerns over the quality of the program, citing again the forty-five different Federal programs that support Head Start. They further explain hat the locally developed curriculums are frequently pointed out as the weakness in the overall program (Armor Souse). Additionally, ââ¬Å"most Head Start teachers do not background in childhood education with an associates degree (Armor Souse, 39).I was taken back by this discovery. The quality of instruction seemed to be directly related to the experience of its instructor. The history of the Head Start Program is indeed a remarkable one. As one of the longest running Federal Government programs that attacks one of the poverty issues that exist in our country, Head Start surely has it's merits and drawbacks. The idea of ââ¬Å"Preschool for Allâ⬠started from a modest attempt to help low-income families with small children prepare for kindergarten. It later grew into the national debate we see and participate in today.Knowing that there were indeed instances where states have had promising success, I aimed my focus at the state of Oklahoma. According to an article I found in The New York Times using the database tool Lexis's, ââ¬Å"Oklahoma! Wh ere the Kids Learn Early', two time Pulitzer Prize winning author Nicholas Kristin depicts a story about two young girls, ages three and four aiming to break the cycle of poverty which is about so much more than a lack of money' (Krzysztof. The girls' great grandmother had a baby at 13, their grandmother followed with a baby at 15, ââ¬Å"the mom had her first baby by 13, born with drugs in his systemâ⬠(Krzysztof.I was shocked as I keep reading. The inequality of these innocent children Jumped out at me. Suddenly, the debate took a different shape. In an interview that the author conducted with Republican Tulsa City Council member Skip Steele, ââ¬Å"This isn't a liberal issue,â⬠he added, ââ¬Å"this is investing in our kids, in our future. It's a no- brainierâ⬠(Krzysztof. While I had researched nearly a dozen sources and discussed several of them here, none put the face to the story quite like this article. It is a stark reminder that there is a face behind all th e numbers, figures, and charts that make up statistics.The exploratory paper I began soon did not feel like an assignment anymore. It seemed like I was apart of a movement for the future of our nation. After conducting the research and having time to analyze the information, I still feel that Preschool for All is absolutely the right thing to do. With it's earnest beginnings during the Vietnam War, to the humble town of Tulsa, Oklahoma, my Rooney throughout this exploratory paper was very interesting. I was surprised to find out that about the number of Federal government programs that have oversight in the Head Start program.
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