Saturday, October 5, 2019
Writing and Environment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words
Writing and Environment - Essay Example Jared Diamond’s article titled The Last Americans: Environmental Collapse and the End of Civilization issues a warning to those living in advanced economies (including the United States) that great civilizations of the past inevitably decline and perish after hitting their peak. He suggests that being complacent currently can lead to irreparable ecological catastrophes in the near future. The article Am I Blue by Alice Walker touches upon an allied concern, namely the issue of animal rights. She suggests that human have for too long exploited animals for their own selfish ends and that this is a symbol of human conflict too. So in order for humans to flourish, they have to start treating animals ethically. All three authors discussed above raise several valid points and their observations validate each other’s arguments. Rachel Carson’s article titled The Obligation to Endure is gives an in-depth analysis of the state of chemical pollution in our environment. Carson asserts that the rate at which new synthetic pollutants are let out into our environment is too fast for life-forms to adopt to and evolve accordingly. As a result our planet is now at a cusp of a fatal disaster. Given the gravity of the issue, Carson does not employ humor or sarcasm. Instead, her prose is of a serious tone, infused with dark irony and earnest imploration. Her appeal to the reader is quite powerful, for it comes at the back of a detailed and factual analytical presentation. One chemical problem that Rachel Carson focuses on is that of the insecticide. This seemingly beneficial device to keep insect pests has caused unforeseen consequences of vast proportions. Insecticides such as DDT, while providing immediate improvement in agricultural productivity, have caused severe collateral damage. For this reason, Carson asserts that
Friday, October 4, 2019
Curriculum Development Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words
Curriculum Development - Assignment Example Philosophical theories in particular help in controlling the organization and content of the curriculum. Realism, for instance, asserts that the aim of education is primarily to teach values and things which will lead to the good life, which is, however â€Å"equated with one which is in tune with the overarching order of natural law†(Marshall, as cited in Golen, 1982). Realistic philosophy thus emphasizes learning through the direct study of nature via the aid of teachers. Thus, it has led to the continuous development of instructional methods that are suited to this kind of learning such as lecture, sensory experiments, and demonstrations, stressing the cultivation of logic and rational thoughts. Another theory is called pragmatism, which is founded on the principle that change is the principal characteristic of life. It has resulted to a curriculum that is learner-centered, wherein experiences are primordial in the educational process. Social Foundation. This foundation could be defined as influences that are present in society and culture. It is concerned with the impact of forces and institutions that comprise the school program’s culture. These are elements which create the greatest impact on the curriculum developer’s way of thinking as they always think and act within the society they live. In other words, the content, objectives, and methods of the devised curriculum shall reflect the social or cultural background of the developers (Print, 1993). Society and culture are the shapers of education since curriculum makers take into account the social setting, culture, the relationship between society and education, and the social implications of knowledge and change (Ritz, 2006). It must be noted that curriculum development is centered on attaining educational goals that are in harmony with broad cultural and societal goals.
Thursday, October 3, 2019
Typical Dreams Essay Example for Free
Typical Dreams Essay Introduction            One way to study dreams is to study their content. This can be done by laboratory studies in which sleepers are awakened during REM sleep and their reports are tape recorded. Subjects can also keep a dream diary in which they write all they can remember about their dreams. These different methods have revealed some interesting facts about the nature of dream content.            What causes you to dream the things you dream? That question cannot be answered as yet (see Rados Cartwright, 1999). Research can point to individual cases where the dream content is obviously related to immediate events in a person’s life, but the reason why a lot of dreams occur is something of a mystery. One explanation of dream content proposes that during REM sleep specific brain neurons are activated, such as those involved in running or laughing or hearing. In an attempt to make sense of this specific neural activation, the brain produces a dream based on a synthesis of the stimulation present. Called the activation-synthesis hypothesis of dreaming, this view does not account for the seemingly random dream content that often occurs, and it is consistent with the neurological changes known to accompany REM sleep (Hobson McCarley, 2001). However, it does not explain the coherence, detail, and purposefulness common to many dreams. Studies of dream content must now recognize that dreamers may alter their content while they are actually dreaming.            For most people, the content of their dreams is beyond their control. How often have you gone to bed wishing you could dream about a particular someone, or afraid you might dream about an especially distressing subject? Sometimes in dreaming we think ourselves that â€Å"this is a dream.†Yet in the morning if we remember the dream and recall thinking that we knew it was a dream at the time, we find that we still accepted the content as plausible, even if events in the dream would be unlikely or impossible in real life. Some people are able to carry this awareness during dreaming a step further: they claim the ability to know when they dreaming and to actually control some or all of the content of their dreams. This is called lucid dreaming. In the past such claims have attracted little interest from dream researchers because there seemed no way to test these assertions. However, working with the sleep research lab at Stanford University, Stephen LaBerge, a lucid dreamer, was able to demonstrate his special ability. LaBerge told the researchers that during the dreams he would suddenly become aware that he was dreaming and that he could signal the researchers of this awareness by a prearranged pattern of eye movements. They agreed on a mixture of horizontal and vertical eye movements that he would use when he knew he was dreaming. The probability that the particular eye movement pattern would appear by chance was infinitesimally small. During the night the researchers watched the EEG records, and in one of the REM sleep periods, to their excitement and delight, they saw the coded eye movement pattern (La Berge et al., 2001). Other lucid dreamers have since been identified and are being studied.            It is known how many people have the ability for lucid dreaming. Surveys based in self-report provide estimates of between 15 and 28%. Laboratory studies of lucid dreaming usually design by asking people if they frequently are aware of their dreams while dreaming. Those who say that they have that ability are tested in the sleep laboratory, and most are able to demonstrate their lucid dreaming ability using some prearranged signal (typically an eye movement code, sometimes a respiration pattern). These studies have found that lucid dreamers are not lucid in all of their dreams; in fact, the majority of their dreams are nonlucid. Many subjects can become aware of their dreaming, but few can manipulate their dream content. Still, some studies have been successful in giving instructions about specific dream content to lucid dreamers and having them dream about those subjects. When lucid dreams occur, they are more likely to be in the longer REM sleep periods toward morning. Researchers hope to discover how lucid dreaming is possible because phenomenon has something interesting implications for our understanding of consciousness. For in essence, the lucid dreamer is partly in one state of consciousness, the dream, and partly in a totally different state of consciousness, the awareness of the dream. A practical application of this research might be an understanding of the process so that many dreamers could learn how to control their dream content (Galvin, 2002). Discussion Why people dream?            Although most dreams do not have overt sexual imagery, Freud nevertheless believed that most adult dreams can be â€Å"traced back by analysis to erotic wishes.†In Freud’s view, a gun, for example, might be a disguised representation of a penis.            Although Freud considered dreams the key to understanding our inner conflicts, his critics say that dream interpretation leads down a blind alley. Some contend that even if dreams are symbolic, they can be interpreted almost any way one wishes. Others maintain there is nothing hidden in dreams. A dream about a gun, they say, is a dream about a gun. Even Freud, who loved to smoke cigars, acknowledges that â€Å"sometimes, a cigar is just a cigar.†           Freud’s theory of dreams is giving way to newer theories. One of these sees dreams as information processing: Dreams may help store and remind our day’s experiences. Preceded by stressful experiences, REM sleep rises (Palumbo, 2001). What is more, there is â€Å"consistent and compelling evidence†that REM sleep facilitates memory for unusual or anxiety-arousing material (McGrath Cohen, 1999). In one experiment, people heard unusual phrases before bedtime and then were given a memory test the next morning. If awakened every time they began REM sleep, they remembered less than if awakened during other sleep stages (Empson Clarke, 2000). A night of solid sleep (and dreaming) does, it seems, have a justifiable place in a student’s life.            Another reason why we dream is because of physiological function. Perhaps dreams give the dead to the world brain with periodic stimulation. Stimulating experiences and develops and preserves the brain’s neural pathways. This theory makes sense from a developmental point of view. Infants, whose neural networks are just developing, spend a great deal of time in REM sleep.            Still other physiological theories propose that dreams occur from neural activity that scatters upward from the brainstem. According to one version, this neural activity is random, (Hobson, 2002). Psychologists Martin Seligman and Amy Yellen (1999) note that the seconds-long bursts of rapid eye movements during REM sleep coincide with bursts of brain activity, people report vivid experiences, usually dramatic hallucinations.            Given these visual scenes, our cognitive machinery weaves a story line. Mix in the emotional tone provided by the limbic system (which becomes active during REM sleep) andâ€â€voila!â€â€we dream. This helps explain many of our dream experiences, such as the sudden and bizarre changes in scene (triggered by a new visual burst). Dream reports by Seligman’s University of Pennsylvania students confirm that the most vivid dream images are the surprising, discontinuous aspects of the dream; other less vivid images we presumably conjure up to string the visual bursts together.            The function of dreams provokes vigorous debate, but the disputants all agree that we need REM sleep. Deprived of it by repeated awakenings, people return more and more quickly to the REM stage after falling back to sleep. When finally allowed to sleep undisturbed, the literally sleep like babies, with increased REM sleepâ€â€a phenomenon called REM rebound. The withdrawal of REM-suppressing sleeping medications also increases REM sleep, but with accompanying nightmares. Most other mammals also experiences REM sleep and REM rebound. Animals’ need for REM sleep suggests that its causes and functions are deeply biological. That REM sleep occurs in mammals (and not in animals such as fish, whose behavior is less influenced by learning) also fits the information-processing theory of dreams. All of which serves to remind us once again of a basic lesson: Biological and psychological explanations of behavior are partners, not competitors. III. Conclusion            The interpretation or analysis of dreams remains one of the most controversial topics in psychology. A number of disparate views on this subject exist, ranging from the notion that all dreams are interpretable in a psychoanalytic framework to the idea that dream content is essentially randomly generated from the memory stores of the brain and thus meaningless. We adopt a position somewhere in the middle of this controversy, we believe that dreams have meanings and somebody can interpret it. _________________________________________________________________ References: Rados, R., Cartwright, R.D. (1999). Where do dreams come from? A comparison of presleep and REM sleep thematic content. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 91, 433-436. Hobson, J.A. McCarley, R.W. (2001). The brain as a dream state generator: An activation-synthesis hypothesis of the dream process. American Journal of Psychiatry, 134, 1335-1348. La Berge, S. et al., (2001). Lucid dreaming: Physiological correlates of consciousness during REM sleep. Journal of Mind Behavior, 7, 251-258. Galvin, R. M. (2002). Control of Dreams may be possible for a resolute few. Smithsonian, pp. 110-117. Palumbo, S.R.  (2001). Dreaming and memory: A new information-processing model. New York: Basic Books. (p. 157). McGrath, M.J., Cohen, D.G. (1999). REM sleep facilitation of adaptive waking behavior: A review of the literature. Psychological Bulletin, 85, 24-57. (157). Empson, J.A.C., Clarke, P.R.F. (2000). Rapid eye movements and remembering. Nature, 227, 287-288. (p. 157). Hobson, J.A. (2002). The dreaming brain. New York: Basic Books. (p.158).
Building Relationships when Working with Children
Building Relationships when Working with Children Neringa Bagdonaite CONTENT PAGE ASSESSMENT: BUILDING POSITIVE RELATIONSHIPS TASK Summarise the current legal requirements for those working with children. This should include references to the 6 learning goals and how they could be implemented in a child care setting. Page 2 Explain what is meant by respecting and valuing individuality, and devise a plan of how this can be implement in the child care setting. A table format may be used for this task. Page 4 Evaluate the benefits of consistency with regard to positive and negative behaviour, and identify strategies that can be used to encourage positive behaviour in the child care setting. Page 6 Describe the process involved in managing conflict between children and adults. You should refer to at least one behavioural theorist in your answer. Page 8 Answer to task 1) The Childcare Act was introduced on 11 July 2006. The act requires specific powers and duties of local authorities in England. These duties are: Provide adequate information for parents. To improve the outcomes of children aged 0-5 Provide information and training for childcare providers. Local authorities must work with NHS and Job centre partners to improve the outcomes of all children up to 5. The Children Act 2004 sets a duty to make certain that every child would have the support they need to: be healthy stay safe enjoy and achieve and make a positive contribution to society achieve economic well-being. The Act has certain requirements that childcare providers will need to meet: welfare, learning, development. The requirements are set down in the Ofsted publication â€Å"Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage†. (Ref 1) Childcare providers must guide the development of children’s capabilities with a view to ensuring that children in their care complete the EYFS ready to benefit fully from the opportunities ahead of them. https://www.education.gov.uk/publications/eOrderingDownload/EYFS%20Statutory%20Framework%20March%202012.pdf accessed 26/05/12 The Early years Foundation Stage learning and development requirements comprise: The assessment schedule must be arranged for children to establish their achievements. the early learning goals, such as the knowledge, skills and understanding. The educational programmes. These are the learning goals: Communication, language and literacy. Children are extending thier vocabulary, learning to speak correctly using words to construct sentence, learning to write and read accurately. Children must be given access to range of books, poems, and other written materials. Child care providers must give encouragement to children to use their skills in varios situations. It helps develop confidence. Physical development. Children must be involved in activities that develop their co-ordination, control and movement, and understand factors which lead into healthy lifestyle. Children must be supported in using all their senses to learn about the world. Personal, social and emotional development. These goals are helping children develop a positive sense of themselves and others, positive relationship, respect others, manage their feelings and understand appropriate behaviour and positive disposition to learn. Childcare providers should help children to know themselves and what they can do. Mathematics. Children should develop and improve their skills in counting, understanding and using numbers from 1-9, calculating simple addition and to describe shapes, spaces, and measures. Knowledge and Understanding the world. Children will develop the knowledge; skills and understanding that will help them make sense of the world. They will learn of people, plants, and environment. Creative development. Children are involved in dancing, music, art, play. It provides opportunities to share their thoughts and feelings. (Ref 2) Answer to task 2) The child has to know that they have values and should treasure them. Parent and childcare providers must start teaching children about respect and valuing individuality from early age. Children like to observe adults and see them as an example the way they deal in certain situation. Childcare providers and parents should show children that they respect individuality, feelings, views, ideas and culture. We have different cultural backgrounds and it is important to teach children how to celebrate them. (Ref 3) Indoor and outdoor playtime, individual and group learning encourage children to respect themselves and others. Children will naturally respect those who use their influence in encouraging ways, helping them to learn and grow in safe surroundings. Children who feel valued growing up confident, it helps them to achieve goals in their lives. Good way for children to respect each other to use reward system. Respecting and valuing individuality plan Friendship Friendship is an important part of child development from birth. Friendship is a source of fun. Children give and receive practical help and emotional support. Understanding feeling Children experiencing wide range of feeling and learning to understand them with help from adults. Every child is valued and differences are appreciated, everyone feels included and understood. Communication A welcoming atmosphere creates effective communication. Effective communication flows information and knowledge. All communication is important (gesture, signs and body language). Posters and pictures are helping children and families recognise that they are valued. Learning Children have a lot to learn from adults. It is important to review child’s progress regularly and contribute with their learning. Effective practice Encourage children to use greetings. All children receive a friendly welcome. Display list of the words that are used at home in their language. Positive interaction Building respectful and caring relationship with children. Respond appropriately to encourage curiosity in learning. Discover what children like to do. Effective teaching Help children to learn as a result they make connections in learning. Support and extend each child’s learning. Provide children with challenges. Teach them not to fear failure and be confident. Listening to children Young children and babies with speech delays communicate in other ways. Children need time to respond, childcare provider must encourage their thinking. Reflecting on practice To show children that childcare provider is pleased to see them every day. Get to know children and build positive relationship. Secure attachment Childcare provider helps children become familiar with setting and make them feel secure. When children feel happy they are confident and like to explore new things. Independence When children depend on adults for reassurance and comfort they become independent. Children are less independent in new situations, they can be unwell and anxious. (Ref4) Answer to task 3) Positive child behaviour can be promoted by using certain plan. It will teach what good behaviour is and how to reach it. Positive behaviour can be achieved working together with children and maintaining sensible expectations. Children behave differently depending on their age and surroundings. Childcare provider and parents must teach children that for negative behaviour there is negative consequence. Some forms of behaviour are acceptable while others are not. Learning to manage behaviour can be as easy as A B C Antecedent – what happens before the behaviour occurs. Behaviour – resulting behaviour is either acceptable or unacceptable. Consequence – results of behaviour can be positive or negative. http://www.newchildcare.co.uk/page6.html accessed 18/07/12 Using positive and negative reinforcement are two ways to help children to identify good behavior and understand what is appropriate in certain situations. Any type of reward increasing childs positive behaviour. Rewards tempt child to do their task more regularly and on time. There are some strategies that can be used: Children should experience the logical consequences and actions. Children need guidance to understand positive behaviour. Teach children the concept of self-control. Rules and the reasons should be explained. Some behaviour should be ignored. Children should be congratulated for good behaviour. Teaching children new skill and behaviour. Children must learn that they will not achieve things by being selfish, destructive and angry. (Ref5) Negative behaviour is one of the worst things that parent and childcare provider can experience. Childs negative behaviour can’t be ignored, because sometimes it can cause unwanted trouble. One type of the negative behaviour is aggression. Child can be angry, sometimes yell, refuse to listen and can be driven by his own thoughts. Other type of negative behaviour is passiveness. Children remain silent and ignorant in all situations and don’t show any effort to respond. Usually children behave like this when they have something to hide from adults. It is important to understand the cause of the problem and explain why something is wrong. Children should understand that to repeat the same behaviour is wrong. Children should understand what means â€Å"no†. Every day routine can help improve positive behaviour. For example: teaching good manners when having meals, gathering everyone to the table and have food, being polite, teaching good hygiene habits. Every parent and childcare providers main goal should be to teach children how to develop self-discipline, responsibility and humanity for others. Childcare provider can make behaviour plan: Make a list of desirable behaviour that children need to learn. Make a list of undesirable behaviour that child may demonstrate. Make a list of privileges that child can earn reward. Answer to task 4) Conflict can occur between children or children and adults every day and most adults and children experience stress. †The parent-child relationship is one of the longest lasting social ties human beings establish, said Kira Birditt, lead author of the study and a researcher at the University of Michigan Institute for Social Research. http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/149047.php accessed Parents and childcare providers are facing many challenges when raising children. It is very important that children would grow happy, safe and would be able to deal with the conflicts in non-violent ways. Solving the conflict can help child develop emotionally. Usually conflicts are seen as negative behaviour. Childcare providers and parents should teach children to manage conflicts and if it’s possible to stay neutral. Sometimes when conflict arise childcare provider and parent can listen and offer support. (Ref 6) Children have different personalities and temperament and when facing the conflict have varying reactions: Some children become angry when it comes to disagreement. It is important to help manage aggression. Some children can be bossy. Some children back down then it comes to the conflict, because they don’t want to upset anyone. It is important to help them to learn to speak up. Learning principles Many researches are carried out regarding conflicts. They believe that conflicts help develop major life skills. Theorist Piaget believed that conflict in children was healthy, and if worked through, would help children to overcome their egocentric thought patterns (Arsenio Cooperman, 1996). Erikson believed that life was full of conflict and in order to become a better person, one must resolve the conflict in each stage of life (Trawick-Smith, 2003). Vygotsky saw conflict as a learning experience. He believed that children, if in their zone of proximal development, would learn from the conflict and adult models to function better in social contexts. Looking at the beliefs of all of these well known theorists, one gets the feeling that conflict is a positive, healthy part of a child’s life. http://www.kon.org/urc/dennis.html accessed Researches show a difference between boys and girls and that they have different type of conflicts. It states that young children are more likely to have conflicts than older and that girls react to words while boys react with actions. There are some causes of conflict: Young children have difficulty sharing their things. Lack of communication skills When children are tired Attention seeking children Cultural differences Opinions are not matching Competitiveness Jealousy Punishment is not good way to deal with conflict. It can be painful and create fear and not change child’s behaviour. Adults need to be positive example for their children in handling conflict, smooth the progress of the conflict between children and interfere when children conflict becomes violent. Reference Ref1 http://www.education.gov.uk/childrenandyoungpeople/earlylearningandchildcare/delivery/a0071032/childcare-act-2006 accessed Ref 2 https://www.education.gov.uk/publications/eOrderingDownload/EYFS%20Statutory%20Framework%20March%202012.pdf accessed Ref3 http://www.ccldnvq3.com/ccld-301/k3d174-the-importance-of-children-valuing-and-respecting-others-individuality accessed Ref4 http://www.leics.gov.uk/eyfs_quality_review.pdf accessed Ref5 http://www.kidsbehaviour.co.uk/using-positive-negative-reinforcement-promote-good-behaviour.html accessed Ref6 http://www.teacherinduction.ie/Downloads/Teaching%20%20Learning%20docs/Improving%20Pedagogy%20in%20Infant%20Classes.pdf accessed
Wednesday, October 2, 2019
Artificial Intelligence Essay -- Technology, Automated Online Assistan
This paper summarizes various definitions of Artificial Intelligence and provides a brief account of progress in the field. The origin and purpose of artificial intelligence is discussed. This paper also discusses a few of the many subcategories of research, applications and current technological obstacles that scientist face when developing AI. In particular, this paper overviews various specific military applications of AI. Finally, the paper provides discussion on the impact that the future of artificial intelligence may have on humans. The literature that exists regarding artificial intelligence shall also be examined briefly, and finally how it has affected humanity, particularly psychologically. â€Æ' Statement of topic Artificial Intelligence (AI) is often depicted by science fiction authors and scientists as potentially equalâ€â€or superiorâ€â€to human intelligence. Yet this dream may remain elusive until machines attain the basic human virtue of common sense. Some of the leading experts and researchers in the field of Artificial Intelligence (AI) have tried to define the term or the subject. Phillip Jackson, in his book An Introduction to Artificial Intelligence (1985), defines AI research as ‘an attempt to discover and describe aspects of human intelligence that can be simulated by machines’ (Jackson, 1985). John McCarthy, one of the pioneer scientists in the field and the person believed to have coined the term ‘artificial intelligence’ defined the goal of AI as ‘to develop machines that behave as though they were intelligent.’ This definition, however, is insufficient because it does not comprehensively capture the intended purpose of AI; it is to o general. The definition that best captures the definition of AI was given ... ...l the cursor of a mouse by what they think and using their speech. The system, created at Washington University, enables people who have had damage to their speech because of a brain injury or who have limited mobility because of injury to use computers just as normal people would (Leuthardt, et al., 2011). Scientists currently try as much as possible to focus on solutions that help solve limitations that machines have, trying to improve them as much as possible. One good example is the research currently being undertaken by researchers to find easier ways in which soft robots used in search and rescue can move faster. As a result, the researchers have focused on the movement of different species of caterpillars, looking up to these soft-bodies caterpillars for inspiration on how to create more intelligent systems of robot locomotion (Lin, Leisk, & Trimmer, 2011).
Tuesday, October 1, 2019
muddle In A Puddle: Comparison Of Essay To My Life :: essays research papers
"Muddle In A Puddle": Comparison of Essay To My Life While reading the essay "Muddle in a Puddle," some very colorful images came to my mind about what I have done in my life that compare to this particular piece. Of all the times I have embarrassed myself by sticking my foot in my mouth, or by making a fool of myself by playing with a strange toy in the toy department, only to my surprise, everyone in the toy department was laughing at me. As Robert Herrick mentions in his poem "_O how that glittering taketh me!" (100 Best Loved Poems, 12) That's how I felt at that time. All of us have experienced things like this in our lives, and it is strange what makes it so interesting to watch people make fools of themselves, as mentioned by Baker in this quote, "...and any one could could have spoken out as one human might speak to another....not one had said that." (156) Yet another piece really spoke to me about the ways people communicate on a daily basis. "I led the Pigeons to the Flag" was very exact to the feelings I have of miscommunications and mishearings. I can remember times in which I have done the very same things that were mentioned in this essay, like singing a tune over and over out loud, then looking over the lyrics later. Only to my knowledge, my version of "Cannonball" was actually "Panama." The way we hear and say things is also very influential in the way others hold us in their standings. If someone catches us slipping up, they might think we are weird, or stupid. It could also be a good ice-breaker for a good friendly relationship. Sometimes not. It just depends where the people are from, and what the situations are at the time of the incident. I can remember a time, while at work at the funeral home, I was discussing school with a bereaving individual. I was trying to comfort this person, as I noticed she was very disturbed over the loss of a friend. It was around the time of finals, and she asked how they were going. I said "they're killing me!" Immediately I realized that I had said the right thing the wrong way. A million thoughts passed through my mind at that moment, as Baker had also mentioned. What was I to say to recover from this terrible thing. Change the subject? Repeat the phrase replacing killing with another mourning-friendly verb? Its hard to know what you can say around certain groups of people, or in
Cultural Differences Affecting Meaning and Understanding Essay
How do cultural differences affect meaning and understanding? In today’s business environment, the mechanics of global business seem to be working on a surface level. We can make quick money transactions by phone or by computer. Consumers can purchase products from all different countries in one transaction. Although trade barriers are still a major topic, they are slowly decreasing. As we sick below the surface, we will see that Global business is still in major jeopardy because of a newly emerging challenge: Cultural differences. Culture is the pattern of beliefs or expectations that inevitably shape the behaviours of individuals and teams within organisations. It is concerned with the basic assumptions, values, attitudes, food and feeding habits, dress and appearance, relationships, a sense of self and space and norms shaped by members of an organisation or country. These elements of culture are usually taken for granted and guide others perceptions, thoughts and actions. For example, the Culture at McDonald’s fast food chain emphasises efficiency, speed and consistency. It orients employees to company goals and charters and suggests the necessary behaviours for success. Many educated, business people may say â€Å"But we are getting closer and closer to each other, we don’t have any cultural problems’. Yes, it is possible to transcend cultural differences; however statements like this can be misleading to many people. (Funakawa, p18) Geert Hofstede, a successful cross-cultural management researcher, observes five different dimensions within a culture: Power/Distancing – This refers to the degree of inequality that exists and is accepted among people with and without power. High Power distancing cultures conclude that society accepts an unequal distribution of power and people understand â€Å"their place†in the system. Low Power Distancing means that power is shared and well dispersed. It also means that society members view themselves as equals. Application: According to Hofstede’s model, in a high Power distancing country like Malaysia, you would probably send reports only to top management and have closed door meetings where only a select few, powerful leaders were in attendance. Individualism – This refers to the strength of the ties people have to others within the community. A high Individualism society indicates a loose connection with people. In countries with a high Individualism society there is a lack of interpersonal connection and little sharing of responsibility, beyond family and perhaps a few close friends. A society with a low Individualism would have strong group cohesion, and there would be a large amount of loyalty and respect for members of the group. The group itself is also larger and people take more responsibility for each other’s well being. Masculinity – This refers to how much a society sticks with, and values, traditional male and female roles. High Masculinity societies are found in countries where men are expected to be tough, to be the provider, to be assertive and to be strong. If women work outside the home, they have separate professions from men. Low Masculinity societies do not reverse the gender roles. In a low Masculinity society, the roles are simply blurred. You see women and men working together equally across many professions. Men are allowed to be sensitive and women can work hard for professional success. Uncertainty/Avoidance Index – This relates to the degree of anxiety society members feel when in uncertain or unknown situations. High Uncertainty societies try to avoid ambiguous situations whenever possible. They are governed by rules and order and they seek a collective â€Å"truth†. Low Uncertainty societies indicate the society enjoys novel events and values differences. There are very few rules and people are encouraged to discover their own truth. Geert also observes that when people write about national cultures in modern society becoming more and more similar, the evidence cited is usually taken from the level of practices; people dress the same, use the same fashionable words in context, buy the same products and brands, they participate in global sports etc. These manifestations of culture are sometimes mistaken for all there is: the deeper, underlying values is often overlooked. (Funakawa p33) The value for cross cultural communication cannot be overemphasised. It is what enables any mission statement, vision or strategy, and affects meaning and understanding on every level.
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