Tuesday, October 29, 2019

PUBLIC LAW Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

PUBLIC LAW - Case Study Example So Rob had no chance of getting a lawyer on Sunday when the courts were also closed. Even if the courts were closed on Sunday, Rob had the option of getting a lawyer on Sunday as there are lawyers who are accessible 24/7. Thus, the issue is volatile not only for Rob but also the Officer Clegg. By denying Rob his right to approach a lawyer on the same night and by coercing him into accompanying him to the police station to get back the keys Clegg had confiscated from Rob, the Officer had put his own position on par with Rob. Further, Clegg continued to keep Rob in detention the whole of Saturday night after assuring Rob that he would be released in a matter of few hours and then extending the detention up to Monday when the courts opened. Rob was charged with possession of controlled drug on Saturday night at 10.30 pm and kept in custody until Monday so that the police could take him to the court. Police officer Clegg told Rob that he did not trust Rob, and consequently he kept Rob in custody until the court decided what to do with Rob. However, the manner in which Officer Clegg took Rob into custody is debatable. At first he confiscated Rob's key ring saying it was dangerous because of its sharpened edges. At the police station, Clegg took Rob to the front desk and put him straight in a cell saying he was just going to fill in some paperwork and be back shortly. When Rob again asked for a solicitor, Clegg told him that he would not need a solicitor since that would mean waiting all night. However, early next morning at 6.00 am, Clegg tells Rob that he was being charged with possession of a controlled drug that would require him to appear before the Magistrate on Monday morning. Basically, Officer Clegg had good reason to take Rob into custody. However, the manner in which it was done raises eyebrows. Rob has been nervous. He should not have confessed to the officer that the cannabis found on the road was his. He should have stuck to his rights to consult his lawyer before saying anything and kept his mouth shut. By confessing the cannabis as his, he has given the police a bigger reason to arrest him and put him on trial (Dirga, Eric J, 2002). In the circumstances, Rob has weakened his own defense. There is no mention of the amount of cannabis he was carrying. If he has been carrying a higher amount of cannabis that is above 28 grams, he could be prosecuted on charges of trafficking drugs. "the penalties for drug crimes range from very severe to probation and classes or a treatment program. Charges are generally based upon quantity, intent to sell or distribute and other factors such as weapons possession or use, evidence of sales activity, having large amounts of money, etc. The seriousness and ultimate punishment for drug crimes normally depends upon the quantity of the drug, the classification under the drug schedule, and the purpose of the possession (for personal use or for sale)" (Robert Miller & Associates, 2010). Apparently, Rob is a known offender and Officer Clegg is obviously under the impression Rob does not deserve to be dealt with

Sunday, October 27, 2019

The Fundamental Rethinking Processes Of BPR

The Fundamental Rethinking Processes Of BPR BPR is the fundamental rethinking and radical redesign of business processes to achieve dramatic improvements in critical contemporary measures of performance, such as cost, quality, service and speed. The major benefit of BPR is that it eliminates redundancies of work and improves accuracy. BPR can transform the basic ways that people and departments work and allow users to work better and often to produce higher quality work. BPR would enable smooth restructuring process of business processes at Velogic Airlines Limited. The chapter discusses BPR process, implementation method and the changes those may have to be made for upgrading the existing ERP system at Velogic Airlines Limited. Details about the modules related to Human Resource and Payroll System, Finance and Accounting System and Inventory Management System have also been elaborated in the chapter. Business Process Reengineering (BPR) is the organizational procedure required to align people, processes and technology with strategies to accomplish business integration. It can be considered as taking a business in its current state and forming an organizational and operational blueprint to redirect skills, polices, information (data), cultural values, organizational structures, processing and incentives towards targeted improvements15.  [1]   Velogic Airlines Limited are now inspiring to enhance their airline by coordinating their business processes more closely and in some cases integrating these processes so that they can focus more on efficient management of resources and customer service. The oracle application would not require specific non-intuitive software to be installed. Virtually all-new systems available in the market today run in industry standard web browsers, thus reducing software and training costs. Moreover with the emergence of new competitors they need to enhance their service level and be a step ahead of competitors. A powerful type of organization change is brought forward the business process reengineering (BPR) also known as Business Process Improvement (BPI) or business process redesign. From the early 1990s it became familiar for management in many organizations to focus their attention inwards and to consider how proficient business processes can be redesigned or re-engineered. Business Process Re-engineering (BPR) is the popular term for reutilisation of organizational procedures and structure following the introduction of new information technologies into an organization. It is the fundamental rethinking and radical redesign of business processes to accomplish impressive improvements in critical contemporary measures of performance, such as cost, quality, service and speed. Objectives of BPR A more significant kind of organizational change is business process reengineering, in which business processes are analyzed, simplified and redesigned. Using information technology, organizations can rethink and streamline their business processes to improve speed, service, and quality. Business Process Re-engineering reorganizes workflows, combining steps to cut waste and eradicating repetitive, paper-intensive tasks (sometimes the new design eliminates jobs as well). It is more ambitious than rationalization of procedures, requiring a new vision of how the process is to be organized  [2]  16. BPR Advantages over Automation and Rationalization The evolution of the information-processing pattern over the last four decades to build intelligence and administer amendments in business functions and processes has generally progressed over three phases: Automation Rationalization Business Process Re-engineering Each of them carries different rewards and risk. The most common form of IT-enabled organizational changes is automation. The first applications of information technology implicated assisting employees with achieving their tasks more efficiently and effectively. A deeper form of organizational change one that follows quickly from early automation is rationalization of procedures. Automation frequently reveals new bottlenecks in production and makes the existing arrangement of procedures and structures painfully large. Rationalisation of procedures is the streamlining of standard operating procedures more efficient. BPR, ERP AND IT In the majority of cases, information technology powers BPR. Formerly, information technology was used to facilitate companies automate existing business processes but now, technology is being used to transform those processes fundamentally. Current developments in information technology have not only made BPR possible on a radical and extensive scale, but also more efficient. The merger of the two concepts has resulted in the latest concept, namely, business engineering (BE). BE combines the innovations of information technology with BPRs focus on better business processes. The heart and soul of BE lying in radical, process-oriented business solutions, which have been greatly enhanced by the information technology of client/server computing. ERP is a tool, which acts as a facilitator of BE to mould business processes efficiently  [3]  17. While the objectives of BPR have not been altered by information technology, they have gained an extra dimension in business engineering. The main thrust of BE is the efficient redesign of a companys value-added chains. By definition, value-added chains are the set of connected steps running through a business which, when quickly and efficiently completed, add value to both, the company and the customer. With the appearance of enterprise software systems, information technology has become a business-modeling vehicle that can assist in the redesigning of those processes. Method of implementation Before deciding upon a BE project, the management, IT users, and the IT experts must get together to chart out Velogic Airlines Limited goals and identify the key processes that affect its success. Next, those processes should be reengineered to improve their effectiveness. At this point, the BE team must establish how information technology can enhance the reengineered process. Other potential benefits of information technology should be identified, such as its role in developing a business strategy to satisfy customer requirements. The BE team must maximize and streamline business process and access whether they should be changed or perhaps thrown out, before they apply technology to them. Velogic Airlines Limited has different kinds of information systems that support different functions, organizational levels, and business processes. Most of these systems are built around different functions; business units and business processes that do not talk to each other. Because of the challenges mentioned earlier the company has decided to set up an ERP system. Oracle Application consist of a set of interdependent modules for applications such as sales and distribution, financial accounting, investment management, and human resources that allow data to be used by multiple functions and business process for more precise organizational coordination and control. The modules can communicate with each other directly or by sharing a common repository of data. ERP helps to support organization-wide process coordination and integration. It creates an integrated organization-wide platform to coordinate key internal processes of the firm. They address the issue of organizational ineffi ciencies created by isolated islands of information, business processes, and technology. Information that was previously split in different applications can seamlessly flow throughout the company so that business processes in finance, accounts; human resources, payroll and inventory can share it. The systems collects data from various key business processes and stores the data in a single comprehensive data repository where they can be used by other parts of the business. Managers emerge with more precise and timely information for coordinating the daily operations of the business and the company wide view of business processes and information flows. Select the process appoint process team for restructuring the process. Business processes are simply a set of activities that transform a set of inputs into a set of outputs for another person or process using people and tools. The strategic processes: Account Payable/Receivable Client Record Employee Record Training plans Inventory Separate systems were built over a long period of time to support discrete business processes and discreet business functions. The organizations systems rarely included vendors and customers. Managers also required IT support in order to create accounting and inventory reports, a labour- and time-intensive project that complicated the estimation of future inventory levels and product availability. In many cases, these simple reports took days to complete. It was difficult to assemble data to get an overall picture of the organizations operations. Facing increasing accounting and administrative needs, the company wanted to streamline business practices and provide better visibility into financial information. ERP systems integrate the key business processes of the company into a single software system that allows information to flow seamlessly throughout the organization. These systems focus primarily on internal processes but may include transactions with customers and vendors. The new system proposes to give employees an easy-to-use interface for creating reports, tracking sales and customers, and searching inventory lists. Prime benefits from BPR are: positive effect on service quality the entire organization can respond more efficiently to customer query and deliver information on time labor resources (improved employee morale and productivity) Customer satisfaction (quicker response to customer requests). elimination of bottlenecks and delays between steps provide simultaneous access to documents by multiple departments/people allow for quick, simple access to information elimination of redundancies of work and improves accuracy decreasing defects, errors Business engineering makes companies more customer-focused and responsive to changes in the market. The organisation achieves these results by reshaping corporate structures around business processes. BE implements change not by the complete automation of a business but rather by the redefinition of company tasks in holistic or process-oriented terms. Only companies with innovative staff, products, and services as well as short development cycles, will be able to retain the market or by hope to get a bigger slice of the pie. By maximizing individual and team creativity and emphasizing a process-oriented approach, BE enables a company to realize its goals. Examples of business processes With the current practice Accounting and Finance department was not able to tell what the items available in inventory were and when they were ordered without consulting the inventory department. All entry for invoices, credit notes, accounts receivable and checks had to be continually checked with each department before entering data. Human resource Payrolls had to send report for all payments. Transferred of information was done on paper and then each department made the necessary entry or adjustment. There was no control over data transmitted and on items ordered. The traditional system also affected employee productivity. Staff members struggled to use online resources to complete daily tasks. Sales teams had difficulty tracking customer history and face difficulty to extract data from the system. It was time consuming to use the traditional system resulting delay in work and customer dissatisfaction, as they could not get the information they requested on time. After reengineering process all departments will be interconnected. Transfer of information will occur more smoothly and on time. The process will be as follows: When a reservation officer enters a customer reservation, the data flows automatically to others in the company who need to see them. The ERP system stores the reservation information where customer service representatives can track progress and know how many seats are available. Updated sales data automatically flow to the Accounting and Finance department. The system transmits the information to calculate the companys balance sheets, accounts receivable and payable ledgers and available cash. Management can view up-to-date minute data on sales and inventory at every step of the process. With the present system Accounting and Finance department get all the information automatically for instance all checks are printed now instead manually prepared. For any information required each department just have to verify on the system and it is automatically processed whereas before for all information they have to consult respective departments. Now there will be better control and resource management. After reengineering, staff members can perform customer service-related and inventory-related tasks without having to open multiple programs. Role-based security features keep sensitive information from employees who are not authorized to view it. On the other hand, managers and employees can gain access without having to call IT support to the information that they need to perform their jobs well. Employees have access to company information from a centralised point-of-entry. Through powerful analytics-reporting tools, Velogic Airlines Limited decision makers have a way to better manage operational matters, such as reservation fulfillment and inventory levels and improved management with real-time data, such as accounts receivable. IT Requirements A commonly disregarded area is the issue of information technology change. Often, the IT infrastructure changes required to implement a new ERP Oracle are not given high priority, which these technology issues otherwise, deserve. Undoubtedly, business issues should drive implementing ERP Oracle, not technology that improves business processes. Ignoring the preparation and education new information technology requires is asking for trouble. Further, IT personnel often must make the technology transition quickly. If the technology and infrastructure transition are not done well, the project, at the very least, will be delayed. Oracle Technology Oracle Applications include the license usage for Oracle 9i RDBMS and Oracle 9iAS Enterprise Edition software  [4]  18. Oracle 9i Oracle Applications run on Oracle technology. Oracle RDBMS 9i is the market leader in reliable and scalable database technology that continuously upgrades its products upgrading to the latest version is made easy with subscription to the Oracle Technical Support Service. Oracle RDBMS is the market leader with a market share of 33.8% compare to IBM which maintained a steady 30% portion of total database sales. Microsofts SQL Server product cornered 13.9% of the market. Oracle is based on three-tier architecture. This is different from the traditional client server architecture in the way that the application instead of residing on the client now resides on the middle-tier i.e. the Application Server. This enables access of application from the client-end, which just needs to have a web browser. The three tiers of Oracles architecture are as follows: Presentation tier (or user interface) This tier interfaces with the user and consists of hardware such as a PC or workstation and a web browser. This may consist of any number of client machines. Functionality /Business Logic tier- This tier provides functionality to the end users and contains the business logic (application). It provides the bridge between the first and the third tiers. Data tier This tier includes the database that contains all the data of the organization and this is encapsulated from the end users. This three-tier architecture can work on the Intranet as well as over the Internet. A typical diagrammatic representation of the three-tier architecture of Oracle is as follows: Figure 4 Oracles 3-Tier Architecture The various software components at the three tiers are as follows: Client Tier Operating System (Windows XP/7) Java enabled web browser (Internet Explorer 8.0/higher or Mozilla Firefox 4.0 of higher) Middle Tier Platform Windows NT 4.0/Windows 2000/SUN Solaris Oracle IAS Developer 2000 Server 2.1 (Forms Reports Server required for ERP component) Database Tier Platform Windows NT 4.0/SUN Solaris Oracle 9i Workgroup server Technical Strengths Oracle product being based on three-tier architecture enables resource intensive components to run on Middle tier thereby moving bulk of the processing load away from the client. Oracle Application server has built-in components which deliver high degree of scalability and consist of balancing, logging, automatic failure recovery, security, directory, and transaction components. The ERP based on Oracle is highly scalable and robust to handle volumes of clients requests concurrently. The Java Servlet Engine runs in a multithreaded environment and can process numerous client requests at one go. Hardware Infrastructure Server Sun Fire x4540 The Sun Fire x4540 storage server delivers 2 to 3 times the storage density of traditional solutions the maximum data throughput at 3 GB/sec from disk to memory, and 30% to 50% power savings at almost half of the total cost  [5]  19. The specifications of Sun Fire x4540 620 Software Oracle database will be the relational database management system installed on the server. The actual Oracle 8i will be upgraded to Oracle 9i standard Edition. Operating System Solaris 9 Operating Systems The Solaris 9 Operating environment is intended to sustain Multiprocessing multithreading. SUN Microsystems servers are designed from the ground to have Symmetric Multiprocessing. From Entry level workstation to SUNFire 15k (106 processors), SUN Microsystems employs the same architecture (UltraSparc) and Solaris OS. Also, Solaris OS is less prone to Virus attacks unlike other Operating systems  [7]  21. The Solaris platform supports; One million simultaneous processes on a single system Up to 128 CPUs on a single system More than four billion network connections 32- and 64-bit applications Two-, four-, and eight-node clusters IPv4 and IPv6 network addresses Up to 512 CPUs in a clustered environment Client Hardware The client should be linked to the server through a local area network and have the following minimum configuration: 1 processor core 2 duo 3.00 GHz 1 GB RAM 320 GB HDD Software and Operating System The client PC should be loaded with Explorer 8.0/higher or Mozilla Firefox 4.0 and should have one of the following OS: Windows XP, or Windows 7. Communications Computers and communications equipment can be connected in networks for sharing voice, data, images, sound, or even video. It is to be noted that the number of user at the company will be 60 persons. In the existing environment 30 data points are being used and with speed up to 10 mbps (megabits per second), and the proposal is to move to 100 mbps, using 60 data points, assuming that their will be 60 users. The company will need cabling whose speed is up to 100 mbps at an affordable price. Secondly, there are routers device that forwards packets of data from one LAN to another. Local Area Network (LAN) are recommended for applications transmitting high volumes of data and other functions requiring high transmission speeds, including video transmissions and graphics. LANs often are used to connect PCs in an office to shared printers and other resources or to link computers and computer-controlled machines in factories  [8]  22. Application Software Oracle Financials for Accounting Software Oracle Integrated Payroll/HR System Application supporting BS7799 Information Security Standard Information is an asset that, like other business assets, has value to an organization and consequently needs to be suitably protected. Information Security protects information from a wide range of threats in order to ensure business continuity, minimize business damage and maximize return on investment and business opportunities. Information can exist in many forms. It can be printed or written on paper, stored electronically, transmitted by post or by using electronic means, shown on films and spoken in conversation. Whatever form the information takes, means by which it is shared or stored, it should always be appropriately protected. Information security is characterized as the preservation of: Confidentiality: ensuring that information is accessible only by those authorized to have access; Integrity: safeguarding the accuracy and completeness of information and processing methods; Availability: ensuring that authorized users have access to information and associated assets when required. Figure 5 Source: BS 7799-2/2002: ISMS Specifications with Guidance for Use Increasingly, organizations and their information systems and networks are faced with security threats from a wide range of sources, including computer-assisted fraud, espionage, sabotage, vandalism, fire or flood, sources of damage such as computer hacking and denial of service attacks have become more common, more ambitious and increasingly sophisticated. The following diagram suggests a structure for the ten domains of the standard. Each domain deals with a separate topic built around administrative, technical and physical measures and driven from the top down, in other words such that its impact is felt from the management level all the way to the operational level. The 10 main control points of BS 7799 are: 1. Security Policy To provide management direction and support for information security. 2. Organizational Security To manage information security within the company 3. Asset Classification and Control To maintain appropriate protection of corporate assets 4. Personnel Security To reduce risks of human error and ensure that users are aware of information security threats 5. Physical and Environmental Security To prevent unauthorized access to information 6. Computer Operations Management To ensure the correct and secure operation of information processing 7. System Access Control To control access to information 8. System Development and Maintenance to protect the confidentiality, authenticity and integrity of information. 9. Business Continuity Planning -To ensure business continue to operate from the effect of a disaster 10. Compliance To avoid breaches of any criminal or civil law Technical Design Requirements The current system runs as three distinct and separate databases (Human Resource Payroll system, Finance Accounts system, and Inventory Management system). Currently, Velogic Airlines Limited has separate, elements in all three systems; examples include the definition of departments and divisions, which is handled manually now. While they try to maintain consistency, the systems do not demand it, so they cannot easily pull department costs across the Human Resource Payroll, Finance Accounts, and Inventory databases. Departments should be defined only once and used by all data elements. Similarly, Human Resource data on employees should only be defined once on a master screen and all databases use this same information. The proposed modules for ERP are: Human Resource and Payroll System Finance and Accounting System Inventory Management System Systems Interconnection Diagram The figure below shows the interconnection of the three modules and gives a brief description of the systems that will support Velogic Airlines Limited main activities and their requirements. Payroll System Human Resource and Payroll System Human resource and payroll systems help business develop staffing requirements; identify potential new employees; maintain employee records; track employee training, skills, transportation (allowances), salary, overtime and job performance; and help managers develop appropriate plans for employee compensation and career development. ERP systems help the company coordinate their staffing levels with sales activities and financial resources. Employee Details Basic Information on: Surname, Name, Maiden Name, Marital Status, Gender, Date of Birth, Age, NID, Social Security Number, Telephone Number, Residential Address. Manage Recruitment process Leaves management Sick Leaves, Casual Leave, Computation of Annual Leaves, Refund for Contract Officers, Maternity Leave: Study Leave, Leave without Pay, Leave with Pay: Record and Listing, Miscellaneous Leaves: e.g. Injury / Special Leaves: Record and Listing Staff Development Plan Database of qualifications: Professional! Academic/Vocational possessed by Staff. Record of all training programmes provided to Velogic Airlines Limited staff. Performance Management Monitor employee competencies for career planning. Payroll Basic Salary + Gross Salary Allowances paid by Type, e.g. Acting / Responsibility, etc Overtime paid Record of all Staff having received Incremental Credits Record of all Staff eligible to Uniform Allowances Deductions made Car Loan entitlement: Staff entitled to Car Loan and Amount Other categories of staff eligible to Car Loan 2) Finance and Accounting System Finance and accounting systems help firms keep track of their assets and fund flows. ERP systems integrate financial information with productions and sales information so that the impact of transactions can be immediately reflected on the companys balance sheets, accounts receivable and payable ledgers, and reports of cash flows. ERP systems will help to obtain up-to-the-minute reports of the companys overall financial performance. The accounting system should be operated on an integrated standard accounting package incorporating the following modules/functions: [23] General Ledger Purchasing Accounts Payable Accounts Receivable Fixed Assets Register A. General Ledger The system should also provide for: Unlimited number of sets of accounts for as many divisions as required. Balance forward facility creating new year open balances All journal entries should automatically balanced Cash movement report to show the net in flow/out flow of cash Financial statements and reports such as the Profit and Loss, Balance Sheet and Sources and Support for VAT Tax system. Rate of VAT must be more definable. The general ledger system should allow analysis of transactions by cost  ­centres at division as may be appropriate. B. Purchasing The purchase order processing system should integrate with the general ledger, purchase ledger and stock control systems. The system should provide for: identification of suppliers by name, product, order number, etc monitoring of purchase orders checking of purchase invoices against orders and deliveries for quantities and price report on outstanding orders, purchase and overdue deliveries link multiple purchase orders or Goods Received Notes to a supplier invoice C. Accounts Payable The purchase ledger should integrate with the general ledger and the purchase order processing systems. It should provide for: Unlimited number of suppliers accounts Recording and analysis of credit purchases returns and adjustments in accordance with user defined Analysis codes The recording of payment due date for each purchase invoice for settlement within credit period Printing of checks as per Velogic Airlines Limited format Support for VAT Tax system. Rate of VAT must be more definable. D. Accounts Receivable The Debtors Ledger system should integrate with general ledger system and provide for: Unlimited number of customers accounts The recording and analysis of credit sales in accordance with user-defined analysis codes Debtor classification by category Automatic generation of invoices Support for VAT Tax system. Rate of VAT must be more definable. E. Fixed Assets Register It is desirable that the Fixed Assets register be integrated with the general Ledger but, this is not an essential requirement. The system should provide for the following: User defined fixed assets codes as well as analysis codes for divisions, location, and types of assets, etc. Calculation of depreciation using either straight line or written down value methods Re-evaluation of assets Memorandum entries for each asset to keep track of the assets profile from acquisition to disposal in terms of maintenance, repairs, insurance, down-time replacement date, on loan 3). Inventory Management System Since the inventory system is a perpetual system, all transactions are posted at the time of entering, regardless of the transaction date. Therefore, if an inventory valuation is required for month-end, this report must be produced at the last working day after all current month transactions are posted and before any transactions f

Friday, October 25, 2019

He think he Jesus :: essays research papers

It was a typical day as any other with the only exception that it was nearly 50 degrees in the middle of December. People were operating as they always due skating through their business day while they sip on their Starbucks and yell at someone on their cell phone. But hey, that’s the world we live in, blank stairs, exchanging un-pleasantry’s and so on and so forth. Kids like me sit at tables trying to make some kind of pointless conversation with an attractive female while we stair into their eyes trying to figure out which words will get you laid up with them the fastest. All is moving fine until your plan is interrupted. Not by your â€Å"game† of course, never that, but by this bummy looking older man who decides to sit at the same table.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Do you need help with your chemistry homework?† He asks my potential prey and points to her chemistry book that has been opened to the same page for the past 20 minutes. He wears a look of confidence despite his tattered fashion and yellow teeth. Now I am not one too big on believing in stereotypes, however, I call it how I see it and he looked like a bum, point blank. He began to speak about the basics of chemistry while sipping on coffee heavily saturated in sweet and low. As he began to speak and shed light on this topic, he flipped the conversation to history and the lies we’ve all been told. Everything he was saying I was familiar with, however I could tell he was shocking the female that was sitting across from me. At this point I realized that she had become a lost cause for the moment since she was very enthralled by our new acquaintance. In the midst of the truths he was speaking, he rambled a great deal as if he couldn’t mainta in a single thought long enough to fully explain it. He then began to denounce the importance of money, however he bragged about the diamonds from exotic countries that he owned. He carried a paper bag that was pretty full. As he began to dig in it to as if to prove himself, he pulled out so called skins from different animals around the world. They were supposedly worth a great deal of money and he was carrying them since he was awaiting a business meeting.

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Readiness of Kindergarten Teachers along K-12 Curriculum Essay

One of the major reforms in our country’s educational system is Republic Act 10157, otherwise known as â€Å"The Kindergarten Education Law† or the K to12 (K+12). This Law made the Kindergarten compulsory and mandatory entry to basic education. This Law was initiated by the Aquino administration in order to address the perceived decreasing quality of education in the country, and to meet the international standard regarding the number of years in basic education. This program will require all incoming students to enroll into two more years of basic education. The K+12 System will include the Universal kindergarten, 6 years of elementary, 4 years of junior high school with an additional 2 years for senior high school. The program is implemented and formulated along with the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) and with the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA). The current k-12 model that had been implemented in the country is an educational landscape for basic and secondary system patterned after the United States, Canada and some parts of Australia had done it. According to Patricia  Velasco’s article, the K- 12 Curriculum envisions â€Å"holistically developed learners with 21st century skills† (DepEd Primer, 2011). This further means that every student would have an understanding of the world around him and a passion for life-long learning while addressing every student’s basic learning needs: â€Å"learning to learn, the acquisition of numeracy, literacy, and scientific and technological knowledge applied to daily life† (p. 6). The main objective of the K to 12 curriculum is to achieve the DepEd’s goal of eradicating illiteracy rate in the country. â€Å"No child is left behind. † (source). Every Filipino has the right to receive quality education in order to become an asset in all dimensions, competent, efficient, effective and productive citizen leading to a decent and comfortable living. The most interesting part concerning the K to 12 program is on its practical assistance for the poor but skillful students. For instance, the student cannot afford to go to college; he is given an option or privilege to be employed not as a professional but on technical job because his skills acquired and developed during his Senior High School can be a guarantee for his  qualification for a vocational employment. Moreover, the program aims to uplift the quality of education in the Philippines in order for graduates to be easily employed. Our country is the only country in Asia and among the countries in the world that has a 10 year pre- university program. The program also aims to meet the standards required for professionals who would want to work abroad. The system aims to fully enhance and develop the students in order for them to be well-prepared especially in emotional and cognitive aspects. Through this, graduates will be able to face the pressures of their future workplace. The K-12 aims the students to have a relevance or importance in the social and economic reality of life. The realm of their role as members of the country. Thus, this vision will be complete through an enhanced curriculum. (K-12 Kindergarten Curriculum Guide 2013) DepEd said that this is the right time to do something better for the field of education, having poor quality education. The DepEd released their stand along the reform. In stressing the need for the new system of basic education, President Benigno S. Aquino III said, â€Å"We need to add two years of our basic education. Those who can afford pay up to fourteen years  of schooling before university. Thus, their children are getting to the best universities and the best jobs after graduation. I want at least 12 years for our public school children to give them an even chance at succeeding. † (source) With the K-12 program, different arguments were formulated. Not all are in favor of the K+12 Education program. There are students complaining of the additional years and there are parents who are not in favor of the additional expenses. But it is an undeniable fact that additional years in the education system will really require more budgets not just from the government but from the  parents as well. Aside from this, students will need additional classrooms, school supplies and facilities. The program would need more qualified teachers as well. Teachers plays an important role 1 / 3 in the K-12 program because they are the ones who will teach the kindergarten pupils, especially the Pre – school teachers. Markovac & Rogulja, 2009, stated that the, early care main goal is to fulfill the Delors principles: â€Å"Learning to be, learning to do, learning to know and learning to live together and to live with others. † The early childhood is a time of rapid growth in all aspects of  children’s development fostered by their natural curiosity and adult support. Therefore, Preschool education is the foundation for a child’s education. The skills and knowledge that a child develops in the preschool years will have a dramatic impact on a child’s success when formal schooling begins as well as life success. Preschool education is important because it can give your child the edge in a competitive world and education climate. The first year of a child’s life is globally acknowledged to be the critical year for lifelong development because the pace of development during these years is  extremely rapid (National Council of Educational Research and Training, 2006 as cited in the K to 12 Curriculum Guide – Kindergarten). While children who do not receive the fundamentals during their preschool years will be taught the alphabet, counting, shapes and colors when they begin their formal education they will be behind the children who already possess that knowledge and skill set. The Pre – school teachers are supposed to have the courage and knowledge to teach the little ones. They will serve as the guide and the second mother at school. Children’s learning will greatly depend on the teachers strategies. Hence, kindergarten teachers should provide them with an engaging and creative curriculum that is developmentally – appropriate, age – appropriate and socio – cul;turally appropriate (DepEd K to 12 Curriculum guide for Kindergaten, 2012). Many new parents start hearing about K-12 since before their kids are born. However, they are not very clear about what K12 means, and why is necessary for them to start inform themselves about it as it will impact their kids’ future. What Is K12 Education? This term was coined to describe primary and secondary education. This includes kindergarten (K) all the way to the 12 grade. This extremely popular type of education is very common among several countries around the world. â€Å"K to 12† stands for kindergarten plus 12 years of elementary and secondary education. This educational system for basic and secondary education is widely adopted around the world. Early childhood education is intended to support and complement family upbringing and the main goal is to create good opportunities and conditions for each child’s well-being, create a stimulating environment for the child’s comprehensive development and learning while taking into account their age, gender and individual features. The role of early childhood care and education settings in improving children’s development has begun to be viewed with increasing importance. The recognition that centre-based childcare is associated with a host of positive developmental outcomes for children, such as increased cognitive abilities, language development, and emotional and social development (Kagan & Neuman, 1997; National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Early Childcare Research Network [NICHD], 2000, 2002, 2008; NICHD & Duncan, 2003), has led to the introduction of a new policy in Ireland that provides every three-year-old child with access to a free preschool place for one year (Office of the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs [OMCYA], 2009). The importance of preschool learning is that first, parents must remember that preschool education is the foundation for your child’s education. As Adams (2008) stressed that early childhood education is the key to building a strong foundation for a child’s educational success. The skills and knowledge (not to mention aptitude and attitude) that your child develops in the preschool years will have a dramatic impact on your child’s success when formal  schooling begins as well as life success, as supported by the House Bill 5367 (2009), aimed to incorporate preschool education to basic education with the DepEd at the frontier of its implementation all over the country. This bill was in consonance with the state’s policy to provide equal opportunities for all children to avail themselves of free and compulsory preschool education that effectively promotes physical, social, intellectual, emotional simulations, let alone values formation to adequately prepare them for formal elementary schooling, second is that by actively  promoting and encouraging your child’s preschool learning you will promote his or her self esteem as well. Help your child gain confidence by making learning fun and easy at this age and you will 2 / 3 help make your child an eager lifelong learner and the finally preschool education is important because it can give your child the edge in a competitive world and education climate. While children who do not receive the fundamentals during their preschool years will be taught the alphabet, counting, shapes and colors when they begin their formal education they will be behind the children  who already possess that knowledge and skill set. According to Anita Woolfolk Hoy and Megan Tschannen – Moran ,(2002), teachers’ sense of efficacy has been related to students outcomes such as achievement (Ross, 1992), motivation, (Midgley, Feldlaufer, & Eccles, 1998) and students’ own sense of efficacy ( Anderson, Greene, & Loewen, 1998). DepEd Secretary Armin Luistro stated that enhancing the competencies of pre-school teachers will have a great impact on the young learners. â€Å"We should ensure that teachers are ready for the challenge of making our young kids’ first school experience enjoyable  and giving them a positive experience that will motivate them to remain in school and complete their education. † This means that pre-school teachers are the implementers of the socially defined curriculum objectives. They help children to adapt to the society and to become its members, to develop interaction between children and different generations, and absorb the main behavioral habits and roles of the community. Also their task is to educate children to become unique subjects and persons as they truly are (Dewey, 1916; Ojakangas, 1998; Siljander, 2002) To become preschool teachers one must have the ability to deal with pupils ages 5. A preschool teacher needs to be proficient in helping children learn how to cooperate, providing fun learning activities suitable for preschoolers, keeping children safe, working as a team member with other teachers and interacting with parents. Preschool teachers need to be eager participants in children’s growth and development, as well as helping students understand how to use their natural curiosity to help make the appropriate developmental leaps in their skills and abilities. They are expected to create an atmosphere where risks can be taken and discoveries made while children remain safe. POWERED BY TCPDF (WWW. TCPDF. ORG).

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Philosophy Essay Essay

Alan Chalmers, a British-Australian philosopher of science and best-selling author, suggests a common view of science by which scientific knowledge is ‘reliable’ and ‘objectively proven’ knowledge that is derived from facts of experience, experimental procedure and observations. This essay aims to discuss the problems that are likely to be highlighted by a Popperian hypothetico-deductivist when confronted with Chalmers’ adverse views on the validity of the scientific method. Both Alan Chalmers and Karl Popper – renowned for the development of hypothetico-deductivist/falsificationist account of science – represent the two major, contradictory theories (falsification and induction) regarding the functionality of science. I will be structuring my argument around these two models and the several complications surrounding the inductivist’s account of science that are seemingly solved by Popper’s alternative. In order to gain a thorough understanding of the topic being discussed, let me provide an introduction to inductivism, the issues raised by this method and the falsificationist account that aimed to solve these issues. Introduced by Ancient Greek philosopher, Aristotle (5th century BC), induction is a process that begins with the observation of natural phenomena and ends with the assembly of a scientific law to describe the general regularity of said phenomena. This intuitive process was accepted within the scientific community for centuries yet the basis of Aristotle’s method relies entirely on human ability to simply observe natural phenomena, see a pattern and make observational statements. If there were to exist a large number of observational statements that were repeated under several varying circumstances in which no conflicting observation was made, these observational statements could then be promoted to universal or generalised statements that refer to all events of a particular kind given certain conditions (SCIE1000 Lectures Notes, 2014). Now to address the problems associated with this account of the scientific method that might be pinpointed by hypothetico-deductivists when confronted  with Chalmers’ view: the problem of induction, the questionable objectivity of this method and whether it can provide any certainty about laws that govern our universe. Chalmers states that, â€Å"scientific knowledge is reliable knowledge because it is objectively proven knowledge (Chalmers, 1976).† Due to the fact that inductive inferences are based on observations of natural phenomena, a crucial assumption of the uniformity of nature – which cannot be proven – must be made, meaning that there is always room for contradictory evidence to arise. Similarly, the problem of induction refers to the inability to classify knowledge gained by inductive methods as either a priori (logical or mathematical reasoning, requiring no previous worldly experience) or a posteriori (requires some knowledge of worldly happenings) as the former would be an uninformed, irrational statement and the latter would require knowledge of every possible happening in the universe in order to justify the law at hand. For this reason, there is absolutely no certainty provided by this process, as there is always the probability that future contradictory observations may deem any inductive inference invalid. The weakened principle of inductive inference then states that, at best, the inductivist method gives a probability of an event occurring given specific circumstances (SCIE1000 Lectures Notes, 2014). Chalmers also boldly claims that his common view of science is unquestionably objective and that speculative imaginings play no role in this process; however, there is obvious subjectivity evident in the discovery of scientific hypotheses. The subjectivity of speculative imaginings expressed by an individual experiencing a brief moment of intuitive thought processes allows consideration of an hypotheses that may have otherwise been overlooked. As a response to inductivism and the problems recognized with this method, Karl Popper proposed a knew scientific method that aims to establish the best current ‘law’ available at a given time until it is falsified – hypothetico-deductivism or falsification. The name itself, hypothetico-deductivism, explains the process of stating bold, testable ‘laws’/hypotheses and drawing deductive inferences regarding the hypothesis’ ability to withstand exposure to rigorous testing and attempts to falsify  it. So, rather than attempting to prove the legitimacy of scientific laws fabricated by intuitive induction, falsificationism aims to deduce the best, current law to describe natural phenomena based on the inability to falsify it, therefore making the current provisional law acceptable until a time when it is falsified by conflicting evidence. Falsification effectively trumps the method of induction as it strives to provide information about the world and its ‘laws’ by outlining what they are not rather than making grand generalisations about universal happenings when acknowledging only a portion of the evidence that could possible be out there. Unfortunately, due to the complex nature of science, similarly to inductivism, falsification is not a flawless method. In my opinion however, I find the method of falsification convincingly more rational and commonsensical than inductivism. Due to limitations of space, I will explain briefly one of the few issues associated with falsificationism. The issue at hand that is faced by the method of falsification is that, â€Å"Popper presents cases where one theory is being tested against our experimental data, but hypotheses are tested in groups. When we â€Å"test† a theory, we are assuming a lot of other theories in the background (SCIE1000 Lectures Notes, 2014).† The issue then is that if anomalous data is encountered, should it be derived that the entire theory – consisting of several individual hypotheses – is rejected and if not, how is an individual hypothesis isolated from the rest? This rejection of a theory, in my opinion, doesn’t have detrimental affects to our understanding of science as this particular theory may be falsified yet the creation of a new, falsifiable theory is not out of the question. Also, unlike Chalmers, however, falsificationism does not claim any degree of certainty or ‘proof’ of their claims which compels me to believe that Popper had a greater grasp on the uncertainty that is the universe. Conclusively, Popper’s response to Chalmers’ claim that science is reliable due to its objectively proven nature using inductivism would highlight three key issues and propose how his method of falsification solves these issues. The problem of induction that occurs within inductivism – the inability to classify inductive inference as either a priori or a posteriori – and also  the assumption of uniformity of nature are abolished in Popper’s method where all scientific laws have the ability to be falsified upon the observation of new, contradictory evidence. Although falsification is unable to provide any degree of certainty, it does not make bold claims about the workings of the universe that are likely to be uniformed and incorrect. And lastly, objectification is dismissed in falsification, as the method by which a hypothesis was created is irrelevant to whether or not the claim can be provisionally accepted or rejected based on real-world observ ations. Bibliography Chalmers, A. (1976). What is this thing called science?. 1st ed. St. Lucia, Q.: University of Queensland Press. SCIE1000 Lecture Notes (2014). 7th ed. Brisbane: University of Queensland, pp.187-225.