My Role as a Facilitator During Group Discussions Essay

My Role as a Facilitator During Group Discussions - Essay Example This paper is essential in every aspect of my academic life as it unearths my role as a facilitator during our group discussions this semester with my roles during such learning processes clearly highlighted. Individual group learning stems from the fact that as learning process becomes significant to the learning process, significant attempts shifts the learning process from the instructor’s perspective to a student learning characteristics with emphasis on an individual’s ability to organize and sustain a learning process for knowledge acquisition and learning management. (Duncan, 2006) My earlier pre-college life offered very little meaning as to what Occupational Therapy (OT) really entailed. In my wild thoughts, I had always thought of Occupational Therapists as individuals with no clearly defined role often taking up counseling roles to justify their qualification in the field. Having enrolled for an OT has indeed changed these preconceptions. Ideally, I had never experienced group learning or group facilitation as a teenager and my earlier experiences worked very little for me to improve on that general perception and so I was somehow nervous on how to set the ball rolling in motion. The College of Occupational Therapists, (COT) views â€Å"people as occupational beings† and that the discipline empowers people to fulfill or enhance their role as occupational beings. (Sabonis-Chaffe & Hussey, 1998) Within this regard, Occupational therapists ‘promote function, quality of life and the realization of people’s potential in experiencing occupational deprivation, imbalance or alienation† (COT, 2009) through collective efforts of persons. I had never had an experience towards group work and influenced what impact this would have had in my presumed social functions as an occupational therapist. My reflective interest in group facilitation derived from a creative group conducted during my course placement. Reflection, in es sence, is an old phenomenon; investigative studies by Boud, Keogh, and Walker argued that reflection is essential as it enables people to focus on their learning and experiences thus creating a new informed conceptual framework of understanding. Subsequently, group leadership assists members to capitalize on the various skills, ideas, and talents that exist among the group members for goal formulation and achievement. Putting together my leadership skills and learning process during the therapeutic classes, I facilitated a creative brainstorming session to reflect upon various issues in occupational therapy and group dynamics.  Ã‚  

Leadership and Human Behavior Essay Example for Free

Leadership and Human Behavior Essay Leadership and Human Behavior Introduction In today fast moving world, characterized by major changes in technologies, different industries are constantly forced to revolutionize their products and services to the point that the business world has become more competitive and unpredictable than ever. There is a great need for people who are able to cope with change. In his article of â€Å"What Leaders Really Do, John P. Kotter said that, â€Å"mre change always demands more leadership. † The question of interest to me is to know which leadership approach suit the best in coping with change. In this paper, I will first develop an understanding of the concepts underlying the term leadership. Secondly, I will examine different leadership style through analysis of some cases studies explored in class. Subsequently, I will reflect on my personal style and present my conclusion. Definition and understanding To begin with, it is worth understanding what the term â€Å"leadership† means. There are hundreds of definitions out there related to this term, but each of them differs from one to another. The most appealing definition I found is the one from Don Clark of Big Dog Leadership. He defines leadership as a â€Å"process by which a person influences others to accomplish an objective and directs the organization in a way that makes it more cohesive and coherent. † My interest to this definition resides in the way the author refers to some important elements of leadership such as influence, people, and objective. Kevin Martineau of Port Hardy Baptist Church has nicely put together the common elements that many leadership definition share that I thought to be useful in my understanding of leadership concept. First, he mentions that â€Å"leadership has to involve people. Without people following, being influenced, having their needs met or being motivated, mobilized, resourced and directed there is no leadership. † Next, he adds that â€Å"leadership is taking people to a destination/goal. Leaders take the people who are following them on a journey†. On that journey there is a destination. A leader must know what the destination/goal is that they are leading people to. † To conclude, he states that â€Å"leadership involves influence. A leader must be able to influence, motivate, mobilize and help others reach the destination. This means that the leader must be equipping and helping others to reach and realize their potential. † This in-depth description gives us a clear understanding of what leadership means and what effective leaders really do. However, the question we might wonder is to know â€Å"how† leaders carry out their everyday jobs? Certainly, it would be difficult to provide just one specific answer that best respond to this question, considering that there are many factors that play into account. However, in this paper I will focus on the type of leadership style used. Leadership Style Through the readings, analysis and class discussions of different cases studies explored in this class, I gained awareness of different leadership styles. In the following lines, I will like to highlight some cases that caught my attention. The first is the case study of â€Å"Amelia Rogers at Tassani Communications. † Rogers had a very task-oriented leadership style. She had a set of skills needed to get thing done, great sense of vision and strategy. Some people in the case described her as a â€Å"good thinker, hard worker, and she delivers what she says she is going to deliver†. Her tendency of being so focus on getting work done and seeing results led her to have tough management style and she was not thinking much about her work relationship. She found herself being in conflict with her co-workers on numerous occasions. Describing her own management style, she said that, â€Å"I like to nip my conflicts right in bud and deal with them head on, straight on, not hide them under things.

Right to Free Movement in the European Market

Right to Free Movement in the European Market The philosophy The right to move freely represents one of the fundemental freedoms of the European internal market. This general rule on free movement rights under EC law continues to be developed,[1] either due to member state progression or economic and social demands. Although one of the most panoramic in it’s ideals, the free movement of workers has seen several central legal issues arise on various occassions. But exploration of these central issues must be seen through a consideration of the tensions and interplay between both economic and social aspects of the free movement of people from both inside and outside of the European Union. The free movement of a citizen of the European Unon is seen to contribute to the economic progression of the Community as a whole. In the single market the worker is also a human being exercising their right to live in another state and to take up employment without the risk of discrimination and to improve the standards of living for themsleves, and possibly, their families. But for nationals of a third party cases such as Chen (2004), Baumbast (2002) and Carpenter (2002) have meant that as the spouse or realtive of an EU citizen their entry into the Community is a secure one. Further, gaining the same rights of an EU citizen under Regulation 1612/68 EEC. But this idea of border controls and unfettered freedom of movement within the Community is closely interlinked with the posiiton of the non-EC national, whose right to movement and residence under EC law is limited,[2] as well as the contribtuing effect that the members states’ attitude has upon their admission.[3] â€Å"Fortress Europe† Although EC legislation had intended that internal barriers to the four freedoms be eliminated and that only an external barrier (at the borders of the Community) remain, academics have argued that this may not always be so:[4] â€Å"[how] these proposals have been watered down through discussion in member states, in particular in relation to employment, which is an important requisite for the integration of migrants.†[5] Whilst the freedom of the EC worker is guaranteed through Treaty rules and secondary legislation, this does not mean that member states may no longer exercise control over population movements, into and within their territories.[6] But some ECJ case law on Directive 68/360 expressly recognised that member states may have legitimate reasons for wishing to keep account of the population within their terrrtories.[7] The European Union, by using border controls to it’s extremities, has managed ot create a border-free, intra-EU site creating what has been dubbed as â€Å"Communierisation† of its geographical position. Although the EU has been successful in its pursuit of removing internal barriers to the four freedoms, it’s imposition of external barriers (namely, the â€Å"fortress Europe† tendany) are imposing upon those nationals of third parties from stepping into Europe unless they are related to a citizen of the EU who excerts their right to free movement. The EU has long been attacked as an exclusionary organisation concerned solely with the citizens of its own member states at the cost of non-EU citizens residing in the EU, even though many of the latter form part of ethnic or religious minorities and suffer social exclusion.[8] So, it seems that the principles governing the borders of the Community are failing those third party nationals.[9] The â€Å"Outsiders† A vivid example of how â€Å"fortress Europe† had imposed this restriction can be noted prior to the accession in 2004 of many, now, Central and Eastern European countries. Lavenex[10] argues that prior to, and with suggestions of accession for Central and Eastern European countries the, then, current members of Europe had feared large-scale immigration from these countries into their own territories. The EU’s already heavily regiinented rules of external border barriers on trade and migration from â€Å"outsiders† (those countries not members of the EU) where to form part of the accession policies. Meaning that the acceeding Central and Eastern European countries encountered stringent preventative stances to their entrance into the EU on beahlf of the Community. But during a time when security at an intergovernmemtal level is already on red alert due to heightened tensions caused by the threat of terrorism,[11] it appears that migration has become a security rather than economic issue. So risking mmigrants and asylum-seekers being portrayed as a challenge to the protection of national identity and welfare provisions. Moreover, supporting the political construction of migration as a security rather than economic issue.[12] Getting in or staying out? The treatment of third country nationals (besides those who have derived rights through Community family members) can be understood through external and internal dimensions. The external element, namely the issue of â€Å"getting into the EU† focuses on the member staes and the institutions emphasis of immigration and border controls. Yet, according to the case of Wijsenbeck[13], the member states are still able to perfomr checks at their own borders, be them external or not. But this policing of movement draws attention to the vulnerablity of the third country national.[14] But progression has been felt. Through Artcles such as K.1 to K.9 of the TEU governing policies such as asylum, immigration and third country nationals which have now been intergrated into the EC Treaty (as Title IV) , as well as Regulations have now inacted the uniform format for visas.[15] Regulations also cover the listings of third countries whose nationals must be on possession of visas when crossing external borders.[16] Importanly, the area of immigartion and the member states’ stance on the matter of border control is liable to change in accordance with their political climate. The emphasis post-September 11th has fallen squarely on matters of security.[17] Various member states have also expressed concern at the numbers of third country nationals seeking asylum in their territory, so reinforcing their diffculties in gaining access into the EU. The internal dimension of the matter is one which concentrates on the rights of third country nationals already residing within the Community. As there is no stringent source as to their status upon this; such limiteed rights are based on various possible provisions. This can include their capacity as a family member of an EU citizen (as aforementioned) or as employees of EC service providers or as subject to one of the Community’s Assocaition, Co-operation or other International Agreements with third countries.[18] Even though their residence in the EU may be legitimate the general range of EC rights and freedoms, however, do not apply to them. With speculation increasing as to the possible imposition of ID cards within the UK has also been backed by the controversial possible introduction of the staus of European citizenship. This citizenship, which would be conditional upon the possession of member state nationality, may only serve to emphasise the differences in treatment between EU nationals, who possess such nationality, and those who do not. But from an economic standpoint, countries potentially out of the line of terrorist fire have welcomed the idea of third country nationals, especially those intending to work, as being a potential boost to their economy. Yet the richer member states argue that the heightened security risks and â€Å"flood gate† effects that recent accession has had is already having an adverse effect on their economies. Concluding Staying stationaery or moving through the times? But Peers[19] argues that change may soon be on the horizon with the implementation of Directive 2003/109 on the status of long-term resident third-country nationals within the European Union. This Directive was an opportunity to address the long-standing criticism that the EU gives insufficient protection to its resident third country nationals. Already being reported as limited and disappointing in a number of respects. Yet, if consequential jurisprudence reflects its interpretation as being in line with the context and objectives of the Directive, it could make a positive contribution to the status of third country nationals in the EU. This especially as in regards to movement between member states.[20] By common accord, the unity the EU claims for itselff when constituting itself as an â€Å"area of freedomn, secrutiy and justice† has become troublesome. Critics are quick to point out that the area in which freedom, security and justice are to reign is a â€Å"spurious geographical unity†.[21] Yet, even if it were to be accepted that Europe is a geographical union, the fact remains that the EU has agreements with countries outside of this territory (such as the 1963 Ankara Agreement with Turkey), meaning that EU extends its reach outside of this area.[22] One of the main arguments behind the impact Europe is having by â€Å"sealing off† its border lies closer to home. Given that accession into the Community is based upon adaptation of national policies, be them economic, political or social, to those already established within the EU, many countries faced closing their borders to the outside for upholding the principles of preventing illegal immigration. But, in contrast to this member states are also expected to uphold the humanitarian standards of refugee protection[23] and the principles of the European Human Rights Act. With the EU being a figure-head in the creation and implementation of human rights agendas, this contradiction will only serve to weaken the EU’s leading political status. Where member states face penalties for failing to uphold either of these policies, many are at a loss as to which one prevails. These conflicting ideals have obviously affected the manner in which those member states with borders to the â€Å"outside† have integrated the principles into their immigration and refugee procedures. Further to Lavenex’s idea of fear of mass migration by the West, Huysmans alleged that the question of migration from countries external to the EU is a security problem rather than just one of immigration and asylum. As Huysmans states: â€Å"Since the 1980s, the political construction of migration increasingly referred to the destabilizing effects of migration on domestic integration and to the dangers for public order it implied.†[24] Huysmans also alleged that due to such developments as the Schengen Agreements and the Dublin Convention â€Å"†¦visibly indicate that the European integration process is implicated in the development of a restrictive migration policy and the social construction of migration into a security question.† This meaning that access for third country nationals is now even tougher maybe the member states would prefer for the barriers surronding â€Å"fortress Europe† to reamin? The Schengen Convention completely removed border controls and placed stricter contorls at the external barrier of the EU. This resulting in a stronger emphasis on external restrictions and lifting all restirtcions between member states. The Schengen scheme had been directly accredited to concerns over the increase of organised crime within the Coimmunity. But with conerns inceasing still as to the problems of human and drugs trafficking into the EU from third countries and its threat to internal security only serves to push the issue of external border control into the spotlight once again. Ultimately, academic writing[25] has contemplated the responsibility of the EU to uphold it’s policy on human rights and it’s prevention of internal barriers to freedom of movement. But as inportant as thiese priniples may be in maintaining structure and authority the Community should also reconsider it’s position on a global scale when encountering the needs of asylum seekers at their external borders as well as those already residing with them without the claim of derived rights. Footnotes [1] Carrerra, S. (2005) [2] Peers, S. Towards Equality: Actual and Potential Rights of Third Country Nationals in the Euroepan Union. (1996) [3] Craig, P and De Bà ºrca, G. EU Law: Text, Cases and Materials. [4] Binkman, G (2004) [5] op cit [6] I bid 3 [7] Case 321/87 Commission v Belgium (1989) ECR 997 [8] Peers, S. (2004) [9] ECRE (2004) [10] Lavenex, S. Safe Third Countries: Extending the Eu Asylum and Immigration Policies to Central and Eastern Europe [11] Levy (2005) [12] Huysmans (2000) [13] (1999) [14] I bid 3 [15] Reg. 334/2002 [16] Reg. 359/2001 [17] I bid 11 [18] I bid 2 [19] I bid 8 [20] op cit [21] Lindahl, H. Finding a Place for Freedom, Security and Justice: The European Union’s claim to Territorial Unity. (2004) [22] ibid 8 [23] I bid 10 [24] Huysmans (2002) [25] I bid 21

The Impact of Viewed Violence :: essays research papers

Violence is a major problem that most television programs have today as watching it on TV leads to violence in the society. Violence on TV can lead to thoughts of committing violence in real life. As it becomes popular amongst the "cool characters" on TV, one might mimic their actions in order to feel cool or popular amongst their friends in reality. Television violence is mostly used to solve problems and is considered the ?easy way out.? Watching something on TV makes some people think that it is okay and perfectly fine to do it in real life. While the characters use guns and make it look easy and interesting, this encourages viewers to copy their favorite characters. This leads to thinking that violence can be good, or even fun at times. In addition, people might be further lured into violence by seeing that it is frequently repeated and goes unpunished most of the time. For the ?good guys,? the consequences of the violence they perform usually goes unnoticed, leading to thoughts that there is nothing wrong with violence and nothing can happen if it is used even with good intentions. Imitation is a very common human element, and people can be drawn to a world of fear by absorbing the reality of television violence. This would eventually cause them to carry a weapon just like television characters and use it at the first sign of fear. Furthermore, violence on television is used to solve one?s problems, and is usually considered the easy way out. When someone has a problem, they might think that resorting to violence is the easiest and most inconsequential manner to complete a task. It can also lead to thinking that the person holding a weapon is in supreme control. While it is true that violence contains horrible consequences that are not always desirable in real life such as death of a friend or serving time in jail, the majority of

Colonial System (Summary)

The Philippine condition was a reflection of the political, economic and socio-religious developments of Spain. During the 16th and the 17th century almost all European monarchs adopted the political idea of absolutism as well as the economic system of mercantilism. Under the system of mercantilism, the king was involved in extensive intervention of any economic life to foster national growth. The Spanish government was highly centralized in form.All the Spanish governmental powers were all undertaken by this council; executive, legislative and judicial, and were transmitted to all governor-generals in each respective colony. The royal orders and edicts became the guides of any governor-general in administering the Philippines. He was at first appointed by the Viceroy of Mexico and later by the monarch of Spain. His vast powers and the distance of the Philippines from either Spain or Mexico shaped natural tendencies of a governor-general to be abusive. The Philippines was divided int o provinces and special districts.They were known as alcaldias and each under the charge of an alcalde mayor. The special districts were the unconquered regions or corregimientos, where Filipino resistance still went on. Unlike the governor-general, the alcalde mayor never had any legislative power. Only judicial cases over his towns were under his jurisdiction cases involving the amount of not more than Php200. The church prevailing principle of adaptation greatly influenced the Spanish government to relatively retain the prehispanic political structure of the Filipinos.In the beginning of Legaspi’s conquest, the office of gobernadorcillo, which is equivalent to the present town mayor, was heredity; opened to descendants of the datu or chieftains. The mayor political change in the choice of a gobernadorcillo came in 1847, when the Spanish Crown directed and sent the first Spanish Code of Laws for the native Filipinos. The election laws of 1847, according to Arcilla, required the following qualifications: a) he must be a native born; b) he must be 25 years old; c) able to read and write in Spanish; and d) never been guilty of any crime.The election was set in November, for a term of 2 years. The cabeza de barangay remained appointive; all were under the supervisory of the local priest and the alcalde mayor. The governadorcillo was tasked to supervise the collection of taxes in his town and pay the difference from his pocket if the collection of the taxes would not tally to the defective; inadequate census prepared and estimated by the Spanish friars. What made the Philippines government form unique was the union of church and state.By virtue of the Patronato Real, the Spanish king had the right to rule lands discovered, with a duty of supporting the material needs of the church in those lands. In other words, the king had the right to command and demand what was necessary to carry out the task he accepted from Rome, in order to help spread the Christian religion. The mighty Philip II, who had assumed these religious rights, seemed that his interest was in his mind, so, when we speak of the church in the Philippines during the Spanish regime, we mean particularly the Spanish church serving the ends of Spanish empire.The marriage between the church and state enabled the religious to occupy and dominate significant governmental positions. Historians acknowledge the fact that the real representative of the Spanish Crown was the church not the state. The Spanish Church was too conservative while they were responsible for the Christianization of the Filipinos they were also deterrents to nation’s progress thus, in the 19th century the Filipino propagandists, reformists and revolutionists demanded their expulsion from the Philippines.

Performance Appraisal Evaluation of ALARKO Group of Companies

Performance Appraisal Evaluation of ALARKO Group of Companies Table of contents1)What is Performance Appraisal?2)Performance Appraisal Methods:a)Rating Scalesb)Essay Methodsc)Management by Objectives3)Alarko Group4)Performance Appraisal System of Alarko Group5)Conclusion6)Bibliography1) WHAT IS PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL?Performance appraisal is the effort to determine, in a certain framework of job and mission description, the individual's level to realize this job and mission. It is the measurement of the employee's level of realizing determined missions in a given amount of time.Performance appraisal is a very important function of human resources management. It consists of studies on measuring the individual's level of efficiency and success in any given subject. To measure the level of efficiency and success is very complex task, because it involves evaluating an individual. Another challenge is that the concepts of performance and success are subjective.Performance appraisal is observing individual's work, efficiencies, deficiencies, surpluses and inefficiencies with every aspect.Both the individual's self, and the organization's evaluation of performance is important to observe their level of realization in the role they are occupying.Composite Flipcharts: From Chaos to Creative: Per...Organizational performance appraisal is also possible as well as individual appraisal.With performance appraisal, the individual sees he/she's own output of work and evaluates he/she's own performance. On the other hand, the organization observes at which levels the terms of job contract is realized, the employee's interests and abilities is reflected to the work, employee's success in business, if the employee is able to reach the standards in job description and how the career planning will be.At which level the expectation of success from the individual is realized is determined according to the outcomes. The outcomes are used for decision making process about promoting, planning the career of, increasing salary of, changing the missi on of, firing, enriching the job of the employee.