Applying International Trade Concepts simulation and economics Research Paper

Applying International Trade Concepts simulation and economics - Research Paper Example Consequently, parties to an international trade require a globalized perspective and an approach that can manage the complex regulatory environment of international trade. The diversity challenge also extends to culture that require cultural sensitivity, cultural awareness, and collaborative measures for effectiveness. These issues are however absent or are less significant in domestic trade environments. International trade regulations also form another issue in the trade because of required compliance. Parties must therefore have knowledge diverse regulatory frameworks (Selivanova, 2011). Economic environment is another significant issue that surrounds international trade. Factors such as an economy’s gross domestic product, â€Å"inflation, per capita income, and disposable income† are significant to viability of a business in an economy and in comparative analysis to determine the best economy to conduct business in or with which to conduct business (Singh, 2009, p. 43). Political environment is another issue affecting international trade, includes factors such as stability and perception towards foreigners, and determines a country’s level of attractiveness to investors. Availability of technology and of resources is another issue surrounding international trade. A party to international trade will therefore consider these factors before making a decision to venture into international trade and on which location to

Night by Elie Wiesel Essay Example for Free

Night by Elie Wiesel Essay Tupac Shakur, was a famous American rapper and actor that once said, â€Å"Death is not the greatest loss in life. The greatest loss is what dies inside while still alive. Never surrender.† Holocaust survivor and the author of Night, Elie Wiesel, seems to say the same as Mr. Shakur, that life is more miserable when one feels that void while being alive rather than being dead. In his memoir, Elie reveals his story when Hitler came into power with the Nazis and put all the â€Å"undesirables† through their most horrible times ever. When Elie loses his faith in God, faith in his people, and the role of a son, it eventually leads to his metaphorical deaths. Elie Wiesel failed to keep his faith in his religion due to the Holocaust. Without question, before he was sent to the concentration camps he was extremely passionate while praying to God. Previous to when the Nazis came into power, in Sighet, Transylvania, Elie compared being able to live and breathe to praying as a necessity (4). Something as significant and involuntary as breathing was no more important to Elie than praising God day and night. For Elie, praying is a natural act; he does not think about praying, he just does it. Unfortunately, Elie began defying his beliefs and questioning God’s power. When the inmates gathered to pray for Rosh Hashanah on the Appelplatz of Buna, Elie protested, â€Å"Why, but why would I bless Him? Every fiber in me rebelled† (67). He was tired of God’s silence and got frustrated how God had not helped to prevent all the chaos that was happening. Overall, Elie was once a religious boy who gave up on his beliefs. Elie sees his fellow inmates harass each other for the sake of their own survival, which ultimately leads him to lose his faith in humankind. Undeniably, he once believed in the power and unity of the Jewish people. After being sent to the small ghetto in the cattle car to Birkenau, Auschwitz, Mrs. Schà ¤chter was hallucinating, yet the other passengers were sympathetic and tried to soothe her (25). Because the others still had their humanity, they still attempted to reason or reassure with the mad woman. Everyone in the convoy was still a community and acted as one; they knew they still had to help each other, not just themselves. However, the feeling that it was every man for himself suddenly showed. In the wagon, on the way to Buchenwald, Elie referred to a heart-breaking moment in his memoir, â€Å"Stunned by the blows, the old man was crying: ‘Meir, my little Meir! Don’t you recognize me†¦Ã‚  You’re killing your father†¦ I have bread†¦ for you too†¦ for you too†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢Ã¢â‚¬  (101). Because of a plain, yet lifesaving ration of bread, the boy was willing to betray his dad. Elie sees the disgust and dehumanizing that had been caused because of the harsh conditions for survival. Therefore, Elie who had faith in his community lost confidence when he saw what wild animals they had become. Elie could not be a dependent child anymore, for he had lost the role of being a son. Naturally, he relied on Shlomo, his father, before living in the camps. During the first selection in Birkenau, he only thought of holding on to his dad so he would not be left alone with no one else from his family (30). His sisters and mother were all sent to the right, most likely the crematorium, and him and Mr. Wiesel directed to the right; safe, having only each other, they would have to work together. At the time, Elie could not imagine what he would do without Mr. Wiesel and had to cling onto Shlomo for protection from the brutality of the concentration camps. As time went by, Elie started to have responsibility for both his and Mr. Wiesel’s security. Right when the two men arrived at the entrance of Buchenwald, Shlomo moaned, â€Å"‘Don’t yell my son†¦ Have pity on your old father†¦ Let me rest here†¦ a little I beg of you, I’m so tired†¦ no more strength†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ He had become childlike: weak frightened, vulnerable. â€Å"‘Father,’ I said, ‘you cannot stay here’† (105). Shlomo wanted to die in his sleep in the snow, but Elie kept yelling at him to keep living. This proves that Mr. Wiesel did become a child and his son had become a man, trying to convince his father, like a toddler, to listen to him. To conclude, Elie entered manhood from being a helpless child. In other words, Elie lost the commitment to God, proudness in mankind, and reliance. Because he felt that God did not care for his people anymore, he objected to praise Him. The inhumane behavior of the prisoners and guards led Elie to lose faith in them. Since he could not depend on Shlomo anymore, he had to take on the responsibility to survive. As Mr. Shakur said, Elie did feel as if he died through the events of the concentration camps, but did not forfeit to death. Elie Wiesel wrote this memoir to bring awareness of the genocide in the Holocaust and that humans shall never let it happen again.

Financial Systems of Ghana and Nigeria

Financial Systems of Ghana and Nigeria Since the idea of Adam Smiths invincible hands also known as invincible hand of the market, the allocative power of the market has been generally recognised. These ideas have been reinforced by the apparent failure of Keynesian theories of government intervention to stand the test of time. As a result of the adoption of SAP (Structural Adjustment programme) by most developing countries including Ghana and Nigerian which are my main concentration, the debate of liberalization versus intervention has been rekindled. The major area of concentration is if these developing countries (Ghana and Nigeria) with imperfect markets have benefitted from recent liberalization efforts in the structural adjustment programme. Financial liberalization is usually an important component of a countrys strategy for economic growth. In an old fashion way, financial liberalization, has come to be most universally linked with freeing of interest rates, but now financial liberalization is seen as a process involving a much broader set of measures geared toward the elimination of various restrictions on the financial sector, such as the removal of portfolio restrictions on the banking sector, the reform of the external sector, and also changes in the workings of the monetary policy THE FINANCIAL SYSTEM OF GHANA AND NIGERIA. A key stylised fact about financial systems in developing countries is that they are dominated by commercial banks (Fry, I995, pp. 4-5; Rojas-Suairez and Weisbrod, I995, pp. 4) Ghana and Nigerias financial system consists of a large fragmented informal sector and formal sector. The formal sector is made up of central bank(Bank of Ghana and Central Bank of Nigeria) at the apex, with 42 commercial banks for both countries; Nigeria (26) and Ghana (16), development banks (Nigeria, (5), Ghana (3) , and merchant banks (30) Nigeria), (Ghana, (10), insurance companies, stock exchange, building society, community banks. The structure of Nigerias financial system will be explained below: Regulatory Authorities: they regulate the Nigerian financial system, and they include Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the Federal Ministry of Finance (FMF), Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC), Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC),), and the National Board for Community Banks (NBCB, National Insurance Commission (NIC). These regulatory authorities will be explained in detail below. 1. Federal Ministry of Finance: the role of this regulatory authority is to advise the Federal Government on its fiscal operation and make sure it follows whatever the central bank of Nigeria says concerning the monetary matters of the country. 2. FEDERAL MORTGAGE BANK OF NIGERIA (FMBN) The role of the is to provide banking and advisory services, and also to undertake research activities pertaining to housing. After the adoption of the National Housing Policy in 1990, The FMBN is empowered to licence and control main mortgage institutions in Nigeria and act as the peak regulatory body for the mortgage finance industry. 3. The central bank of Nigeria The central bank of Nigeria has the same responsibilities as the bank of Ghana. It was established by the central bank of Nigeria act of 1958 and commenced operation on July 1, 1959. Their major regulatory objective is to issue legal tender to the economy, banker of last resort, financial adviser to the government, enhance monetary stability and a good financial environment which will be of benefit to the country in the short and long run. the central bank of Nigerias success is partly as a result of the rise in crude oil prices. 4. The Nigerian Deposit Insurance Corporation: Its role is to complement the supervisory and regulatory role of central bank of Nigeria (CBN). It has the right to examine the books and affairs of the insured banks in Nigeria and other deposit taking financial institutions. ORIGIN OF FINANCIAL LIBERALIZATION IN NIGERIA Nigerias economy has always been dependent on oil prices since the early 1960s. As a result of the collapse of world oil prices and the reduction in the production of petroleum in the early 1980s, the nature of the countrys economic and financial position became very weak and vulnerable. This led to recession and economic deterioration. The economy was characterised by shortages in its foreign exchange, debt crises, negative economic growth and high rates of unemployment, Indeed, beginning from 1982, and through 1984, the country had become saddled with negative trends in economic growth as indicated by the decline in the gross domestic product (GDP) (0.35% in 1982; -5.37% in 1983; and -5.18% in 1984), persistent current account and budget deficits, a huge number of uncpmleted projects in the public sector, factory closures, large-scale retrenchment, acute shortages of essential commodities and galloping inflation, (Odusola,2001,p4). The government decided to carry out some short run stabilization measures, one of which was to foster employment through the creation of public sector jobs, this exerted more pressure on the budget, not withstanding that, public sector employment grew by a further 18 per cent between 1981and 1984. This policy promoted migration into cities, as the increases in government salaries during this period compared to that of the rural areas was more favourably. Urban migration and its attendant unemployment problems became even more pronounced in 1981 when the Government increased the minimum wage rate to the entry level salary of public sector employees. Urban unemployment increased significantly, from 2 ½ per cent in 1980 to 10 per cent in 1985, while rural unemployment rose from 4 per cent to 6 per cent over the same period. Real per capital income fell significantly as well, from US$1,010 in 1981 to US$850 in 1985 (Odusola, 2001, Pp4). Nigeria financial sector was characterised by rigid exchange and interest rate controls, sart orial allocation of bank credit (Okpara, 2010, P54), the naira was overvalued, all of which made the economy more exposed to risk of default and practically led to distortions that resulted into low direct investment, which in turn led to financial repression. it will be discussed more in-depth below. Financial repression discouraged investment in information capital; it also discouraged savings mobilization, in the sense that it was not vigorously pursued. The financial system incurred a lot of cost in financial intermediation, and it was as a result of inactive liquidity and liability management and incentives to increase efficiency. Not only was Nigeria the only country going through this problem of financial repression, much of the twentieth century saw intensified financial repression (Caprio et al, 2001 p5), for example, Ecuador, Uruguay, Mexico, Ghana, Malawi, Tanzania etc, all had the problem of financial repression in their economy. As a result of the financial repression i n the economy, the government decided to adopt a financial sector reform to help increase the countries economy. The programme they adopted was called Structural adjustment programme (SAP). STRCTURAL ADJUSTMENT PROGRAMME IN GHANA AND NIGERIA. The Ghanaian economy also went through the same problems as the Nigerian economy during the early 1980s. They had similar problems as the Nigerian economy; which include, high default rates, high rates of inflation, weakened confidence in the financial system. These affected the ability of the banks to perform their intermediation function properly (Acquaye and Sowa, 1999, p395). The major objectives of this SAP were, among others, to: Restructure the economy in a way to reduce its dependence on oil as its main source of income. Revitalise the financial sector by creating new institutions Reduce fisal balance of payment problems Promote non-inflationary economic growth. The key policies designed to achieve these objective were: The liberalization of the external trade and payments system-dismantling of price, trade and exchange controls; Implementation of methods to encourage domestic production and expand the supply base of the economy; The setting up of a Second-Tier Foreign Exchange Market (SFEM) as a mechanism of realistic exchange rate. The rationalization and restructuring of public sector enterprises and overhauling of the public sector administrative structure. Reinforcement of important and strong demand management policies; More rationalisation and restructuring of tariffs in order to aid industrial diversification; The elimination of price controls and commodity boards; The key reforms that have already been implemented as part of the financial liberalization policies include; Changing of the concept of a credit ceiling with OMO(Open market operation) Promoting competition and efficiency in the financial system Liberalizing interest rate, exchange rate, but in general the financial sector. The financial sector reforms were thrown into crisis by the sequencing of reform measures and the lack of the necessary prerequisites for liberalization. Particularly, the deregulation of interest rate and the requirements for market entry led to the instability of the financial system. A series of corrective measures had to be adopted, raising questions of policy credibility (Aiyeetey et al, 1997, P196). THE STRUCTURAL ADJUSTMENT PROGRAMME: THEORETICAL BASIS Virtually every sub Saharan African country including Nigeria and Ghana experienced major changes in the overall direction of the national economic policy in the early 1980s. These policy reforms were implemented as an integral part of the structural adjustment programmes (SAP) prescribed by the World Bank and the stabilization programme of the international monetary fund (IMF) (Olasupo, 2005, p 7). The structural adjustment programme had a lot of objectives, but the major objective of this reform programme was to correct the alleged distortions which made sustained economic growth and recovery in the economies difficult. Notwithstanding the general decision of the countries to undertake the adjustment programme, there has since the start of the 1990 decade, been wide ranging argument surrounding the theoretical paradigm underlying the SAP and their suitability to African countries. The first which is the unrequited orthodoxy; it emphasizes how well the adjusters have done in compari son to non adjusters. According to this perspective, the regime of restricted inward looking policies resulted in over protected industrial structure, balance of payment problems (Olasupo 2005, p10). They also contend that development problems will be solved by more adjustment not less, with this they concluded that sub- Saharan African countries experienced poor macroeconomic growth and performance relative to their South East Asian counterparts, because economies in the former were exposed to long term government intervention and restrictive macroeconomic and sectorial polices. The modified orthodoxy sees adjustment programmes in an economy as a necessary but not sufficient condition for development, because adjustment is only capable of stabilizing economies in the short term. This orthodoxy believes that other measures must be put in place for African development to occur in the medium and long term. A strong proponent of this approach puts it, the most significant shortcoming o f current structural adjustment programs is the lack of logical linkage between the short-term objectives of attaining balance-of-payments equilibrium and improving allocative efficiency and the long-term objective of sustainable development Nguyuru Lipumba, (p. 9) FINANCIAL LIBERALIZATION AND REPRESSION. Financial liberalization is the process of breaking away from a state of financial repression. Financial repression has been most commonly associated with government fixing of interest rates and its adverse consequences on the financial sector as well as on the economy. The term financial repression was originally coined by economists interested in less developed countries (LDCs) Gupta, 2004, Pp2. It originated in the works of Ronald I. McKinnon and Edward S. Shaw in the early 1970s, to describe a developing countrys environment, defining it as the set of government legal restrictions preventing the financial intermediaries in the economy from functioning at their full capacity level. The most common forms that this intervention takes are interest rate regulations, directed credit schemes, and high reserve ratios. The literature on financial repression stresses that because savings levels are sensitive to real interest rate, nominal interest rate controls; cumulative inflation reduces the amount of the national income. The benefits of financial repression, as opposed to financial liberalization, are debated on several points Ozdemir Erbil, (2008). In theory, it is believed that financial repression can make it better to control money supply in an economy and also control over interest rate which will induce investment. Another argument in favour of financial repression is that government controls on financial markets are needed for developing countries. In practice, financial repression appears to have yielded government revenue in the order of 2 % of GDP on average in samples of developing countries (Giovannini and de Melo, I 993; Fry et al. I 996, p. 36). The main conviction of the advocates for financial repression is that the government knows better than the market. The repression mechanism works through the interest rate and the exchange rates. Therefore moving from financial repression to financial liberalization would require extra budgetary measures and could create budgetary problems, Like in the case of Nigeria in the early 1980s when the government seeked to reduce unemployment in the urban areas and the outcome of this decision exerted more pressure on the budget. Financial liberalization may increase the fiscal deficit and the cost to finance, as the government loses revenues and is forced to pay more market-based interest rates on its existing debt. On the other hand, the most popular argument which favours financial liberalization is the rising growth effect by motivating savings and investment. Financial liberalization may increase the level of savings and improve the allocation of savings among potential investors. This will lead to the creation of more available funds and hence economic growth. Financial liberalization may decrease the cost of capital, but on the other hand, movements which cause the crises and macroeconomic instability may have a negative impact on economic growth Ozdemir and Erbil (2008). This debate highlights the need for further sound empirical evidence on the benefits of financial liberalization on economic growth, especially for small open economies of developing countries. FINANCIAL LIBERALIZATION AND SAVINGS The advocates of financial liberalization do not seek to induce savings, but to promote and increase the volume and efficiency of capital formation. While financial reform can affect saving through various potential channels, on the whole its net effect is ambiguous.( Schmidt- Hebbel and Serven,2002, p2). Moreover saving is often considered beneficial for its financial dimensions. In open economies, raising national saving is a way to reduce the dependence on foreign saving, protecting the economy from external shocks. This is an important policy concern in a world of increasing financial integration. Together with a strong and well-capitalized financial system, saving represents a form of self -insurance to reduce the economys vulnerability to unexpected reversals of international capital flows. In this manner, saving can help reduce macroeconomic volatility, which empirically has been shown to hamper growth (Ramey and Ramey 1995; Fatà ¡s 2000). Various researchers have shown some empirical evidence that although financial liberalization results in higher interest rate and financial deepening , it does not really lead to higher savings. In majority of countries, financial reforms are followed by declines in savings (Okereke,2009). Bandiera et al (2000) estimated an econometric relationship Showing the private saving ratio as a function of the real interest rate and degree of openness as an index for financial liberalization, along with income, inflation and public savings. analyze the experience of eight countries that underwent significant reforms in their financial systems, namely Chile, Ghana, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, Turkey and Zimbabwe. Foe this countries they measured the effect of liberalization on the volume of aggregate savings, their results Their results do not provide a clear answer on the impact of reforms on saving, as the effect appears significantly negative in some cases (Korea and Mexico), positive in some others (Greece and Turkey) and insignificant in the Indonesia, Malaysia, Zimbabwe, and Ghana. In a study similar to theirs i.e.(Bandiera et al), Loayza and Shanka(2000), used India as their country of observation, and the savings rate from India and found out that financial reform has not changed the savings rate, but moved the composition of savings in India towards a higher share of durable goods. Ostry and levey(1995), in their findings maintained that financial development as a result of liberalization reduced savings. Bennett et al(2001), in their work, also found a negative significant effect on savings. CONSEQUENCES OF FINANCIAL LIBERALIZATION Policies that make an economy open to the rest of the world and they are needed for sustained economic growth. No country has achieved economic success, in terms of substantial increases in living standards for its people, without being open to rest of the world. Trade opening has been an important element in the economic success of East Asia, where the average import tariff has fallen from 30 percent to 10% over the past 20 years. Opening up economies to global economy has been essential in enabling many developing countries to develop competitive advantages in different sectors of their economy. Countries that have opened their economies in recent years, foe example India in 1991, have experienced faster growth rate and more poverty reduction, a proof is that following the economic reforms, the country began to develop a fast paced economic growth. India is the eleventh largest economy in the world There are some negative effects experienced by countries or the world in general in terms of their reform policies that has outweighs the benefits of such reforms, this statement can be applied to the effects of financial liberalization despite its benefits in terms of access to more capital inflows. Financial liberalization creates exposure to various kinds of risk and they include; a propensity to lead to financial internal and external financial crises, inadequate access to funds for small scale producers etc. Many researchers have carried out empirical studies on financial liberalization on financial fragility of the economy, and their conclusion is that liberalization increases the fragility of the financial system. According to (Demirguc-kunt detragiache), one of the reason why financial liberalization may lead to increased financial sector fragility is that the removal of interest rate ceilings and also the reduction of barriers to entry reduces bark franchise values, thus exacerbating moral hazards problems. The moral hazards problem is a special case of information asymmetry, a situation in which one party in a transaction has more information than another. Normally banks try to protect their franchise, and the risk of losing their franchise, but during a period of policy reform such as financial liberalization, where there is free entry in to the market or financial sector, so as a result of that there is more competition, this erodes franchise values. If the effort of reform does not incorporate adequate strengthening of the prudential regulations and supervision to realign incentives, lower franchise values are likely to lead to increased fragility (Stiglitz et al (2001) Tornell et al (2003), in their studies, they said that financial liberalization is bad for growth because it leads to crises. Their empirical analysis shows that in countries with harsh credit market imperfections, financial liberalization leads to a more rapid growth but also a more higher incidence of crises. They also argued that liberalization leads to faster growth because it eases financial constraints, but on one condition that this occurs if agents which are the government, investors and creditors take on credit risk which makes the economy fragile and prone to crisis.

Michelangelo Essay -- Biography Biographies

biography on michelangelo â€Å"Trifles make perfections, and perfection is no trifle,† Michelangelo once stated. He is one of the greatest artists of all time and is unmatched by any other. Michelangelo is the creator of works of sublime beauty that express the full breadth of human condition. Yet, he was caught between conflicting powers and whims of his patrons, the Medici’s of Florence and Papacy’s in Rome. Michelangelo was born on the sixth of March in 1475, the second of five brothers in a small town called Caprese, in Tuscany. He always considered himself to be a Florentine, as did his father. Francesca Neri, his mother, was sick and frail. As a result, he stayed with a nurse in a family of stonecutters. It was there that Michelangelo decided he wanted to become an artist. When he turned thirteen, he agreed to apprentice in the workshop of Domenico Ghirlandaio. After one year of learning the art of fresco, he went on to study at the sculpture school at the Medici gardens. They saw his talent and he was invited into the household of Lorenzo the Magnificent. During the years that he spent in the Garden of San Marco, Michelangelo began to study human anatomy. He would perform autopsies on the corpses and study the muscles and bones in order to perfect his sculptures. In exchange for permission to study corpses at a church that administered a hospital, the prior received a wooden crucifix from Michelangelo. His contact with the dead bodies caused some problems...

Philosophy of Montessori Education Essay

Dr Maria Montessori started her work in the field of education and child psychology, when she had already obtained a doctor’s degree in medicine and surgery. Her scientific training and experience were exceptionally broad based and unique. Her approach to education encompassed the whole development of man from birth to adulthood. The most important contribution of her work, in the present day, is the focussed attention on the fact that no attempt to solve social and moral problems of the society will succeed if it is concentrated only on man-the-adult, and not on the whole man, including his childhood. Therefore early child education becomes important for a better society. â€Å"Today in social life, there exists an urgent need- that of reforming methods of education and instruction, and whoever strives to reach this goal is striving for the regeneration of man†(The Discovery of Child, Chapter 2, Page 2). This motivation to create new human kind through early education was the hallmark of the education philosophy of Dr Montessori. Dr Montessori observed that regular education follows a steady ascent, becoming increasingly difficult year after year, after starting at the age of 06 yrs. However, she discovered, through her innovative experiments, that human development and learning is not steady and linear, but happens in a series of formative planes, starting from the birth of the child. She also discovered that the complete development of human being is made possible by the tendency of the human being to certain universal actions in relation to their environment and the most productive development was observed when the environment was self chosen and close to the interests of the child. Dr Montessori felt that adult should not assume that the child is empty vessel waiting to be filled with our knowledge and experience. It is important to understand that the child has own potential for life and a suitable environment is to be created for the child to exercise the opportunity to learn on his own under limited close observation. Dr Montessori maintained that the first period of life was the most important in a child’s development, it is during this period that thechild’s powers of absorption and learning are highest and life-long attitudes and patterns of learning are firmly formed. She believed that â€Å"the child is endowed with unknown powers, which can guide us to a radiant future† and â€Å"The greatness of human personality begins at the hour of the birth†(The Absorbent Mind, Chp 1, Page 2). Dr Montessori termed that every creature, whether plant or animal, comes from a primary, simple and undifferentiated cell with the characteristics of the creature thus developed, greatly depending on some unidentified force. Every germ cell bears within itself a pattern of the organism to be, without visible sign, so that every new-born body, whatever species, bears in itself a pattern of psychical instinct, of functions that will set it in relation to its environment, for the fulfilment of a cosmic mission. Dr Montessori felt that this environment must provide not only the means of physiological existence, but stimuli to the mysterious mission inscribed in every creature that is born, all of which was summoned by their environment not only life but the exercise of a necessary office for the conservation of the world and its harmony. In this way, Dr Montessori, described that there are two initial embryos, namely physiological or the physical and spiritual, each with distinct roles to play in the life of a child. She distinguished that these stages of early development, in man as pre-natal and post natal, where-in, this post-natal work is a constructive activity which is carried on in what may be called the â€Å"formative period†, and makes the baby into a kind of â€Å"Spiritual Embryo†(The Absorbent Mind, Chp 7, Page 62). According to this postnatal development happens only in man and the prolonged infancy of man separates him entirely from the animals, whereby man is seen as a being different from all others. Dr Montessori believed that for the psychic pattern to reveal itself, two conditions must be fulfilled, first, the environment that he interacts to understand the limit of his universe, second, the freedom to reveal himself. She emphasised that when these two conditions are met, the psychic life of the child will not reach its potential and his personality will be stunted. Dr Montessori strongly felt that, the work of man on the earth is related to his spirit, to his creative intelligence, therefore this spirit and creative intelligence must be the fulcrum of his existence, and of all the workings of human body. It is about this fulcrum, the behaviour and physical economy is organised. Dr Montessorisays that the whole man develops within this â€Å"spiritual halo† and therefore first care given to the new-born babe, over riding all others, must be a care for his mental life, and not just for his bodily life. Dr Montessori described the time line of 3 yrs from birth, as the period of ‘Spiritual Embryo’, and all the non-physical qualities namely his intelligence, temperament, personality, spirit and soul develop in this stage. Dr Montessori describes that development of child is due to an unconscious power, a vital force, she borrowed a word ‘horme’ to describe this vital force, which is similar to the force that created ‘Nebulae’, pushed by the universal unconscious intelligence of force. She thought that, this force is similar to the force that is pushing or driving the entire world towards teleological end in the philosophy of the French Jesuit Pierre Teilhard de Chardin. Dr Montessori opined that the child has a different relation to its environment, the child absorbs the environment and it becomes his soul and reincarnates in himself all in the world about him that his eyes see and ears hear and child is transformed by them. †This vital kind of memory, which does not consciously remember, but absorb images into the individual’s very life, has been given a special name by Sir Percy Nunn, called Mneme†(The Absorbent Mind, Chp 7 , Page 74). All the social and moral habits that shape a man’s personality, the sentiments of caste, and all kinds of other feelings, that make him a typical Human being like a typical Indian, a typical Italian, or a typical Englishman, are formed during infancy, in virtue of that mysterious mental power that psychologists have called â€Å"Mneme†. It is with the combination of this powerful memory and the vital force, that the child experience’s the environment and imbibes the attitudes for life, which result in his regeneration through different stages of development. Dr Montessori said â€Å"Man unlike the animals, is not born with movements already co-ordinated; he has to shape and co-ordinate his own movements. Nor has he even a predetermined aim; this too, must find for himself† (The Absorbent Mind, Chp 7, Page 77). The child has to self construct and learn from his environment, through various planes of development, happening in his life at different ages. Dr Montessori defined 04 main panes of development, from the birth to 24 yrs of age, each lasting for 6 yrs. â€Å"Children are motivated from within. The child has within him the person he will become, and it is our role as nurturing adults to encourage the process of the child’s self-construction† (http://www.pcmontessori.org/about/montessori.php). Therefore, the child has to develop his own powers for reacting to life. Dr Montessori identified two aids one is internal aids and external aids that help the child to develop, of which the internal aids are sensitive period and the absorbent mind. She narrates that, children have the ability and passion to excel at certain activities at specific periods of time in their life, which disappears after the passage of that specific interval of time in the child’s life. She adds that, during such a period the child is endowed with special sensibility, which urges the child to focus attention only on certain aspects of environment, excluding others. Sensitive periods are those blocks of time, when the child is absorbed in only one characteristic of his environment, excluding other. Sensitive periods are active between 0-6 yrs of age. There are six sensitive periods defined namely (1) Sensitive to order, (2) Learning through their five senses, (3) Sensitivity to small objects, (4) Sensitivity to co-ordination of movement, (5) Sensitivity to language, (6) Sensitivity to social aspect of life. â€Å"The baby has a creative aptitude, a potential energy that will enable it to build up a mental world from the world about it† (The Secret of Childhood, Chp 3, Page 33). This the child learns through the sensitive periods, which follow each other and are overlapping as well. While above periods describe the pattern the child learns in gaining knowledge of his environment, the absorbent explains the process of the knowledge gained from this learning. The absorbent mind is divided into the un-conscious (0-3yrs) and conscious mind (3-6yrs). In the un-conscious mind, the child absorbs from the environment, and therefore, there is a great requirement to make the environment as interesting and striking for the child, which helps the child to create his own impressions about the environment and develop the idea of analyses and reasoning on the basis of these impressions. The conscious mind follows the unconscious mind and takes all the inputs from the preceding un-conscious mind, for development of his mental functions, with the help of already established power of memory, analyses and reasoning. With the conscious mind, the child has an established will and memory, which he uses for further self construction. The child at this stage is able to write, read, understand numbers etc., Dr Montessori defines some laws ofdevelopment, which actually reveals the kind of experiments she had carried out and clearly defines the requirements for the child to learn different things at different stages of development. There are eight laws of development which unfold over a course of time. They are: (1) Law of Work: The child, when given work in a prepared environment, with any kind of behaviour, yields to the learning mode and gives up any kind of aggressive behaviour. This in turn shapes his personality and existence which come face to face in the prepared environment. (2) Law of Independence: When provided with independence, the child strives to listen to its inner guide for actions and this helps in his innate development. (3) Power of Attention: At a certain stage of development, the child becomes sensitive to his environment with great intensity and an interest not seen before. When a child works, he develops his ability to concentrate which replaces his instinctive interest with intellectual interest, this leads to the child becoming calmer and controlled. (4) Development of Will: The child, through repeated work, slowly establishes his will. Dr. Montessori observed three stages of this Will development. First, as the child repeats his work many times over a period of time, he gains power over his own movements. The child then moves to the second stage that is accepting self discipline as a way of life. After achieving self- discipline as a way of life, the child reaches the third stage of the developed will involving the power to obey. (5) Development of Intelligence: For a child, development of intelligence through the comparison and differentiation of the already learnt attributes of the environment and this is the key to understanding life itself. It helps to put the images of consciousness in order. (6) Development of Imagination and Creativity: Dr. Montessori believed that development of the powers of imagination and creativity develops as mental capacities are established through the interactions with the environment. She believed that when the child has developed realistic and ordered perception of is environment, he capable of selecting and emphasising process necessary for creative endeavours. (7) Development of Emotional and Spiritual life: The child possesses within him at birth the senses that respond to his emotional side to the spiritual environment, due to which he learns he receives emotional and spiritual stimuli from all personnel whom he is close to. â€Å"A sensitive period is at work, a divine command is breathing through helplessthings, animating them with the spirit†(The Secret of Childhood, Chp 3, Page 38). Dr Montessori maintained that development has to be accompanied with constant spirit for achieving greater heights. Dr Montessori named environment and freedom as the external aids of self construction, this she advised teachers to make changes to the environment to accommodate the requirements of the child, to be able to nourish the requirements of the child. Since, at all times the child is interacting with its environment, it is highly mandatory to maintain the environment to provide best opportunity for the child to learn. â€Å"Every object must have a definite place, where it is kept, and where it remains, when it is not in use† (The discovery of the Child, Chp 17, Page 182). Since all objects form the central part of the environment, it is required that the environment is not be disturbed for the child to learn from it. Freedom for a child provides an opportunity to express himself which in turn helps to grow the developed pattern resulting in the overall child’s growth. This freedom and prepared environment leads to normalisation in children. The teacher involved in this method of teaching has to provide the freedom and ensure that the environment is created for the child to avail every opportunity to learn, with all the freedom to learn things. According to Dr Montessori, there should be balance created between the mind and body of the child, to work in agreement and harmony and this will create normalised children, else there would be deviations in the child. Dr Montessori has classified deviated psyches into fugue, barriers, attachment, possessiveness, inferiority, fear and lies. Each of these category, has strong different reasons behind them, which encompasses the environment the child has been brought up in, how the child was treated in its childhood etc., Dr Montessori has framed different methods and advises for teachers in dealing with these children. Dr Montessori emphasises that normalised children are the result of freedom and ideal environment provided to the children, which will result in cohesion of children, due to the developed respect for others, helping nature, harmonious mind. Also qualities of co-operation, discipline, social sentiment, obedience and character are developed by child that will lead in the making of a better society and better human kind. â€Å"The teacher, when she begins work in our schools, must have kind of faith that the child will reveal himself† (The Absorbent Mind, Chp 27, Page 287). Dr Montessori, places huge responsibility on the teacher, of that of creating a conducive environment for child with all freedom and required observation prowess, to assess and correct the child. Dr Montessori wants the teacher to have infinite faith in the child that the child will blossom into a flower with its own colour, shape, size and fragrance. â€Å"they who know the most Must mourn the deepest o’er the fatal truth. The tree of Knowledge is not that of Life† (Maria Montessori- Her Life and Work, Chp 21,Page 368). These words were from Bryon’s Manfred. EM Standing, author of ‘Maria Montessori – Her Life and Work’, describes the need for completing the idea of Dr Montessori ‘Education for life’ through dissemination of Montessori Method of learning in creating harmonious children and greater future which is at peace with each other and with the environment. Bibliography: Dr. Maria Montessori, The Secret of Childhood, Orient Black Swan, India Dr. Maria Montessori, The Absorbent Mind, Kalakshetra Press, India Dr. Maria Montessori, The Discovery of the Child, Kalakshetra Press, India EM Standing, Maria Montessori – Her Life and Work, Penguin Putnam Inc, New York http://www.pcmontessori.org/about/montessori.php

Current patterns of ill health Essay

Describe the current patterns of ill health and how they are monitored In the UK patterns of ill health are identified and monitored through the use of statistics which may be viewed on the National Statistics website. Responsible for producing statistics to be put together by our UK National Statistics organisation to illustrate patterns of ill health in the UK are government statistical departments. Government statistical departments that are major contributors to identifying and monitoring patterns of ill health in the UK include: the Department of Health, the Health and Safety Executive and the NHS Information Centre for Health and Social Care. Although statistics do provide a clear picture, they are not totally accurate for what they represent because there will always be information on illness that is not reported so statistics can only give us an idea of what ill health in England is really like. Here are some of the descriptions of the current patterns of ill health in the UK Lung cancer: Lung cancer is the uncontrolled growth of abnormal cells that start off in one or both lungs but is usually in the cells that line the air passages. The abnormal cells do not develop into healthy lung tissue, they divide rapidly and form tumours. It is health concern as â€Å"Doctors in Britain are ‘missing opportunities’ to spot lung cancer at an early stage,† BBC News reports. A study found around a third of people with the condition die within 90 days of their initial diagnosis. http://www.nhs.uk and because there are usually no signs or symptoms in the early stages of lung cancer it is hard to diagnose so more people are dying from this cancer. Lung cancer is on the increase especially in women because of the sharp decrease in the incidence of male lung cancer over the past two decades reflects the decline in smoking prevalence among men. ‘Female smokers are also twice as likely to develop lung cancer as male smokers’ http://www.nhs.uk it is on the increase becuase Women aged between 25 and 34 are more stressed than anyone else in Britain, a new study has found. At that age, women are typicall y climbing the career ladder at work, caring for demanding young children at home and paying a mortgage meaning they are smoking more because of the stress.http://www.dailymail.co.uk Diabetes type 2: A person with type 2 diabetes has insulin resistance, meaning their pancreas doesn’t produce enough insulin or the body doesn’t react properly to insulin. Insulin is used by the body to manage glucose, or sugar, levels in the blood and to  convert glucose into energy. ‘Type 2 diabetes occurs mainly in people aged over 40. 5 million people have diabetes but is more common in older people The rapid rise in the number of adults developing type 2 diabetes is due to, increasing levels of obesity, a lack of exercise, increase in unhealthy diets and an ageing population. The first-line treatment is diet, weight control and physical activity.’ http://www.patient.co.uk/ it becomes a concern as that person is causing it themselves because of their diet , or lack of exercise ect and can only help themselves Cystic fibrosis- Cystic fibrosis affects over 7500 people in the UK and over 2 million people in the UK carry the gene that causes it. It affects the internal organs, especially the lungs and the digestive system, by clogging them with thick sticky mucus. This makes it hard to breathe and digest food. It is a progressive disorder and currently there is no cure, an average life expectancy is 31 years, although improvements in treatment mean a baby born today could expect to live for longer. Cystic fibrosis is increasingly being diagnosed through screening but some babies and older children (and even adults) are diagnosed following unexplained illness. Treatments available include eating a healthy diet, exercising, physiotherapy treatment and medicine treatment. Cystic fibrosis is an autosomal recessive disorder. This means that in order to develop cystic fibrosis you need to inherit two cystic fibrosis genes, one from your mother and one from your father, and this is why it is on the increase as people who have the gene are having children. Coronary heart disease – (CHD) is a disease in which a waxy substance called plaque (plak) builds up inside the coronary arteries. These arteries supply oxygen-rich blood to your heart muscle. When plaque builds up in the arteries, the condition is called atherosclerosis. It’s responsible for around 74,000 deaths in the UK each year. About 1 in 5 men and 1 in 8 women die from CHD. CHD generally affects more men than women, but from the age of 50 the chances of developing CHD are similar for men and women. â€Å"That number of people get CHD looks likely to rise if we allow complacency and inactivity to ruin our lives.† Professor Sir Charles George blamed people’s increasingly unhealthy lifestyles to cause this. Std- sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) are infectious diseases that spread  from person to person through intimate contact. these diseases can cause serious harm such as getting HIV is a virus most commonly caught by having sex without a condom.The virus attacks the immune system, and weakens your ability to fight infections and disease.At the end of 2012, there were an estimated 98,400 people in the UK living with HIV. The majority were infected through sex (41,000 gay and bisexual men and 53,000 heterosexuals).Although there is no cure for HIV, treatments are now very effective, enabling people with HIV to live long and healthy lives.You will be encouraged to take regular exercise, eat a healthy diet, stop smoking. the reason why it is on the increase is because of sexual activity at a young age, having lots of sexual paretners are more at risk and having unprotected sex, many young adults are not using condoms meaning that diseases like chylamida are increasing and more sexua l diseases are being spread around as there are also not really any symptoms to suggest you have a std. liver disease. There are over 100 types of liver disease, which together affect at least 2 million people in the UK. the most common are alcohol-related liver disease, where the liver is damaged after years of alcohol misuse, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, usually seen in people who are overweight or obese and hepatitis, which is inflammation (swelling) of the liver caused by a viral infection or exposure to harmful substances such as alcohol. the deaths becuase of liver disease has increased by 40% in the last 12 years due to alcohol. www.thegurdian.com Regional study shows significant variations in mortality across country, and men twice as likely to be diagnosed as women, studies have shown that this is becuase young men are more likely to drink more on a night out also when they are stressed and angry they turn to alcohol. â€Å"men and women have different types of stress-related psychological disorders. Women have greater rates of depression and some types of anxiety disorders than men, while men have greater rates of alcohol-use disorders than women† breast cancer- Breast cancer is a malignant tumor that starts in the cells of the breast. A malignant tumor is a group of cancer cells that can grow into (invade) surrounding tissues or spread (metastasize) to distant areas of the body. Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer in the UK. In 2011, just under 50,000 women were diagnosed with invasive breast cancer. Most  women who get it (8 out of 10) are over 50, but younger women, and in rare cases, men, can also get breast cancer. there are many factors as to why breast cancer is increasing some are, alcohol can cause breast cancer, and even drinking small amounts can increase the risk of this disease. After the menopause, women who are overweight or obese have a higher breast cancer risk than those who have a healthy weight. The Million Women Study also looked at body weight, and calculated that obesity accounts for 7 per cent of the UK’s breast cancer cases. women who work night shifts are also at a higher risk.