Management and Policy of a Diverse Workplace

Management and Policy of a Diverse Workplace INTRODUCTION Groups of people see the world through their own set of assumptions, attitudes, beliefs, and values. Learn about their culture and how it formed them, and aim to understand how other culture work so that everyone can be an effective global manager. Organization from every part of the world is reaching out beyond their domestic markets to become international players. Not only is this very challenging on the business them, but it also creates a challenge for individual managers who must cope with working across geographic and cultural borders. Managing globally provides clear systems and approaches to help manage global networks and teams, and it examines the skills needed for dealing with different cultures. It teaches how to succeed in this new world. This is widely recognised that an organisational diversity is obvious and necessary nowadays because of increasing pace of economic and technological development. Organisations need to be flexible if they seek to remain competitive and want to survive in a long run. This research explores the phenomenon of diversity in one of UKs leading super market named Sainsburys (London Colney). The researcher intends to examine what the policy to work with different culture people and how management manage working with diversity people in workplace in the store in last two years I have seen. 1.1 What we think about culture: Culture refers to the systems of meaning-values, beliefs, expectations and goals-shared by members of a particular group of people and differentiate them from members of other groups. It is a product of ‘the collective programming of the mind (Hofstede, 1991), that is, it is acquired through regular interaction with other members of the group. Cultural differences can be found at many different levels, professional, class and regional, but it is particularly persuasive at the national level because of generations of socialization into the national community, as individuals, we generally only become aware of our own culture when confronted by others. The core differences in values between cultures go back to questions of what works for ensuring survival in relations to the natural environment. 1.2 Why culture consider in a multinational company: Multinational companies are completely different from export-based firms not least because of their foreign subsidiaries. Not only does physical distance pose a challenge for effective communication, but also there is the challenge represented by cultural differences. Some MNCs have regarded cultural differences as so important that they have chosen to operate as multi-domestics with decision-making, management style and product development. The attitude is that people in the subsidiaries know best and should be allowed to go their own ways. For example, the attitudes in the Dutch electronics firm Philips for most of the previous century. The downside of this approach is the fiefdom and ‘not-invented-here mentality, which resulted in Philips North American subsidiary refusing to adopt the Philips video recorder (V2000) and opting instead for the rival Japanese model. However, many MNCs, including Philips since 1987, require a much greater degree of coordination, particularly in regard to learning. To do so, these firms must develop common practices and common values. If foreign subsidiaries are to be integrated for knowledge-sharing purposes, a starting point is an understanding of the mindsets of subsidiary management and employees in terms of their work-related values. The management challenge for many MNCs is to be able to adapt their organizations to culturally distinct environments without losing organizational stability. 1.3 About an organisation: Sainsburys is one of the leading retail super markets with approximately 792 stores all over the UK. There are some others supermarkets (Tesco, ASDA, Iceland and Somerfield) in UK which are the competitors of Sainsburys. All of them are trying their best to provide good services to their customers and working under diversity workplace. For the present research the researcher has taken Sainsburys London Colney to study about diversity. There were many reasons to select Sainsburys London Colney for this research. One of the reasons was that this is a big store with 350 employees working in different shifts (morning, evening, day, night and some are working as seasonal employees). The management of this store comprises on around 20 to 30 people. This is a 24 hours store, located in the retail park and is very busy because of its location and also because this is close to M25 and people can get everything from the same store and also there is some other shop near to Sainsburys like M S, Next, Boots and so on. The second reason to select this store as a case study was that the researcher is working in this store in its customer services and checkouts department so the researcher as a participant has enough experience to work with different culture people in the store in the last two years. The sample size of this research (which includes on management and employees) was also easily approachable to get the relevant data. The researcher was quite hopeful that management and employees will cooperate with him for collecting data. 1.3.1 Company policy and commitment to colleagues: There is much legislation surrounding the area of diversity and at the same time this provides a minimum standard for this policy, it is the companys intention to move beyond simple legal compliance where appropriate. This policy exists to enable a working environment in which everyone feels valued and respected in everything that they do. Innovative thinking and different ideas are critical to Sainsburys success and their ability to develop new ways of adding value for their customers will be greatly enhanced by the diversity of experiences and perspectives amongst their colleagues. Their ability to attract and retain the highest ability of colleagues from the widest community is essential in sustaining a leadership position. Their aim is that all colleagues are able to work in an environment that is free from discrimination, harassment or bullying. The principles of fairness and objectivity will be integrated into all of the ways in which they manage their colleagues. According to Sainsburys policy, they will not accept or ignore unfair decisions, practices or requirements that qualify or exclude an individual from meeting essential employment requirements. They include, but are not limited to, a persons age, race, colour, nationality, ethnic origin, gender, sexual orientation, religion. The equal of men and women are monitored and action taken where necessary and appropriate to ensure parity. In line with their flexible working policy, they will make it possible for colleagues to achieve a balance between their work and home commitments. They will ensure that the opportunities presented through diversity will be integrated into the development of new products and services that add value for their customers. The performance and effectiveness of Sainsburys diversity commitment and demographic colleague make-up of their stores are continuously reviewed and where improvement is identified, action has been taken. Any breaches of this policy have been treated seriously and also dealt with under their disciplinary policy. 1.4 Background/Current situation: As we know, now a days diversity is a one of the inclusive concepts and based on valuing everyone as a unique individual and celebrating this difference. The management of diversity goes beyond equal opportunity, instead of simply allowing a greater range of people getting more opportunity. The concept of diversity embodies the belief that people should be valued for their difference and variety. Diversity is supposed to enrich an organizations human capital, whereas equal opportunity focuses on various ethnic groups. The management of diversity is about individuals. It entails a minimization of cloning in selection and promotion procedures and a model of resourcing aimed at finding flexible employees. As I said before that researcher is working in Sainsburys (London Colney) and have seen lots of differences about diversity. There are most of the people from Asian ethnic. But we have some Irish, African, Chinese and British as well. As I work in this store I have found some favour for same ethnic group. And for that other ethnic became sometime very aggressive. And from management level, there is also some gender valuing problem. We have seen lots of female managers rather then males. But other, like they dont differentiate between ages, disabilities, colours and so on. So far you can say, they follow the procedures and thats why they are success in business now a days. My research is about how they manage, and do they really follow the diversity policies? So, I intend to demonstrate, how a human resource manager can manage all those area and successfully complete companys mission with different people. All overall, a self assessment for international human resource managers to evaluate and improve their global management skills. 1.5 Aims/Objectives: The primary aim of the research is therefore: To examine diversity, equality and discrimination issues in a multinational company, in particular, the way of HR managers to manage work with different culture people. The research objectives are: To determine whats the company policy about diversity to manage work with different culture people and to become a successful global manager, aim to develop a global outlook. To outline the development of approaches to organizational analysis. To explore a multicultural company from the perspectives of diverse social groups. An international human resource manager needs to know the way of managing people in twenty first century. We are going to take an overview of what a manager needs to do in relations to managing people in a changing environment. I will be looking at: Diversity issues. International Human Resource Management policies. Managing people in a practical way. To examine the way of recruiting, and selecting the right people. -As a human resource manager, we are likely to manage other people on a one- to-one basis. This involves understanding people as individuals and recognizing their differences as well as drawing up some general principles for managing them like motivates them, job satisfaction, and job design. -Having accepted that there is a range of reasons why people behave differently in a work situation and that cannot make wild and generalized assumptions about any individuals reasons for performing better or worse than average, we will recognize that when we put individuals together into a group, the behavior of that group is likely to be unpredictable. So it is important that they understand about the behavior of groups. So, all overall I will be going through with literature review to practical experiences to find my research project. SECOND CHAPTER LITERATURE REVIEW Everyone is different in age, gender, nationality, and ways of thinking. These differences are a source of strength. The concept of diversity means respect and acceptance. It means understanding each individual is unique and recognizing our individuals differences. It can be the aspects of race, ethnicity, gender, age, sexual orientation, physical abilities, religious beliefs, political views and so on. It is investigation of these differences in a safe positive and development environment. Diversity is about creating an all-inclusive work environment that values and benefits from different human attributes, experiences, and skills at all levels and enables all employees to develop and contribute to their full potential. It is about understanding each other and moving beyond simple acceptance to implementation and celebrating the rich dimensions of diversity contained within each individual. Diversity and equality has become a key driving force in government policies. The concepts of diversity and equality are common but still there are some differences. Diversity is the acknowledgement and respect of differences within and between groups of people. And equality is the framework that enables access, participation, opportunities and contribution that is fair and inclusive. According to Lew Platt (1993-1995) â€Å"I believe the word â€Å"diverse† includes not only different genders and races, but also different cultures, lifestyle and ways of thinking†. 2.1 Diversity Management at work: The concepts of workplace diversity include the principles of equal employment opportunity. Equal employment opportunity policies address continued disadvantages experienced by particular groups of people in the workplace, including people with disabilities and those who mistreated by co-workers on the basis of race or ethnicity. These policies remain an important foundation for workplace diversity policy. Diversity management involves systematic and planned programs or procedures that are considered to improve interaction among diverse people, especially people of different ethnicities, sexes, or cultures and to make this diversity a source of inspiration, complementaritys, and greater organizational effectiveness, rather than a source of tension, conflict, miscommunication, or limitation on the effectiveness, progress, and satisfaction of employees. 2.2 Diversity Approaches: The issues that diversity representatives focus on vary by country. In some countries, the question of language is important, some countries depends on ethnic group, or may be depend on ages. ‘Managing Diversity is a term that entered UK debates on equality approaches in the mid-1990s. While it is becoming increasingly common in the UK, there is still disagreement about its meaning and the extent to which it differs from previous approaches. One of the things which do seem to be distinct is the way these approaches deal with differences between employees. The traditional approach to equal opportunities seeks to treat everyone the same. Managing diversity approaches recognises that employees are different and suggest that workplace can get benefit from those differences. What this means for organizations is that they need to adapt to employee characteristics rather than simply expecting employees to fit with pre-existing policies. The more fundamental alternative would be to restructure the way work is carried out so that everyone can be flexible for that. Another example would be the approach taken to ensuring that appraisal was carried out in a fair manner. A diversity approach would take a more radical look at what types of behaviour and activity are valued by the organization to see whether these are more commonly practised by members of one group rather than another. Business case arguments for diversity share many elements with equal opportunities approaches but they tend to stress additional arguments. These have included claims that diverse teams are more innovative than ones composed of homogeneous individuals and that non-traditional workers can reflect the needs of a wider customer base. Diversity approaches also place a strong emphasis on creating a culture within which everyone feels they belong and are empowered to reach their full potential. One aspect of this inclusiveness is an attempt to find policies which seem equally relevant to all employees. The second alternative is seen as the more radical approach. It argues that there are multiple sources of difference which are as important as those based on gender or ethnicity. People are not defined by whether they are from European or Asian background but instead vary along a numerous of dimensions including personalities and tastes. This approach to managing diversity is strongly focused on individuals as the objects of equality policy and as such is in line with wider trends to individualise employee relations. 2.3 Managing people: Management is often defining as â€Å"getting things done through people†. By definition, managers cannot do everything themselves. They have to rely on other people. Managers are sometimes said to spend their time planning, organizing, motivating, and controlling. In practice, the work of managers is quite fragmented. It depends demand on the situation and on the people concerned than on any academic division of the task into clearly differentiated elements. Managers dealing with people: internally with their bosses, their colleagues and their staff; externally with their customers, suppliers, professional advisers and national and local government officials. A leading writer on management, Henry Mintzberg has suggested that managers have: Interpersonal roles: acting as a leader, providing guidance and motivation and maintaining a web of relationship with many individuals and groups. Informational roles: continually seeking and receiving information as a basis for action, passing on factual information, and transmitting guidance to subordinates in making decision. Resource allocation roles: making choices about scheduling their own time, allocating task to people and authorizing actions. Disturbance handling roles: dealing with involuntary situations and change beyond their control. The human resources of an organization consist of all people who perform its activities. In a sense, all decisions that affect the workforce concern the organizations HRM function. Human resource management concerns the personnel policies and managerial practices and system that influence the workforce. Regardless of the size-or existence-of a formal HRM or personnel department (many small businesses have no HRM department). So as an example, line managers will spend more than 50% of their time involved in human resource activities such as hiring, evaluating, disciplining and scheduling employees. 2.4 Key concepts for Global Managers: The following concepts contain the underlying message of this article. An awareness of and an application to ones organization of these concepts has direct relevance to the effectiveness of global managers. An understanding and utilization of these concepts are critical to ones successful global performance. Global leadership- being competent of operating effectively in a global environment and respectful of cultural diversity. This is an individual who can manage accelerating change and differences. The global leader is open and flexible in approaching others, can cope with situations and willing to re-examine and alter personal attitudes and perceptions. Cross cultural communication- recognizing what is involved in ones image of self and ones role, personal needs, values, standards, expectations, all of which are culturally conditioned. Such a person understands the impact of cultural factors on communication. Furthermore, they are aware of verbal and non-verbal differences in communication with persons from another culture. Not only does such a person seek to leans another language, but also they are cognizant that, even when people speak the same language, cultural differences can alter communication symbols and meanings and result in misunderstanding. Cultural sensitivity- integrating the characteristics of culture in general, with experiences in specific organizational, minority, or foreign cultures. Such a person understands the cultural influences on behaviour. This individual translates such cultural awareness into effective relationships with those who are different. Acculturation- effectively adjusting and adapting to a specific culture, whether that be a subculture within ones own country or abroad. Such a person knows the impact of culture shock in successfully managing transitions. Therefore, when dealing with employees from diverse cultural backgrounds, this person develops the necessary skills and avoids being ethnocentric. Cultural influences on management- understanding that management philosophies are deeply rooted in culture and that management practices developed in one culture may not easily transfer to another. Effective intercultural performance- applying cultural theory and insight to specific cross-cultural situations that affect peoples performance on jobs. Changing international business- coping with interdependence of business activity throughout the world as well as the subculture of the managerial group. The global manager appreciates the effect of cultural differences on standard business practices and principles, such as organisational loyalty. Cultural synergy- building on the very differences in the world worlds people for mutual growth and accomplishment by co-operation. Cultural synergy through collaboration emphasizes similarities and common concerns and integrates differences to enrich human activities and systems. Work culture- applying the general characteristics of culture to the specifics of how people work at a point in time and place. In the macro sense, work can be analysed in terms of human stages of development. In the micro sense, work culture can be studied in terms of specific industries, organizations or professional groups. Global culture- understanding that, while various characteristics of human culture have always been universal, a unique global culture with some common characteristics may be emerging. Global managers are alert to serving this commonality in human needs and markets with strategies that are transnational. 2.5 Construct area of diversity: Diversity is â€Å"the representation, in one social system, of people with distinctly different group affiliations of cultural significance† Cox (1993). Deresky (1994) also highlighted that, the differences between group members illustrated in terms of the extent such as culture, age, race, sexual orientations, gender and ethnic. There are three characteristics of construct area of diversity, which are classified employees differences. These are Demographic, organisational and socio-cognitive diversity. Demographic diversity: According to Jackson et al (1995), diversity such as ethnicity, age, nationality and gender those are considered visible attributes that can be easily characterised in particular individuals. Organisational diversity: The second category is organisational diversity. It may include: a) Staff job security in the firm. b) Work or professional experience. c) Occupation, functional or job portfolios of the employees such as marketing, production, and finance. Socio-cognitive diversity: The last category is socio-cognitive diversity, which includes cultural and religious values, knowledge level, beliefs and personalities characteristics. By establishing and organising the staff according to their distinctive attributes, it will facilitate business managers to have a more objective understanding and appreciation of their diverse staffs behaviours, attitudes and values, given the implications for interpersonal and organisational processes and outcomes when staff members work together. As peoples values and beliefs vary individually as a result of their socio-cultural differences, this will affect organisational processes and configurations. For examples:- cross-cultural communication, management-subordinate relationships, international team management, leadership and decision-making styles, staff motivations, staff recruitment, selections and development, and other managerial functions. Apart from the jobs, employees also have differences based on their position within society. Whether an employee a man or women, from a particular ethnic group, is of a particular sexual orientations, has a disability may affect what they want from employment and what are able to offer. Some of these differences may also affect peoples access to jobs and their progress within organisations. 2.6 Discrepancies between academic research and HRM practice: While HRM executives and managers are more educated and professional than in the days when they were in charge of personnel, the level of knowledge in practicing HRM in another part. Many companies hire MBAs for HRM jobs when not even a single HRM course is required in the typical curriculum for an MBA. Recruitment: As an Academic research finding, quantitative analysis of recruitment sources using yield ratios can facilitate in recruitment. On the other hand HRM practices, less than 10% calculate yield ratios and less than 25% know how. Staffing: According to academic research findings, realistic job previews can reduce turnover and weighted application blanks reduce turnover. Alternatively, HRM practices, less than 20% of companies use RJPs in high-turnover jobs and less than 30%. Performance appraisal: According to academic research findings, do not use traits on rating forms, make appraisal process important element of managers job. On the other hand, more than 70% still use traits, less than 35% of managers are evaluated on performance appraisal. 2.7 International HRM: Domestic HRM is involved with employees within only one national boundary. And we define the field of IHRM broadly to cover all issues related to the management of people in an international context. Hence our definition of IHRM covers a wide range of human resource issues facings MNCs in different parts of their organisations. Additionally, we include comparative analyzes of HRM in different countries. The complexity of international HR can be attributed to six factors: More HR activities. The need for a broader perspective. More involvement in employees personal lives. Changes in emphasis as the workplace mix of expatriates and locals varies. Risk exposure. Broader external influences. In addition to complexity, there are four other variables that moderate differences between domestic and international HRM. These four additional moderators are: The cultural environment. The industry with which the multinational is primarily involved. The extent of reliance of the multinational on its home-country domestic market. The attitudes of senior management. 2.8 International HR policy: In spite of the corporate business strategy unique to each company that they will drive the specifies of an international human resource policy, there are certain objectives that any effective IHR policy should aim to accomplish. And these objectives are: The policy should attract and motivate employees to accept international assignment. It should provide competitive pay plans to ensure the assignee can maintain his or her accustomed lifestyle. It should promote career succession planning and include guideline on repatriation and additional overseas assignment. It should facilitate relocation between home and host location. And finally, it should be cost-effective, understanding and easy to administer. To meet these objectives, we must have internal and external programs functioning to handle the following six areas. In addition to the required technical and business skills, key traits to consider include: cultural sensitivity, interpersonal skills, and flexibility. Document and formally communicate the assignees specific job requirements and associated pay in an assignment letter. Identify the compensation, benefits and tax approach that meets company objectives. Some common approaches to pay include: home balance sheet, destination-based, net-to-net, flexible. Assist the assignee with disposition or management of home and automobiles, shipment and storage of household goods, work permits and pre-assignment visits. Provide cultural orientation, language training, spousal support, education assistance, home leave, and emergency provisions. As the average cost of sending an expert on an overseas assignment is between three and five times the employees pre-departure salary, quantifying total costs for a global assignment is essential in the budgeting process. 2.9 Integrated HR systems to develop global leaders: Companies with global human resource information systems are likely to be far better positioned to succeed in the highly competitive international market. The task of developing global leaders and global HR function over the next decade in IPAs latest research effort. Multinational companies often discover that, especially in newly emerging markets, local management talent is rarely available to establish and build operations. Consequently, many companies conclude that the only way to start doing business in these markets is to relocate experienced managers from around the globe. Companies doing work in the international marketplace have discovered that providing pre-departure screening and orientation- a potentially lengthy and time-consuming process- is essential to achieving the highest rates of success. A human resource information system might include data on the potential expatriates families, training needs and past technical and cross-cultural experiences. Having such data would enhance the probability not only of selecting the best candidates, but of chances for success on the assignment, thus having a great impact on the future development of global leaders. Because most multinational companies now require international experience in ord er to move up the corporate hierarchy, tracking information related to international assignment can make a significant contribution to management development. 2.10 Diversity in multinational companies: The rise of multinational companies and increased global diversification by even small companies has resulted in people of diverse background and cultures working together in the same office or for the same organization. Conflict in such situations is expected, but understanding the diversity issues can help to minimize the conflict and take benefits from diversity group of people brings to an organisations. To understanding how diversity is manage in multinational organizations, try to understand the concept of corporate culture, which defines organisational diversity programs and their use to minimize conflict among employees. Companies and countries can no longer operate as if the rest of the world did not exit. New trading blocs, based on regional, not national, interests have formed with the European Economic Community and the North America Free Trade Agreement. There will be increased pressure influenced by the country culture. For examples, some corporate cultures may encourage women and men gathering together socially after work while country culture would prohibit this. A female executive from t

Financial Crises And Global Capital Flows :: essays research papers

<a href="http://www.geocities.com/vaksam/">Sam Vaknin's Psychology, Philosophy, Economics and Foreign Affairs Web Sites The recent upheavals in the world financial markets were quelled by the immediate intervention of both international financial institutions such as the IMF and of domestic ones in the developed countries, such as the Federal Reserve in the USA. The danger seems to have passed, though recent tremors in South Korea, Brazil and Taiwan do not augur well. We may face yet another crisis of the same or a larger magnitude momentarily. What are the lessons that we can derive from the last crisis to avoid the next? The first lesson, it would seem, is that short term and long term capital flows are two disparate phenomena with very little in common. The former is speculative and technical in nature and has very little to do with fundamental realities. The latter is investment oriented and committed to the increasing of the welfare and wealth of its new domicile. It is, therefore, wrong to talk about â€Å"global capital flows†. There are investments (including even long term portfolio investments and venture capital) – and there is speculative, â€Å"hot† money. While â€Å"hot money† is very useful as a lubricant on the wheels of liquid capital markets in rich countries – it can be destructive in less liquid, immature economies or in economies in transition. The two phenomena should be accorded a different treatment. While long term capital flows should be completely liberalized, encouraged and welcomed – the short term, â€Å"hot money† type should be controlled and even discouraged. The introduction of fiscally-oriented capital controls (as Chile has implemented) is one possibility. The less attractive Malaysian model springs to mind. It is less attractive because it penalizes both the short term and the long term financial players. But it is clear that an important and integral part of the new International Financial Architecture MUST be the control of speculative money in pursuit of ever higher yields. There is nothing inherently wrong with high yields – but the capital markets provide yields connected to economic depression and to price collapses through the mechanism of short selling and through the usage of certain derivatives. This aspect of things must be neutered or at least countered. The second lesson is the important role that central banks and other financial authorities play in the precipitation of financial crises – or in their prolongation. Financial bubbles and asset price inflation are the result of euphoric and irrational exuberance – said the Chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of the United States, the legendary Mr.

Children of the City :: essays research papers

Water Imagery in â€Å"Children of the City†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Rain has always been an important symbol in life. It is one of very few actions that can be both destructive and harsh, but at the same time constructive and life-giving. Throughout literature the visual image of rain is usually connected to feelings of sorrow, death, and despair. The most commonly known example of this would be in Hemingway’s â€Å"Farewell to Arms†. Hemingway uses the rain to tell of peoples negative emotions, so it is easy to take that idea into other readings. Outside of literature, however, rain is seen as being connected to positive thoughts of growth, prosperity and cleansing. In this story of adolescent love the author uses the presence of water to saturate the subjects with these positive feelings.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  At the beginning the author introduces the rain as â€Å"urban† in contrast to â€Å"field or shore† rain. Immediately the image of urban rain is less threatening than that of a field or shore. It gives the reader a playful image of almost being teased by the rain. In the city one has to hide from it and jump from umbrellas to awnings, yet never has to worry about the danger of being caught in it for too long. These playful and teasing characteristics of the rain are the exact guidelines to the relationship between the two main characters. The rain represents the couple’s emotion and they experiment with it just like in a real adolescent relationship. They see how long they can be drenched by its passion, nevertheless they return to the overhangs not knowing how much of it they can handle.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Looking at it in a biblical sense, the rain is both destructive to them and helping their relationship grow. God sent the flood down to man because of our sins causing much destruction, but at the same time giving us a rebirth and purification. Too much rain may flood their relationship with emotion; however this â€Å"urban† rain teases them and lets them feel free and pure. The idea of the rain giving growth to their relationship is seen in the lines ending â€Å"a scrawny tree,† and â€Å"their forested way†. Alone they are fruitless and scrawny, yet together they are given life by the rain to create an entire forest.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Conversely, after all that the rain has provided them with the author’s last mention is that of a negative connotation.

A View From the Bridge - Arthur Miller Essay example -- English Litera

A View from the bridge by Arthur Miller Examine the ideas of manliness, hostility and aggression in 'a view from the bridge'. How are these ideas connected? In this essay I will examine the ideas of manliness, hostility and aggression are connected to each other in 'a view from the bridge'. The play is set in a slum near the Brooklyn Bridge. In the story the main character is Eddie carbone and we see many sides to this character throughout the play. Eddie carbone is a middle aged man going through a mid life crisis. Many things are causing this mid life crisis, but the main thing and the most obvious one is the relationship between Catherine and Radolpho. Catherine is the niece of his wife, Beatrice. Catherine's parents died when Catherine was very young and ever since then Beatrice and Eddie have raised her like their own daughter. Eddie has grown to love as his own daughter but due to this he has also developed a possessiveness that he does not quite understand. Eddies mid-life crisis starts to be noticed when the cousins of Beatrice illegally immigrate into the country by boat and stay with them temporarily. From the moment they first arrive in the play we immediately notice that something is bound to happen from the way Eddie talks to them. This is where the drama officially begins. Eddie has a certain type of belief that you have to be a particular way or do particular things in order to be a real man, he believes that certain types of characteristics and qualities are needed to be manly. He has lived by these qualities and characteristics and believes they are right. This is possibly due to the way he was raised. The views that Eddie thinks are need for masculinity are that you should go ou... ...cond language and struggles sometimes, " ...the machine, the machine is necessary. " His sentences are lively and witty and entertaining. Marco seems to be able to speak English better than his brother. His sentences are usually serious and quite intense, " Too loud. The guests in that hotel are all Englishmen. They don't like too loud. " This book is all about manliness, hostility and aggression. Manliness is the main thing because backs in the time that this play was set in men were the most dominant gender by far. They were in charge of everything; they were the ones that had a say in everything. Manliness led to hostility because the role of dominance can be threatened, as it was in Eddie's case, which leads to aggression. Eddie tried to eliminate the threat be trying to kill him but it backfired on him and in the end he was the one who died.

Governor General in Canada

Overview My research paper will discuss the proposal of institutional reform concerning the function of Governor General. Canada is a constitutional monarchy and the role of the Governor General is to represent Canada as a whole in replace of the Crown or the Queen. Since Canada has no longer any real ties with the British Sovereignty in terms of government rules many would argue if the role of the Governor General has any significance to being an important political actor in Canada’s Constitution.To begin this paper, I will discuss a brief overview on what the role of a Governor General is, their formal powers and executive powers, dignified and efficient. My research paper will then emphasize on an institutional reform in regards to the function of the Governor General, it will discuss why Canada does not need a representation of the Crown any longer since the Governor General’s actions are mainly symbolic, therefore meaning that the new reform would have no Governor General appointed royally but instead an elected officer.The next argument in the development of the research will discuss the arguments against this institutional reform and why the Governor General’s role is still significant in Canada and why this political actor should still be a part of the Canadian Constitution, since in fact it is part of Canadian history and politics. And then lastly on the development is what my personal opinion is on the matter of having an institution reform or not and then finally finishing off with the conclusion of my paper. Bibliography 1. Desserud, Donald (2006). The Confidence Convention under the Canadian Parliamentary System.Ottawa, Ontario: Canadian Study of Parliament Group. This article discusses one of the efficient powers of the governor general, dissolving of parliament. The governor general takes advice from the prime minister, when the prime minister might be in a situation where the House of Commons throws a non-confidence vote, an d through some motivation behind it the prime minister would then ask permission of the Governor General, who has the power to dissolve parliament, especially when there is a minority government and this book will discuss a few examples of it.This source is useful because it can help us understand why the Governor General’s role shares relevance. 2. Hicks, B. (2009). Guiding the Governor General's Prerogatives: Constitutional Convention Versus an Apolitical Decision Rule. Constitutional Forum, 18(2), 55-67. This article talks about the conventional powers the Governor General has and how it has always been around and a part of Canadian politics.Some scholars disagree with these constitutional conventions and how it should be more democratic, such as an elected official who understands more about the politics of Canada and not just representing the country. This article can be favourable to the argument of having an institutional reform. 3. Hicks, B. M. (2010). The Crown's â⠂¬Å"Democratic† Reserve Powers. Journal Of Canadian Studies, 44(2), 5-31. This journal is about Canada’s responsible government and how the powers of the Governor General can be somewhat misused because of Parliament keeping limits on some powers.Since Canada has been free from British Sovereignty, the Governor General holds more importance in guiding the prime minister but then again since the Governor General’s powers are more dignified rather than efficient, he or she is advised by the prime minister and sometimes these decisions go in favour for the prime minister and this may not always be fair. This journal can go in favour of the argument to have an institutional reform, because the powers of the Governor General may only be helping out the prime minister and may not be so democratic. 4. Messamore, B. J. (2005). The line over which he must not pass': Defining the Office of Governor General, 1878. Canadian Historical Review, 86(3), 453-483. This press revie w goes back all the way to the 19th century, when the formation of the Canadian Constitution first began; it talks about the British Sovereignty’s representation that which is the Governor General. This reference can be helpful to this research paper because it gives the history of the Governor General and how this role of a political actor first started which can be relevant in the introduction of the paper and can give an overview of this significant actor. . Smith, David (1995). The Invisible Crown: The First Principle of Canadian Government. Toronto, Ontario: University of Toronto Press. This book discusses how the Crown, the Governor General, has contributed a great amount to Canada and its parliamentary government. This book talks about the significance of the Governor General and how its functions have changed Canadian politics for the better in terms of social, geographic and economic conditions. This reference will be useful towards the research paper when he argumen t is opposed to an institutional reform. 6. W. , D. D. (2009). Jean, Michaelle. Current Biography, 70(6), 36-42. This biography is about Michaelle Jean, Canada’s current Governor General. This reference can be useful for the research paper because it can give a certain insight on the life of a Governor General, their accomplishments and what gives them the factor of becoming a Governor General which is a pretty important role in Canada’s Constitution.This biography can favour the argument of not having an institutional reform because it can give a better understanding that not just anyone can become Governor General and that they can represent and shape Canada as a country for the better. 7. Wheeldon, J. (2011). Actors, Targets, and Guardians: Using Routine Activities Theory to Explore the 2008 Decision to Prorogue Parliament In Canada. Canadian Journal of Sociology, 36(1), 59-93.This article discusses the 2008 prorogation request by Stephen Harper to Michaelle Jean wh ich was highly criticized by many who thought she should have not accepted the request. This article holds significance because it can show how the Governor General’s role may not be as significant because their role may not be helpful to the government an may be more in favour to the prime minister but not towards the good of the Canadian parliament and therefore to the good of the Canadian citizens. Function of Governor General: The Idea of an Institutional Reform Priya Patel 6587402

Research Paper (Football’s Effects on Personal Health)

Rodney Whitehead Eng 102 Research Paper 12/10/08 Football A person’s health is one of the most important things to maintain throughout his/her life. Playing sports is a fun and effective way to stay healthy mentally as well as physically. Football is an extremely physical, mentally advanced sport and is an excellent example of this. Football is an effective way to improve the physical, mental and social aspects of a person’s health. Football dates as far back as ancient Greece. Greeks made these games, which compare to modern football, to simulate warfare and battle strategies. If you know how an ancient phalanx works, you can find similarities between it and how the offensive and defensive line interact. It’s mostly just a lot of pushing and shoving with intent to penetrate the line and break the phalanx using shields and spears in a tactical fashion to create an ideally impenetrable unit. The linebackers, and defensive backs would represent the secondary defenses. The offensive backs and receivers represented the higher ranks of warriors. It was a game they played to showcase their skills, and it was an alternative of staying in shape without spending hours in the gymnasium. It also gave them more social interactions with people who had similar interests. The game of football has without a doubt become more advanced. It has become an multitude of associations and leagues each with their own individual rules and regulations. The game itself can be very confusing to understand from a foreign standpoint. However, the object of the game is simple. The team with the ball has to get it into the opposing teams endzone. Obviously it is more complicated than that but it’s the basic idea. When weighing the pros and cons of impacts on health with playing football, there are some negative aspects that go along with it such as injuries, risks with playing in severely cold weather, and other minor problems players might have with chronic pain or irritations on the body which include joint damage, turf toe and athletes foot, etc. Injuries in professional football do happen often, but it’s a part of playing the game. I personally would have rather broken every limb on my body than not ever have played football. According to Ernest Needham, injuries are abundant but not overwhelming considering the amount of people who play the sport. â€Å"We all know that accidents will happen in the best regulated of sports (even pedestrians are not free from them); but accidents of a serious or fatal nature are very rare considering the thousands who play, and it is questionable whether the percentage does not compare favorably with those of other pastimes (Unk 1-Par 7)†. All other health risks of football which are but minor compared to injuries should just be something athletes should go through to play such a fun and beneficial game. In my eyes, football is one hundred percent beneficial. One of the best things about football is that there is a spot for and type of person. Basically big, strong men play on the line; small, fast men can usually play as cornerbacks and safeties; strong and fast men will usually play running back or linebacker; and the tall, fast guys who can catch make good receivers. One aspect of football that makes it good for human health and development is the extra conditioning that is required to stay in shape. Conditioning mainly is based around running. A good thing for football players to practice and develop often is sprinting. Speed is the most important factor when playing football and it is extremely beneficial to one's health to sprint on a regular basis. It allows the heart to adapt and operate at higher speeds without such a high exhaustion factor as would usually be the case for someone who doesn't sprint regularly or at all for that matter. Football builds up strength and endurance in every part of your body. It increases your cardiovascular muscles and decreases your resting heart rate. You also become more balanced by learning different techniques and it develops the footwork of athletes to build speed and quickness. Unk 3 Par 2) Sprinting is most commonly practiced in what we call circuits or pyramids. A circuit is a multitude of different types of sprints performed in a row with little or no rest. For example, an athlete would start with seated arm sprints and when the whistle blows, he would get up and sprint to the forty yard cone at full speed. When he reaches the cone he would back pedal 20 yards, then do fifteen seconds of high knees. After this he would then sprint out the remaining forty yards. Circuits can be performed in any order with any combination of sprinting exercises. Circuits promote endurance, acceleration, speed and exercise diversity which is an important part of adaptive health as well as a vital skill one needs to play football. Sprinting pyramids go along with the idea of starting out small and gradually increasing distance and intensity. Let’s say you’re on a standard track. From the starting line, the sprinter would sprint a short ten yards, touch the line and come back. This is followed by increments of ten usually. Once the pyramid reaches sixty yards out, the sprinter gradually goes back down in increments of ten to act as a cool-down. Pyramids develop an athletes agility, endurance and also builds an athletes ability to sprint with stability and control. As a result, sprinting is extremely beneficial to an athletes health and well-being and this demonstrates how the sprinting aspect of football is a major part in the health of an individual. Most teams also coach their athletes to run long distances. Long distance running is an excellent way to boost a human’s cardiovascular stamina and increase the strength in an athletes fast-twitch muscle system in his/her legs. The reason it is so effective in improving someone’s health is because it keeps the heart beating at a high rate for a long period of time. This sends oxygen quickly to all the body’s key receptors which is essential to maintain motor skills, and better a human’s growth and blood flow. It also enables the heart to adapt and strengthen to be able to handle such a strain for such a long period of time. This helps athletes keep energy during games and practice without getting as tired. Long distance running is usually done as a team or in smaller groups throughout the team. For example, the backs receivers will run in one group and the lineman and linebackers will run in the other. The distance teams run always varies based on the coaches, how the practice has gone so far, and the weather, but usually when I say â€Å"a long distance run†, I mean at the very least one mile. Take me for example. I run one and a half miles every day before I strength train. I don’t consider that to be a long distance run at all. It’s more like a little warm up. On Fridays I run three miles which judging by how tired I am after, I consider to be long distance running. What defines the term â€Å"long distance running† is the physical abilities of the athlete and how much they are willing to sacrifice to be a healthy person and an excellent football player. Running in football is a great building block to a healthy lifestyle. Usually people who run and do other exercises regularly will generally have more energy throughout the day than non-athletes. People who have not experienced this first-hand may think otherwise. They might think that if someone exercises everyday, it would drain them and make them tired all the time. That is definitely not the case. Exercise lowers your heart rate in times of inactivity allowing the body to operate using less energy than someone who’s heart rate may be higher during times of inactivity. For example an idle body which has a heart rate of 70 regularly will use more energy than an athlete with an idle heart rate of 52. Therefore an athlete will generally have more energy when not exercising. Overall, running is an important part of football and an excellent way to stay in shape. In the sport of football, it is essential to compete with one another to be the strongest and the fastest. This being said, strength training is extremely important and is also highly beneficial to the sport. Their are many lifts that are specific to football, but weight lifting in general is a remarkably healthy life practice. First of all, it takes a lot of calories to build and maintain muscle, therefore just weightlifting alone could be a great way to get rid of fat. Basically, if someone lift weights to lose fat, he/she will be losing fat and replacing it with muscle making him/her leaner, lighter and stronger. Lifting weights is also a healthy way to socialize. When an athlete lifts weights, he/she usually uses a spotter and if they both are in the same strength range they will usually do all their lifts together and create a friendly relationship with one another. Team chemistry is also something that is taught and practiced in all leagues. The coaches usually try to ensure the cooperation and friendship of all their teammates. This builds builds the bonds that keep a team strong and the benefit an athletes mental and social health. An person’s mental health is probably more important that his/her physical health. Football is an excellent way to develop mental strong mental health. In most cases, players need to remember all the different plays and formation in a playbook to run a solid offense. That should be easy for most people with half a brain but they also have to know how to make quick reads and shifts in blocking to make plays work based on how the defense is aligned. This is a very complex skill that only comes with experience in the game. This trait illustrates a strong mentality which is extremely healthy to develop especially in early years. According to Abby Lerner’s quote from Sian Beilock, associate professor in psychology at the University of Chicago, playing football plays a big role in developing essential language skills students need to understand complex situations. â€Å"Experience playing and watching sports has enduring effects on language understanding by changing the neural networks that support comprehension to incorporate areas active in performing sports skills,† Beilock said. (Lerner Par 4) He also said that the findings may soon be applied to education. For example, the best way to teach kids about momentum and physics may not be assigning lengthy reading assignments, but getting them up from their desks and moving. â€Å"The experience of acting something out may help them understand the concept much better (Lerner Par 5)†. Football also promotes a healthier diet. The coaches stress that their players eat healthy and many of them put their athletes on a strict eating plan. Athletes in professional football and high high division college football are usually given a meal plan to improve their health and well-being. A good meal plan would consist of foods high in protein and carbohydrates in the morning, foods high in carbohydrates at noon, and high protein and vitamins in the evening such as boiled chicken and green vegetables. Such practices, along with exercising, weightlifting and stretching, can actually reduce the risk of injury. A balanced diet can also help keep the digestive system regulated. Eating the right foods at the right times is an important part of staying healthy so it is no wonder that the health driven sport of football practices sticking to a healthy diet. Football is an extremely disciplined and physical sport, but it is probably the most fun a person can have if he/she is trying to stay healthy. Through the coaching of strength, conditioning, dieting and enhanced brain activity, football is a great way to improve the physical and mental health of individuals of all ages. Works Cited Author Unknown1. â€Å"Health Risks of Playing Football†. Publisher Unknown www. spartacus. schoolnet. co. uk/Fhealth. htm This articles focuses on the downside to football. It illustrates certain health risks and diseases that may be caused by playing football, both long term and short term. It tends to use a lot of statistics and credited facts throughout the article. In fact, the bulk of the article is composed of these statistics and facts. Little is shown of the writer’s own input of the subject. Author Unknown2. â€Å"Football improves health of the community†. Publisher Unknown http://www. dh. gov. uk/en/News/DH_4111986 This article illustrates the positive physical effects of football. It points out that the sport promotes a healthier diet, teaches drug and alcohol awareness and promotes good sexual health as well as social inclusion. Author Unknown3. What are the benefits of football†. Wiki-Answers. http://wiki. answers. com/Q/ This is sort of a Q and A format article. It asks the question; What are the health and physical benefits of playing football? It is followed by multiple answers from anonymous contributors. Some answers are straight and to the point and some go in depth with exciting facts in vivid detail. Lerner, Abby. â€Å"The Best Reason to Watch More Football†. Men’s Health. http://www. menshealth. com/cda/article Watching football is had been a proven way of increasing brain activity and comprehension efficiency. This article developes reasons of how and why it does and it explains them in depth. Moor, Craeg(? ). â€Å"Improve mental health through playing football†.  © 2008 Adfero Ltd. craegmoor. co. uk/news/industry/18518880/ The mental health benefits of playing football are beyond significant. Football is a great way to socialize and develop relationships with other players in an informal, fun way which has effects on a person's emotions, relationships, identity and self-esteem. This article develops these benefits in a very compact article in which I will probably have to use sentence numbers.

How Stressed Children Are in a Primary School Essay

The recent publication of a Cambridge research paper on high stress levels amongst UK primary school children made national headlines. It told parents of an uncomfortable truth that primary classrooms are not the places of fun and learning that typifies an idealistic notion of education in the UK. It spoke of stress, anxiety and worry in classrooms, where children show signs of distress due to high expectations, excessive workloads and having to shoulder unrealistic responsibilities. But just how accurate is this picture? Is it possible to expect young children to understand the complexities of the manifestations of stress and the inaccuracies of self-appraisal given possible low levels of emotional literacy? This paper explores how feasible it is to collect accurate data from children about their own stress and evaluates how such information can be collected. It concludes that there are a variety of ways of gaining information about stress from children, some better than others, but leaves no doubt that children can be ideal subjects for such research if the design and execution of the study is given due consideration. The world of primary education, it would seem, from anecdotal evidence from parents of primary school pupils, is not what it used to be. Clichà ©s such as ‘its not like it was in my days!’ or ‘school was much easier and more fun in the olden days!’ can often be heard echoing across parents groups in school  yards or in local supermarkets. But is school such a difficult place for children today? A recent paper, published by a Cambridge University research group would suggest that life in a primary school is not as stress free as most parents would want to assume. In order to help understand this uncomfortable notion, this paper will explore whether children are capable of giving accurate information about their stress levels and how this could be collected. Stress research is a well established field spanning eight decades, from Walter Cannon’s seminal work in 1927 on flight and flight, to Mark Kovacs’ recent paper on ‘Stress in the Workplace’, (Kovacs 2007). It fact it seems that there are very few areas of modern life that stress research has not touched upon. In relation to everyday activities, research covers stress at work (eg Kovacs 2007, McCarthy & Sheehan,1996), stress in the street (Brennan,1993), paradoxically there has been studies around stress in leisure activities (Noakes 1991) and crucially for this paper, stress in school environments (eg Williams & Gersch, 2004; Murray and Harrison, 2005 and the recently published Cambridge Primary Review paper 2007). The subject base for stress research has also been highly eclectic, ranging from stress in the elderly (Hodgson, Freedman &, Granger, 2004), to stress at birth and even stress levels in individuals not yet born, (Graham, Heim, Goodman, Miller and Nemeroff 1999). There is a case to be argued however, that very much like the Freudian theory of psychosexual development, there appears to be a relative ‘hiatus of interest’ in the levels of stress in children between the ages of 6 and 11. This crucial period of education covers the majority of Key Stage 1 and all of Key Stage 2 and it would seem to be a pivotal juncture in a child’s education. It is in this period that most children will be structuring their leaning patterns and assimilating vast amounts of knowledge in all areas of the school both academic and social. It could be considered somewhat remarkable therefore that there is relatively less stress research done in education at this age. It is particularly pertinent when we consider that this active period of learning is then brought to a close with the mandatory Key Stage 2 SAT papers. It is perhaps this singular event that indicates, for most pupils, their rights of passage into the world of secondary education where structured exams and revision regimes are rife. So why is it that research during this ‘Latency Period’ (Freud 1905d) of a child’s educational  development is so under represented? It could be because it now appears to be a relatively settled period in a child’s educational life. It may be that in most areas of the UK, the predominantly two-tier education system has removed a major period of transition half way through this phase of schooling. This process of downsizing transitions eradicated a well defined cause of stress in pupils and exaggerated difficulties in coping (Rudduck.J, 2004; Lohaus. A, 2004). However could it also be argued that models of stress and theories for coping with traumatic events are not comprehensive enough to cover this very specific area of children’s development in such settings? It is important therefore to explore how adult models of stress address environmental and personal issues and whether these can be attributed to children in a primary classroom. Stress models for adults Modern stress research has placed itself firmly within the interactionist perspective characterized largely by Lazarus and Folkman (1984). Their model for the possible development of stress explores the essential thought processes that occur in any given situation and the judgments the individual makes in assessing their own ability to cope with the demands placed upon them at any one time. This ‘appraisal’ and subsequent stress levels are governed primarily by recollecting previous performances and the effectiveness of learned coping strategies in similar situations. It seems clear then that by using the interactionist model, there may be opportunities to provide greater opportunities to understand children’s stress in the classroom. In order to fully explore this area, it seems pertinent to start by delving into specific models of stress that add to our knowledge about its development in adults and explore whether these could be used with children in a primary s chool environment. One such model that may be relevant to this paper was developed by Palmer, Cooper and Thomas (2001) who looked at stress in the workplace. This model proposes that there are six contributors to the development and/or the management of stress levels in and around most places of work. These mitigating factors include work/environmental demands, support, change and the worker’s role within the ‘company’ (see below). It would seem on first inspection that this is truly an adult model of stress as it is located in adult world of work. However as  there do not appear to be any established or substantial research as yet, to determine the difference between ‘work’ being in an office, a factory or a shop and ‘work’ as in a classroom, it could be argued that if the ‘classroom’ was seen as a workplace and pupils considered ‘employees’, Palmer et al’s model does have some relevance. Below is Palmer et al’s mo del as published in the ‘Health Education Journal’ 2001. Figure 1: Palmer, Cooper and Thomas’s model of stress in the work place (2001) A Stress model for children? Using the key structure of this model, it is possible to transpose details into a new representation that may be appropriate to help explore stress in children in a school situation. This process of transformation can largely be done by ‘translating’ words and terminology used in the flowchart above into words relevant and applicable to similar aspects of a school environment. A typical example of this would be that the reference to ‘employees’ would need to read ‘pupils’. Perhaps the more difficult aspect of this translation relates to its exploration of ‘negative outcomes’. It is clear that increased and sustained stress levels in children is less likely to lead to coronary heart disease or RSI in the short term than it would in adults, so perhaps more pertinent aspects of this section of the model would relate to an escalation in poor behaviours or higher absenteeism. Table 1 below shows a complete translation of Palmer et alâ₠¬â„¢s terminology using this ideology. Once this translation of meaning has been established then it appears that this model does provide some insight into possible factors that may contribute to stress levels in children. Further exploration of Palmer, Cooper and Thomas’s model would establish how these factors would impact upon the individual and at the whole school level. Table 2 on page 7 shows how Palmer et al’s structure would apply to a school model. It seems clear that there is a probable link between stress levels of a child in the classroom and organisational dysfunctions in the structure of the classroom and possibly to aspects of the whole school. This new model also shows where possible stressors come from for the pupil and how this could be managed to alleviate higher levels of stress across a school environment. It could be argued that a central difficulty in attributing the interactionist perspective model of stress to children is flawed by the intrinsic tenet of the model. Lazarus and Folkman (1984) believe that the essential tool of stress appraisal is the ability to reflect on past experiences to determine the individual’s ability to cope with the current situation. How then, does this model apply to young children whose experiences are more limited than those of an adult? Does this lack of experience allow a young child the ability to accurately evaluate past experiences against past  performances? An example of this could be when pupils are required to complete the Key Stage 1 SAT papers. Even though teachers will have tried to prepare each pupil with several practices in answering unfamiliar maths and literacy booklets, the actual test is unfamiliar due to the heightened expectations of the day itself. How are pupils able to reflect on past experiences of this? Perhaps the best that can be achieved is the familiarity with the style of the test but not necessarily with the SAT day itself. If this is the case, when the interactionist perspective is extrapolated to Key Stage 2 SATs it is likely that a bad experience in the Key Stage 1 SAT papers will affect perceptions of performance during the SAT tests in Year 6. Using this model, it must be argued that in order to achieve better results in Key Stage 2 SATs, there is a case to be made to enhance the positive experiences of sitting formal tests at an earlier age. This could be achieved by either taking away the pressure to achieve in Year 2 or indeed use these tests and tasks to give the pupils positive experiences to build upon. It is likely that a bad experience in Year 2 increases the likelihood of future failures or anxieties. To facilitate this process the model outlined in table 2 above could be used to facilitate good practice, improve support mechanisms, strengthen positive relationships and encourage a greater ability to handle change. This may also have a positive impact on the pupils and the whole school in the long term. The adaptation of Palmer, Cooper and Thomas’s model will allow a school practitioner the opportunity to affect whole school social dynamics by focusing upon the ‘potential hazards’ and being pro -active in offsetting the negative impact they can have on a school environment. But how successful have primary schools been so far in this role? Stress in the classroom In October 2007 the Cambridge Primary Review explored life in a primary classroom from a child’s perspective. The process of data collection, which took place between January and March 2007, collected evidence from a whole range of professionals in the primary education sector as well as people drawn from the wider community. These subjects included children themselves, who are referred to as ‘witnesses’ in the paper. In total there were nine Community locations in different parts of England, culminating in a total of  87 witness sessions, attended by over 750 people. This is clearly an important piece of research that cuts across cultural boundaries and local government differences. It would seem that this research is an amalgamation of collective thought, however there may be some difficulties with interviewing subjects such as children which will be explored in greater detail below. However such research conclusions cannot go unnoticed for long and immediately after its publication in academic circles, their conclusions made national headlines. It was this research that spawned a raft of emotive headlines across all forms of media in the UK. Articles fronted by ‘Children ‘stressed and depressed’ and ‘Primary Cause for concern’ were used offering direct quotes about what causes children such stress, citing: â€Å"the gloomy tenor of ‘what you hear on the news’ or by a generalised fear of strangers, burglars and street violence.† ITN webpage – Friday 12th October 07:05 am Furthermore articles in the media were concluding that: ‘ †¦our young children are anxious, badly behaved, stressed, depressed and obsessed with the cult of celebrity’ Garner, 2007 page 1 These emotive and somewhat generalized media headlines, alongside the Cambridge’s research papers demonstrate that there appears to be a high level of stress and depression in primary classrooms, but there is also a lot of anxiety in the ‘media’ at the possibility of there being stress and depression in the classroom. These headlines echo Mays’ conclusions who observed in his paper in ‘Stresses in Children’ (1996): ‘ there is still much to frighten, to frustrate and to intimidate a growing child’ (page 41) But just how successful are research methods and models of stress in helping to clarify and explain possible sources of stress in the primary classroom? Is it possible to accurately measure stress in children given some of the constraints of data collection? Perhaps more importantly are children able to understand the complexity of stress responses and have sufficient levels of emotional literacy to be able to accurately describe whether they are stressed or not? It seems a foregone conclusion, in stress research, that the respondent themselves is able to understand what stress is and how it affects them and to be able to recognise when they are stressed or not in given circumstances. It seems that collecting stress data from children is fraught with implicit difficulties. However, this should not deter such research being completed; it means only that the data collected may need a greater level of analysis and more rigorous reflection to be able to make any real conclusions. Collecting Stress data from Children There are two key difficulties with any stress research, both of which are applicable when exploring stress in children. The first central problem is that there is an absence of a common definition of stress and this makes research difficult due to the amorphous nature of how stress can manifest itself in different individuals (Ramsden 2007a). The second, somewhat related difficulty is that the vocabulary used to describe stress is often used loosely or interchangeably. It is not uncommon to read in books and research papers subsequent paragraphs using terms such as stress, anxiety, and worry to describe similar aspects of this phenomenon. Furthermore there is a central need to take care when referring to stress in terms of how it would change a person’s demeanor and/ or thought patterns. Stress research refers to stress as both a definition and a symptom. This can be somewhat overcome by trying to establish key differences in terms of relating anxiety as a symptom of stress, in very much the same way as references are made to headaches, depression and irrational thought, all of which may be as a direct result of the stress a person is under. However some research is now suggesting that stress, anxiety and depression are indeed co-variants and the inter-relationship and synonymous presence of all of these problems  together may indeed be: ‘ the rule rather than the exception.’ Compass and Hammem (1996)pg 242 If this comorbidity of anxiety, depression and stress has such strong bonds, then trying to ascertain what the differences are between these manifestations may be an impossible task. If this is the case then the interactionist perspective may indeed be the significant filter that holds such research together. By taking the essence of the Lazarus and Folkman (1984) model, the reason why a person feels they can’t cope is of secondary importance to the fact that they feel they can’t cope with current demands. Furthermore if such feelings of helplessness are born out of, or are exacerbated by, depressive tendencies then this is irrelevant to the basic fact that the individual feels they can’t cope with demands and therefore will be stressed. This tenet must then hold true for stress research into children. It does not seem to matter why the child feels stressed, the fact that they do, means that they are! That is, provided that they understand what feeling stressed i s, which falls back to the central difficulty of how effectively can you measure a phenomenon such as stress within a child when a child may not understand the phenomenon themselves? However, this then leads onto another dilemma. If it can be demonstrated that the children at the centre of the research have obtained a sufficient level of emotional literacy to determine what being stressed feels like, then to collect stress data in children, a methodological choice between two specific models needs to be made. The first strategy for collecting data uses the principle underlined by Selye (1934) that stress is a biological response to the environment and therefore it is possible to use biometric measures such as blood pressure and galvanic skin responses An alternative model such as that proposed by Lazarus and Folkman (1984) uses reflective self analysis to determine the individual’s ‘perception’ of their own stress. This second method can be collected in a number of ways but perhaps the most basic, but not necessarily the most simplistic, is either through questionnaires and/or interviewing the individual themselves. Before these qualitative methods are  discussed it is important to explore the more quantitative methods of data collection in children. Some of these discussion points can be found in Ramsden (2007b) which explores variations in data collection in greater detail, however it does not elucidate how they can be utilized with children and therefore it is worth touching on some of those points again but with specific reference for research with children. Biometric data collection in children If the argument is that children do not have the experiential capability to understand what stress is and the ability to describe accurately how they are feeling, or indeed able to recognise when they are stressed, then it seems plausible to assume that a more standardized, less subjective and fundamentally, a less reflective method of data collection is needed. In terms of stress research, the collection of such ‘clinical’ information must revolve around measuring biological responses rather than a child’s ability to tell the researcher when they are feeling stressed, and how this is different to when they are not feeling stressed. This biological method of data collection has its foundation in some of the earliest research into stress. Some of the very first experiments into the stress response were conducted by Hans Selye (1907-1982), an endocrinologist who conducted his work largely in the first half of the Twentieth Century. In his studies, he used biometric measurements from laboratory rats to determine the level of stress they were under. Selye, who was later given the accolade of the first person to define stress, referred to it as: † a non-specific (i.e. common) result of any demand on the body, whether the effect be mental or somatic† page 32 (Selye1936) His definition may well have some value here. If we take the stance that young children are indeed unable to identify accurately what stress is, then we should be measuring this ‘non-specific’ demand on the body in a purely biological way. It would seem plausible then that by observing children in a primary school throughout a typical day or week, and by taking regular  measurements, there may be a case to correlate variations in biological states at certain times of the day. Collecting data such as changes in blood pressure, pulse rates and sweating may give an insight into times when the body is under stress and when the child is calmer and more relaxed. This information could then be matched with events, observations and activities and correlated to show changes in responses to situations encountered. Using this method it should be relatively easy to find out whether participation in SAT tests or some other social situations, that blood pressure, pulse rates and GSR increase to reflect the physical, and by default, the emotional state of the child, and therefore conclude that this was or was not a stressful event for them. There may be a problem with this type of research however. Apart from some of the ethical difficulties, there is a crucial observation to be made. It could be argued that for children, the actual process of data collection may affect their stress levels. It could also be surmised that the actual method of data collection can be as stressful as the event in itself and therefore eradicate any impartiality in the result. There may be echoes here of the ‘Hawthorne effect’ (Roethlisberger & Dickson, 1939). Although a concept that has been applied to business models, it is worth exploring a little here. First established by Elton Mayo, Fritz Roethlisberge r and William J. Dickson who saw it as: ‘a temporary change to behavior or performance in response to a change in the environmental conditions.’ Roethlisberger & Dickson (1939)., page14 This definition is a salient one in this discussion. It could be argued that even if the outline of a study was not described to children, and even if the children were not aware that they were being studied so closely, there would be a difference in their day because at somepoint some interactions are needed to measure changes to their physiological state. This would be even more prevalent if these changes were happening alongside other stresses such as SAT tests. It seems therefore that by measuring a response, as Shaver (1981) highlighted, evokes close links with the Hawthorne principles. ‘Almost no matter what experimental conditions were imposed†¦.the investigators had obviously influenced the subjects’ behavior merely by studying that behavior.’ Kelly Shaver p272 In order to measure stress in a primary classroom then, some continuous measurement needs to happen that can be compared to a baseline. This in itself could be problematic. For some children the basis of their stress and the source of their fears and anxieties may come from the school environment itself. If being in the school itself is a cause of high levels of stress, it would be very difficult to ascertain a baseline to measure relative changes to stress levels in the individual. Studies into autistic children in some school environments (Hiroshi 1991) show that for many individuals school can be one continuous bombardment of stressful events. Extensive studies into school phobia at the primary level (eg: Place, Hulsmeier, Davis and Taylor, 2002; King and Ollendick, 1989) also indicate that it would be very difficult to determine a relaxed state for a baseline. In order to address this quandary, one possible method of data collection would be to use a portable blood pressure (BP) kit for example that would pose less intrusive method that enables an individual’s BP to be taken automatically without the need to stop and prepare for the examination. But this in itself causes problems apart from the physical tightening process of blood pressure being taken, it also serves as a reminder that they are being observed. This could be offset however by having a period of acclimatization where the individual being measured would get used to such routines and this may normalize the influence of the measurements being taken. Studies using adults seem to suggest that repetetive BP monitoring does not interfere with the validity of the data (Georgiades, Lemne, De Faire, Lindvall, Fredrikson,1997; Steptoe and Cropley, 2000) but the evidence to suggest that this is the case in studies using children as subjects is not clear. In the absence of any certainlty as to whether collecting biometric data in children can provide reliable evidence, it is important to explore other ways of gathering primary data from children. Qualitative methods of data collection with children As discussed above, in order to collate qualitative evidence of stress in children, there needs to be a clear understanding of a child’s ability to know when they are feeling stressed as opposed to when they are feeling relaxed. Fortunately for the stress reasearcher in this field, there is now a plethora of commercial teaching materials available to schools on Emotional Health and Well-being. Furthermore with ‘Being Healthy’ formally on the national agenda through the Every Child Matters (ECM) outcomes (eg Every Child Matters: Change for Children. DfES publication -1110-2004), the PSCHE curriculum in the primary school seems full of opportunities for even the youngest of children to explore their own emotions. It can be said therefore, that pupils in today’s primary schools are better equipped to discuss their emotional state than they have ever been. It seems fair to assume from this, that there only needs to be some basic ground work teaching to occur to give children the necessary vocabulary and a sense of introspection required to respond to stress-related questions and produce meaningful results. Nevertheless, even with this encouraging notion, it is important that the researcher does not lose sight of the influence they may have when trying to obtain children’s views. As with any socio-psychological research, and especially any involving children, ascertaining views on levels of stress or trying to clarify what causes stress does not lead to the adult influencing the responses or the conclusions the child makes about a given situation. This is of particular interest to stress research because of its important in the Lazarus and Folkman (1984) model of Cognitive Appraisal. It is vital, that that the child themself, determines whether a particular situation was stressful or not, rather than the adult implying to the child that it was. This effect is known as ‘Psychological Causality’ and is important in stress research with children. Herbert describes this phenomenon as: ‘†¦the tendency in young children to attribute a psychological motive as a cause of events’ Herbert page 23 (1996) Although Psychological Causality is not usually associated with stress research, it is important to bear in mind that it may be a factor when determining sources of stress in the primary classroom. Especially if this research is conducted in and around other stresses such as SATs, school performances or parents’ evenings. In order to clarify what these stresses are, further research into this field is needed and would help to clarify the influencing factors of data collection. The use of questionnaires One formal method of collecting quantitative information is the use of questionnaires. Perhaps their greatest strength is that it can provide a fair and rigorous structure to the questioning procedure. By handing out questionnaires to all the children, each child will have the opportunity to answer the same questions as everyone else. This rigidity also allows the researcher the ability to analyse statistically the evidence. The use of questionnaires for children is not uncommon and can provide a useful insight into many research areas. The use of a questionnaire as a method of collecting data from children is not without its difficulties however. The first point and perhaps the most salient is that formalising questions through prose has two basic problems. 1. Do the questions allow children the opportunity to give answers that are meaningful to the research question? 2. Will the wording of each question be interpreted by children in the way the researcher wanted them to be answered? Because of these two issues, It is very important therefore to focus on the wording of these questionnaires so that specific vocabulary such as stress, anxiety, worry and nervousness are not misconstrued by the reader and answered in different ways. It seems that once again a lack of a formal definition of stress hampers validity and structure in research design. It seems that compiling a flawless stress questionnaire is very difficult. Fife-Schaw (2000) takes this notion further: ‘Designing the perfect questionnaire is probably impossible’ Fife-Schaw pg159 Nevertheless, even with such limitations, a questionnaire may be useful in ascertaining information but will need some very careful planning. Bath and North East Somerset Council provide some helpful guidelines in their ‘Children in Need Handbook’ on principles for using forms and questionnnaires with children and young people. This information offers advice suggesting that some feedback about the results are done ‘†¦either immediately and/or at a later session’, but most importantly in the implementation of the questionnaire to: ‘Allow plenty of time’ Bath and North East Somerset Council ‘Children in Need Handbook’ (2007) page 47 Giving children enough time to read and process the questions raises a number of key issues, all of which may impact on the validity of the answers collected. Central to these difficulties is the child’s ability to reflect appropriately on their own changing emotional states and determine which events, if any, could be regarded as being under stress. It could be that this variance in what children understand about stress may invalidate results as it may be difficult to ascertain any consistency amongst the data. This could mean that some children need additional or supplementary support in answering the questions. If the questions need to be read out or explained to the child then this could influence how the child answers the question. An immediate concern to the researcher therefore, is whether the responses given reflect the child’s true feelings or ones that are dictated by the way the question is received? This difficulty in ascertaining consistency however may not be such a diffcult obstacle in collating data as it could be in other areas of research. Once again the Cognitive Appraisal model is able to lessen these problems. If the assumption is that all primary children have a ‘basic’ understanding of what stress is and how it affects them, then any reference  to feeling anxious, stressed and or upset in a particular sitaution is pertinent to their ‘assessment’ and therefore their perception of the situation. This data can then be used qualitatively by the use of any ‘thematic analysis’ technique to attribute feelings associated with the notion of stress, irrespective of the possible misuse of language by children. It seems that using markers or coding systems can help capture a variety of words used and still maintain an acceptable level of structure to the analysis of the data. The questionnaire may also need some modification in the format according to the child’s developmental stage (Sadock and Sadock 2000). Given all of these variables and constraints, perhaps the more flexible method of collecting data would be to talk to the children directly. Interviewing children Interviewing children needs careful handling. Chan highlights the difficulty children have when answering open ended questions such as ‘How did you feel ?† to unknown adults, indicating that many may respond with a passive response such as â€Å"I don’t know’, Chan (2005). Conversely in an interview scenario, Breakwell highlights the problem of ‘Acquiescence Response Bias’ (ARB) when asking children direct or closed questions such as ‘Did you feel stressed?’ She feels that the ARB often leads a child to say â€Å"Yes† to any question posed by an adult, irrespective of their own true feelings. Her advice however may not necessarily be helpful given Chan’s perspectives. Breakwell (2000) advises: ‘Questions should be posed so that they are not open to a yes – no response’. Page 245 How then can a researcher obtain collectable data on levels of stress in children that has some validity? The answer to this may be by looking closer to the research subjects. The age of the child is going to be important and can affect the structure of the interview. In some cases it may be necessary to have an adult in with the researcher who can be used for moral support but the choice of the adult needs very careful thought. The ‘Save the  Children’ organization issue a very clear message about the sensitivity needed when choosing this person. ‘Ensure that adults are out of the way – except for the translator and perhaps a project worker, teacher, or another adult that the child knows and trusts.’ Taken from Save the Children/ ‘Interviewing children’ (2007) accessed on the web 17.11.07 In some cases however, especially where children are older and more confident in their social interactions, it may be sufficient to interview the child on their own but in a less formal and more relaxed environment. Furthermore, whether adults are present or not, the interviewer should not limit themselves to interviewing and/or questioning by the use of words alone. By structuring the communications around other activities it may be possible to elicit emotional responses through activities such as play, drawings or model building Gabarino and Stott (1989). Whatever the technique used to interview children, and whatever the age or developmental stage they may be at, it seems the central responsibility of the researcher is to make the child feel at ease with the information-giving process. It should be a central skill of the researcher to design an environment where natural, or as close to natural, observations can be made. The research design should take into account where children feel at ease in giving information to adults. It is fortunate for many pedagogical researchers that school environments are constantly interloped by adults seeking answers to questions. It would seem common in most Primary Classrooms that professionals such as Ofsted, Educational Psychologists and Speech and Language Therapists are more of a visible part of the school environment than ever before. At least for research purposes, it seems that children are used to being observed by visitors in school in one capacity or another and where children’s voices are being sought over some issue on a regular basis. Conclusion It seems that those parental opinions voiced in the playground or in lines at the local supermarket echoing dismay that school is ‘not what it used to be’ are correct on one level. Primary school environments today are more attuned to assessments being made and where adults conducting observations are more commonplace. Classrooms are regular hosts to a whole variety of adults making some evaluative judgments on one issue or another. Children are required to prove themselves in one academic discipline or another at all ages and where children are given numerous and onerous responsibilities in and out of a school environment. 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