Business and Administration Unit 1 Assessment 1

Unit one: Principles of personal responsibilities and working in a business environment Assessment You should use this file to complete your Assessment. †¢ The first thing you need to do is save a copy of this document, either onto your computer or a disk †¢ Then work through your Assessment, remembering to save your work regularly †¢ When you’ve finished, print out a copy to keep for reference †¢ Then, go to www. vision2learn. com and send your completed Assessment to your tutor via your My Study area – make sure it is clearly marked with your name, the course title and the Unit and Assessment number.Please note that this Assessment document has 8 pages and is made up of 7 Sections. Name: Devan Primus Business and Administration Unit 1 Assessment 1 Section 1 – Know the employment rights and responsibilities of the employee and employer 1. Identify four main points that would be included in a contract of employment. If possible, use an example contract to support your answer (feel free to obscure any confidential information). Place of employment S. Com Group Limited (Company Registration Number 02209742) whose registered office is at 800 the boulevard, Capability Green, Luton, Bedfordshire.LU1 3BA Job Title Warehouseman Start Date The date in which an employee would commence work Holidays e. g. The contractor will be entitled to accrue, on a pro rata basis, 28 days of paid holiday per year (for the avoidance of doubt the 28 days are including Bank Holidays). payments for holiday will be calculated on the basis of the Normal Rate. Holidays may only be taken with the prior written consent of S. Com. The contractor shall endeavour to co-operate with the Clients requirements at all times and any request for paid holiday should be made as far in advance as possible.The Contractor must record all authorised holiday in the relevant timesheet. 2a) List three key points of legislation that affect employers in a business environm ent. Security Data Protection Health and Safety 2b) List three key points of legislation that affect employees in a business environment. Employment Rights and Responsibilities Grievance Procedure Equal Opportunities 3. Identify a range of places where a person can find information on employment rights and responsibilities. You should identify at least two internal and two external sources of information.You can get internal information from you line manager or a representative from your trade union. You can also find external information from the government websites and libraries. 4. Describe how representative bodies can support employees. For example Trade Unions can help employees with such things as disciplinary hearings and any disputes employees have regarding wages, holidays or even changes in the work place. 5. Briefly describe employer and employee responsibilities for equality and diversity in a business environment.You should give at least two employer responsibilities a nd two employee responsibilities. If possible, provide relevant equality and diversity procedures from your workplace (or place of study) to support your answer. These documents should be annotated to highlight the relevant sections. When hiring a new employee a company should never discriminate. For example if they interview a person who was over weight or from an ethnic background, they should still be considered for the job based on their skill set not their background or how they look.Also as a company stake holder’s, manager and team leaders have a responsibility to ensure and maintain equality and diversity throughout the company to make sure every employee is respected and treated fairly. Every individual employee is responsible for their own behaviour and actions. They should never make another employee feel unsafe, singled out or be unfairly treated. Any employee who is ever witness to such discrimination has a duty to report it to the relevant management without fea r of being discriminated against themselves. . Briefly explain the benefits of making sure equality and diversity procedures are followed in a business environment. Your answer should include one benefit for the employer, one benefit for the employee and one benefit for the overall organisation. Employee By offering employees training opportunities who are willing to gain extra skills to progress in their career, they will find staff will work harder and be more productive. In the long run staff will feel appreciated knowing their all being treated fairly.Employer By offering training opportunities and not discriminating in any way or form, the company can bring in talented people from all backgrounds that in turn will bring fresh and new ideas. Organisation Overall outcome for the company will see a happier work force and productivity increased possibly leading to increased profits. Section 2 – Understand the purpose of health, safety and security procedures in a business en vironment 1. Identify employer and employee responsibilities for health, safety and security.If possible, provide relevant health, safety and security policies / documents from your workplace (or place of study) to support your answer. These documents should be annotated to highlight the relevant sections. An employer is responsible to ensure that all workers have a safe place to work in regards to their health and safety. They must assess any risks an employee will encounter whilst in the work place, not only this but anyone who comes into contact with their business. Risk assessments should be carried out and information given to all employees making them aware of all isks and how to deal with situations if and when they arise, this can be achieved by training staff on relevant protocols and use of equipment. It is an employees responsibility to look after themselves an that of others who may be affected by their actions at work, employee, co-workers and employer must work togethe r to ensure that everyone meets their legal requirements. If an employee has any worries about health and safety in their work place they should voice their queries to either a manager, team leader or a health and safety representative.To support my answer I have some health, safety and security polices from an old place of work. Risk Assessments/Methods Statements †¢ Make sure you know what hazards exist before you start work. Have them communicated to you. †¢ Always follow instructions given to you by your line manager/supervisor. †¢ Risk assessments/method statements have been completed for your protection and are there to create awareness of the hazards you may be subjected to. Ask to read the assessments before you commence work. Machinery and Equipment Use only serviced and tested equipment †¢ Use the machinery or equipment for the purpose it is intended. †¢ Know the location of the cut off switch. †¢ Ensure that you have been trained and authoris ed to use that item of machinery or equipment. †¢ If defective equipment is found, clearly mark it, ensure no one else can use it and report it to your line manager/supervisor. †¢ Read instructions carefully before operation. If in doubt ask. Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) †¢ You must co-operate with PALL by wearing PPE to combat potential hazards. Factory floor employees must provide their own safety boots and overalls. †¢ Protective eye goggles are to be worn at all times on the factory floor. 2. Explain the purpose of following health, safety and security procedures in a business environment. Following these procedures is very vital for a company, keeping its staff safe is a main priority when it comes to health, safety and security. Keeping employee’s information confidential meeting legal responsibilities in regards to the data protection act, also protecting staff from personal attack or assault. . Describe three different ways of maintaining a safe and secure business environment. Three different ways of maintaining a safe and secure business could be †¢ Using passwords on computers to stop unauthorised access †¢ Making sure valuables are locked away and kept out of sight †¢ Reporting any security issues to the appropriate person Section 3 – Understand how to communicate effectively with others 1. Complete the table below with descriptions of different methods of communication.You should include two verbal, two non-verbal and two written methods of communication. |Methods of communication |Description | |Verbal communication |1. Standing in front of colleagues giving a presentation. | | | | | | | |2. Having a conversation over the telephone. | | | | | | | |Non-verbal communication |1.Body language i. e. facial expression and peoples attitudes. | | | | | | | | |2. persons posture or hand movements | | | | | | | |Written communication |1.Writing an email to a colleague | | | | | | | | |2. ending a letter to a client | | | | | | | 2. Using two specific examples, explain how to choose the most appropriate method of communication to meet your needs and the needs of others.If you had a deadline to meet and had to make changes at the last minute to a project, you would need to inform all relevant people of the changes as soon as possible. The most appropriate method would be verbal communication as sending an email for instance may get to all recipients to late. Written communication is a most appropriate method when detailed information or instructions are required, for example a client or business associate is far away to easily speak to over the phone or in person. 3. Describe at least two ways of actively listening. Showing eye contact is a good way to show that you are listening to someone when they talking. †¢ Also writing down notes and questions to be asked at the appropriate time. Section 4 – Understand how to work with and support colleag ues 1. Explain the purpose of agreeing standards for your own work. Give at least two reasons. If the employee agrees to work place standards it gives the employee a better understanding of what is expected of them, this also enables them to keep track of their own progress and performance.Work place standards are set and known by managers, if employees don’t stick to them this could lead to employees interpreting the own ways of doing things causing conflict between themselves and other colleagues. 2. Explain the purpose of taking on new challenges and being able to adapt to change at work. Being able to take on new challenges at work would make you more valuable to an organisation, if you are more willing to learn new skills and progress with the company you could find yourself in a new job role with more responsibility.There are many reasons for change in the work place and most of these are made to make the organisation be more efficient for themselves, employees, clients and to stay inline with the ever changing legal requirements. 3. Explain the purpose of treating others with honesty and consideration. As the saying goes ‘do unto others as you would expect them to do unto you’. If u treat everybody the same with honesty and respect they will show you the same in return. This will make the work place and its employees run more smoothly with fewer hiccups.Every person is an individual and has their own problems but if you show respect they are more likely to open up and in turn begin to trust. This doesn’t mean you have to agree with them but shows you are willing to listen to their opinions and ideas, in the long run things can be achieved which will benefit everyone. Section 5 – Know how to plan own work and be accountable to others 1. Explain the purpose of meeting work standards and deadlines when completing tasks in a business environment. It is important to stick to work standards and deadlines in a company as failu re to do so could to adverse outcomes for the organisation.Every body has their duties and responsibilities and if they are not executed properly it can have a knock on effect and lead to the loss of clients and not hitting set out targets. 2. Describe two different methods that you can use to plan your own work in a business environment. By planning your work before starting a task you’re making yourself aware of what need to be achieved. You can do this by prioritising your work load getting the more important aspects done first and the lesser important task after.Avoiding any distractions that will cause you to lose site of what you have to achieve in a set timescale, this could be stopping to chat or other colleagues asking you to do trivial task which could be done at a later time, apologise and continue with your work. 3. Describe ways of keeping other people informed about progress and compare their effectiveness. What are the benefits and drawbacks of each approach? T elephone conversation You can keep your manager informed by telephone to update him/her on your progress.He or she will get all the information they need quicker but by communicating in this way it could lead to missed out information Meetings This is a good way of informing your manager and colleagues of your progress. The only draw back is its a little time consuming; nether the less you can fill your manager in with all the relevant information and also give an estimated completion time, if you feel you won’t get the job completed on time you can ask your manager for an extension. Section 6 – Understand the purpose of improving own performance in a business environment and how to do so 1.Explain the purpose of continuously improving your performance in a business environment. Continuing to improve your own performance can lead to better prospects for an employee. The better an employee is at their job the more chance of possible training, promotion or pay rise and h ave a long-term affect on their career prospects. This will make an employee constantly think about what they can achieve and end up with job satisfaction. 2. Describe at least two ways of improving your performance at work. Where relevant, illustrate your answer with specific examples from your own experience.Set yourself career targets as to where you would like to be in life. Try to take on extra responsibility at work and show team leaders/managers that you are capable of hard word. In previous employment I worked harder and it paid off, I was given extra responsibility to run a team of colleagues in the restaurant and make sure my section ran as smoothly as possible. 3. Briefly describe at least two different types of career pathways that may be available to you. I could take on a higher position in my current employment whether that is a team leader, supervisor or manager preferably a managerial position.Other options available to me could be in sales or even IT. Section 7 â⠂¬â€œ Understand the types of problems that may occur in a business environment and how to deal with them 1. Identify at least two different types of problems that can occur in a business environment. A minor incident could be that a customer had booked a table at your restaurant and on arrival be told that there is no reservation on the computer system. This could easily be resolved by apologising to the customer and getting them a new table as quick as possible.A major incident could be that a customer has had a serious trip or fall on the premises and for this type of incident I would call a manager. I feel a manager with more experience than myself would be better at handling this kind of situation in regards to legal obligation and how best to assist the customer. 2. Complete the table below by describing at least two specific problems that can occur at work and how they can be dealt with. |Problem |Dealing with the problem | |1.A customer has been waiting a long time for a me al they had |Go over to the customer and apologise for the delay and with the say| |ordered. |so from my manager offer a complimentary drink. | | | | | | | | | | |2.A customer has a complaint about a meal received from the |Speak to the customer and indentify what the problem is, take the | |kitchen. |food back to the kitchen and explain what is wrong with the food. | | |Ask the customer if they would like a replacement or prefer a | | |refund. | | | 3. Complete the table below by listing at least two problems you are able to deal with yourself and two problems you would need to refer to others to deal with (and how you would refer these problems). |Problems I can deal with: |Problems I would need to refer to others: |How are problems referred to others? | |1. |1. | |Customer toilets have run out of toilet roll. |A cooker in the kitchen has stopped working. |Ring maintenance explain the situation and | | | |ask for help | | | | | | | | |2. |2. | | |There’s a spill age in the kitchen. |You know of a colleague bullying another |Raise awareness to the relevant superior | | |member of staff. |manager. | | | | | | | | | | | | Once you have completed all 7 Sections of this Assessment, go to www. vision2learn. com and send your work to your tutor for marking.

Marketing Orientation Essay

There have been many studies of the term ‘marketing orientation’, and its presence within organisations. Marketing orientation is an approach that companies take which centres its activities towards achieving customer satisfaction through effective marketing. It is where customers form the basis of an organisations performance and overall success. In order to achieve successful marketing orientation, a company must organise an effective structure through planning its activities, products and services successfully. This will help the company on focusing its aims and objectives on the needs and requirements of its customers, in order to establish a relationship that will increase performance and success. ‘Market orientation is the organisation wide development of market intelligence pertaining to customer needs. ’ (Kohli and Jaworski, 1990. p12) Two approaches to marketing Orientation have been suggested by Avlonitis and Gounaris (1999), focusing on the practices and culture that the company adopts. It has been interpreted by Avlonitis and Gounaris (1999) that marketing orientation is either ‘a company attitude or company behaviour. This is whether a company is customer orientated or focuses on a competitive advantage through marketing orientation. Other authors have similiar thoughts upon these approaches to marketing orientation. Drucker (1954) believes that customers perceive marketing as an ‘activity involving the entire organisation’, rather than being a spec ific company process. The author’s view coincides with the work of Avlonitis and Gounaris (1999), as he focuses on the attitude organisations have in satisfying customer needs. The other side to this approach is the significance of a company’s culture towards marketing orientated activities. Felton (1959) states; ‘It is the attitudes and beliefs of a workforce that control the level of orientated activities a company strives to achieve,’ implying the focus is on themselves competing rather than putting the customer first. Trout and Ries (1985) perceive marketing orientation as an effort by companies to increase competitor advantage, rather than satisfy customer needs. Therefore the company’s culture is focusing its strategy on competitor orientation in order to achieve success. An organisations performance is a very important aspect of successful marketing orientation. Narver and Slater (1990) state that marketing orientation is based on 3 performance measures, which include ‘customer and competitor orientation, and inter-functional coordination. ’ Introducing effective performance measures can have positive influences on companies, as it helps the company’s culture set aims and objectives for a successful approach to marketing orientation. Jobber (2007) also describes the importance of these measures, stating; ‘A marketing concept culture that manifests in corporate activities to create superior value for customers. However, specific marketing activities relating to the behaviour of a company have ‘emphasis on managerial control rather than the natural culture of the organisation’ (Ellis, 2004), which relates to the work of Trout and Ries (1985) and their beliefs of company’s influencing the importance of competitor orientation over the satisfaction of their customers. Sharp (1991) argues the approach to marketing orientation as described by Drucker (1954), saying that it’s more than just about customer focus; Market orientation has a principle element of focusing on available markets and customer needs. Sharp criticises this view of orientation, as costs of maintaining customer focus will incur in unstable markets, affecting a companies orientation plan. In order to balance this procedure, a company needs equal focus in its approach to marketing orientation, which will help achieve success and efficiency. The link between organisational strategic thinking (Sharp, 1991) and managerial control (Ellis, 2004) helps towards a successful company through competitor orientation. Ellis states that effective performances increase through analysing competitor actions, in order to create a competitor advantage. However, company’s still need to be responsive to customer needs due to volatile markets. Overall increases of a company’s orientation, resulting from effective customer satisfaction, will then lead to greater performances (Kohli and Jaworski, 1990). The relationship between performance and marketing orientation is analysed negatively to strategic marketing. Sin (2005) considers the ‘external environmental aspects’ of marketing orientation, emphasising the importance of linking performance and marketing orientation in order to meet the needs of customers. Sin believes that if companies developed their approaches towards linking these two factors, a more in depth examination of customers needs could be undertaken, which would lead to higher performances within the company. Sin agrees with Sharp’s views, by describing the inclusion of customer needs as well as company aims and objectives. A strategic way of thinking is described by Sharp, where marketing orientation is described as being the most relevant, as it focuses on company, and not just market characteristics. The analyses of various journal articles relating to marketing orientation has led me to understand the different issues relating to marketing orientation. I agree with Kohli and Jaworski (1990) that a company should balance its orientation between customer focus and its aims and objectives, for effective performances. The authors were very clear and focused on what strategies were effective in approaching marketing orientation. I felt that this analysis helped me understand the best method of adopting marketing orientation and how to effectively respond to customer demands, as well as creating a competitive advantage. Limitations to the analysis were discussions from Felton (1959) and Trout and Ries (1995). The views of these authors concentrated on companies who adopted marketing orientation to create a competitive advantage as its main priority. The context of this article focused totally on businesses success and shadowed the importance of customer orientation, something which I feel is crucial for overall success.

Necessity of Nursing

The Necessity of Nursing Assistants to Improve the Quality of Patient Care Introduction The quality of care received by patients is of fundamental importance to healthcare organizations. A well-documented happening that has Impacted health care settings across the world Is the nursing shortage (Tasks. 2003). Due to the current nursing shortage, it is often difficult for nurses to provide all the care patients need. According to Quality (2005), by reason of this shortage of Registered Nurse (RAN) staff, there are many less-complex tasks that Urns can delegate to Nursing Assistants (NAs).This allows Urns to concentrate on more complex nursing tasks. Improving the patients' overall quality of care. Nursing Assistants fulfill an important role in today's health care industry. Problem Analysis The Nurse Executive of a 125-bed health care facility believes that the facility needs more NAs to improve patient care. This belief was brought on by Physical Therapists noting that many patients a re not ambulating or sitting up as often as they should. Nursing Assistants are fundamental to the daily routine in all healthcare facilities, and therefore an Increase in their numbers would lad In solving this dilemma Quality, 2005).According to the American Nurses Association, delegation of tasks must be based on the state's nurse practice act, as well as the individual skills of the person that the task is being delegated. The current situation of needing additional caregivers to lad In patients ambulating and sitting up would be an optimal opportunity to employ NAs to assist with this less complex task (Quality, 2005). Additionally, because Medicare and Medicaid payments are declining, employing NAs to assist patients is a cost-effective way to provide quality care.There is a significant cost savings in employing NAs, rather than hiring additional Urns, or Physical Therapists. The average Nurse Assistant salary ranges from $21 ,620 to $24,260, while Urns and Physical Therapists salary ranges from $49,600 to $59,521 (Quality, 2005). Higher acuity and rehabilitative needs of patients, along with increased life expectancy and the amount of people older that 65, establishes an obvious demand for NAs. This demand will only Increase as the baby boomers reach the age of 65 (Pennington, Congo. ; Magical, 2007).According to Whittle, Robinson, Henderson, ; Anderson (2005), elders are prone to experience an overall national decline in activities of daily living. The current problem being a need for additional staff to assist with patients requiring ambulation and sitting up must be addressed. Inability to provide quality care results in increased length of stay. As well as increased discharges to nursing homes (Whittle, et al. , 2005) When adequately trained, educated, and appropriately supervised, lower paid, non-professional staff tofu can greatly relieve the burden on Physical Therapists and Urns.This allows Urns and Physical Therapists to adequately provide pati ent care requiring their professional bevel of skill and education (Tasks, 2003). As a consequence of this current situation an efficient and effective plan must be brought into action. Strategies A possible strategy to immediately manage this current patient care situation on an interim basis until a permanent plan can be implemented would be to redistribute the workload of the NAs currently working. Currently the average AN spends most of their time changing linens and bathing.Giving approximately eight to ten baths and changing linens each day leaves little time for assisting patient with activities of daily living, specifically sitting up and ambulating. This writer suggests giving patients a bath and changing linens every other day, unless soiled. Partial baths are to be given on the off days. All patients will receive daily face, hand, and perinea care; male patients will be shaved daily (Whittle, et al. , 2005). The hospital patient advocate can develop a patient information flyer to be provided to all patients describing the new practices and purpose for them.The NAs would assist patients with sitting three times daily, preferable at meal times. Not only does this simulate a routine, it facilitates the digestive process and decreases the risk of aspiration. Additionally, NAs will ambulate patients according to the recommendations of the Physical Therapist and document the distance of ambulation; working with patients daily to increase this distance over the course of their hospital stay. Whittle et al. (2005), performed research on elders similar to the suggestion of the writer.Their research found that the presence of having NAs available to assist with sitting up and ambulating patients would be highly supported by Physical Therapists and Urns. Additionally, they received no complaints from patients about the decreased frequency of bathing. Possible positive patient outcomes are decreased length of stay and fewer discharges to nursing homes. Moreover , their research revealed that AN turnover decreased from 175% in 2000 to in 2004 (Whittle, et al. , 2005).A potential strategy of increasing the amount of NAs on a long-term scale is to implement measures to develop the skills of the non-professional staff. Investing the time and cost to educate and develop the internal resources of the facility will increase the capabilities of the AN. Additionally, employees are likely to experience higher levels of Job satisfaction. Healthcare organizations often have untapped sources of non-professional employees that would appreciate the opportunity to invest in their personal growth and education by enrolling in a facility provided training program.Increasing the level of NAs staffed and providing the quality of care all patients deserve will improve the overall morale of the facility. Further, patients will have a perception of increased quality of their hospital experience (Tasks, 2003). Budget Proposal Increasing the AN staffing is necessa ry for this facility. By increasing AN staff rather than Urns or Physical Therapists, it offers a dramatic savings to the facility. The alarm of a AN ranges from $21,620 to $24,260. The salary of Urns and Physical Therapists ranges from $49,600 to $59,521. This offers the facility a savings of $27,980 to $35,261.Basically this facility could hire two, possible three, NAs for the amount of one RAN, or Physical Therapists (Pennington, Congo, ; Magical, 2007). Due to the decrease of Medicare and Medicaid payments and allotted days of OSP tall stay; employing NAs could assist in more efficient recovery to patients Shortening the length of patient stays will decrease the usage of resources, therefore offering additional cost savings (Whittle, et al. 2005). For example, if a Medicare patient stays longer than the allotted time of the DRAG code, the facility is responsible for those costs (H.Mills, personal communication, November 10, 2008). For this reason, it is important to ensure that patients are discharged within their recommended hospital stay allowance, while still providing optimal care. Implementation of a facility training program would require a great amount of planning and effort. The hospital education department could use their resources to train the staff interested in assisting with the program. Additionally, once the AN students received this training they could be mentored by skilled and educated NAs during a four week proprietorship.Allowing nurse assistant students to train offers additional help to the patients as well as cost savings to the facility. If the starting salary of a AN is $21 ,620, over the course of a four week proprietorship, one student, training 20 hours each week, offers the facility cost savings of approximately $831. 54. By using the resources already within the facility, there is no additional cost. The only cost to the facility would be that of books for the students and supplies for the training. The cost of 15 Nursing Ass istant books at $41. 95 would be $629. 25 (M.Richards, personal communication, November 5, 2008). These books could be signed out to the students and returned at the end of their class. The average cost of supplies used for training is $125. 00 (P. Step, personal communication, November 5, 2008). This cost could be a fee required for students to pay to be in the training program. Other than the cost of books this training program would not cost the facility an extreme amount of money and would greatly benefit the overall care received by patients, which should be the focus of all health care organizations.

Apple, Microsoft, IBM and Others Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Apple, Microsoft, IBM and Others - Assignment Example The success of these technologies is in part due to their similarity to gestures we undertake in our daily lives, and build on the success of the previous Windows, Icons, Menus and Pointing (WIMP) system that revolutionized the computer world. Those using a Starwood Hotel would benefit in numerous ways from the input of touchscreen technology. Not only would it allow menus and cinema times (as well as countless other pieces of information) to be displayed all on one screen, it would allow the user to browse these in a way that would already be familiar to them. It would allow them to order room service without worrying about a lost menu, and items that were unavailable could be updated in real-time. There may be disruptions in inputting this device, because it would need to be put in every room as well as be linked to a central mainframe service. This would be of considerable economic expense also. It may also cause the loss of several jobs in the area. Other disruptions would come later, when the central server may be down or the technology is updated. The quote by Bill Buxton is interesting, because it suggests that the touch screen technology of today will replace the more traditional WIMP systems. It would probably take a lot for this to occur, because the WIMP system is already fairly intuitive and ingrained into the collective mentality of users. Touch screen technology is not completely intuitive either, because in reality we do not drag two fingers apart to see something more closely, but we simply walk closer. It would be interesting to see this level of intuitiveness involved in the market, and it may be this all-encompassing type of computer usage that gives us the replacement for the WIMP system. Touch technology also has issues when it comes to sensitivity and size, as some users and interfaces are difficult to use in that they are too responsive or not responsive enough, and the size may be wrong for young or very large users. It will

The Graduate Degree Plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

The Graduate Degree Plan - Essay Example sh self-worth, and form basic moral values, it is quite essential that each child is well nurtured in all aspects of life, receiving ample nourishment, and proper discipline I have loved working with little children since I was their age myself and there are several notable traits that kids exhibit during early childhood formation. In my own observation, they are generally capable at adapting to environmental influences which are a huge contributing factor to the way they perceive both concrete and abstract matter as well as the behavior these young individuals carry out in response. It is particularly interesting to find out that majority of them, when adequately facilitated, can broadly execute around indispensable attributes as confidence, reliability, resourcefulness, intelligence, creativity, and friendliness or sociability. I find it further stimulating to see them vigorously go after a primary talent or inclination, and show ease of feeling affection or compassion by nature. To help impart my personal specialization in this endeavor, hence, I have decided to acquire admission to a graduate degree program that would serve my profound need of learning how to improve on handling children under such cognitive stage of development. Equivalently, this is to anticipate taking up major courses concerned with guiding a childs insights toward physical, mental, emotional, as well as social progress. Fervently believing that the present little ones would be the futures absolute hope, I would in every inch make it a point to foster for them an atmosphere in which they would enjoy learning to the full measure as they possess complete freedom to express themselves competitively yet interdependently within a global

European Strategy towards Asian Countries Essay

European Strategy towards Asian Countries - Essay Example European market became saturated for many of the big organizations which forced them to look for options in the emerging markets like India, China, and the Middle East etc. Europe is blessed with a lot of developed countries such as Britain, France Germany etc. Traditionally or historically, Europe has had close ties with Asian countries during the ancient periods. However, the current relationships are much more meaningful than the relationships during the ancient periods. Europeans tried to exploit the resources of the weaker Asian regions earlier whereas at present they are trying to establish relationships with the Asian region for mutual benefits. This paper briefly analyses the European strategy towards Asian countries especially towards, India, China and the Middle East. Europe’s relation with China and India Even though EU has established relations with China in 1975 itself, these relations never prospered into a bigger canvas because of the political differences betwe en China and European countries. Earlier, most of the Eastern European countries were under a communist regime which helped China and Europe to establish relationships. However, the destruction of communism from the Eastern European countries brought almost the entire Europe under the democratic platform. This radical transformation of Europe into a democratic region affected their relations with communist China. However, China succeeded in giving a more liberal look to their approaches under the leadership of Deng in the 80’s and 90’s and they are currently the most rapidly developing economies in the world. China is now a global power: decisions taken in Beijing are central to virtually all the EU’s pressing global concerns, whether climate change, nuclear proliferation, or rebuilding economic stability. China’s tightly controlled economic and industrial policies strongly affect the EU’s economic well-being. China’s policies in Africa are transforming parts of a neighboring continent whose development is important to Europe. Yet the EU continues to treat China as the emerging power it used to be, rather than the global force it has become (A power audit of EU-China relations, 2009, p.1) China is one country which causing threats not only to the Americans but also to the Europeans. It is difficult for Europe to isolate China, only because of political reasons. America, the strong critic of China, has already established good business relations with China.

Had the Increased Influence of Minor Parties and Independents Enhanced Essay

Had the Increased Influence of Minor Parties and Independents Enhanced Democracy in Australia - Essay Example It is for this reason that democracy is said to be governance for the people (Stock, 2006). These positive remarks about democracy do not mean however that the successes associated with democracy come on a silver platter. Democratic successes are actually worked and it only takes a country with very good structures and systems to have a perfect democratic practice that is free from hitches and predicaments. A democratic practicing nation, Australia has held on to the very fundamental provisions of democratic governance for a very long time. Though globally acclaimed as a democratic giant, the country continues to make strives in getting her democratic practice become even better. It is for this reason that the democratic practice of Australia continues to be under scrutiny and research. All these happen in a bid to establish the core place of Australia’s democratic practice in global politics. 1.2 Research Question The successful completion of this essay would be judged by whe ther or not the writer has been able to address and sufficiently answered the question: â€Å"Has the increased influence of minor parties and independents enhanced democracy in Australia?† 1.3 Rationale for the Study As pointed out earlier, Australia as a country is never resting on her achievement as a recognized practitioner of fair and transparent democracy. Rather, there continues to be ways of searching for knowledge and ideas to make the democratic practice of the country even better (Warhurst, 2007). The rationale of this essay is firmly rooted in this philosophy to examine the role of minor political parties and independents in Australia and ways of ensuring that the minor political parities become even more proactive and useful to the democratic dispensation of the country. 1.4 Central Argument One of the core philosophies of the Australian democratic practice that could be pointed out as a secret to her democracy is the involvement of minor political parties in the country’s democratic dispensations. The writer therefore takes the position that the increased influence of minor political parties and independence in Australia’s political system has enhanced democracy in Australia. 2.0 REVIEW OF INFLUENCE OF MINOR PARTIES TO AUSTRALIA’S DEMOCRACY The writer shall use the following sections to break his persuasion into three major themes of the role of minor political parties in enhancing the democratic practice of Australia. These themes were first used by Gauja (2010). The themes are electoral influence, organisational influence and parliamentary influence. Each theme shall have two major factors or roles. 2.1 Electoral 2.1.1 Consolidates the basic provisions of the constitution The first electoral role that the minor political parties play in Australia’s political democratic system is that they help in consolidating the basic provisions of the country’s constitution. This is because in Australian constitution , there is a special provision for proportional representation (Vromen and Gelber, 2005). Proportional representation method of voting is a special dispensation that demands that minor political parties and independents should attain a minimum of one quota in all electoral state. Such representation is further manifest in the parliamentary system as the representatives from the minor political parties are represented in a parliamentary chamber. This is a major justification that in the absence of minor poli

Introduction to Economics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Introduction to Economics - Essay Example Inventions are mostly related to the technological development. Generally, the technological solution of any problem is called invention. In spite of the fact that in today’s growing world many of the inventions are recorded (and performed) in fields far outside of the technology (Peng, 2010). Innovation The process through which an invention is brought in order to provide the users with the industry or market is called innovation. Innovations are critically important for the development of economy. Innovations are produced on the side of production and not on the consumption side. According to Schumpeter â€Å"But innovations do not usually appear spontaneously and neither are they generated in the following way: new wants are first created by consumers and under their pressure production apparatus is adjusted. It is the producer who usually initiates economic change, and if necessary edifies consumers...so if in the theory of circular flow it is not only possible but it is simply necessary to regard wants of consumers as independent and in fact basic factor, then in the analysis of changes our point of view must be reversed.† (Stokes, Wilson & Mador, 2010) Innovation doesn’t happen by chance but these are planned. Therefore it is necessary to a strategy and vision for innovation. Its strategy includes alternative plans, an actual overview of opportunities, effective analytical tools and the functioning of any speciality that one could have. Answer # 1 (b) Types of Innovation Innovation was clearly identified by the first economists named Joseph Schumpeter (Schumpeler. 1934). He classified innovation in five types in the 2nd chapter of his book The Theory of Economic Development (1934). According to Schumpeter the five main types of an innovation are (Stokes, Wilson & Mador, 2010): 1. Conquering a new source of raw materials 2. Introducing a new good 3. Introducing a new method of production 4. Opening a new market 5. Reorganising an indus try in a new way. Answer # 1 (c) Some of the examples of a Schumpeterian type of innovation are: 1. The development of a new or improved product conquering a new source of raw materials. 2. Internet-based financial services are an example of a new method for the introduction of new goods in market. 3. Pilkington's float glass process is an example of introducing a new method of production. 4. Direct marketing and internet marketing are examples of opening a new market. 5. BPR (business process re engineering) and TQM (total quality management) systems: Is the new method of innovative management. This method would be helpful in reorganizing the industry in a new way. Answer # 2 (a) Output per Worker Output/worker England Portugal Wine 3 4 Cloth 6 2 Absolute Advantage A nation that produces any service or good more efficiently than any other is said to have an absolute advantage of the production of that service or good (Zhang, 2008). In the above example it is not true that England h as absolute advantage over Portugal in every sector. By using the Labour theory of value it can be seen that in England one unit of wine is exchanged with three units of cloth, however, in Portugal two units of wine is exchanged for one unit of cloth. Therefore England has an absolute advantage in production of cloth whereas Portugal has an absolute advantage in wine production because in England one unit of cloth require less labour for its production and for the production of wine in Portugal

Slave narrative Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Slave narrative - Essay Example As narrated by Black himself in his book â€Å"The life and sufferings of Leonard Black, a fugitive from slavery†, the white masters used to have a cold savage behavior with their slaves. He lead twenty years of slavery as to be at the will of another; to be owned like a pet and liable at any moment to be sold to another master offering higher amount or sale! (Black, 1847, p. 1). There were times when he was sold and transported to a distant part of the country leaving behind all the family members behind, mostly as slaves like himself. The masters used to deal with him in most inhumane manner, making him realize that he can eat, sleep, work, live, go etc. only at the will of their masters. They gave him no right to speak on his own; think or even feel like a free man. The bars of slavery were doomed in his mind and soul by the masters so deep that he mostly ended up in physical and mental pains and tortures. His sufferings started in his early age. He was whipped and beaten for not completing the tasks till he bled by the deeply cut head. He was provided no shoes and wore a Lindsey. The masters used to eat meat themselves but for his meals, there were only a pint of liquor, little piece of bread and skin off pork. The masters used to drink in front of him, but he was not allowed to even take a sip of that rum. He was not allowed to sit and eat with them, read books like the children of white men and sleep in cozy warm rooms in winter like they did. If he ever tried to warm himself in house, one of his cruel masters branded his legs with heated tongs resulting in scars on his feeble body. They treated him savagely ignoring the consequences of their cruelty and beatings. If he ever showed a sign of having urge to learn and read by owning a book, it was either put in fore or given to the master’s child, but not to him and well beaten till he knocks that idea of studying out of his mi nd (Black, 1847, p. 1). Despite of all these awful happenings, he was not allowed to run away or tell any official of his misfortunes and sufferings otherwise he would be caught up and beaten to death. Such evil attitudes by the masters made Leonardo, like all slaves, a poor pitiable boy who has no parents to look after and no place to be taken as a refuge. If any one of them ever tried to run away then nobody ever lend a hand to help, rather they were usually followed, fetched and caught ending up behind the bars or back to the cruel master. Answer 2 The only way to resist the enslavement, as done by Black was to run away and flee from that slavery life. Many of the slaves either end up in robbery or killing when they are subjected to endless pain and torture. But Leonardo Black has fear of God and believed in escaping on his own without indulging in other tactics or troubles. But it was not an easy task. He ran away hiding from the whites. He could not even trust any trespasser fo r he knew he must be â€Å"wanted† and fetched by his master and others. He stopped at several intervals, sometimes asking for food from a home or sleeping in a barn at someone’s place but never stopped at any of them for long, because he had a constant fear of being fetched at every instant. He whipped and fought with whoever came in his way or tried to catch him up. He kept seeking God’s help in every moment and never losing faith in Him. He was followed by hounds but luckily took

Models of Supervision Essay Example for Free

Models of Supervision Essay Frameworks from various psycho-therapeutic orientations and professions can be integrated into this model’s broad context. Supervisee developmental stage (m. 4) is catered for as, with experience, progress from lower to higher levels is enabled, in response to their pressing concerns. Identification of supervisee strengths is facilitated, encouraging positive feedback and affirmation, conducive to the supervisee’s willingness to divulge both negative and positive aspects of their work and their commitment to continued development. Practice characteristics requiring attention are identified, thereby providing a focus for the supervisor’s interventions to encourage improvement and growth (m. 4). This guide is useful as it raises awareness of all pertinent levels. Other frameworks inherently place disproportionate emphases on certain modes with some completely ignored. This model promotes balanced supervision as each mode is weighted equally over time. The implied hierarchy relates to the supervisor’s responsibility to attend to all levels. The supervisee provides the client’s primary care, but protection of rights and well-being is ultimately the supervisor’s responsibility (Helsel, 2012). This hierarchical responsibility is explicit (Hawkins and Shohet, 2002). To ensure quality care, the supervisee (m. 4) acknowledges the importance of on-going enhancement of professional knowledge and competencies (Carroll Gilbert, 2011). Reviewing the supervisee’s application of theory, by exploring techniques utilised (m. 2), is one of the supervisor’s responsibilities to support the supervisee’s professional development ((Helsel, 2012). Obtaining consent and ensuring confidentiality of personal information (consent documents, case notes and recordings) is mandatory (Helsel, 2012). To ensure transparency, an awareness of how the process functions and informed consent is necessary (Helsel, 2012). With the assurance of confidentiality, trust and enhancement of both therapeutic relationships may follow. Within the broader work context (m. 7), it should also be established to whom the supervisor reports regarding the supervisee’s capabilities (Carroll Gilbert, 2011). Appropriate supervision documentation can facilitate professional growth and development of both supervisee and supervisor (Helsel, 2012). Aspects to be included are: client status and progress (m. 1), supervisee interventions (m. 2) and supervisor input and guidance (m. 5, 6). The focus on organisational requirements (m. 7) and potential legal demands is addressed. Maintaining professional boundaries to avoid dual-relationships, conflicts of interest and subsequent exploitation of client trust is mandatory (Nichols, 2011). Any relationship that diminishes the practitioner’s ability to remain objective, exercise good judgement and avoid bias is deemed inappropriate (Helsel, 2012). This is addressed in the organisational context (m. 7), with implications for the supervisee-client (m. 3) and supervisee-supervisor (m. 5) relationships. Axten (2012) portrays these relationships as covenantal which implies a fundamental pursuit of respectful and trusting beneficence. The obligation to ensure quality care has several implications. Firstly, practitioners should offer services within the boundaries of their competence (m. 4 6). If enhanced understanding of factors including cultural or socio-economic (m. 7) is required, additional training or supervision should be sought (m. 4 6) or appropriate referrals made (Nichols, 2011). If professional duties are impacted by personal issues, professional assistance may facilitate resolution or termination of services maybe necessary. This model explicitly and comprehensively highlights the ethical considerations of supervision. These can all be addressed within process-oriented supervision (PS) but the definitive guide that the 7-eyed model provides is absent. Essentially, PS focuses on raising the supervisee’s awareness of their experiences and conceptualisations of the client and their issues, which are used to promote new personal insights, which enhance therapeutic skills (Richardson Hands, 2012). A number of skills are used in this process. Initially, the supervisee’s awareness of the client’s process is raised to encourage exploration of identities and roles played by each and the skills involved. Richardson, 2012) Strategies, including role-playing the absent client, allow replication of a parallel process, which facilitates emergence of client-supervisee dynamics, which can be subsequently explored. The individual’s acknowledged identity, the primary process, is explored for both client and supervisee. Identifying which channels the supervisee predominantly uses provides additional clues, as stuckness is generally resolved in under-utilised channels (Goodbread, 1997). The identity distanced from the individual’s awareness is the secondary process and is separated from the primary by an edge (Diamond Jones, 2004). This interrupts the flow of therapy due to the tension between release and change and manifests as atypical reactions. Exploration of all these will enhance the supervisee’s awareness, allowing new insights to emerge, which can be utilised to inform therapeutic skill, with possible replication and flow-on effects for the client. The supervisor’s role is to establish a positive feedback loop, connecting and reinforcing these elements. Richardson and Hands (2012) summarise this as: â€Å"The use of process-oriented supervision skills highlights a holographic meta-analysis where the sum of the parts is not only greater than the whole, but the parts and the totality of the whole contribute to further replication in other levels and systems†. (P 179) In the PS session witnessed, from within the supervisee’s story, a parallel process emerged. The client’s softer, nicer and more vulnerable process contrasted with a secondary process of strength and dominance and was mirrored in the supervisee. The tension and discomfort that existed between these, the edge, constituted the focus that was brought to supervision. Replicating the parallel process, enabled clarification as the supervisee had initially struggled to define her issue. The raising of the supervisee’s awareness enabled new insights to be generated which were used to inform her future approach. The feedback loop with new found skills was established. The overall approach was highly valued by the supervisee. Additional resources and strengths were revealed despite the non-attendance to goaling, exceptions, and coping strategies. Freshly acquired insights were relevant to the supervisee, both personally and professionally which enhanced their integration. This denotes another key feature of PS, a departure from other models, as the boundary between professional supervision and personal therapy is considered impossible to define (Richardson Hands, 2002). The attraction of the seven-eyed model is its applicability across many psychotherapeutic traditions. Social constructionist approaches integrate easily as many of these skills were utilised in the observed session. These included externalising, identifying exceptions and resources, preferred future descriptions and outside witness. Goaling identified the impact of the supervisee’s workplace anxiety as the focus. Questions exploring the supervisee’s current experience and identity (m. 4) were used. As a domestic violence worker, she regularly works with severely distressed individuals and a possible parallel process with transference of emotions onto the supervisee may have occurred. The supervisee’s unconscious reactions, her counter-transference, were explored with the intention to enhance her ability to respond, instead of merely reacting. Landscapes of action and meaning questions were utilised here and throughout the session. The focus then shifted to the supervisee’s experience and conceptualisation of the client (m. 1). The therapeutic relationship between supervisee and client (m. 3) was investigated using various techniques including outside witness’ perspective. Approaches and strategies utilised (m. 2) and the client’s responses were explored. These were placed within the wider context of the supervisee’s work (m. 7), using preferred future questions. Mode 5, the supervisory relationship and the supervisor’s own process (m. ), weren’t’ definitively explored, which is understandable as this was an isolated session for academic purposes. The adaptability of the model was evident as the strength-based approach evoked the supervisee’s exceptions and resources. Flexibility allowed unequal attention across modes, which enhanced responsiveness to the superviseeâ €™s needs and collaboration. The opportunity to observe various supervision models has highlighted the importance of remaining open-minded and willing to experiment with alternative techniques and approaches. To best meet client needs through the supervisee, having a choice of strategies and flexibility in application, will enhance my ability to remain effective and responsive. The seven-eyed model, with its inherent emphasis on relational and systemic aspects, provides a valuable, adaptable scaffold, upon which my approach to supervision will be based. Techniques from many orientations can be incorporated to accommodate supervisee strengths and needs, to ensure supervision is not done to but with the supervisee, which benefits their professional development. Also, understanding of new information is enhanced when integrated with existing familiar competencies and knowledge (Friedman, 1997). The seven modes provide a broad range of issues, enabling their identification and subsequent address to enhance supervisee development. Modelling multiple-perspective approaches may encourage the supervisee to mirror this in therapy, which may transfer to the client. Viewing issues from alternative perspectives often delivers therapeutic benefits as stuckness may transform into resolution with an accompanying transfer of skills. This would be conducive to development of the supervisee’s capabilities of reflection and thereby enhance their practice. The seven-eyed model, incorporating narrative and solution-oriented approaches of social constructionism, will be central to my approach. However, despite identification of exceptions, strengths, resources and coping strategies, issue resolution on a deeper, perhaps more personal level may sometimes be sought by the supervisee. PS skills will be utilised for these interventions, for when supervisees struggle to delineate the problem’s essence and may also prove useful in divising complementary solutions. The approaches of other models encourage alternative conceptualisations of issues and may be utilised to generate the supervisee’s news of difference required and promote flexible cognition. The world’s leading athletes require commitment, flexibility and strength. To become a skilled supervisor, having an extensive, strong theoretical base and grasp of technique, combined with flexibility in applying both and remaining open-minded to alternative approaches, may facilitate this continuous process. Modelling this as supervisor, will hopefully transfer to the supervisee and also inform their practice.

Social Media In Education English Language Essay

Social Media In Education English Language Essay In todays technological environment, it is important that teachers try their best to make use of this innovative technology. As explained by Thaker, this technology can be used to facilitate communication between the students and the teachers. However, this new form of communication can also help parents in getting involved in the learning of their children. One way of enhancing this communication is through the use of social media (Bienstock, 2012) (Thaker, 2011). There are a number of social networking sites that can be used. Facebook  [1]  , Twitter  [2]  , Edmodo  [3]  , LinkedIn  [4]  , Twiducate  [5]  , Classroom 2.0  [6]  and Google+  [7]  are just few of the existent social media that one can make use of in education. These media are being constantly used by almost everyone on everyday basis. The results obtained from Pingdom (2012) on the demographics of 24 different social media sites show that these media are being used by different persons in different age groups. In fact, the study shows that even teenagers are making use of such media (Pingdom, 2012). However, one might argue, should we use such media in education, even though we know of the problems and issues related to such media? However others might reason that we cannot just eliminate the use of such a valuable and easily accessible resource. Bienstock (2012) makes reference to the New York Times article in which Ms. Pust states I think that we would do more good keeping kids safe by teaching them how to use these tools and navigate this online world rather than locking it down and pretending that it is not in our realm. (Preston, 2011 in Bienstock, 2012) In the following sections, we will discuss the advantages that social media offers in the area of education. However, we are also going to point out the problems that these media might present and how to cope and manage them. Social Media Benefits in Education Students (Parent Further, 2012) Develop communication skills students can gain social confidence from online interaction, which may help them feel more secure in new situations Increase skill in technology students become more familiar with new and emerging technologies, as well as increase their media literacy through exposure to many different types of online media Such technology is already common with students and this will surely engage them even more if it is utilized. Online communities can be very diverse and expose students to many new view points, ideas, and opinions Social media can also be a source to increase talent to work on group projects Students can develop an optimistic image of themselves by putting best qualities out there Enhanced Collaboration acquiring information can be accomplished by students alone. But a collaborative environment certainly helps students to work together in trying to achieve their aims. Teachers and Schools (Parent Further, 2012) Increased access to resources since learning materials can be shared Collaboration amongst teachers and exchanging of lesson plans and information Can reach parents who are incapable to come to school in a cheap and effective way Can form partnerships with schools in other states or countries Enhanced Flipping The teachers role is that of a tutor. The students access the coursework material outside the classroom, and then within the classroom the teacher helps the students with any problems. In this situation social media can be used to boost the relationship between the teacher and the student. Modernize Discussions through social media teacher can credit students for in-class participation. Communicate Between Classes Teachers can send out announcements, share ideas or pose questions to pupils, especially when classes are spaced several days apart. How well are schools using social media? (Harrison, 2012) Successes Challenges Making safe communities some sites allow teachers to control online environments thus reducing dangers associated with social media Lack of knowledge a schools social media account should be managed by someone who understands social media Encouraging collaboration students can critique and comment on each others assignments. They can easily work in teams online and asking teachers questions or starting a discussion is easy Lack of features lack of engagement for students can make them feel as if the school doesnt care. Features should include one-on-one connection Invitation to produce content social media can invite students and schools to produce content for both enrolled and prospective students. This can show the schools personality More than a presence a social media profile requires daily maintenance and interaction with students The NCF (Ministry of Education, Employment and Family 2011) argues that literacy, numeracy and digital literacy are the foundations for further learning. (Ministry of Education, Employment and the Family, 2011). Our students are digital natives whether we like it or not. For us as teachers we have to accept this and exploit it to deliver the subject content to our students. Students and Social Media Our students are continuously communicating through social media, in Malta the most popular one being Facebook. Can we stop this? No we can not as out students are equipped with laptops, tablets, iPads, smartphones all providing easier access to social networks. Introducing social media in education is not an easy step, as mentioned before students are continuously using it with most of them ignoring the possible consequences. When the topic is approached only on a theoretical level students think that it will never happen to them, for them there is nothing wrong uploading any kind of photos to appear cool with their friends. They can not perceive that once a photo is available on the Internet is available to anybody even though they select the Only Friends option. Social Media Problems and How to Minimise Them? The only way to deal with this problem is through educational videos that illustrate various situations which teenagers found themselves in because they didnt know it could happen to them. A teacher can start by showing these two videos http://viewpure.com/nOUu1fldBbI and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hK5OeGeudBMfeature=channel and discuss a set of questions with the students to elicit important points from both videos; the uploading of photos, anyone can watch your photos without you being aware of it. Students need to be educated towards social media. They have a tool in their hands, they think of knowing how to use it but most of them dont. Teachers and parents have to understand we cannot stop the social media hype. We as teachers have to educate about this tool. What can go wrong? Many students ask the questions: What can go wrong? These are some of the answers that we as educators need to provide: Cyberbullying (CEOP, 2007): This kind of bullying is different from the school bullying we are accustomed to. Our students are constantly using mobiles, the internet, so bullying can affect someone at home as well. Since cyberbullying takes place in the virtual world, it has a 24/7 effect and can make someone feel depressed or threatened in their own home. Students should be educated that this kind of bullying can be evidenced. With cyber bullying they can save text/emails/WebPages, print them and used as a proof to catch the bully. Sexting: Sexting occurs when someone takes an innapropriate photo of themselves, and sending it to their friends via a mobile phone, computer, tablet and so on. The problem is that students do not realise that once these images have been uploaded on the Internet they can end up anywhere.   They could be seen by friends and family, schoolmates who can make fun of them or worse in the hands of pedopheles. This also puts that person who originally sent the images in a vulnerable position (CEOP, 2007):, as somebody they may or may not know now has these images and could use technology to bully, harass or threaten students with these photos. Students have to be educated to think Do I want my schoolmates to see these photos, my family? Hacking: Students should always choose the Log Out option so their account can not be hacked. False Identity: It is very easy to lie on the Internet because there is not difrect face to face communication, hence people can lie about their age and appearance. Students have to be sure of whom they are confirming as a friend and moreover they have to be educated not to meet people they encountered over the Internet. Addiction: One has to be aware of the time and effort spent in establishing connections. It is very easy to become addicted, for some, these sites become one of the major concerns (CEOP, 2007). This can have adverse effects on a persons ability to work efficiently and affects ones health as well. Sometimes the best lesson to educate our students is not through theory but providing them with actual facts. For example this article http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2201064/Man-murders-girl-16-testify-raping-years-agolured-death-posing-teen-Facebook.html narrates the story of a girl killed by her rapist before she could testify against him. He posed as a teenage boy on Facebook and told Shania Gray (the victim) he had a crush on her and they agreed to meet. He took her to a secluded park and shot her (Pullman, 2012). Everyone has a Facebook account why shouldnt I? Our society, educators, parents cannot hide from the reality that social media are part of our culture. The future generation are approaching their lives differently as they integrate digital technologies- such as computers, the Internet, instant messaging, cell phones and e-mail throughout their daily activities. As educators we can propose the following simple but effective SMART Rules (UK Safer Internet Centre, 2012): Keep your personal information like address, mobile number safe. Make students think this question If I meet a stranger on the street would I give him my mobile number? The same reasoning has to be applied to a stranger met on the Internet. Dont Meet Up. Social networks can be a place to encounter with new people. Students must always know who you are talking to. If an adult they do not know asks them to meet up, they have to be educated to say no. Accepting (UK Safer Internet Centre, 2012): Educate students to think before they accept something from someone over the Internet as it might contain viruses with the sole purpose to steal information from someones computer used by a hacker to keep data on people perhaps engaged by paedophiles. If students do not know from whom it is and it has an attachment, they have to delete it. Reliable (UK Safer Internet Centre, 2012): Not everyone online can be trusted. Older men tend to lie about their age and who they are to meet female adolescents. This is a point we as educators need to stress onto; students have to know who they are talking to. Tell (UK Safer Internet Centre, 2012): Students should not be afraid of talking if someone is harassing or stalking them over the Internet. They have to talk with their parents, or a guidance teacher or any other trusted adult if someone makes them worried or uncomfortable online. Moreover if a student knows about a friend who has these kinds of problems he/she has to tell someone. It is not betraying him/her friends trust, it is helping and in some cases saving his/her friend. The Issue of No Physical Interaction Social media is a medium that enables communication between people from all over the world through the use of technology. Such interaction can be done from the comfort of your own home and this can facilitate the process tremendously. Some may argue that social media may present a challenge since the students are unable to socialise properly. This may be due to the fact that the interaction between peers is not presented in a physical manner. On the other hand, social media allows people to meet in ways that otherwise would have not been possible. Social media not only allows easier communication but eliminates the issue of geographical barriers. It allows students to form and (Tomaszewski, 2012) (Connolly, 2011) (Williams, 2011)maintain friendships, that otherwise would have been difficult or impossible. Such friendships allow students to learn and interact with other cultures other than their own. It allows wider knowledge sharing from people all over the world. Such interaction would not have been possible or would have been difficult and more costly if it had to be done physically. Therefore, when used with properly and with caution, social media allows not only learning to occur, but also friendships and knowledge sharing to take place. Avoid these when using Social Media We do not want more rules but as any other important tool Social Media should be used responsibly. We are in the day and age, were Social Media is used all the time by everyone and this is the main reason why we should be careful of what we do. We should educate our students how to use Social Media sites responsibly. Stephanie Buck on Mashable gives us a few rules to follow, which if applied, help us appreciate the power of Social Media when used in the classroom. Post Illegal Activities (Buck, 2012) Although your profile may be set to private there are other ways and means how this content can become public and be view by anyone on the web. Once public, it will be impossible to remove that content from the internet. Trash Your Teachers (Buck, 2012) Bullying can also include interactions done on posts where teachers or school administration are mentioned. This can be a grave offence even if certain things may seem harmless to who posted them. Post Objectionable Content from School Computers or Networks (Buck, 2012) Do not use the school computers to post objectionable information. Some school networks can track this activity. Post Confidential Information (Buck, 2012) This is very important as already mentioned before everyone can see the information you post so be careful not to post any personal information where people can track you. Overly Specific Location Check-Ins (Buck, 2012) Do not use Social Media to say that you are home alone or in a remote location this will help even persons who are not willing to help to find you. Lie/Cheat/Plagiarize (Buck, 2012) If a lie is shared on Social Media it is most probably that everyone will get to know. There can also be investigations regarding cheating and plagiarism. Threaten Violence (Buck, 2012) When a threat is posted online even if anonymous, there will be investigations by the police and eventually will trace the offender. Ignore School-Specific Policies (Buck, 2012) Always abide by the policy of your school regarding Social Media. Unprofessional Public Profiles (Buck, 2012) Students should be thoughtful of what to post online. Certain content might not be acceptable for an employer, who in the near future might go through ones profile. Do not say or put anything on your profile which you do not want a future employer to see. Never Rely on Privacy Settings 100% (Buck, 2012)- Students should never rely on privacy settings over good judgment, (Buck, 2012) says social media specialist, Andrew Moravick in (Buck, 2012). Some Social Media networks have very good privacy settings but some are updated very often and not everyone can keep track. Post Emotionally (Buck, 2012) Do not post anything on Social Media when feeling emotional about something. Thing may seem very different when analyzing the same scenario when feeling calm. As we can see, these are very simple rules students and everyone using Social Media can follow. We just have to keep in mind that anything posted irresponsibly on Social Media networks can have very negative effects. Conclusion So far experts remind us that there are clear dos and donts for integrating social media in the classroom. Social technologies are here to stay and it is import to help students learn how to used social media. Guide students in how to think deliberately about their use and consider the outcomes of proper and improper use of social media. This goal can be appropriately reached when teacher have received appropriate training on the use of social media. Full backing and support of the school administration is mandatory to fulfill this objective. Turning social media into an educational tool can be used to further a students education and enrich it.

Importance of Age Discrimination in Employment Regulations

Importance of Age Discrimination in Employment Regulations Abstract This dissertation discusses the rationale for age discrimination legislation, examining both evidence of age discrimination and incentives for employers to discriminate based on age. Questions concerning the justification for and effectiveness of age discrimination legislation are likely to become progressively more significant in light of a rapidly aging population in the United Kingdom, and an often misunderstood and victimized youth. This dissertation presents a summary, critical review, and synthesis of age discrimination legislation. At the outset, it traces out the background of age discrimination and discusses implementation of the new law. It then reviews the existing research on age discrimination in relation to younger and older workers- research which addresses the rationale of legislation, its effectiveness and criticisms. Finally, it looks for answers from the United States and draws a conclusion. In writing this dissertation it was found that empirical tests and certainly commentary on age discrimination were far less numerous, more varied and sometimes less direct than those relating to race or gender discrimination. Neumark believes that there are two reasons for this: research on age discrimination had and continues to have less urgency, because older groups generally do not suffer the sizable pay differences associated with gender and unemployment rate disparities, and; regression-based empirical methods for gender and race are not thought to affect productivity as with age discrimination.[1] Introduction Discrimination: Treatment and Equality Unfair discrimination takes several forms, some more invidious than others. Fortunately, the Framework Directive forbids both direct and indirect forms of discrimination. Direct discrimination arises, for example, where due to the victim’s gender, age, ethnicity, disability or sexual orientation, that individual would not be treated with the same opportunities and benefits as another individual in comparable situations. In other words, direct discrimination is where an individual is treated less favourably on a forbidden ground, such as age, than another person would be treated. Indirect discrimination on the other hand, occurs where a seemingly neutral practice or rule puts individuals of a particular age, for example, at a specific disadvantage compared with other individuals, and where it is not objectively justifiable. On this basis, two central components relating to discrimination emerge: treatment and equality. The treatment component suggests that discrimination is often due to the failure to treat a person as an individual: The point is not always appreciated by those who write about discrimination, perhaps particularly by those writers who lack personal experience of discrimination. To them it is a puzzle that the remedy for discrimination is seen politically as a matter of groups rather than individuals, for in the traditional debates of liberalism, the wrongs of inequality of opportunity, for instance, are wrongs done to individuals and the remedies are equally atomistic. But discrimination has displaced simple injustice in the language of social and political oppression precisely where it transcends the individualism of traditional liberal values and acknowledges that group-related wrongs are in issue †¦ The issues here are often obscured by the valid assertion that discrimination is what it is in virtue of treating someone as a member of a group rather than as an individual. In contrast, in allocative situations the proper thing to do is to allocate by the merit, ability, need, capacity of the individual concerned rather than on the basis of average (or stereotyped) properties of members of that group †¦ In this sense discrimination is the failure to individuate, that is to treat on an individual basis.[2] Nonetheless, it is the principle of equality which underpins anti-discrimination legislation. Bernard Williams propounds the idea that the central ethical basis of discrimination seems to be that even though human beings may be unequal in their skill, intelligence, strength or virtue, ‘it is their common humanity that constitutes their equality.’[3] All of us share common humanity and are entitled to be considered equally on the grounds of individual merit rather than on the grounds of group stereotypes or suppositions. Nowadays, this is not simply a moral idea but it is also an economic and social necessity.[4] Furthermore, the demands of our modern technologically progressive society for a skilled and working population imply that it is not only unfair but economically damaging to discriminate unduly on the grounds of generalisations and stereotypes. This point was expressed succinctly be Andrew Smith MP, the Minister for Employment, Welfare to Work and Equal Opportuni ties: To base employment decisions on pre-conceived ideas about age, rather than on skills and abilities, is to waste the talents of a large part of the population. In ten years time, for example, more than a quarter of the workforce will be aged over fifty. This is a huge resource- for businesses and for the country- which could be wasted unless we tackle the way stereotypes based on age wrongly exclude people from jobs and training. It is a resource that we cannot afford to waste.[5] Age Discrimination The Age Discrimination in Employment regulations, taking effect in 2006 will make discrimination on the grounds of employment unlawful. Currently, however, discrimination on the grounds of age is not unlawful in the United Kingdom, insofar as it does not amount to discrimination on other grounds, for example sex discrimination. In Secretary of State v Rutherford, for example, a man, who was aged 67, was dismissed by his employers on redundancy grounds.[6] Any person older than 65 years, in conjunction with Sections 109 and 156 of the Employment Rights Act is not entitled to redundancy payment. In the Employment Tribunal’s opinion, a higher proportion of males worked beyond retirement age than women, therefore, the legislation was seen to be discriminatory against men. Although the judgement was reversed, the case clearly illustrates the relationship between age and sex. Preceding the 1997 general election, the Labour Party was faithful to age discrimination legislation. However, following the General Election, it was decided that a non-statutory route was more favourable. It was thought that ‘on balance, there was no consensus of opinion on legislation and a strong case for legislation was not made during the consultation.’[7] Thus, following a consultation, the Government introduced the Code of Practice on Age Diversity on Employment in 1999, rather than legislation on age discrimination. This tactic was a failure, as the following survey suggests. A survey was conducted in 2000 on the Code of Practice on Age Diversity in Employment. Of 800 companies interviewed in a Department for Education and Employment survey, only 1% introduced a change as a direct result of the Code of Practice on Age Diversity in Employment and just 4% believed that a future change was likely.[8] Two thirds, 68%, of the respondents believed that a future change linked to the Code was unlikely, with a quarter, 27%, uncertain as to whether they will introduce the change or not. The main reason given for no change was the credence that their company practice and policy already meets the guidelines. The survey intended to cover a cross section of randomly selected employers, with results weighted to imitate the profile of companies in Great Britain. When asked directly about the Code, 29% of companies were aware of the Code, with awareness being notably higher in large companies, where 60% were aware of it. Nonetheless, only a quarter, 23%, who knew of the C ode had actually seen a copy of it. In one survey, 86% of all respondents favoured a statutory approach to age discrimination in employment, compared with 13% preferring a voluntary one.[9] Gender and race discrimination have been the principal focus of researchers studying discrimination and are thus by far the most vociferously debated. Nevertheless, a comprehensive analysis and understanding of age discrimination is crucial. The simplest definition of age discrimination, which highlights much of the empirical work on race and gender discrimination, is aversion on the part of employers for hiring from precise subgroups of the population, as in the Becker employer discrimination model.[10] Neumark believes that such ‘discriminatory tastes are most easily interpreted as based on animus.’[11] He also states that discrimination may be based on ‘incorrect stereotypes,’ which cause employers to treat employees differently, for instance due to age; a feature which is isolated from productivity or costs.[12] That said, Neumark recognises differential treatment based on age for reasons other than animus or stereotypes, but warns that interpreting whet her such treatment is discriminatory is notoriously complex.[13] The tension lies in distinguishing between differential treatment based on age and factors that happen to be related to age but are not necessarily driven by age related considerations per se. The Government’s consultation document failed to sufficiently define age discrimination; it simply stated: It is hard to define age discrimination succinctly. The consultation made it clear that there can be both direct and indirect forms of age discrimination in employment. The most obvious forms are where people held strong, stereotypical views about a person’s capabilities to do a job or to be developed because of their age.[14] There is an inherent difficulty with arriving at an acceptable definition because the concept of discrimination implies that there is a discrete group who are being discriminated against, yet, in the context of age discrimination, ‘everyone has some age.’[15] In other words, to define age discrimination in terms of discrimination on the basis of age is unacceptable, because it identifies the discrete group as the entire population. The Government’s consultation document does not define these distinct groups but speaks of discrimination as it affects large numbers of workers. As Sargeant notes, the mistake with this approach is that it fails to recognize solutions which might be age specific, for example, the solutions for discrimination against younger workers might be different to the discrimination against older workers.[16] A comparative analysis of age discrimination in the European Community offers the following definition: Direct discrimination: measures targeted at older workers based solely on grounds of age, and no other factors, such as abilities or health. These measures use specific age limits to exclude older workers from, for example, training and employment schemes, or from applying for jobs †¦ Indirect discrimination: measures which are not directly age-specific, but which have disproportionately negative impact on older workers, compared with other age groups. This hidden discrimination usually has the most widespread negative impact on older workers in employment.[17] However, age discrimination does not take place simply in relation to older workers; it also takes place in relation to younger workers also, as the following discussion will demosatrate. Main Body The New Law The age component of the European Employment Framework Directive is to be implemented by the United Kingdom Government in October 2006. Consultation was resolved in October 2003. The Regulations are intended to afford protection for a number of different categories: people who are working (including agency workers and self employed workers); work applicants; people undertaking for or applying for employment training; people undertaking or applying for further education or higher education courses; members, or applicants for membership, of trade unions or a trade or professional bodies. The protection will apply to both direct and indirect discrimination, including victimisation and harassment. The current state of the transposition of the age discrimination provisions vary from member state to member state. Some member states, including the United Kingdom, have utilised a delay in transposition, taking advantage of the provision outlined in Article 18. The United Kingdom government has taken an approach that includes both detailed consultation and active awareness raising; which is welcome. It is also reviewing wider equality issues and has sought a delay to enable it to embark on this work. For this reason, there is considerable uncertainty over the detail of the age legislation because it is not known how the government will implement Article 6 of the Directive Article 1 Equal Treatment and Employment and Occupation Directive, provides that the purpose is to provide a general framework for combating discrimination in relation to a number of grounds including age.[18] The Directive does, however, cover a number of other areas besides age. The Preamble refers to equal treatment and the right to equality before the law and protection against discrimination, as recognised by the UN and ILO declarations. Article 3 informs that Article 1 will apply in relation to conditions such as access to employment, access to vocational training, employment and working conditions and membership of employers’ or workers’ organisations. Article 4 permits the discretion that a difference of treatment may be justified where there is a ‘genuine and determining occupational requirement, provided that the objective is legitimate and the requirement is proportionate.’ Article 6 refers to justifications in differences of treatment due to age. It follows that differences in treatment may be justified if ‘they are objectively and responsibly justified by a legitimate aim including legitimate employment policy, labour market and vocational treatment.’ Examples of such differences were provided as: where there are special conditions for access to employment and training, including dismissal and remuneration for young people, older workers and persons with caring responsibilities in order to promote their integration into the workforce; fixing minimum conditions of age, professional experience or seniority for access to employment or certain advantages that are linked; fixing a maximum age limit for recruitment which is based either on the training requirements of the post, or the need for a reasonable period before retirement. In order to set in context the problem of age discrimination and therefore the benefits of the new legislation, it is necessary to refer to statistical evidence. One in four people in their fifties and sixties report that they have experienced discrimination in work or when applying for a job[19] and one in five people are discouraged from applying for a job due to ageist recruitment advertisements.[20] In addition, almost a million people over fifty who would like to work are not working.[21] The Government estimates that the economy will benefit by over  £1 billion during the first twenty years with the new age legislation.[22] Similar figures are mirrored in an interview of 150 people, where 78% of older workers, who had been victims of ageism, said that the experience continued to stay with them and ‘scar’ their lives.[23] The same survey revealed that 71% found that ageism effected their mental wellbeing, with one in three believing that it had affected their marr iage. The delay in transposition of the Directive, in terms of the United Kingdom government, was taken in order to enable it to conduct consultation and awareness- raising. In this respect, AGE has called upon the member states to establish an independent body with powers to promote awareness and ensure compliance on age. The Directive does not make such a provision but it is undoubtedly important for employers to receive advice and guidance. The United Kingdom government has created an advisory group on the Directive, from a range of stakeholders and a taskforce on the creation of the Equality and Human Rights Commission. These bodies intend to compliment the government’s Age Positive Campaign, to promote positive attitudes amongst employers. BT has welcomed the new legislation, already instigating a proactive approach to employing older workers: A work environment that actively supports all our employees is central to BT’s culture, and equality of opportunity- regardless of gender, race, sexual orientation, disability or age- is championed throughout the company †¦ Encouraging diversity and developing an inclusive culture is vital to our strategy of creating customer-focused business †¦ Promoting diversity and inclusion is for us a way of establishing a meritocracy within the company and is a means of ensuring that we have the right people in the right jobs. In many ways our commitment to diversity and equal opportunities has gone beyond the business case.[24] It has introduced a portfolio of flexible options to support a decade of retirement for its employees and this has seen an increase in its proportion of employees aged over 50 from 13% to 24% in three years.[25] If this is an indication of support by employers about the new legislation, it is to be welcomed.[26] Such rapid and early changes are highly advantageous to employers, since they can gain a comprehensive insight of the laws in advance and are thus more likely to avoid claims of age discrimination and associated costs. Certainly, the United Kingdom, along with other industrialized countries, has a rapidly ageing population. Therefore, age discrimination legislation will become increasingly more important. In 1971, half of the population was aged under 34.1 years,[27] with the median age rising to 38.4 years in 2003.[28] This is owing to declines in both fertility rates and mortality rates, for example, between 1971 and 2003, the number of under-16s fell by 18% while the number of people aged 65 and over rose by 28%.[29] [30] Continued population ageing is inevitable during the first half of this century, since the number of elderly people will rise, as the relatively large numbers of people born after the Second World War and during the 1960s baby boom became older.[31] Indeed, projections suggest that the number of people aged 65 and over will exceed the numbers aged 16 from 2013. [32] Furthermore, the working age population will also fall in size as the baby-boomers move into retirement and since relatively small numbers of people have been born since mid- 1970s.[33] Another report, by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development claimed that if nothing is done soon, standards will fall.[34] This is one demographic argument in favour of the new legislation: there is a need to retain older workers in the workforce, because there will be a reduction in the number of young people entering it. The other demographic argument is to raise the retirement age, so as to stop people becoming an economic burden on a reducing workforce.[35] Never before has age discrimination legislation been so essential! It was reported in Equal Opportunities Review that the Irish Labour Court awarded  £6,000 to a legal secretary, who claimed that she had been discriminated against on the grounds of age.[36] At the time of the hearing, Ireland was the only European country that had protection against age discrimination in its employment legislation. The case represents the first age discrimination case to be decided by a European Court. It therefore presents favourable optimism for enforcing the new legislation.[37] The complainant was employed by a law firm, as a legal secretary for eleven months. The complainant alleged that her dismissal was due to the respondent’s decision to employ a younger person. The dispute was initially based on whether the complainant was a temporary or permanent employee, but she had never been presented with a written contract of employment and the court motioned that, in any case, this was of no value if the reason for her dismissal was based on age. The Court discovered that, prior to the complainant’s dismissal the partners of the firm had decided to redesign the job, which meant being trained to provide a quasi-legal and secretarial service. It emerged that the complainant was not considered for the new job, despite her experience and suitability for the new post. The Court observed that the complainant’s dismissal was arose because the new post had been designed for a younger person and that, the complainant, by reason of her age, did not m eet the prerequisite. It was therefore held that the complainant was discriminated against by reason of her age. The new legislation is welcomed more so when one looks to current policies employed at work on age discrimination. From one report, it emerged that just over half of the employers- 63 out of 122 respondents- had a written policy mentioning age diversity.[38] The remainder of employers did not yet have a policy on age diversity or indeed age discrimination.[39] Where the policies did exist it emerged that age discrimination was just one part of a list of possible grounds of discrimination. An example of such a practice was characteristic of Nottingham Primary Care Trust.[40] Age was included in the equal opportunity policy stating, ‘no employee or job applicant receives less favourable treatment on the grounds of sex, age, race, martial status, disability, religion, sexual orientation, sexual assignment, creed, colour, nationality, ethnic or national origins.’[41] It also emerged from the report that 30% of organisations in the public sector had an age policy, and public sector organisations formed just 23% of the respondents.[42] Just 27% of the respondents adopted the government’s Code of Practice, despite an increasing number, 63%, being aware of it.[43] Furthermore, it was found that just 56% monitored the age profile of their workforce.[44] However, although legislation is an important start, combating discrimination also needs a broader approach. Indeed, the Directive explicitly calls on the member states to consult with stakeholders when transposing the Directive. In addition to legislation, member states should develop initiatives to inform individual workers and employers about their new rights and responsibilities, and to change employer and social attitudes towards age issues. Without this, the Directive will be less effective, as the House of Lords observed: Few employers operate overtly ageist recruitment and retention policies (except in so far as they use fixed retirement ages). Age discrimination is frequently the unconscious outcome of an employer’s more general human resource management policy and procedure †¦ the eradication of unconscious discrimination will require a fundamental cultural change on the part of employers and workers.[45] Failure to acknowledge the new legislation, coupled with its novel influence, could create ‘an explosion of unnecessary tribunal cases,’ according to the CBI.[46] The Employers Forum on Age claims that employers could be exposed to litigation costs for unfair dismissal and discrimination claims of up to  £193 million in the first year of the legislation alone.[47] A survey of 500 firms revealed that two-thirds of firms observed a rise in dubious employment tribunal claims and that companies feared the problem will escalate with the implementation of the new age legislation. Certainly, John Cridland, the CBI deputy director general, remarked: ‘In the current compensation culture, there’s a risk that people will take advantage of legal clarity.’[48] 44% of companies have little confidence in employment tribunals, believing the system to be ineffective.[49] This, of course, has the knock-on effect of costly charges of discrimination claims being brough t by employees. In order to prevent such costly proceedings, United Kingdom businesses should prepare and protect themselves in advance of the age discrimination legislation, just as BT has done. Combating age discrimination is certainly a new concept for many member states, indeed the United Kingdom. There is evidence that a number of governments and social partners do not yet recognize the reality of age discrimination and perceive it as similar to the other grounds of discrimination.[50] Certainly, one powerful criticism is that the Directive takes a negative and retrospective approach to discrimination, in line with other areas of discrimination protection. It appears that the extensive use of the discretionary power within Article 6 of the Directive, seeks to validate differences on the grounds of age as a legitimate criterion for discrimination.[51] The fact that these exceptions were spelled out in the Directive is interesting. Sargeant believes that it is perhaps indicative of the way that age discrimination should be treated differently from other types of discrimination.[52] Sargeant continues: There appears to be an economic or business imperative that suggests that more harm will be done if discrimination does not take place, rather than an imperative that states that age discrimination is wrong and can only be justified in exceptional circumstances. Effectively, widespread discrimination is to be allowed to continue except those forms which are held not to be for the economic good of the business.[53] The lack of understanding on the issue, is highlighted in the prevalent malpractice among member states, for example, age limits in human resource management.[54] In its report on EU Proposals to Combat Discrimination, the House of Lords Select Committee was highly critical of the draft Framework Directive’s failure to tackle discrimination effectively, particularly in relation to Article 6.[55] In the Committee’s opinion, the draft failed: To achieve the Commission’s goals of providing clear limits and certainty in the field of age discrimination. As drafted, there is a strong possibility that it would do more harm than good, effectively legalising age discrimination throughout the Community. There appears to be no coherent pattern in the list of justifications. Equally, it is unclear what ages will be covered, and what comparisons will apply in judging age discrimination. The draft framework Directive will give no protection to the growing proportion of the population which is over the age of retirement. It appears that the determination to tackle age discrimination is not uniformly strong. It is therefore vital that the Action Programme and similar measures should place particular emphasis on building awareness of the issue. At the same time the government should seek to ensure that any exceptions to the principle of equal treatment irrespective of age are clearly defined and justified. There have been minor improvements in the drafting of the Directive, but the substance of the criticisms remain. A wide latitude is given to the member states about the scope and limits of the legislation and there is a concern about the effectiveness of the right in the sanctions for infringement that are ‘effective, proportionate and dissuasive.’[56] Moreover, dilemmas are resulting from an uneven transposition. As stated previously, some member states have asked for a delay in transposition. Whilst the United Kingdom’s reasons may be justified, this undermines the essence of a Directive. A Directive aims to regularize the legal systems of member states, insofar as possible so that the same material conditions are in force throughout. A Directive is binding on the member states as regards the overall objective to be achieved. A recent case suggests why States need to work closely on these issues. Easyjet and British Air Line Pilot’s Association, have reported a complaint that three member states have banned pilots over the age of 60 from their airspace, due to health and safety grounds, despite there being no correlation with any other countries in the European Union. To emphasise this point further, in some Member States, such as Germany, Portugal, and Luxembourg, there has been little or no progress reported in the transposition process.[57] In other member states, such as France, Italy and Austria, there has been technical compliance with the legislative requirements of the Directive but nothing to promote awareness of age discrimination and engagement of stakeholders.[58] Other member states, such as Ireland and Belgium, have widened the scope of the legislation into the field of goods and services, while others, notably the United Kingdom, have asked for a delay.[59] It seems that the Council has missed the opportunity to adopt a single unified Directive, which is not on miscellaneous grounds.[60] On the other hand, the House of Lords have expressed their anxiety in relation to implementing the new legislation in such a short time frame and that the delay is not long enough: We are concerned that the timescale for the implementation of the legislation on age discrimination will allow employers and workers at most two years to revise their procedures and expectations to conform with the new legislation. This is a very short period given the scale of the cultural shift required, and it may impose a part