Critical Discourse Analysis for Obama's 2012 cictory speech Essay

Critical Discourse Analysis for Obama's 2012 cictory speech - Essay Example It may also result in oppression of groups based upon gender (Clegg, 1975). Van Dijk (2006) also states that much of what goes into discourse is an attempt to manipulate the audience. Therefore, the central crux of the CDA is how words and discourse is used to control different groups. They must work to change the minds of others, so that these groups’ minds and thoughts are more in line with the groups in power (van Dijk, 2003). van Dijk (2006) looks at the context of speech, as well as examine the discrete parts of the speech for a linguistic analysis, including grammar, style, pragmatism, etc. Included are examinations of sociopolitical contexts, as well as look at how a speech is used to manipulate other groups (Furnham, 1981). Van Dijk (1995) is also interested in how discourses advance ideology. According to van Dijk (1995), ideologies are cognitive, social, sociocognitive, are not true or false, have varying degrees of complexity, have variable maifestations, and are ge neral or abstract. By stating that ideologies are cognitive, van Dijk (1995) states that ideologies are individualistic, which means that the individual has a system of ideas, thoughts, beliefs, judgments and values. An analysis of discourse Van Dijk (1978) further breaks down how discourse should be analysed. He states that there are semantic structures that can be examined to indicate how the speech is being used, and what the goal is, the ideology, and so forth. Speech may be analysed in this way at the microstructure level, or the macrostructure level. The microstructure level is the level that analyses the local level of discourse – the structure of the individual propositions and the relations. The macrostructure is the level that analyses the more global nature of the speech - the discourse itself would fit into a theme, so that the discourse may be seen as a part of a meaningful whole(Clark, 1977). Van Dijk (1978) states that a coherent text base is made up of proposi tions. The proposition is a concept and an argument. The argument may fulfill different functions, such as agent, object and goal of the speech. The text bases must be coherent. One type of coherence is the referential coherence. This is coherence between two propositions that share the same argument, or maybe referentially coherent because one argument is embedded with another argument. There needs to be some kind of argument overlap between all the concepts of the text, for the text to be further processed. If there are gaps, then inference processes may close them – in other words, not everything has to be said. Some things can be inferred. If there are gaps, then one or more propositions must be added to the base of the text, in order for it to achieve coherence. The other concept advanced by van Dijk (1978) is that of the processing cycle. The human memory can only digest speeches and discourse in chunks of information. Therefore, the chunks must all fit together. The ch unks are several propositions. Each of the chunks should link with the other ones that were processed. The chunks are stored in the memory, and only those which are stored in the memory can be used to connect other chunks of information. As long as there is some kind of overlap between the chunks of information, then the text will be interpreted as coherent by the listener. If the proposition shares an argument with another

The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain Research Paper

The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain - Research Paper Example Perhaps due to this reason, â€Å"artistry of Twain’s ‘Adventures of Huckleberry Finn’ has inspired †¦ sophisticated and impressive critical responses†¦.† (Budd and Messent, 543) In case of Mark Twain such observation is truer as in his novels we see he has included a great deal of his autobiographical elements. In this context we can cite for the observation of Shelley Fisher Fishkin, whose observation asserts that the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn includes a great deal of autobiographical elements, â€Å"A boy of Twain’s acquaintance, Benson Blankenship, †¦. (His behavior would become a model for aspects of Huck’s behavior.)† (Fishkin, 21) It is from his autobiographical references we come to know, â€Å"By the time of Twain’s youth, slavery had become institutionalized in the South†¦In southern Missouri, where Twain, and Huck, lived, slavery still existed.† (Jarnow, 21)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬ËœThe Adventures of Huckleberry Finn’ shows that the protagonist Finn undergoes several adventures and finally he develops his approach towards life out of the experiences of such adventures. Apart from Finn’s adventure to observe life from a close angle, there is another element that plays a very important role in the novel that is the protagonist’s (the novelist’s) attitude towards slavery. Constitution if the United States of America came into power since 1864 and it immediately abolished the system of slavery from America officially. The Constitution clearly declared that all men are free and they are eligible to receive equal treatment from the State, despite their differences in race, religion, ethnicity and skin color. (Wilson, 5) However, looking at the practical situation it is evident that situation of the black people or people from Afro-American ethnic background has remained unchanged even in the modern society. L ike all the other great

Democratic Mechanisms and Political Risks to Waging War Essay - 1

Democratic Mechanisms and Political Risks to Waging War - Essay Example â€Å"The relation between military organization and the civilian environment can be shaped in different ways: in some countries, the civilians are executing firm oversight over the armed forces, whereas in some other countries the military can perform its duties regarding national security in its own, autonomous way, if not even in the way where the military imposes its principles of governance over the citizens. In the contemporary society, the last, i.e. military-dominated political systems are rare†(Jelusic,2007). But at the same time, Shultz (1999) points out that within democratic mechanisms, the political leaders tend to face higher political cost to waging war and therefore the threat to war is often resisted by the target nation. Indeed, the wider ramifications of threats by democratic state are less likely to be taken seriously by rogue nations than by threats from non-democratic states. However, history is witness to the fact that this is not always true. Moreover, according to Jelusic the idea more common are civilian-dominated political systems, in which civilian political leaders control the military in very authoritative way, or where the whole civilian environment through the channels of the democratic control over the military imposes the tasks, the execution of tasks and respect for democracy in the inner-military organizational structures. America’s war against Iraq was fought not for political leverage but for personal gain vis-à  -vis access to the vast resources of oil and gas (Habermas, 2006). The democratic constraints and reasons for waging war have therefore become increasingly contentious issues that need to be looked from the wider perspectives of emerging new equations of political economy that has redistributed wealth and created new power structure. Globalization has brought huge changes not only in the economic circles, but also in the political circles.

Hart, Fuller and Devlin Theories of Law and Morality

Hart, Fuller and Devlin Theories of Law and Morality Introduction This essay will explore the theories of Hart, Fuller and Devlin and consider there views on the link between law and morality. It will consider the debates mounted between Hart and Fuller and Hart and Devlin and what these debates add to our understanding to the link between law and morality. It will be argued and concluded that morality plays an important and essential role in our understanding of our legal responsibilities. It will recognise that there has been a long association between morality and law and that traditionally law has been associated with religions, customs and divinity. The Hart – Fuller Debate To understand Hart’s criticism of Fuller it is important to familiarise and understand the eight principles of the â€Å"inner morality† of the law that Fuller asserts and how in his view law and morality are intertwined. Fuller asserts that: A legal system must be base on or reveal some kind of regular tends. As such law should be founded on generalisations of conduct such as rules, rather than simply following arbitrary adjudication. Laws must be publicised so that subjects know how they are supposed to behave. Rules will not have the desired effect if it is likely that your present actions will not be judged by them in future. As such, retrospective legislation should not be abused. Laws should be comprehensible, even if it is only lawyers who understand them Laws should not be contradictory. Laws should not expect the subject to perform the impossible. Law should not change so frequently that the subject cannot orient his actions to it There should not be a significant difference between the actual administration of the law and what the written rules say These criteria are in the form of moral rules of duty. Fuller expresses them as principles or goals; generality of laws; promulgation of laws; minimising the use of retrospective laws; clarity; lack of contradiction; possibility of obedience, constancy through time; consistency between the words and practice of law[1]. Hart’s criticism of Fuller’s eight principles of â€Å"inner morality† of law must be understood. These principles, which loosely describe requirements of procedural justice, were claimed by Fuller to ensure that a legal system would satisfy the demand of morality, to the extent that a legal system which adhered to all of the principles would explain the all-important idea of â€Å"fidelity to law† In other words, such a legal system would command obedience with moral justification. Fuller’s key idea is that evil aims lack a â€Å"logic† and coherence that moral aims have. Thus, paying attention to the â€Å"coherence† of the laws ensures their morality. The argument is unfortunate because it does, of course, claim too much. Hart’s criticism is that we could, equally, have eight principles of the â€Å"inner morality† of the poisoner’s art. Or we can improvise further[2]. We can talk of the principles of the inner morality of Nazism, for example, or the principles of the inner morality of chess. Fuller’s explanation of the Nazi regime is insufficient and flawed, and we must take on Hart’s analysis. Fuller argues that the Nazi regime was so intrinsically evil that it could not be law, this it is argued, is not a sufficient conclusion. The point is that the idea of principles in themselves with the attendant explanation at a general level of what is to be achieved and consistency is insufficient to establish the moral nature of such practices. This was that there is an important sense of legal justification that claims made in the name of law are morally serious. At the least, the person who makes a genuine claim for legal justification of an immoral, Nazi-type legal system must believe that there is some moral force to his claim. Against Fuller, Hart insisted that the identification of a directive as law indicated nothing about the moral authority of that directive and thus nothing about whether that directive should be obeyed[3]. Consequently, claimed Hart, official and citizen disobedience to immoral directives would be facilitated not by pretending that such directives failed to qualify as legal just because of their perceived iniquity, but rather by internalising the fundamental positivist insight that law and morality were conceptually distinct. Because of this conceptual distinction between law and morality, Hart argued, a directives legality said nothing about its morality[4] The Hart- Devlin Debate Again, it is important at the outside to understand Devlin’s approach to law and morality, before considering Hart’s criticism of his approach. In â€Å"The Enforcement of Morals[5]† Devlin supported the view that law should not tolerate that which the reasonable man finds disgusting. Society needs a moral identity, because it is the moral values of society that make it cohere. For Devlin, even private acts of immorality can weaken the fabric of society if they are sufficiently grave. The balance that Devlin seeks to achieve is placed in the context of the political morality of contemporary society, where toleration is itself a prime moral principle. Thus there â€Å"Must be toleration of the maximum individual freedom that is consistent with the integrity of society[6]†. Devlin’s justification for the legal enforcement of morality is an extension of the harm principle to a perceived threat to society, rather than harm to other individuals. This seems quite a reasonable proposition. However this test is one that masquerades as (1) a relevant test for the principle and (2) an objective test. Devlin’s reasonable man is not asked in sociological terms what immorality is actually threatening to society. He is asked, instead, what he feels disgust at. Further he asserts that whilst the reasonable man test is employed as a way of alienating a courtroom issue from the subjective opinions of parties to a particular legal issue, it does not necessarily have the same effect in this situation. Devlin employs the term reasonable man to give the impression of objectivity. However it is a fiction to suggest that there is a reasonable man when it comes to difficult moral issues. The reasonable man of legal fiction is one who employs practical reason and due consideration when acting. However, all the practical reason and due consideration in the world will not change the preferences an prejudices that embody disgust. On the issue of homosexuality, many people intellectually feel that people’s sexual orientation is not a matter for legal intervention, but they nonetheless find homosexual acts to be repellent. The reasonable man test is thus a spurious validation for prevailing societal aesthetics, rather than a test of what society fe els to be threatening[7]. Devlin’s view should be contrasted with the view of Hart. In Law, Liberty and Morality[8], Hart recognises that there does not seem to be any real widely shared morality, and there can be no freedom if we are compelled to accept only those things that others approve of. Hart notes that there are certain constants of the human condition, which he terms the minimum content of natural law, such as the vulnerability of human beings. If we disregard these sociological facts it would be tantamount to suicide. But beyond these facts, society is faced with a choice of what rules to adopt in order to protect us from the frailties of the human condition[9]. Hart seems to assert that since the development of a society is a collective odyssey, the values that a society has adopted for its preservation and progress constitute a shared morality of sorts. This does not mean that the norms that a society has accepted and retained are ones that are logically necessary for the achievement of social preservation. However, they are instrumental in the maintenance of social cohesion. For this reason he would not accept Devlin’s analogy of deviation from moral norms with treason against society[10]. It may be that a change in morality can result in friction, but i t need not result in the collapse of society. Hart also adopts the harm principle, but denies that consent can be used as a mitigating factor. Equally, immoral acts in public may be harmful to others and, as such, open to legal censure, whereas acts in private should not be a matter for the law. His justification is that while the first is the legitimate prevention of harm, the latter is the enforcement of the societal will over the individual. Hart finds paternalism justified, but not enforce morality per se. Conclusion These theories forwarded create good arguments both for and against the inclusion of morality in law. A more complex case for the non-separation of laws and morals have been made more recently by Detmold: â€Å"Hart’s mistake†¦. Was to try to run two incompatible analyses together; the analysis of sociological statements, where existence can be separated from bindingness and thus from moral statements; and the analysis of internal normative statements, where it cannot. The Concept of Law suffers throughout from a failure to separate these things[11]† This is a true anylasis of Hart’s theories, and it was said at the introduction that it would be concluded that morality was a necessary part of the law and indeed it was important in helping society to understand its moral obligations, this is concluded. However it is difficulty to reach these conclusions, when the definition of morality is considered, it is such an abstract concept is it even possible to pin it down to a definition? It suffices to say that there is no requirement to look outside information or reason in order to find and answer to some moral dilemmas. Often moral feelings run against he grain of other people’s views and even our own reasoning. As such, morals defined in this way are capable of producing infinite disagreement, since different people’s consciences dictate different things. Considering morals in this light suggests that there is absence of universal agreement, if this is the case, how can they effect our understanding of our legal obligations? This would mean that the legal obligations of one person are not necessarily that of another person, this said it follows that what is legally wrong finds its basis somewhere and it is suggested that this base is morality. Although it should be recognised that no all laws are moral- this means that our understanding of the legal/moral argument whilst added to by the debates of Hart, Devlin and Fuller, is not concluded, and it is unlikely that it ever will be. Bibliography Journal Articles Curzon L, (1992) â€Å"Jurisprudence: The Hart-Fuller Debate† Student Law Review 1992 6 (Sum) 55-56 Hayry H, (1991) â€Å"Liberalism and Legal Moralism: The Hart-Devlin Debate and Beyond† Ratio Juris 4(2) 202-218 Schauer F, (2005) â€Å"The Social Construction of the Concept of Law: A Reply to Julia Dickinson†, Oxford Journal of Legal Studies 25 (493) Books Devlin P, (1965) â€Å"The Enforcement of Morals†, Oxford University Press, Oxford Detmold M J, (1984) â€Å"The Unity of Law and Morality: A Refutation of Legal Positivism†, London: Routledge Kegan Paul Doherty M, (2003) â€Å"Jurisprudence: The Philosophy of Law†, Third Edition, Old Bailey Press Fuller L, (1969) â€Å"The Morality of Law† Yale (reprinted 2003) H L A Hart, (1963) â€Å"Law, Liberty and Morality†, Oxford University Press, Oxford Lloyd D, (2001) â€Å"Lloyd’s Introduction to Jurisprudence†, Seventh Edition, London, Sweet and Maxwell 1 Footnotes [1] See Fuller L, (1969) â€Å"The Morality of Law† Yale (reprinted 2003) [2] See Doherty M, (2003) â€Å"Jurisprudence: The Philosophy of Law†, Third Edition, Old Bailey Press [3] See further Curzon L, (1992) â€Å"Jurisprudence: The Hart-Fuller Debate† Student Law Review 1992 6 (Sum) 55-56 [4] Schauer F, (2005) â€Å"The Social Construction of the Concept of Law: A Reply to Julia Dickinson†, Oxford Journal of Legal Studies 25 (493) [5] Devlin P, (1965) â€Å"The Enforcement of Morals†, Oxford University Press, Oxford [6] See Devlin P, (1965) â€Å"The Enforcement of Morals†, Oxford University Press, Oxford [7] See See Doherty M, (2003) â€Å"Jurisprudence: The Philosophy of Law†, Third Edition, Old Bailey Press for further discussion on this point [8] H L A Hart, (1963) â€Å"Law, Liberty and Morality†, Oxford University Press, Oxford [9] Lloyd D, (2001) â€Å"Lloyd’s Introduction to Jurisprudence†, Seventh Edition, London, Sweet and Maxwell [10] For further discussion generally see Hayry H, (1991) â€Å"Liberalism and Legal Moralism: The Hart-Devlin Debate and Beyond† Ratio Juris 4(2) 202-218 [11] Detmold M J, (1984) â€Å"The Unity of Law and Morality: A Refutation of Legal Positivism†, London: Routledge Kegan Paul

Shakespeare And Kingship Essay -- William Shakespeare Kings Essays

Shakespeare And Kingship In writing his history plays, Shakespeare was actually commenting on what he thought about the notion of kingship. Through his plays, he questions the divine right of kings, which the kings and the aristocracy used heavily in their favour to win the people's love. In Macbeth, King Richard II and King Henry IV part 1, Shakespeare shows us his opinion of kingship in general. Although the plays are written about individual kings, I think that Shakespeare used the plays as an opportunity to voice his opinion on kings and kingship in general. This was assisted by the fact that he was not prohibited by the true events, because it is well known that all of Shakespeare's plays were written purely for entertainment value, not as a historical record of what occurred. The main notion of kingship that Shakespeare attacks in Macbeth, King Richard II and King Henry IV, is the divine right of kings, where the kings claimed that they were God's counterpart on Earth, and a 'step up' in divinity from the other aristocrats and the common people. In his plays, Shakespeare depicts the kings, and Hal, in King Henry IV, as people who were not, or at least did not act like the direct descendants of God. In Macbeth, he commits treason and murder, the two worst crimes of the day, and neither Duncan nor Macbeth were saved by God, who, according to the theory of the divine right of kings, should have saved Duncan and then Macbeth. When they were killed, they were both king, and therefore the right-hand man of God, the creator, who controls the entire world and who could have stopped them from being killed. In Richard II, Richard bankrupts the country with his blatant mismanagement and his excessive spending on his 'favourites', who are already rich aristocrats, while ignoring the common people who are living in poverty. Richard's behaviour leads to both the aristocracy and the common people disliking him. The aristocrats disliked him because he was bankrupting the country, which they did not like because they were proud to be English and wanted their country to dominate for many more years. The common people disliked Richard because they were living in poverty while Richard was spending huge amounts of money on people who were already wealthy. What Richard did is not the sort of behaviour that is expected from God's representative on Earth, and S... ...he other extreme of kingship - while Macbeth and Richard disregarded the common people, Hal was one of the common people. King Henry fits right into the middle and I think would, by Shakespeare's standards be a perfect king, if only his claim to the throne could not be questioned, particularly the murder of Richard and the "voyage to the Holy Land | to wash this blood from my guilty hand" , which he still hadn't done in the opening scenes of King Henry IV, about a year later. Much of the things that the kings in the plays do may not be an altogether true representation of what they, or even the kings of Shakespeare's day were like. Most of what Shakespeare comments on is his personal opinion - it is he that thinks the kings mistreated and disregarded the common people and he that did not believe in the divine right of kings. It is also important to remember that all of Shakespeare's plays, even the historical ones were above all, written to be entertaining and to impress the Elizabethan audience that they were aimed for. Shakespeare did not write the plays as historical references, but instead as interesting and exciting plays that would make for good, entertaining theatre. Shakespeare And Kingship Essay -- William Shakespeare Kings Essays Shakespeare And Kingship In writing his history plays, Shakespeare was actually commenting on what he thought about the notion of kingship. Through his plays, he questions the divine right of kings, which the kings and the aristocracy used heavily in their favour to win the people's love. In Macbeth, King Richard II and King Henry IV part 1, Shakespeare shows us his opinion of kingship in general. Although the plays are written about individual kings, I think that Shakespeare used the plays as an opportunity to voice his opinion on kings and kingship in general. This was assisted by the fact that he was not prohibited by the true events, because it is well known that all of Shakespeare's plays were written purely for entertainment value, not as a historical record of what occurred. The main notion of kingship that Shakespeare attacks in Macbeth, King Richard II and King Henry IV, is the divine right of kings, where the kings claimed that they were God's counterpart on Earth, and a 'step up' in divinity from the other aristocrats and the common people. In his plays, Shakespeare depicts the kings, and Hal, in King Henry IV, as people who were not, or at least did not act like the direct descendants of God. In Macbeth, he commits treason and murder, the two worst crimes of the day, and neither Duncan nor Macbeth were saved by God, who, according to the theory of the divine right of kings, should have saved Duncan and then Macbeth. When they were killed, they were both king, and therefore the right-hand man of God, the creator, who controls the entire world and who could have stopped them from being killed. In Richard II, Richard bankrupts the country with his blatant mismanagement and his excessive spending on his 'favourites', who are already rich aristocrats, while ignoring the common people who are living in poverty. Richard's behaviour leads to both the aristocracy and the common people disliking him. The aristocrats disliked him because he was bankrupting the country, which they did not like because they were proud to be English and wanted their country to dominate for many more years. The common people disliked Richard because they were living in poverty while Richard was spending huge amounts of money on people who were already wealthy. What Richard did is not the sort of behaviour that is expected from God's representative on Earth, and S... ...he other extreme of kingship - while Macbeth and Richard disregarded the common people, Hal was one of the common people. King Henry fits right into the middle and I think would, by Shakespeare's standards be a perfect king, if only his claim to the throne could not be questioned, particularly the murder of Richard and the "voyage to the Holy Land | to wash this blood from my guilty hand" , which he still hadn't done in the opening scenes of King Henry IV, about a year later. Much of the things that the kings in the plays do may not be an altogether true representation of what they, or even the kings of Shakespeare's day were like. Most of what Shakespeare comments on is his personal opinion - it is he that thinks the kings mistreated and disregarded the common people and he that did not believe in the divine right of kings. It is also important to remember that all of Shakespeare's plays, even the historical ones were above all, written to be entertaining and to impress the Elizabethan audience that they were aimed for. Shakespeare did not write the plays as historical references, but instead as interesting and exciting plays that would make for good, entertaining theatre.

How Can Inter-Proffesional Working Improve the Quality of Health Care

Using appropriate literature this paper will attempt to examine the ways in which interprofessional working can improve the quality of health care. Concepts of interprofessional working will be looked at. Examples observed or carried out on assessment ward in the mental health practice area will be drawn upon to explore the concepts of interprofessional working and quality. Issues relating to interprofessional working will be identified and will explored based on experience. ‘Quality’ is very difficult to define so this will be attempted using certain criteria.The report ‘High Quality Care for All’ published by Lord Darzi (DOH 2009) equates higher quality care with improvements to patient services i. e reducing waiting times for meetings and health care interventions. Also, by giving power to the general practitioner, the report aims to change the way NHS budgets are run. According to the NMC (2008), Nurses must work together with carers, patients, communiti es, groups and other organisations while taking into account their needs and strengths.They must promote health and well being while empowering people to make to make choices and decisions to promote their own self-care. Interprofessional working is an essential concept of the Nursing and Midwifery Council requirement for any qualifying nurse to be deemed competent. This essay will focus on an assessment ward, in a mental health unit at a general hospital. Seeing how important interprofessional working is, key issues affecting interprofessional working will be explored.According to Day (2006), 3 major factors affect interprofessional working. These are systemic, organisation and interactional factors. Systemic factors are factors outside of the organisation that have an impact, be it positive or negative on this organisation. Professional socialisation, professional language, professional tribes and territories, professional codes of conduct and professions/professionalism are all d ifferent aspects of this factor. An example of a key issue would be articulating professional identity.If nurse doesn’t know what unique role they play as a nurse, they will be unable to effectively work together with other professionals. Another factor is the organisational factor. This relates to factors of setup and framework within the organisation. For example, lack of staff during a shift can cause a serious problem cause communication breakdown between management and nursing/healthcare assistants. The last factor that Day (2006) pointed out was the interactional factor.Interactional factors relate to a process of collaboration that occurs between two individuals. Lack of communication, lack of willingness to collaborate and professional stereotypes all come under this factor. Now the factors that can affect interprofessional working have been covered, looking at what works effectively within the chosen admissions ward under the mental health unit is the next step. When looking at those systemic factors it’s apparent that professional language is very important and used through-out the ward among professionals to communicate.For example the nurse asked the student to do go do a UDS screening and some vital obs on patient B. The student nurse is familiar with this professional jargon and carries out what has been asked where as if this was asked of someone on the ward for the first time they would not know what to do. A way to solve this would be to keep professional jargon strictly among professionals and to make communication between a patient and a professional as clear and easy-to-understand as possible.The NMC professional codes of conduct are referred to a lot on the ward when dealing with students and the hospital trust policy is also referred to in an attempt to make all students aware of expectation to pass their respective placements. How does this relate to interprofessional working? Professional codes of conduct always promote go od interprofessional working, for social workers the GSCC (2002) states ‘recognising and respecting the roles and expertise of others from other agencies and working in partnership with them’, for doctors the GMC (2001) states ‘Respect the skills and contributions of your colleagues.Communicate effectively with colleagues within and outside of the team. On the ward, professional socialisation problems were not very apparent because the health care professionals present during meetings were always willing the take on board the different philosophies and theoretical bases present during the meeting and try to reach a common goal for the patient. Open discussions on different perspectives can help other professional overcome this problem.When looking at organisational factors on the ward, the ward appears very well structured as everyone knows what to do any point during the day. The use a of a white board to write down the duties and responsibilities of the professi onals based on the ward made it clear ‘who was doing what’ and limited any confusion. The ward design and function aid interprofessional working by bring all the professionals together regularly and by allowing them to use the same meeting rooms.The regular team meetings also greatly improves interprofessional working on the ward and ward rounds always comprise of health care assistants and nurses who effectively pass on informationâ€Å"â€Å"â€Å"â€Å"â€Å"â€Å"â€Å"â€Å"â€Å"â€Å"â€Å"â€Å"â€Å"â€Å"â€Å"â€Å"â€Å"â€Å"â€Å"â€Å"â€Å"â€Å"â€Å"â€Å"â€Å"â€Å"â€Å"â€Å"â€Å"â€Å"â€Å"â€Å"â€Å"â€Å"â€Å"â€Å"â€Å"â€Å"â€Å"â€Å"1n from the previous shift to the staff taking the new shift. The doctors round is similar because nurses doctors, ward managers and some other health care professional may be present to discuss patient on a case by case basis. The use of Rio (the intranet patient dat abase) is invaluable as an effective interprofessional tool.Patients are accessible by all health care professionals and progress notes are regularly recorded for patient by a variety of professional so reading through on the ward can give a clear picture of what’s the patient’s current progress. A good team leader is also important in term of interprofessional working. On the ward, the team leader is an essential component. She/he can make or break a ward structure. In this case the ward manager was excellent, friendly, professional and willing to solve any problems that occur between members of staff.The interactional factors also affect the interprofessional working on the ward. Professional stereotyping doesn’t occur much on the ward because most all of the staff come from a wide variety of countries and religions so there is a lot of mutual respect. Professional stereotyping of patients wasn’t a frequent thing but did occasional happen i. e a nurse e xpecting a patient to behave a certain way because of their racial background. Generally negative stereotyping should be frowned upon but positive stereotyping of patient which would improve their outcome should be capitalised on.Way to reduce this would be interprofessional education courses. Issues with lack of communication on the ward were not frequent but did occur. Staff forgetting to mention or document key occurrences or incidents during the day, lead to a few problems with interprofessional working as the doctors could not act on information they did not have. Having had time to look at different issues on the ward and solutions as to how to solve them, the barriers of interprofessional working otherwise not highlighted previously will be looked at.Lack of knowledge about other professionals can cause a break down in interprofessional working. Knowing the different roles people play will aid you when needing to refer a patient or when a patient is concerned with a particula r issues you cannot handle yourself professionally. For example a patients housing issues should be handle by his/her social worker. Another issues is the different levels of authority most systems in healthcare have. This can create a lot of interprofessional working barriers.For example, nurses might find it difficult to communicate with a senior manager because of concerns about their position. Sharing information can also become a barrier when professional do not share all the information they have received regarding a care in their care. This can put other professionals at risk by then giving patients care, without taking into account what the last outcome was. For example, a patient telling a social worker that he cant have ibuprofen tablets because they make him sick.This information not being passed on to the Mental health team could result in ibuprofen being prescribed for him and he subsequently becoming very ill. Conflict can occur regarding the relationship with the pati ent. If a professional is over familiar with the patient it could lead to an impaired judgement and therefore conflict with the mental health team. Team size on the ward also affects the way in which professionals can perform their duties and interact with the other professionals. Conflict can arise if the team is understaffed.Resentment towards management, a lack of willingness to co-operate, undermined patient care can all emerge if these issues are allowed to continue. According to Goodman and Clemow (2010), several strategies can be used to improve interprofessional working which in turn will improve the overall care given to the patient and by definition, the quality of care will improve. Clinical supervision and engaging in reflection. The use of managerial support The development of realistic expectations Reinforcement of professional identityEvaluating current roles and practices Training and education for interprofessional working These are very effective strategies to mini mise barriers in effective communication. Clinical supervision is very important in ironing out minor issues and the communication lines open and transparent. The use of reflection as a tool to improve interprofessional is very good. Reflection can help a professional analyse and review the way in which they have been communicating. Was it effective enough? Was all the information passed on? Was it all understood?Was the information relevant? How was my tone of voice? Was i being fair? These are some of the question a professional can ask themselves to improve their communication with other professionals. Managers are their to support the professional on the ground. The proper use of manager to support any issues or problem you may be having with another professional is essential. People are very diverse and working in a large team of different personalities and philosophies will lead to conflict so it’s important to use the managerial support available to all on the team.Exp ecting realistic outcomes can really improve the interprofessional working because when professional work together they sometimes rely on a number of steps to be completed before, they can start their aspect of patient care. Having an understanding of the workload, stresses and time management issues another professional faces prevent barriers in communication from occurring. The use of badges, uniforms and i. d cards help reinforcement professional identity and improve interprofessional working. If it’s clear what roles a professionals serve the moment they approach any professional on the ward.It grants immediate trust in their role and improves their communication. Reflecting on the formative assessment. It was a very rich learning experience and proved how difficult it is to work in a team when people have serious difference in opinion. At one point the people were excluded from the group and things got very uncomfortable but in the end, we were able to push through our d ifferences and work out an essay which we all agreed to present. Our topic was learning and disabilities and the group scenario was based on my experience in a learning and disabilities placement.So I wrote the scenario which was used during the essay. It was a very good experience from me to reflect on placement and see how my experience on placement was represented in terms of an interprofessional working presentation. To summarise, the topic was introduced and attempts to identify the concepts of interprofessional working and ‘quality care’ were made. A practice setting was identified and was subsequently used to give examples. Following the introduction factors that contribute to interprofessional working were explored. Advantage and disadvantages of interprofessional working were highlighted.Key issues of interprofessional working were identified. These barriers were explained using examples and personal experience in the practice setting. These barriers were explo red in depth and examples were given. Lastly, several strategies were identified that would improve interprofessional working and would prevent barriers from occurring. These were explored and examples were also given. Now that interprofessional working has been explored, the effect is has on professionals, the practice area, the structure of the hospital, the interactions between professional and ultimately the patients.The concept of Quality care explain by Lord Darzi states a number of ways to improve services, patient waiting times, GP involvement in budgets but most importantly it is implied that making improvements between service and their professional i. e interprofessional working will directly improve the quality of care. This essay has tried to show the effects of interprofessional working on professional will always translate to the patient, be it negatively r positively. It is up to the professional of the current of future generations to make sure that our interprofess ional working improves the care we give our patientsREFRENCE LIST Barrett, S. T. (2005). Interprofessional Working in Health and Social Care. China: Palgrave Macmillian Codes of practice. [online] (2010). General Social Care Council. Available from: http://www. gscc. org. uk/cmsFiles/Registration/Codes%20of%20Practice/CodesofPracticeforSocialCareWorkers. pdf [Accessed on April 5 2012] Day. (2006). Inter-professional Working; an essential guide for health and social care professionals. Cheltenham: Nelson Thornes Department of Health. [online]. (2009). High Quality Care for All: Our journey so far. Available from: http://www. h. gov. uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/DH_101670 [Accessed on April 5 2012] Ellis, G. K. (2006). Interpersonal Communication in Nursing: Theory and practice. (2nd ed). London: Elsevier Goodman, R. C. (2010). Nursing and collaborative practice: A guide to inter-professional learning and working. (2nd ed). Cornwall: Learn ing Matters Healthcare Policy. [online]. (2005). British Medical Association. Available from: http://www. bma. org. uk/healthcare_policy/healthcarerural. jsp? page=12 [Accessed on April 5 2012]

The Pros and Cons to Physical Education

The Pros and Cons of Physical Education Most of us remember gym class. For many of us, it was the most hated or the most anticipated class. Those that were a little bit heavier or not as athletically inclined may remember the class as a nightmare, while others may remember it as the most exciting time of the day. Either way, physical education was required. Today, however, the necessity of physical education classes is up for debate. Parents, faculty, council members, and even the government are weighing the pros and cons of allowing physical education in school.I believe that even though the funding being used to pay for equipment and gymnasiums could be better spent on books and materials for other classes, physical education should stay in school because it provides healthy exercise for children and teens. It also gives the less fortunate but deserving children a chance to play and excel in sports. Obesity is a huge concern in America today. We see more children, teens and adults eating unhealthy foods and not receiving enough exercise than any other point in history.According to the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry website, in 2008 between 16% and 33% of children and teens were considered obese . That is approximately one in four children who is over the suggested body fat limit for their age. What causes these children and adolescents to become overweight? Lack of exercise and a healthy diet are the main reasons. â€Å"In the 2009 edition of America’s Health Rankingsâ„ ¢, it is estimated that obesity will cost the United States about $344 billion in medical-related expenses by 2018, eating up about 21 percent of the nation’s health-care spending. (National Association for Sport and Physical Education. 2009) Though school system cannot control what these children do and eat at home but they can control the food they eat at school . The school system can also provide the minimum amount of exercise needed in a child’s life. By insisting that they attend and participate in at least 60 minutes of physical education a day, the school system is ensuring that each child is given a chance to exercise and a chance at a healthier lifestyle. Children, especially when started at a young age, are easy to mold.If they participate in daily physical exercise they are more inclined to establish a lifelong habit of daily exercise that will help to prevent obesity in adulthood and reduce the chance of expensive medical bills due to health issues in the future. There is, of course, a down side to physical education. Many children, but especially teens have self-esteem issues. If they happen to be a little bit overweight or advancing through puberty more rapidly than others or sometimes, for no reason at all these children feel the need to hide themselves.Unfortunately, a class like physical education is not the best place to hide. No parent wants his or her child to be miserable, which is why some parents are say ing that they believe the physical education class should not be mandatory. JoAnne Matthews-Saunders, a creative movement specialist, states that â€Å"few individuals, whether or not they have a disability, are willing to try new conce pts, and they are even less likely to try them while surrounded by their peers. The idea of â€Å"failing† is not a concept that anyone embraces. I, as an adult, have a difficult time when it comes to failing or not measuring up to some of my peers, especially when it concerns sports. Teens and children are the same but many, as yet, do not have the skills to accept the fact that they will not always be the best. This leads to feelings of defeat and again, low self esteem . Added to that, there is always peer criticism, which is very hard at any age but imagine a young person entering middle school or high school and being told that they would have to shower and dress with the other students of their gender .That alone could cause anxiety but for those students with self-esteem issues, in their mind it would be close to torture . There are, however, parents, teachers and other professionals who believe that physical education will raise a child's self-esteem. Professionals have stated that â€Å"youth receiving additional physical activity ten to show improved attributes such as increased brain function and nourishment, higher energy/concentration levels, changes in body build affecting self esteem, increased self esteem and better behavior†¦ (Cocke, 2002)(Tremblay, Inman, & Willms, 2000)(Dwyer, Coonan, Leitch, Hetzel, & Baghurst, 1983)(Shephard, 1997)(Scheuer, Mitchell, 2003). As one can see, there are conflicting opinions on the subject of allowing students to choose whether they want to participate in physical education. It would seem that the health benefits outweigh other arguments but parents and psychologists still suggest that the physical education class raises psychological issues. Another issue that has been raised is the cost of physical education classes.Many parents, faculty and concerned taxpayers believe that the money used to provide gym equipment, uniforms, fields, gymnasiums and the like could be better spent in different areas of the school There are so many schools that are lacking in materials, books and computers , the money being spent in physical education classes could be used to provide these items and perhaps give a child a better education then he or she may have otherwise received . According to the 2010 Federal Budget Update on US Department of Education Grants, the President is proposing a $78,000,000 budget towards the Carol M.White Physical Education Program. The website does state, however, that â€Å"the President has proposed a budget, but no Congressional action has been taken on the 2010 Education budget yet. At this point in the process, it we do not yet know which programs will materialize and at what amount. Congress may reject or change part or all of the proposed budget, though the President’s suggestions do seem to be more in line with Congressional efforts in recent years than the previous administration’s education proposals . † (2009) As one may be able to see, even Congress is debating the cost of school programs.There is no information stating how much of that funding would be going toward physical education classes but the question still remains of whether it should be used toward providing for other programs. While the placement of funding is still up for debate the fact that physical education classes provide a chance to play sports is not. At the private school I attended the school paid for the field and transportation for our sports but equipment, such as soccer balls, had to be donated or we would need to provide our own. My uniform, for example, and all other equipment I needed for my position as goal keeper, my parents had to purchase.Policies are different at every school and most state-fu nded schools supply the equipment needed. Even though some schools may, not every school provides transportation to and from home to extracurricular activities. For children whose families are unable to shuttle them back and forth to their practices and games when other transportation is unavailable, physical education is the only time they have any chance to play a spor t. It provides children and teens a chance for competitive exercise, companionship, teamwork and a desire to participate in sports and healthy activities outside of school.In the end everything boils down to the same question: Should physical education be mandatory? According to a report from Education. com â€Å"physical activity produces overall physical, psychological and social benefits. Inactive children are likely to become inactive adults. Physical activity helps children with controlling weight, reducing blood pressure, raising HDL (â€Å"good†) cholesterol, reducing the risk of diabetes, and improve d psychological well-being, including gaining more self-confidence and higher self-esteem. † (n. d. This statement as well as others that have been provided show that there are more benefits to mandatory physical education in schools such as health benefits, sports, and teamwork but the cost of the class and possible emotional stress still leave many questioning its necessity. I personally believe that the class should be mandatory. Children and teens should be allowed to make certain choices in their young live s but in this case I believe that it is in their best interest to participate physical education classes.