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Showing posts from January 7, 2007

LEADERSHIP

We have reached a real low point in leadership, lower than at any other time in recent history. A leader, is an individual who upholds what is best for all people, even if it may not be in his or her own interest to do so. A leadership role must be approached as a temporary role, preserving something greater than the self—principles of enduring and lasting value. This embodies an attitude that focuses on the task at hand and not on what the leader may gain from the position. This idea seems at odds with what we see happening around us. In all too many arenas, we see leaders holding nothing in trust for those they purport to serve, instead merely advancing their own ideals and hopes. It is often difficult to tell whether our leaders are serving themselves or us. And it is all too common to find leaders simply helping themselves to privilege, prosperity and power. Where are our leaders leading? Throughout time, leaders who have exhibited the proper kind of custodianship—that is, leaders

TEACHERS' RESPONSIBILITY

Children have everything to learn. This should be their main preoccupation in order to prepare themselves for a useful and productive life.Education means three things, to teach how to observe and know rightly the facts on which they have to form a judgement; secondly , to train the children to think fruitfully and soundly; thirdly, to fit the children to use their knowledge and their thought effectively for their own and the common good. Capacity of observation and knowledge, capacity of intelligence and judgement, capacity of action and high character are required for the citizenship of a rational order of society; a general deficiency in any of these is sure source of failure.As the children grow up, they must discover in themselves the thing of things which interest them most and which they are capable of doing well. There are latent faculties to be developed. There are also faculties to be discovered.Children must be taught to like to overcome difficulties, and also that this give

CAREER EDUCATION

A rather recent innovation in education is career education. Selected educators have felt that students graduating from the schools have not received adequate information on career opportunities. Further, it is felt that the school students, upon graduation, have not been prepared for selecting a career when entering the labour market. Individuals too frequently have drifted into a career rather than selecting a vocation which is satisfying to the individual.As students progress through the school years, they are to achieve relevant objectives pertaining to understanding, skills, and attitudes in career education. A variety of learning experiences, such as using films, filmstrips, slides, reading materials, resources personnel, and excursions, among others, should aid learners in understanding diverse careers. Work experience for high school students definitely is important in programmes of career education.Questions that can be asked about programmes in career education could be the f

The Mixed Reaction of Globalization

Globalization and the attendant concerns about poverty and inequality have become a focus of discussion in a way that few other topics, except for international terrorism or global warming, have. Most people have a strong opinion on globalization, and all of them express an interest in the well-being of the world's poor. The financial press and influential international officials confidently assert that global free markets expand the horizons for the poor, whereas activist-protesters hold the opposite belief with equal intensity. Yet the strength of people's conviction is often in inverse proportion to the amount of robust factual evidence they have.As is common in contentious public debates, different people mean different things by the same word. Some interpret "globalization" to mean the global reach of communications technology and capital movements, some think of the outsourcing by domestic companies in rich countries, and others see globalization as a byword for

DEVELOPMENT

Development refers to improvements in the conditions of people's lives, such as health, education, and income. It occurs at different rates in different countries. The U.S. underwent its own version of development when it became an independent nation in 1776:The average American earned about $1,000 a year in today's dollars, compared with $30,000 today.One in five children died before their first birthday, compared with about one in 143 today.Less than 50% of white children, and almost no black children, went to school; today almost all American children finish primary school.On average, Americans were about four times richer than the people of the world's poorest countries; they are 100 times richer today.Poor countries have experienced improvement as well. Over the past 50 years, there has been more progress in reducing poverty and improving health and education than at any other time in history. Over this period:Diseases such as smallpox and river blindness that formerly