Help

My literacy skills helped me achieve a personal goal which is to work as a computer engineer for a multinational information technology organization like Hewlett Packard, Dell, Microsoft etc., One has to be fluent in English and technically competent in order to get through the interview and also to succeed at work. English is needed in every aspect of today’s modern world to communicate with people at work irrespective of their origin. Since my teenage I wanted to become a computer engineer and work for multinational organization which not only pays well but also will have the opportunity to travel abroad. I am from a middle class Indian family where bearing the costs of studying from an English medium school is hard and yet my parents helped me study in English medium school.

I studied English medium during all my schooling which helped me develop my literacy skills. I started learning computers since my 10th grade. . This was the time of mid 1995 when the computer classes were first introduced in my school in India and I was one of the member of the first batches that was offered the basics of computer and little bit of programming. This was the beginning and I was getting interested to learn more about computers. We also had to take up a exam at the end of the course to prove our competency in the subject though it was not part of the 10th grade board exam.

I scored 83 out of 100 which gave me confidence that I can succeed in this field of study. From there on during my 11th and 12th grade I took computer science as my specialization and also completed Bachelor’s Degree in computer science. After my graduation it was time to look for my dream job but consulting with friends, family and seniors in college I realized that the degree that I earned is not just enough to get my dream job and due to my interest in Hardware and Networking I immediately joined specialization course in computer hardware and networking which is a rigorous training for one year in a private institute to equip myself with the right skills and be competent to face the job interviews.

While pursuing the course, I got a job from a small local computer hardware firm which I only worked for couple of days and quit as I was not able to continue the course. Immediately after completing specialization in computer hardware and networking I started looking for my dream job. I initially started attending job interviews of non multinational organizations to understand the interview process and also to know my weaknesses so that I could improve myself.

The interview process usually includes four rounds, first round is the written test which comprises of aptitude test, English grammar, computer hardware and computer networking, second round is a group discussion or communication round where a topic will be given and we will need to effectively discuss about the topic with proper tone and confidence, third round is a technical round where I will have to face an interview with computer hardware expert and final round will be with human resources personnel who will talk about the joining process and company policies and procedures if selected for the job.

After attending a few interviews for different organizations and not able to succeed through the interviews, I worked on my weakness and was able to finally obtain a job in a multinational information technology organization Hewlett Packard in India as a Technical Support Engineer with the help of my literacy skills and technical competency. It was August 11 2003, 9 pm when all the interview process was completed and confirmed that I got through the interview and secured a job. That was the proudest and which was so sweet. My family also was so proud of me about .

As I started working for Hewlett Packard I never looked back. I had to go through training process for another couple of months on Hewlett Packard products and also soft skills on how to talk to customers on phone. My job included communicating with the United States customers of Hewlett Packard and help them fix any issues with the Hewlett Packard products. With the skills I obtained academically and professionally I was able to succeed in the job which helped not only me to grow but also my family. After 2 years to further improve my literacy skills I pursued Master’s Degree in computer applications from a distance education university in India while I was working. This further enhanced my competency and helped me secure a much better position at work.

Thus my literacy skills helped me get my dream job in a multinational organization which not only helped me grow personally and professionally but also my family grow economically. This is a dream come true.

Climate change is the significant change in the earth’s climate during a period of 30 years. Some governments may be more willing than others to help tackle climate due to advantages and disadvantages for their countries.

Some governments may not agree to tackle climate change as it could affect their economy. An example of this are NCI’s, for example China. China is behind the mass production of many products therefore their carbon emissions are very high. Tackling climate change may not be in the interest of China as it could mean a negative affect on the countries growth and industrialisation. This may be why some governments may be more willing than others to help tackle climate.

Developing countries may also be reluctant in tackling climate change as they may argue that it is the responsibility of MEDCs as they are the one’s who emit the most carbon dioxide. They may believe that as they are not the one’s contributing highly to climate change they should not invest money into tackling it. This money could be used for things such as food, clothing and medicine which they may believe are more important than helping the climate. Why should developing countries have to suffer for the damaged MEDCs are doing just to live luxurious lives. This is why developing countries may be reluctant to tackle climate change.

Some countries such as Norway are more willing to tackle climate change. This is because they believe it is in their people’s interest to tackle climate change as preventing climate change now will make a huge beneficial impact in the long term. “Norway, UK, U.S. Allocate $280 Million to Stop Deforestation”. Norway has already started investing money to tackle climate change, this because of pressure from the people in Norway, to avoid conflict the government has seen it is in their best interest to listen to their people and invest money in stopping climate change. This may be why some governments may be more willing than others to help tackle climate.

Some LEDCs may want to tackle climate change as it will be very beneficial in the future. This relates to countries such as the Maldives and Bangladesh. Both countries are low laying countries and if the impacts of climate change keeps getting worse than both countries are at risk of being of being underwater due to the huge increase in sea level rise. By tackling climate change they are taking away this risk. Also it is in the interest of other countries to help them as losing a lot of land due to flooding will mean loss of huge amounts of space.

Bangladesh is densely populated if it were to lose its land; the people would need to move to other countries taking over their land and space, ultimately increasing their chance of natural disasters. Also Maldives is a country where the government want set an example, to show what it is like to be carbon neutral. Therefore by tackling climate change now they could start a whole new revolution having a very positive impact on the world.

Countries such as the Philippines will be very eager to start tackling climate change now, especially because of recent events. The government has seen the consequences of not taking action during hurricane Hyan; where huge scales of damage occurred. If the Philippines had tackled climate change before they may have been able to save many lives. Therefore countries such as the Philippines may be more willing than other to tackle climate change.

Explain what is meant by this statement and discuss specific fiscal measures that the UK government has implemented in recent years to influence economic activity in the built environment.

Definitions:

Fiscal Policy:

“A combination of government spending and taxation used to achieve macroeconomic management. (The flow of government money in and out of the treasury. ” (Danny Myers, 2006, pgs 75&126)

Macroeconomic Objectives:

“Targets relating to the whole economy, such as employment, price, stability and the balance of payments. ” (Danny Myers, 2006, pg128) The Governments Macroeconomic (nations economy) objectives:

1. Low inflation/stable prices
2. Sustained economic growth
3. Low unemployment
4. Balance of payments between imports and exports (keeping money within the country as well as spending abroad
5. Environmental protection
6. Redistribution of income and wealth to poor

Recent Years:

The fiscal measures looked at in this essay will be taken from 1990 onwards.

Economic Activity:

“The production and distribution of goods and services at all levels. ” (Wall Street Words, David L. Scott. 2003)

The Built Environment:

“The built environment is made up of various types of property (residential, commercial, industrial etc); linked by infrastructure (sewers, canals, roads, tunnels etc) and separated by spaces in between (parks, woods, playing fields, landscaped areas, squares etc)”. (Danny Myers, 2006, pg6)

Aggregate Demand:

“All planned expenditures for the entire economy summed together.” (Danny Myers, 2006, pg123)  By influencing Government taxation and expenditure, aggregate demand can be stimulated to achieve Macroeconomic objectives such as; price stability, full employment and economic growth. It is the total demand for goods and services in an economy.

Expansionary Fiscal Policy:

Increase in government spending and/or a decrease in taxes that causes the government’s budget deficit to increase or budget surplus to decrease. This is a method used in a recession to stimulate the economy by providing each household with more disposable income, which can be used for consumption expenditures, which then stimulates aggregate production. It also decreases unemployment, which leads to further increases in income.

Contrationary Fiscal Policy:

• Decrease in government spending and/or an increase in taxes that causes the government’s budget deficit to decrease or its budget surplus to increase.
• Decreases the amount of disposable income per household meaning the output and national income is less.

Explanation of Statement:

‘Governments use fiscal policy to help them to achieve their macroeconomic objectives’ Fiscal policy deals with the governments spending and taxation. There are two types of fiscal policy, Expansionary and Contrationary. When the government needs to stimulate the economy by increasing public spending then they will decrease taxes so that each household has more disposable income to be spent on consumer goods. In turn this puts more money back into the economy, creating more jobs and encouraging economic growth.An increase in aggregate demand leads to a higher inflation as there is more money being spent on limited goods and services, which pushes the prices up. To counteract this the government decreases taxation and spending, so that consumer households have less disposable income to spend on goods and services, this decreases aggregate demand and brings inflation back down with it. To achieve a balance of stable prices the government must mediate between the two.

Specific Fiscal Measures:

Stamp Duty Holiday:

The Stamp Duty holiday was introduced in September 2008 whereby properties worth between ? 125,000 and ? 175,000 were to be temporarily exempt from stamp duty. The stamp duty on this particular property bracket was 1% of the sale price, therefore saving a potential ? 1,750. The intention of the holiday was to boost demand in the property market by encouraging first time buyers to take advantage of the saving and buy a house. More money is then borrowed as people take advantage of this, which has the effect of boosting the mortgage market as well.According to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML), 132,500 house purchase mortgage transactions have benefited from the holiday; this is the equivalent of 25% of the overall 486,400 house purchase loans in the period. Buyers have saved 173 million from the holiday rather than the 600 million the government forecasted. The success is questionable as the incentive was supposedly directed at lower income areas to the North, the Midlands, Wales and Scotland where as, the majority of the benefits have gone to the richer areas in the SE.

As this area in particular was hit by the recession the least and where the housing market is the strongest, the governmental loss of the taxation seems to have been wasted. The holiday ended on the 31st December 2009. Although there has been a brief stimulation in the current housing market the number of transactions is still at an all time low. The figures may fall further now that stamp duty has been reinstated, meaning that the government may have to explore other options.

Aggregates Levy

“The Aggregates levy is a tax on sand, gravel and rock that is dug from the ground or dredged from the sea in UK waters.The tax addresses the environmental damage caused by these business activities in the form of noise, dust and loss of biodiversity. ” The Levy was introduced on the 1st April 2002 setting out to address the macroeconomic objective of environmental protection while trying to retain sustainable economic growth. The idea is that the tax should make the cost of the aggregates better reflect the cost to the environment and should therefore influence business decisions to become more eco-friendly and efficient.

In terms of the Built Environment this encourages sustainable development, “The creation and responsible management of a healthy built environment based on resources efficient and ecological principals” (Charles. Kibert,1994). This definition incorporates six principals, (Miyatake, 1996)

• Minimisation of resource consumption
• Maximisation of resource reuse
• Use renewable and recyclable resources
• Protection of the natural environment
• Creation of a healthy and non-toxic environment
• The pursuit of quality in creating the built environment

There is an argument that taxes such as this will damage international

Competitiveness

The common object of development is to keep the cost as low as possible, to have a minimal construction period and to have the best quality possible. With increased taxation on these materials investors may become more cautious due to the rising cost, which is to be kept as low as possible, therefore there is a possibility of the UK losing international business. This is just part of the problem between economic growth and environmental protection as both have the potential to hinder the other. However some of the tax revenue accumulated will go towards a sustainability fund.

This will be spent through various agencies to promote new innovative ways to protect the environment and provide good quality construction at the same time. The Aggregate levy is a further development of the original ‘Landfill Tax of 1996. ’ This was set to influence the management of waste by encouraging a movement away from the cost of disposing waste in a landfill to a cheaper and more productive way of reusing waste materials. Both have helped to make businesses greener which agrees with the macroeconomic objective of Environmental protection.

The Thames Gateway Regeneration Project

The Thames gateway regeneration project includes an area stretching 40 miles East of inner East London, both sides of the Thames and the Estuary. The area has been targeted for urban regeneration by both government and developers. There are an estimated 1.6 million people living in this area, which has been deemed one of the most depraved in the UK. This is because of the lack of access to public transport, services, employment and affordable quality housing. The government wishes to gentrify this brownfield site to make the most of the economic potential of the gateway, and to encourage new investment and job opportunities. The Government Delivery Plan, 29th November 2007, Yvette Cooper) The project is co-ordinated by The Department For Communities and Local Government who continue to invest 3bn every year alongside the regional development agencies, the London Development agency, the East England Development agency and the SE England Development agency. (Thames Gateway Annual Report 2008/09).

The Gateway project was drawn up in 1995 with the government hoping to achieve 225,000 new jobs and 200,000 new houses by 2016. In this area there is emphases on developing town centres, public spaces and infrastructure to attract new investment to expand the economy. The Government hopes for this project to lead the way in terms of environmental jobs, new technologies and environmental improvements to existing homes and buildings. The Government is insuring this by providing funds for an eco-risk assessment of the housing programmes, energy savings methods for green housing and a zero construction waste target across the gateway. This project seems to have a lot of potential, however the timing of the recession limits the productivity and investment that it needs. The shortage of mortgages makes it difficult to sell the new housing at the arranged rices, which in turn can reduce investor confidence when companies are to buy up the land for housing developments.

Conclusion

From this essay it is clear that to some extent fiscal policies can be used to help achieve macroeconomic objectives. From the examples shown, a combination of taxation and government expenditure has been directed at particular areas in the built environment to attain certain results. The construction industry makes up a large proportion of the UK economy and the government seems to be very focused on the issue of sustainable economic growth and environmental protection.

The policies such as the ‘Aggregates levy’ and ‘landfill tax’ are addressing the objective of Environmental protection by playing a large part in the way buildings are constructed or demolished. By promoting the use of recycling of materials and reuse, the future of development will change for the better. This is seen in the Thames gateway regeneration project where they are leading the way for the future of construction by using eco friendly and sustainable methods. At the same time they are creating a huge investment opportunity, which will lead to the continued sustained growth of our economy.

There will be an improved standard of living for the people who once lived in a depraved area by increasing the once lower levels of employment. From the Stamp Duty we can see that the government was trying to use this tax break to boost the property sector of the UK economy in a time of decline. However I do not believe that this has necessarily achieved its goal. The housing market may well fall again and the aim of helping people of lower income to get on the property ladder has not had its desired effect as the benefits did not go to the poorer areas in mind.

Abstract

The first section of the paper discusses the physical, cultural and social features that distinguish tourist destinations. The second part distinguishes between two developing and developed tourist destinations. The last section discusses the impact of climate change and the increased interest in sustainability for a tourist destination.

Cultural, Social and Physical Features Distinguishing

Tourist Destinations

Rodriguez-Santos et al. (2013) maintain that the ability of destinations to attract tourists depends on the available features of interest. Such features include the cultural, social and physical characteristics of a place. They play a central role in influencing tourists’ perceptions regarding the destinations. The level of appeal of the destinations may also depend on the pre-conceived ideas and interests of tourists. For instance, human beings have psychological representation of reality around them (Rodriguez-Santos et al. 2013). In other words, regardless of the true image of a particular destination, people may develop different opinions about the place. The psychological representations differ from one individual to another. Once the cultural, social and physical features have been experienced by many people, it may lose value. People share their cultural experiences through documentaries, journals and books. In other words, people always seek new destinations that have not been flooded by other tourists (Hudman & Jackson 2003).
Cultural studies focus on how traditional communities live in different places. The traditional communities have diverse customs, art, music, diets, religious beliefs, architectural designs and history. Cultural features may also include historic cities that have facilities such as museums and theatres (Hudman & Jackson 2003). The cultural features influence how people live in such different parts of the continent. People are attracted to different cultures because they want to develop first-hand experiences to satisfy their cultural curiosities. For instance, tourists visit Caribbean countries such as Bahamas and Cuba to experience their distinctive diet. The social features that distinguish various places may include festivals, rituals, values, lifestyle and manner of worship. The uniqueness of the social practices attracts people who would like to develop authentic experiences of the features (Hudman & Jackson 2003). The physical features that distinguish various places include mountains, valleys, water bodies, wildlife environmental conditions and beaches (Hudman & Jackson 2003). The physical features may be natural or manmade. The aspects of the physical features vary from one place to another. For instance, during winter seasons in European countries, most people travel to places such as Kenya and Tanzania to experience their warm climate and sandy beaches. People visit Dubai to experience their architectural designs.
A Comparison of the Physical, Cultural and Social Features of Two Developing and Two Developed Major Tourist Destinations

Kenya (Developing) Tanzania (Developing) England (Developed) Greece (Developed)

Physical Features Malindi has extensive coral reefs and sandy beaches. The country also contains a part of the second largest freshwater lake in the world; lake Victoria. Mount Kenya is the second highest in Africa. Samburu national reserve attracts much wildlife because of river Ewaso Nyiro. Lamu Island is Kenya’s sceneries that have attractive landscapes. It also provides a native feeling because it has not been modified in any way since independence. The most famous physical feature in Tanzania is Mount Kilimanjaro. It is the highest mountain in Africa. The country also has various sandy beaches along the coastal areas. It has national parks such as Arusha and Katavi that host different species of wildlife. The region also has most rare wildlife species such as the black rhinos. The country has old buildings with ancient architectural designs such as the Stone Town in Zanzibar. England has a variety of preserved architectural designs such as Warwick Castle. The country also contains various amusement and theme parks such as pleasure beach black pool, Alton towers and Thorpe park among others. It has aquariums such as the blue planet aquarium and national sea life centre. Archeological sites and cities such as Thera, Acropolis of Rhodes, Acropolis of Lindos, Athens and Argos. The country also contains some geographical sceneries such as Samaria Gorge and mount Athos.

Cultural features

The 42 ethnic groups in Kenya make it a comprehensive resource for cultural studies. Each tribe has cultural practices that are unique. For instance, the Maasai community provides attraction because of the way they have preserved their culture in the midst of civilization brought by technology and industrialization.
The unique combination of historic and cultural factors has influenced the people to develop common ideas regarding pride and cohesion. The development of common ideas has helped the country to remain peaceful for a long time while other countries such as Uganda engage in civil wars. The theme of nationalism has been achieved because of the fact that the different ethnic groups in the country have a common language and similar cultural practices.
England attracts tourists because it has various ancient evidences of cultural histories. Such evidences are contained in historic houses, museums and gardens among others. Part of their heritage is manifested in the way they preserve nature.
The people of Greece have rich ancient histories regarding war and their way of life. The most outstanding aspect of this feature exists in the way they have managed to preserve some intimate aspects of their history through artifacts and museums.

Social Features

The diversity in the ethnic groups also provides a range of social features that attract tourists. The country has 42 different languages, various religions. There are distinct practices or manner of worship within religions. For instance, within Christianity, there are the “Legio Maria” from Luo community and “Akorino” from the Kikuyu community”.
The most outstanding social feature of Tanzania is the Swahili language. Most scholars maintain that the people from the region speak the original form of the language. They also have a distinctive type of music. The region is dominated by the Christian and Islamic religions.
The country has one of the largest street festivals in the world; the Notting hill festival. It also has one of the largest Latin-America festivals in the world; Carnaval del Pueblo.
The Athens Festival is one of the largest in the world. It has a history that extends to more than 50 years. The festival has distinctive music, theatre and dance style.

Cohen classified tourists into four categories depending on their characteristics. The categories include the organized mass tourist, the individual mass tourist, the explorer and drifter (Woodside & Martin 2008). The organized mass tourists are the least audacious. They harbor simple needs and spend a lot of time in fixed locations. The individual mass tourists may use facilities provided by the tour companies. Explorers arrange their trips and accommodation. They may live within the communities as an integration strategy (Woodside & Martin 2008). Drifters tend to identify with the host communities by engaging in income generating activities. Greece is known for her archeological sites and attractive landscape. Most of the people who visit archeological sites are explorers. They have independent transport system and move from one site to another (Sharma 2005). Greece has several archeological sites. The individual mass tourists focus on experiencing the landscape of most regions within Greece. They rely upon tour guides to help them navigate places (Sharma 2005).
The key characteristics in Kenya that attract tourism are the diversity in wildlife species, cultural diversity and constantly warm climate. Based on Cohen’s classification of tourists, the organized mass tourists visit most parts of the coastal regions with the sole purpose of enjoying the warm climate and life at the beach of Malindi (Sharma 2005). The people who visit the national and game reserves fall under the individual mass tourists. They seek to experience the diverse wildlife species in different national and game parks. They rely on tour guides for facilities and operate from particular places such as hotels (Sharma 2005). The group that is attracted by the diverse cultural practices in Kenya is explorers. They live and bond with the community members (Sharma 2005). Most of them are scholars who seek to make documentaries of such communities.

Impact of Climate Change and the Increased Interest in Sustainability for a Tourist Destination

Gossling et al. (2012) maintain that climate change affects the demands of tourists. The nature of the demands is influenced by the response of tourists regarding the mitigation plans. A change in climate conditions ruins the initial plans of tourists. The mitigation plans impacts on transportation systems, destinations and economic development of societies (Gossling et al. 2012). Most tourists have back-up plans that they use to substitute time, destinations and the nature of holidays in cases that involve drastic climate changes. The climate condition of a particular destination is one of the factors that motivate a tourist’s choice of the place. In other words, climate changes compel tourists to resort to change their initial plans for more favorable regions. The change of plans affects the sustainability of tourism of a particular region (Gossling et al. 2012).

References

Gossling, S., Scott, D., Hall, M. C., & Dubois, G 2012. Consumer Behaviour and Demand Response af Tourists to Climate Change, Annals of Tourism Research, vol. 39, no. 1, pp. 36-58.
Hudman, L. E., & Jackson, R. H. (2003). Geography of travel & tourism. Clifton Park, NY, Thomson/Delmar Learning.
Rodriguez-santos, M.C., Gonzalez-fernandez, A.,M. & Cervantes-blanco, M 2013. “Weak cognitive image of cultural tourism destinations”, Quality and Quantity, vol. 47, no. 2, pp. 881-895.
Sharma, K. K. (2005). Tourism and development. New Delhi, Sarup & Sons.
Woodside, A. G., & Martin, D. (2008). Tourism management: analysis, behaviour and strategy. Wallingford, UK, CABI Pub.

Remote workers are a growing trend in modern business, but an off-site team adds a layer of complexity to the age-old problem of keeping your staff both satisfied and productive. How do you keep telecommuters engaged when your team is physically separated? Even more important, how do you help your employees grow along with your company so you can keep them on board for the long haul? 

At Formstack, we’ve achieved these feats by following a few core tenets. We’ve happy to share them with other small- and medium-sized businesses that rely heavily on remote employees and are looking to scale up in the near future.

1. Hire the right people.

We’ve invested in what we call the “Talent Team.” The Talent Team is probably overstaffed compared to other companies, but that’s because we believe in the importance of recruiting the right employees and fully integrating them into the team.

Our robust hiring process aims to find people who will be a good fit for our company’s goals. For example, job applicants face a three-pronged evaluation during the final interview process. We seek to determine their compatibility with peers, the leadership team and our company culture as a whole. Candidates often have said although our recruiting process can take a bit of time, they appreciate how hard we work to determine if both parties are a good fit for each other.

After employees are hired, our Onboarding Specialist works with them for their first 90 days. It’s a way to answer any questions and ensure our new team members clearly comprehend their duties. Finally, our Talent Team assists all employees with long-term career development and checks in with them regularly to make sure they are engaged and understand the direction forward.

Related:

2. Strengthen your company culture.

Of course, hiring the right people means nothing if you don’t have a positive company culture. Communication is such a critical component of culture that we’ve made “communicate status” one of our cultural values. This terminology might remind you of social-media status updates, and it should. In a fast-growing remote organization, team members must keep one another updated, sometimes even with low-value updates. Frequently communicating status through chat, phone and email helps keep us all running in the same direction.

We also want our team members to build lasting relationships. To this end, the Talent Team plans monthly and quarterly “Formstack Fun” events such as lip-sync competitions, holiday trivia and online multiplayer gaming sessions. Company-wide service initiatives reinforce this spirit of community. We participate in holiday toy and food drives, and remote employees can mail in their contributions.

Related:

3. Meet your remote employees’ unique needs.

If you want your remote employees to grow with your company, you need to support them in ways that combat their feelings of invisibility and cure cabin fever. We give our remote employees a monetary allowance they can use on items such as electronics, office supplies and coworking expenses. Anything that improves their work experience is a valid expense. Coworking spaces, in particular, can be helpful for remote workers who are feeling isolated. Be willing to pick up the tab to ease the burden on your employees. 

Monthly all-team meetings help maintain open communication among all team members. After each meetings, employees receive a feedback form to share their thoughts on the format, information and other aspects. This helps our remote employees feel seen, heard and not forgotten.

Related:

You might not come up with the ideal strategy for developing remote talent on your first try, so be prepared to revise your methods until you find something that works well for your team. When you do, your culture and policies should keep your team members engaged and willing to work hard to grow the company.

Introduction

In this essay a discussion of “how models of community education can help to re-dress youth re-offending in the community” will be given. There are three different aspects of models of community education which have been chosen to talk about and they are lifelong learningin the form of an offenders scheme, self-help and self determination. A definition of community education will be given and I will also (from a variety of sources) give statistics of the youth re-offending rate. A discussion on my local area (Hackney) will also be included with a talk about what the area is like and how the crime affects the area and how high/low youth reoffending is with more statistics being included.

I will also go on to talk about restorative justice, give my own personal opinion on which of the three models work. And a talk of Dr Tony Sewell’s work will also be a part of this essay. Three other things which will be established within this essay, will be community academy, community based education initiatives and the social identity theory which I will take examples from Lionel’s detailed power point presentation. After gathering all my findings a final conclusion will be added which will be a summary of all my research and giving my own thoughts and personal opinions.

Definition of Community Education

Community education can be defined in various different ways. According to the website Wikipedia I have found that the definition of community education is.

Community Education. (2011, March 13). Retrieved April 1, 2011, from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community_education

“Community education is also known as community based education/community and learning development. It is a learning and social development that tend to work with individuals and groups within their communities using a large range of formal and informal methods. Some of the programmes based in community education are developed in dialogue with communities and participants. Which improve the quality of life, of the people who take part.”

The purpose of community education is to develop the capacity of individuals and groups of all ages through action.

Taking reference from the power point present presentation on community education which was shown on week 2 of the module, I made sure to take notes on the various definitions on community education which I could include within my essay here are just a few example of definitions by a variety of sources:

presentation, L. P. (2011, February 12). UEL Plus. Retrieved April 4th, 2011, from UEL: www.uel.ac.uk

“According to Tony Townsend his definition of Community Education is “the strength of community education, is also its weakness, community education’s strength is that it deals with many different and varied components of education within the community. Its weakness is that this makes it very hard to describe what we do.” – Tony Townsend

“Community Education is a structured way to assist, people to improve their lives”- Hungary

“A process where learning, is used for both individual and community betterment, it is characterised by: Involvement of people of all ages”

The use of community learning, resources and research to bring about community change.

“The recognition that people can learn through, with and for each other to create a better world”. – Canada

Statistics

Hackney is known for its black and black crime and has been the victim of knife and gun crime, including postcode wars according to statistics

“Young people are over-represented both as perpetrators and as victims of crime throughout the UK. In Hackney itself, young people were accused of committing more than 19% of all offences last year when they make up only 12% of the population. During that same period (2007-2008), young people were also the victims of 2,372 offences. Despite these figures, crime as a whole is falling faster in Hackney than in any other London borough, with gun crime down by 35% in 2008.”

As you can see Hackney is getting better as figures have gone down, due to more police patrolling the streets, making sure the youth’s are not hanging around after a certain time

Between April 2007 and March 2007 a report was given in which factors were given about the types of offenders after analysing this report it was assumed that:

“42% of the young offenders considered in this report were not in ETE

Asian/Asian British young offenders are more than three times more likely to be in ETE than white British young offenders.

Young women who commit offences are more likely not to be in suitable ETE.

First time offenders were more likely to be in ETE than re-offenders.

Engagement in ETE generally reduces as the young people get older and as young people re-offend. “

This just goes to show that although the majority are in education, there are small parts that are still not in education. Is it due to the lack of teachers that do not support studentsOr are people around them unable to give young people the support and encouragement needed, which enables them to be on the right track. As you can see one of the statements has said that “first time offenders, were likely to be in education than re-offenders” which could mean that young people are not being given the opportunity to bring out their true potential or may just be bored of the subjects they are studying, which is causing them to lose focus and have their mind elsewhere. I think that teachers should give every young person as much support and encouragement as they can, keeping them on the right track.

Hackney

Hackney a small borough in great which coincides in East London. First established on April 1st 1965 the official council is Hackney council. With a population estimated at 212,000 Hackney is quite a big borough with different ethnicities such as white, black, Asian etc. Diane Abbott, Hackney’s MP states that she has been increasing the level of police who patrol the streets. According to Abbott she has stated that the level of crime is predominately down to young men who do feel that carrying a knife, makes them superior to everyone else. They go out to a rave and carry a gun with them which to them feels like routine. They tend to see it as a style accessory which is beginning to become part of their culture. Voicing her opinion about crime in Hackney, she has spoken out to say “we see so many young people for whom the gun culture is part and parcel of their culture it seems as though that the level of gun crime is tiny”.(2008) I will be biased and say that as a resident of Hackney myself whenever I do read about crime within my area innocent people are usually involved. With most people too frightened to come forward and do something about it. This could potentially reduce the level of crime that continues to dominate hackney.

Restorative justice

Restorative Justice. (2011, March 15th). Retrieved March 18th, 2011, from www.wikpedia.org: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Restorative_justice

“A broad term which encompasses a growing social movement to institutionalize peaceful approaches to harm, problem solving and violations of legal and human rights. These range from international peacemaking tribunals such as the South Africa Truth and Reconciliation Commission to innovations within the criminal and juvenile justice systems, schools, social services and communities. Rather than privileging the law, professionals and the state, restorative resolutions engage those who are harmed, wrong doers and their affected communities in search of solutions that promote repair, reconciliation and the rebuilding of relationship. Restorative justice seeks to build partnerships to re-establish mutual responsibility for constructive responses to wrongdoing within our communities. Restorative approaches seek a balanced approach to the needs of the victim, wrongdoer and community through processes that preserve the safety and dignity of all”

What Is Restorative Justice(2010, December Friday). Retrieved March 28th, 2011, from Restorative Justice Council: http://restorativejustice.org.uk/what_is_restorative_justice/

“Restorative Justice Processes can bring those harmed, by crime or conflict and those responsible for the harm into communication, enabling everyone affected by a particular incident, to play a part in repairing the harm and finding a positive way forward”.

Restorative Justice. (2011, March 15th). Retrieved March 18th, 2011, from www.wikpedia.org: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Restorative_justice

It is stated that Restorative Justice, can also be known as reparative justice. The main focus is on the needs of the victims and offenders. Instead of satisfying abstract legal principles or punishing the offender. There are various ways to look at restorative justice, you could think of it as a balance between a number of different tensions:

A balance between the therapeutic and the retributive models of justice

A balance between the rights of offenders and the needs of the victims

A balance between the need to rehabilitate offenders and the duty to protect the public.

Models of community education

There are various models of community education; one in particular is lifelong learning to me lifelong learning is continuous source of learning and building skills, throughout a person’s life experiences that can be encountered in the cause of a life time. Lifelong learning can be known as being very formal for example. counselling, tutoring, mentorship, apprenticeship, higher education etc. Or informal could be by the experiences one has had. One method lifelong method of learning I found during my research is the ex offenders scheme

Trust, T. L. (2011). Ex Offender’s Scheme. Retrieved March 29th, 2011, from The Learning Trust: http://www.learningtrust.co.uk/adult_learning/ex_offenders/

The restorative justice council has said, “the ex offenders support service, has an aim to engage, support and keep ex prisoners in learning and training to break their cycle of crime”. The scheme is run by Alison Kakande; work with young offenders in the borough of Hackney, with regular visit to prisons both in and out of London. Alison visits inmates who are in their final months in prison to give them the opportunity to talk about what they what like to do after they have left prison. Not only do these inmates receive regular guidance, which are tailored to their individual needs, but they also take into account their offending background. The scheme is on a one to one basis and also offers support to the families of the ex offenders. (What Is Restorative Justice(2010, December Friday). Retrieved March 28th, 2011, from Restorative Justice Council: http://restorativejustice.org.uk/what_is_restorative_justice/ )

I decided that the best way to find out more about the ex offenders scheme, was to interview Alison herself. So on Thursday 31st March 2011, I conducted a telephone interview to gain a further insight.

Me: Hello Alison, my name is Latoya, I’m a student at the University of East London conducting an essay on which way crimes can be reduced, and was wondering if you could take the time to answer a few questions for me.

Me: so Alison, why did was this scheme set up?

Well, the scheme was set up, to show offender’s that they are able to do something positive with their lives after a spell in prison. I after seeing so many people I know, who have been in and out of prison I decided to turn a negative into a positive and give prisoners an opportunity to rebuild their lives.

Me: can you give me a further insight to how the scheme runs?

Well my role is to go and visit prisoners who are about to be released and talk to them about what they want to do, when they are out. I give them the opportunity to think about whether they want to work, or get back into education, giving them the support and guidance they need.

Me: do you think that by the level of support that the inmates get, will break their cycle of crime?

There is only so much support that this scheme can give, it’s up to the individual, to take what we’ve given them and use it to utilise their full potential with our constant encouragement of course.

Me: since starting the scheme, in your opinion how successful do you think it’s been?, this scheme has a success rate of 90% and there is still more that we can do to give equal opportunities to the people who are coming out of prison and want turn their lives around, not just for themselves but for the people around them.

There are various models of community Education, e.g. Lifelong learning, community involvement, self- determination, self help etc. I will go on to discuss two models of community education. Self- help and self-determination. To have self determination you have to have a goal and aspire to reach that goal, that how self determination starts from within, by aiming to achieve something within a certain time frame. Giving my own definition of self-determination I believe this is where an individual takes control and motivates themselves to determine what they want from their own lives. By having self determination maybe this could stop youths re-offending in the sense that they are able to set themselves a goal, like going back into education; to gain themselves a qualification to make themselves and others around them proud is not going to make them to reoffend if they are doing something positive for themselves and showing other around them, how they are able to change their lives after being in prison.

Drawing on the topic of self-help after coming out of prison could be a little difficult. To help yourself, you have to be emotionally, psychically and mentally ready. Self help is where people are able to take responsibility for their own lives and well being becoming independent, not having to rely on others. There are various sources of self- help such as support groups or public information.

Which model works?

Out of the models which I have chosen to speak about, I believe that all three could work together and in their own various ways. That in particular being lifelong learning with regards to the ex offenders scheme. I believe that after interviewing the ex offenders scheme manager. I have managed to establish an understanding that this particular scheme links all three models together. To be a part of the scheme you have to have that mindset, of achieving a positive outcome, after having a negative experience. Drawing upon the ex offenders scheme, contributes to both self-help and self-determination. I have gained understanding and to my knowledge believe that this is real starting point for youth’s break their cycle of crime and for them to have a more positive experience. I think that this form of lifelong learning will enable a youth or any other offender for that matter that just because they’ve had a spell in prison; does not mean that they are not able to turn their lives around. Not just for themselves, but for friends and family also, so overall I think that all models work, but can on the basis of how

Relocation

Dr Tony Sewell

According to Dr Tony Sewell “Black students are three times more likely to be excluded from school than other groups. More black young men go to prison than university; in the face of these alarming statistics it is evident that we need more black male teachers”.

I do agree with Sewell’s statement here, as we see too many young boys on the news or in newspapers, not actually being praised. But either dying or going to prison. I don’t however believe that the lack of male black teachers affect the level of young black men going to prison, as I believe it is up to the person themselves, to make a life for themselves. Of course the basis is of what family background a person has I think that has big influence on what a person does with their life, whether it is education or prison. Speaking from experience within my own family my father wasn’t always around, but I did have the love and support of my mother and my sister’s who encouraged me that university is the way forward. And after seeing my two sister’s graduate from university and gain good grades, made me want to better myself. On the negative side speaking on behalf of my older brother I can say that him never having a father around made him a totally different person which is why he ended up in prison. I think the lack of support that he got in school from his teacher’s made him doubt himself and this is where thing’s started to go wrong. I think the lack of black teachers back in his school days were next to none and the simple fact there was no male figure there to guide him growing up.

Dr Tony Sewell is a very well known educational advisor, who speaks widely on issues that relates to race, social justice, emotional and behaviourally difficult children, Sewell. A former tutor, he has also been a senior lecturer in the school of education and at the University of Leeds.

Sewell also runs his own London based charity “Generating genius” which aim is to help children in that in particular, boys of a black and mixed raced heritage. Who come from a working class background. The aim of this scheme is for those young boys to achieve educational success and go onto university.

I believe that this is the a

Community Academy

Social identity theory

The social identity theory is a theory which was developed by Henri Tajfel and John Turner, to understand the basis of intergroup discrimination. My class was given a lecture on the social identity theory and I was particularly drawn when Lionel explained and examined the minimal conditions for inter-group discrimination.

Taking notes on the particular topic I found that the main points of the conditions were Minimal group paradigm, no shared interaction between the groups, no shared goals and participations were unaware of other’s group membership.

During the power point presentation I was made aware of what Tajfel and Turner expected. The minimal group was given no name in which Tajfel and Turner expected this to have no effect, because of this they then decided to add other aspects of group identity. To establish a minimal group they took a set of young boys, who had been previously acquainted from local private schools. The boys were asked to look at a set of slides and were told to guess, how many dots were on the slide.

Lionel went on to discuss how, many people like in-groups because we are motivated to achieve and maintain a positive self-image. Self-image has two components. Personal identity and social identities, which come from the groups which we associate ourselves with. This is drawing on the fact that when our group succeeds, we succeed which can boost our self image, there is a process of this, and we were giving an example of this in the form of a diagram.

After analysing the diagram it came to my attention that there is one big link, self esteem, within this diagram I am able to take and understand that gaining self –esteem comes from a variety of sources. Take personal identity for example, this is when a person knows who they really are and exudes confidence, their self esteem can be at an all time high as they are not allowing anyone to change who and how they are. Another example is personal achievement, when someone has achieved something so great like gaining a degree of course their self esteem is boosted, it’s something they have worked hard for and can look back on.

The social identity theory is made up of three elements.

Categorization: where we as people label others and ourselves putting ourselves into categories for example, we can label someone as being an Asian, Muslim or a singer. This is a way of saying things about other people.

Identification: which groups we associate ourselves with (in groups) which predominately boosts our self esteem.

Comparison: this is where we compare our group with other groups, but tending to be biased to the group in which we belong to.

Conclusion

In conclusion, to answer the question how can models of community education help to redress youths re-offending in the communityAccording to the research that I have undertaken I have gained further insight and I believe that by just by having aspects such as lifelong learning which is obviously continuous throughout a person’s life, will enable the majority of ex offenders to want to take a step in the right direction and produce a positive outcome. By having support and encouragement from family and friends and the self-determination to turn their life around for the better. I think that more models of community education could be established to ensure that youth’s who reoffend are given a choice of what to do after they leave prison to deter them from reoffending.

I think that