Colonialism affect on South Asia Painting Essay

Colonialism affect on South Asia Painting - Essay Example The essay "Colonialism affect on South Asia Painting" discusses How European colonialism changed art and architecture. Decorated surfaces were used in identifying different cultures and the artisanship of people in the past. Due to the European colonialism, ways in which individuals express themselves through paintings changed in South Asia.Earthen architecture has been a canvas of surfaces decoration over the ages. In West Africa, earth was applied as texture patterns, relief decorations, and as vibrant paintings. In the South Asia, earthen paintings showed relief and elaborate decorative paintings. In Europe earthen paintings ware used in grace tombs, religious structures, and homes. In South Asia, due to the colonialism, the paintings were influenced and individuals started using the Europeans materials and greater varieties of plasters and paints started being used instead of the earthen paintings. The preservation of the old forms of paintings was difficult because of the hetero geneous characteristics of the paintings materials. European colonialism affected the panting forms of different cultures due to modernization. Many cultures abandoned their art. For instance, the colonialist introduces steel, which led to the abandonment of the major carved figures that were made from bones and stones. The introduction of wood and steel led to the increase in the production of art because carvers could easily elaborate on detail and motifs, which were not easy when using the traditional stones.

Volkswagens International Marketing Strategy

Volkswagens International Marketing Strategy Companys snapshot: Volkswagen is a German automobile company. It operates as a manufacturer and distributor of automobile parts in the Global automotive industry. One of its subsidiaries is the Volkswagen of America that is based in United States. The Groups principal activities are to design, manufacture and distribution of cars and other vehicles worldwide. These activities are carried out through two divisions: Namely Automobile and Financial services. The Automobile division involves development of vehicles and engines, as well as the production and sale of passenger cars, commercial vehicles, trucks and buses. The Financial division involves dealer and customer financing, leasing, Banking and insurance services, rentals and fleet management. Overview of Volkswagen Group of Companies: It leads the continent as the Europes number one car maker. The Companys major production line include Volkswagen Passenger car, Audi, SEAT, Skoda, Lamborghini, Bugatti and Bentley ranges of vehicles. The Companys major emphasis is on increasing its focus on core business, profitability and reducing the production cost. In order to achieve this it is considering divesture of non core business segments and adapting many Modular strategies in the process of production and introduction of new models. Company at a Glance: Major Industry: Automotive Industry. Sub Industry: Diversified Automotive Mfrs. 2008 Sales: 113,808,000,000 (Year Ending Jan 2009). Employees: 357,207. Market Cap: 30,656,317,749. Share Type: Stammaktie. Stock Data: Current Price (12/30/2009): 76.58 In Euro. Revenue generated in the year 2008: 113.808 BLN EUR. History: It was setup in 1930 by Ferdinand Porshe in Germany and was known as Porshe Buro. In early 1930s German Automotive industry was mainly involved in making Luxury cars. And so an average German could only afford nothing more than a motorcycle. In 1934 Ferdinand Porshe was commissioned by Adolph Hitler to build a small inexpensive car. He required a basic vehicle that could transport two adults and three children. And this vehicle would be available to all at the price of a motorcycle. On 22 June 1934 Ferdinand Porshe agreed to create a Peoples Car for Hitler. There were many changes including better fuel efficiency, reliability, ease of use, and economically efficient repairs and parts. The prototypes of the car in the form of KDF-Wagen started appearing from 1936. this car had its peculiar round shape and air-cooled, flat-four, rear-mounted engine. Only a handful of cars were made before the second world war started, that is in 1936. The post war existence of the Company owed to a British major Ivan Hirst. He indented to dismantle the Company and ship it to Britain as no car manufacturer was interested in the Company as it lacked the fundamental requirements. The Company survived by producing the cars for British Army. Volkswagens were first sold in America in 1949. And even though these models were universally known as Beetle, the Company never officially named it, instead it was referred as Type 1. During 1960s and 1970s the car was becoming outdated the Company introduced several Type 3 and Type 4 models. It differed from the previous models notably with the introduction of monocoque/unibody construction, the option of a fully automatic transmission, electronic fuel injection, and a sturdier power plant. In 1964, Volkswagen succeeded in purchasing Auto Union, and in 1969, Motorenwerke AG (NSU). VW ultimately merged Auto Union and NSU to create the modern day Audi company. Companys mission statement: Provide a quality product. Create a safe environment. Enhance productivity. Eco Friendliness. Volkswagen projects: The engineers at Volkswagen are constantly trying to develop new fuel efficient Models which have very less fuel emission and offer great performance. It is involved in developing many fuel efficient vehicles such as BlueMotion Models, alternate powertrain technology and supporting many other projects for environmentally sound driving. Golf BlueMotion is the example of the most fuel efficient vehicle created by them with CO2 emissions less than 107g/kg. Volkswagen is one of the company to become the member of Business and Biodiversity Initiative. Where ever possible they use recycled and recyclable materials and most eco friendly methods of construction. They are constantly working on developing vehicles which are fuel efficient and which have minimum impact on the environment. The company is engaged in many research projects relating to biotopes, the environment and protection of the species and supports research programs. Marketing Strategy: Volkswagen mainly uses Double Marketing in order to position its brand. Double marketing mainly means running multiple campaigns at different places carrying different messages simultaneously. Initially coke was the only company that tried this because of their huge Budget by engaging different ad agencies and pitting them against each other.At times there were different campaigns that were put up at the same time. But they didnt really work together. In the time period of last few months they have launched campaigns such as Unpimp my ride to prevent the modifications done by people and for design control, theobeying your fast for the GTI as well as the safe happens jarring TV ad spots for the Jetta. The Companys major emphasis is on easier availability of its products. And to make that possible it has around 44 sites all over the world. That gives them the Geographical advantage. As they can reach the demands of their customers and even provide a good after sales service through their service centres. Its major marketing strategy is branding its products into different segments of production lines. Its brands go from Skoda (economically priced family vehicles) to Rolls Royce. Use of Latest Technology: Blueprinting is the latest technology used by them. Blueprinting is the science of engine rebuilding. At times the engine becomes rigid and there is often disturbance during the start of the engine. This is due to incorrect shimming, vibration from poorly balanced cranks, rough low speed running from valve clearances being too large, so generally speaking there is a lot of room for improvement. Careful measuring, fitting and balancing are the main steps involved in Blueprinting. This enhances the performance of the engine providing fuel economy and dependability. In simple words the engine becomes brand new. After Blueprinting the Gear shifting feels very positive and the vibrations will be nullified aiding Longitivity. Volkswagens Closest Competitors: Ford, Toyota, Mercedes and General Motors are the major competitors. Out of which Volkswagen claims that Toyota is its major competitors. Company Sales Revenue (Year 2008) Loss (%) General Motors $148,979Billion 8% Ford $146277Billion  Ã‚  Ã‚   11% Mercedes $23.8Billion 7% Toyota $204352Billion 8% Volkswagen made a profit of about 1.2 Billion in the year 2008. Their sales revenue was 113.808 BLN SWOT Analysis: Volkswagen AG Strengths Strong Market Share: As it leads the continent as the number one car maker, it holds a strong reputation in the market. Due to this its stock value cannot be brought down easily. Strong RD Activities: This is a major advantage over its competitors. They are always inquisitive of finding some alternate technology which make vehicles more fuel efficient and decrease the emissions ensuring a better environment. Strong Brand Equity: It holds a strong brand value as people are aware of each and every Brand owned by them. And those stand among the top brands amongst others in the industry. Geographic Diversification: As it has 44 sites all over the world, it can meet up the demand of the consumers over every product. Strong Growth Prospects: They should continue to live up to the reputation created by them in the Automotive industry. Volkswagen AG Weakness Limited Liquidity Position: As they have a huge capital invested in Research and development and promoting other projects they have limited liquidity position. Declining Market Share in Sector Volkswagen AG Opportunities Strategic Alliances: Volkswagen from the very beginning started forming alliances with other companies. The Brand such as Audi was formed by merging of Volkswagen with Auto Union and Nsu. Demand for Fuel Efficient and Hybrid Vehicles: There has always been an increase in demand of better fuel efficient vehicles with very low emissions. So if they continue to meet the demands through their Research and development they can survive in the emerging market. Growth Opportunities in Emerging Markets: Using their knowledge and efficiency in finding new technology which can be used in the engines, for example Blueprinting technology, they can always have a strong position in the market. Volkswagen AG Threats Intense Competition: There are many companies which are providing a good competition in terms of market share. Last year Volkswagen claimed that Toyota is its biggest competitor. Global Economic Slow Down: Due to recession there has been a very stiff competition among the companies as there has been very limited demand in the automobile sector. Stricter Emission Standards: Due to the advancement of technology there has been a demand of very low emissions and to some extent the companies have been able to meet up the demand, so the emission standards get stricter and stricter each time a new technology comes up. Conclusion: Volkswagen is successful mainly because of manufacturing automobile parts, rather than waiting for the manufacture of a new car and launching it. Most of the major brands that they own were purchased by them. People were to some extent aware of those brands. But they did not hold much bigger market value. References: Volkswagen Chronicle Volkswagen Beetle History 1938 to 2003 Jpost.com www.rememusem.com Volkswagens American assembly plant Rumors.automobilemag.com Companiesandmarkets.com Corporate information snapshots IBISWorld Institute for Sustainability and Technology Polic Articlesbase/Volkswagen Gti, Automobile Magazines Car of the Year CJS Racing South West http://autos.yahoo.com/articles/autos_content_landing_pages/1161/volkswagen-steals-toyotas-crown-as-worlds-largest-automaker/ Was Hitlers Beetle designed by a Jew? | Jewish Features | Jerusalem Post. Jpost.com. http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1251804553863pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull. Retrieved 2009-10-07. Volkswagen to Shut U.S. Plant. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B0DE7D6113DF932A15752C1A961948260. Retrieved 2008-05-17. VW picks Tenn. for its 1st US car plant since 88. Bloomberg News Volkswagen to take a 42.0 percent stake in Porsche AG. Taume News. 2009-08-14. http://news.taume.com/World-Business/Business-Finance/Volkswagen-to-take-a-42-0-percent-stake-in-Porsche-AG-11861. Retrieved 2009-01-22. Todd Kaho (2007-10-01). Volkswagen Pushes for Development of Clean Diesels. Green Car Journal. http://www.greencar.com/articles/volkswagen-pushes-development-clean-diesels.php. Retrieved 2009-04-19. VW revs up its clean-diesel technologies. Oct.11, 2007, mlive.com May 3, 2008

Praxis Statement :: Education Teacher Essays

Praxis Statement When I first decided to be a teacher I had many thoughts and opinions about teaching and education. Some of my thoughts and opinions have stayed them same; however, many have changed from the discussions and readings in LL ED 411 and 480. When I first decided that I wanted to be a teacher I thought that most students learned in the same manner. I also thought that the teacher should have power over the classroom. Likewise, I thought that technology should not be used in the classroom--except to type papers. I now know that there is not much truth to my ideas and thoughts because my thoughts were shaped only from my experiences. My experiences are narrow because they were shaped from the problems in schools and the old ideas that teachers still have. Now that I have learned the other sides to these problems I know that my thoughts about teaching and education are not fully developed. One of the ideas that I have learned is that all students learn in different ways and teachers need to teach to their needs. This is described with an analogy in Finding Freedom. The analogy used is, â€Å" . . . anyone would laugh themselves silly at the thought that children with different body sizes ought to be made to wear the same size clothes . . .† (Hinchey, 67). We would laugh if someone said all children should wear the same size clothing, yet teachers are still teaching students all in the same way. Some students learn from lecturing and memorizing, whereas others learn from examples and trial and error. Finding Freedom states that teachers need to modify work for students so that they can learn the material (Hinchey, 11). Delpit also states, â€Å"Some of the [black students] even learned how to read, but none of them as quickly as my white students. I was doing the same thing for all of my kids--what was the problem?† (Delpit, 13). Before reading these two statements as well as others and discussing them in class I thought that almost all students learned in the same way. I thought this because I learned from lecturing, memorizing, and a few examples. I figured that if I could learn in that way and most of my peers learned in that way then most students could. Praxis Statement :: Education Teacher Essays Praxis Statement When I first decided to be a teacher I had many thoughts and opinions about teaching and education. Some of my thoughts and opinions have stayed them same; however, many have changed from the discussions and readings in LL ED 411 and 480. When I first decided that I wanted to be a teacher I thought that most students learned in the same manner. I also thought that the teacher should have power over the classroom. Likewise, I thought that technology should not be used in the classroom--except to type papers. I now know that there is not much truth to my ideas and thoughts because my thoughts were shaped only from my experiences. My experiences are narrow because they were shaped from the problems in schools and the old ideas that teachers still have. Now that I have learned the other sides to these problems I know that my thoughts about teaching and education are not fully developed. One of the ideas that I have learned is that all students learn in different ways and teachers need to teach to their needs. This is described with an analogy in Finding Freedom. The analogy used is, â€Å" . . . anyone would laugh themselves silly at the thought that children with different body sizes ought to be made to wear the same size clothes . . .† (Hinchey, 67). We would laugh if someone said all children should wear the same size clothing, yet teachers are still teaching students all in the same way. Some students learn from lecturing and memorizing, whereas others learn from examples and trial and error. Finding Freedom states that teachers need to modify work for students so that they can learn the material (Hinchey, 11). Delpit also states, â€Å"Some of the [black students] even learned how to read, but none of them as quickly as my white students. I was doing the same thing for all of my kids--what was the problem?† (Delpit, 13). Before reading these two statements as well as others and discussing them in class I thought that almost all students learned in the same way. I thought this because I learned from lecturing, memorizing, and a few examples. I figured that if I could learn in that way and most of my peers learned in that way then most students could.

Educational Change

Topic: Analyse a story about an educational reform happened in a secondary school and comment its effectiveness based on the organizational theories. ————————————————- 1. Introduction The Education Commission Report No. 7 released in September of 1997 suggested to build a quality culture in schools(EDB, 1997) . Since that, schools and education institutions of all levels experienced changes and reforms in various scale and kinds. Schools are no longer stable and predictable places.Schools and school systems had gradually turned into a mode of modern organization: departmentalized and bureaucratized in last century. However, in last two decades, the reform in education has been launched in all over the world. It is clearly because of the needs of new millennium – we are moving or even already in the postmodern age now. The postmodern age world is fast, compressed, com plex and uncertain(Hargreaves, 1994). Schools are places for preparing the generations of the future, therefore, changes are essential to all educational organizations.In this paper, the story about the culture reform happened in a one-through school will be told to provide a case-study of how an evolution occurred in an educational system. The dimensions, type and effectiveness of reform will be discussed. 2. Literature Review We know change is essential to postmodern education system. But change for change is not help and not what we want. An educational change, is assumed to help schools to achieve their goals more effectively, theoretically. It is important to bear in mind that change is a process, not an event(Fullan & Stiegelbauer, 1991)Literature provides the category for the change. Superficial changes , like changes in content, structure or policy, which induces improvement on something currently doing, are classified as first order change. Those changes occur on those fund amental, for example, goals and roles, are classified as second order change. (Cuban, 1988) â€Å"Educational change depends on what teachers do and think-it's as simple and complex as that†(Fullan, 1991, P. 117). While what the teachers do and think is a reflection of their basic assumption and belief or the change is just superficial.It is vital to understand the culture of the organization and how it affects the norms and behaviors. (Stoll & Fink, 1996). There are fundamental relationship between culture and effectiveness(Rossman et al. , 1988). Though school culture is powerful, schools are more comfortable to first order change than second order change (Cuban, 1988; Fullan & Stiegelbauer, 1991). But first order change would not be internalized without second order change(Leithwood, Aitken, & Jantzi, 2001). 3. A Story about Changing the School School X was a band three secondary school in a very new developed district in Hong Kong.Included School X, there were two seconda ry schools in the district, which with population of around 60,000. In the fifth year of school X being set up, a vice-principal of another school (for convenience, we called him/her W) of the same sponsoring body was sent to this school. At this time, school X was obviously in adverse position compared with another school in the district. Almost all higher banding students chose another school, over 80% of students of School X is in band 3 while over half of these students were in territorial bottom 10%.Most of the middle managers were not functioned. Teachers with negative attitude were majority. Some teachers had passion and willing to pay effort for students, but because of the norm and culture, what their effect was confined. Students lacked of interest and motivation in their learning, not mentioned to have any confidence and expectation on their own academic performance. The impression of School X was terrible in the community. â€Å"Fortunately†, the number of classes and teaching group of school X were small and still expanding with he increase of population size of the district. W already knew she would be vice-principal of school X for only one year and then would be promoted to be principal in the next year. W took the year of being vice-principal of school X to familiarize with the setting, the norm, the culture and social relationships in this school. The story of change began in the next year, W became principal of School X†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 4. Analysis of the changes Changes is a process, most researchers stated there are three broad phases involved: Initiation, Implementation and Continuation.Fullan (1991) added the idea of outcome to the process to give a come complete picture. Since the progress of educational reform occurred in School X involved numerous innovations each affected different domains of the school (Surely, this is common to all educational changes), the followed analysis will be written according to the framework shown in F igure 4. 1 . This framework is modified from the simplified overview of Fullan(1991), the titles of the points I will highlight for each phase are added to the box below each phase.Figure 4. 1 A simiplified overview for the process of change in School X No doubt, the new principal took a critical role in the initiation of change. But any educational change in school should involve all parties in school, therefore, the innovations are always not only from the principal but should be from all a stakeholders, especially from teachers and students. A group of teachers with similar belief with W were selected to act as a workforce to improve the performance and effectiveness of the school.Three teachers from this group became the new leaders for the academic, discipline and guidance department. The replacement was a quite severe step in school system. But it was also an effective way to remove the potential resistance to the change. The concept of workforce group was a successful startup . It involved teachers, the staff that would execute the change, as McGregor (1957) argued about the Theory Y of management, innovations and motivation are present in people, the manager only needed to make it possible for eople to recognize and develop. On the other hand, only small group of teachers were included in the workforce. Huberman and Miles (1984) argued that large-scale participation at the initiation phase is not productive and too much energy would be exhausted for pre-action discussion. The new department leaders, with W, leaded the group of workforce to review the rules and regulations, and drew up some new practice, then discussed these practice with the whole teaching team.Actually, the changes in rules and regulation were small, the focus was on the execution of these rules and regulations should be uniform and coherent. Though at this time the scale and degree of change on school was small, but it just like a pilot step for the consequence wave of reforming. Befo re these practices were introduced, W shared the bad news about the terrible intake of S1 in that year, over 70% of new comers are from the group of territory bottom 10%, with all teaching staff in the meeting. She also showed the data about the trend of population and development of the district in the meeting.What she pointed out was : more and more secondary schools were setting up in the district, all of them would be competitors of their school; the worst thing was, though the student population was going up that time, but it was not a long story, the population would decline after several year; they would finally face the crisis of shrink in number of classes, even being forced to close. W had capitalized on propitious moments for the change. The circumstances that call for change was dramatized to win the support and cooperation of teachers (Trice & Beyer, 1993). The results of pilot trial were satisfied.Though everything still had great room for improvement, but all of them seemed to be in progress. W celebrated the success with all staff (both of teaching and non-teaching). In the next year, some changes induced ‘externally† happened: Regional/national level: The ECR no. 7 recommended the idea of using performance indicators to assess the quality of school. This aroused the concern about effectiveness and quality of schooling in society. Local level: * School X moved to a brand-new campus equipped with extra facilities. * School X was changed from a traditional secondary school to a one-through school.School X now had its first class of primary one. These â€Å"external factors† provided good ground to fertilize the consequence changes,. Among various of innovations, the setting up of first quality circle took a critical role in the reform of School X. The quality circle was formed by a group of ten young and passionate teachers. Teachers in the circle were assigned to be the class teachers of S2 classes (the form with terrible S1 i ntake). They were empowered to design and execute the setting and rules (academic and discipline aspects) work on the whole form.Recalled the organization Y described by McGregor (1957), this was another example about â€Å"using† the motivation and potential for development already in people to direct behavior toward the organizational goal. The outcome of implementation of quality circle was inspiring. The success of the quality circle was originated from it decentralized the power to and enlarged the job of some staff in relative low position of the school hierarchy (by experience, status and responsibility), and caused a sense of satisfaction in their social and egoistic needs. The success of quality circle created a dramatic change in the belief of teachers.After that, quality circles were set up for each form. It was institutionalized as a school policy and long term practice. After years of implementation, the behavior and academic performance of students had obvious i mprovement. The job satisfaction of teachers was greatly improved. Most items in the APASO and KPM, especially those related with the teacher and students relationship, have index better than the territory norm. Now, School X is categorized in band 2. Fullan(1991) listed 9 critical factors organized into 3 main categories affecting implementation. Figure 4. shows the interactive relationship of them: In the case of School X, for the characteristic of change: the need of change was obvious, the goal of change was clearly explained to all staff, the individual complexity on most staff was not too high to create resistance. In addition, as most rules and regulations remained the same, the practicality was acceptable. For the local characteristics, though the district and community factors could not be examined, but the principal and teachers showed positive attitude to the implementation, especially after the success of trial done in the first year.By cultural perspective, Rossman et a l. (1988) identified the culture change processes to three types: Evolutionary, Additive and Transformative, depended on the degree of explicit, conscious focus on cultural change. The change in School X involved explicitly implementation of policies and practices, it should belonged to additive or transformative. While as the cultural norm was changed in a quite big scale with some severe means (replaced the heads, restructured the school system, etc. ), the reform of School X was classified as transformative.The developmental age of School X affected the cultural change in it as well. Stoll and Fink (1996) described the mechanisms likely to bring about change in three developmental age of school: Birth and early growth, Midlife, Maturity and /or stagnation and decline. School X should belong to Midlife stage, and the description about change through explosion of myths, quality circle was an exact example of this. The idea about creating new myth also echoed by(Trice & Beyer, 1993) , the effectiveness of myth to change cultures was affirmed in his article. 5. Comment on its effectiveness 5. Classical theory vs. Human resources theory The definitions of effectiveness of the change/reform were varied. The implementation of change in School X relied on application of human resources theory mostly. Compared with the classical theory, human resources theory took much more time and sometimes the outcome may be misled to be deflected from the organizational goal as it emphasized on the managing by objective instead of control with assumption about people had motivation already inside(McGregor, 1957). However, for the setting of school, human resources theory is much more appropriate.Though in earlier of this paper, the characteristic of schools in postmodern age was subjected to change; on the other hand, schools should be stable enough to let the teachers and students feel safe and secure. The scientific management emphasizes on selecting themost qualified employees to perform the job, this may not fit for the situation of school. Furthermore, the classical theory also included sense of bureaucracy. Bureaucracy was a common practiced in modern school for many years. However, this perspective may not suitable for the postmodern age school nowadays.Bureaucratic schools are close-ended, static and balkanized, in contrast, what we need now are open-ended, evolving and collaborative learning organizations. 5. 2 Cultural perspective Rossman(1988) argued culture defines effectiveness. In this part, I will comment on the effectiveness of the change in School X by cultural perspective. 5. 2. 1The classification of change by levels of culture The culture can be distinguished to three levels , on the base of basic assumptions, values and behaviours are observable manifestations (Schein, 1985). In Table 5. 1, the change of School X in each level of culture was described.Table 5. 1. Description on the change of School X by levels of culture. Level| Descrip tion| Artifacts and creations| The appearance of students was improved. The behavior of students inside and outside the classroom was improved. The academic performance of students improved. The intake of the school improved. | Values| The senses of belonging of students increase. The self-esteem and confidence of students improved. The satisfaction of teachers about the job improved. | Basic assumptions| The impression of community on School X changed to be more positive. The mission and goal of the school became clear and evolving.Senses of collaboration and cooperation were developed among teachers and students. Teachers’ belief migrated from â€Å"students cannot be changed† to â€Å"students can be changed through education, it just needs time and effort†. | 5. 2. 2Assessing Amounts of Change To understand the amount of change, the process can be described along four dimensions: Pervasiveness, Magnitude, Innovativeness, and Duration (Trice & Beyer, 1993). T he pervasiveness in change of culture was high. All the main business within the school was affected. The behavior of majority of teachers and students were changed.Surely, some of them tried to ignore the change, but the proportion was small. The magnitude of the change was high. The old negative values and belief evolved to much more positive ones. The innovativeness was not very varied in this case. Actually, the change in rules, rites and regulation were limited. The practices implemented were also common in other schools. But the idea of decentralization of power with quality circle was innovative among Hong Kong schools. Finally, the duration, it was high and actually, School X is still evolving even now, as a culture of evolving was developed. 5. 2. 3Definitions of effectivenessAccording to the research work of Rossman et al. (1988), from the cultural perspective, the definitions of effectiveness changes refer to the norms, beliefs and values of organizations. Took Rossman â €˜s suggestion, I tried to analysed the effectiveness of reform in School X by five criteria. Firstly, the definition should be multisided; Both of the academic and the non-academic achievement should be considered. The academic performance of School X was improved and the band of it was promoted. On the other hand , the sports teams and volunteer team had outstanding performance in region. Second,  the  concern  for  order  is  essential to  all  schools.Ordered environment facilitate learning and teaching, it also brought about the sense of respect. The behavior of students was improved. The lesson time spent on dealing with the problem of classroom management was greatly reduced. It brings about the achievement of the third criterion – the quality of teaching; as teachers had more time for preparing teaching activities with higher quality. The focuses of professional training activities included the new teachers training programs and school-based trainin g activities were migrated from classroom management to some more academic purpose.The fourth one is to establish appropriate expectations for intellectual outcomes. Except the first two years of implementation, the main concerns of School X in the followed six years all about enhancing the learning and teaching effectiveness. The performances of students in public examination also have been evaluated and discussed both in the meeting at subject levels and school level. Finally, value the diversity. School X developed teams for students with different education needs, for example, special education needs, non-native Chinese speakers, gifted, etc. 6. 2. Three perspective of culture The culture strength can be described by three perspectives: Integration, Differentiation and Fragmentation(Martin, 1992). Before the implementation of change, School X should be described as differentiation, teachers , those willing to pay effort and those not, worked on their own style, belief and goal. Conflicts between colleagues happened frequently. The reform caused the culture of School X evolved much more coherent, but the characteristics of sub-groups were still kept, so it is much more likely to be fragmentation rather than integration. . 2. 5Limitations of the cultural perspective on evaluating the effectiveness of change Culture is powerful, it affects the whole setting and every members of the organization. But the cultural perspective is only a way to give better insight of the organizational culture and also about the change. It never gives any fast and promising way for change. One can have a better planning and more precise expectation on the response of the members of organization to the implementation of change. 6. End of story? Never ended†¦.As we said in the start of this paper, schools nowadays are providing training to people who will deal with the fast, complex and mercurial life in the postmodern age. Schools that keep static and satisfy with their past achievement are no longer good schools. The senses of changes should be rooted within every stakeholder of the schools and education system. The cycle of planning, implementation and evaluation now was very familiarized by each educators in every levels of institutions, it is not just for documentary purpose and dealing with school external review, it is also a key for the keeping the schools change to right way.References Cuban, L. (1988). A Fundamental Puzzle of School-Reform. Phi Delta Kappan, 69(5), 341-344. EDB. (1997). Education Commission Report No. 7. Fullan, Michael, & Stiegelbauer, Suzanne M. (1991). The new meaning of educational change (2nd ed. ). Toronto? New York, NY: Ontario Institute for Studies in Education : Teachers College Press, Teachers College, Columbia University. Hargreaves, Andy. (1994). Changing teachers, changing times : teachers' work and culture in the postmodern age. London: Cassell. Huberman, A. M. , & Miles, Matthew B. 1984). Innovation up close : ho w school improvement works. New York: Plenum Press. Leithwood, Kenneth A. , Aitken, Robert, & Jantzi, Doris. (2001). Making schools smarter : a system for monitoring school and district progress (2nd ed. ). Thousand Oaks, Calif. : Corwin Press. Martin, Joanne. (1992). Cultures in organizations : three perspectives. New York: Oxford University Press. McGregor, Douglas Murray. (1957). The Human Side of Enterprise (4th ed. ). Fort Worth: Harcourt Brace College Publishers. Rossman, Gretchen B. , Corbett, H.Dickson, & Firestone, William A. (1988). Change and effectiveness in schools : a cultural perspective. Albany: State University of New York Press. Schein, Edgar H. (1985). Defining Organizational Culture (4th ed. ). Belmont: Wadsworth Pub. Co. Stoll, Louise, & Fink, Dean. (1996). Changing our schools : linking school effectiveness and school improvement. Buckingham England ; Philadelphia: Open University Press. Trice, Harrison m. , & Beyer, Janice M. (1993). Changing Organizational Cu lture (4th ed. ). Fort Worth: Harcourt Brace College Publishers.

“a Fable” by Mark Twain

John Alarcon American Lit. Mr. Mason Research paper â€Å"A Fable† by Mark Twain- Close reading In this short story a painting is the reason for the occurrences described. Animals in this story are portrayed in a human like manner, each having their own ideas and feelings and a common method of communication. The painter’s cat is portrayed as a well-mannered and intelligent being. In the sentence â€Å"The animals out in the woods heard of this through the housecat, who was greatly admired by them because he was so learned†¦Ã¢â‚¬  the cat is made to look astute because the other animals are oblivious to many of the things he tells them. To a human, what the cat says may not sound accurate or right but to a group of animals that’s don’t know any better the cat seems brilliant. The vocabulary used by the cat to describe the painting and the mirror, also indicated that the cat is smart. The adjectives he uses are large and descriptive, the way he speaks and constructs his sentences shows how his level of thinking is superior. The Other animals were not described and interacted with in-depth enough to identify a personality for each of them. They were all made to be similar to one another because they were all in the same situation with the same opinions and ideas toward the painting . The only animal that stood out besides the cat was the ass. This being that he was the only one to have a doubt in the toward the greatly admired cat’s story. The cat aroused the interest and curiosity of the animals. He was the one that informed then of said painting. It was the doubts of the ass that provoked the animals to finally get a look at the painting. The ass was the first to investigate the situation; all the other animals after him got the same result from looking in the mirror. They stood in front of the painting which and all they saw was a reflection of themselves. Being that a different animal looked in the mirror every time, every animal got there own unique reflection of them self’s and were convinced it was the only thing inside the mirror and there was no â€Å"dainty and charming† painting. What the author is trying to explain in this story is that every person has their own meaning and opinion to a story. The painting being a story or work of literature and the mirror being your imagination that gives its own unique reflection and understanding of the text.