Antimicrobial Activity of Oil Extract from Marang Seeds

Antimicrobial body process of Oil Extract from Marang SeedsAntimicrobial Activity of Oil Extract from Marang Seeds (Artocarpus odoratissimus)against Escherichia coli and staph epidermidisIntroductionEssential oils be widely gaining interest a component in medicinal products, food exertion and pharmaceutical industry. Many studies were conducted to identify the antimicrobial, antifungal and insecticidal activities of essential oils obtained from plants. Essential oils have many therapeutic activities and they aid the distribution of drugs and antiseptics. Furthermore, the testing of plant extracts for its antimicrobial bodily process has always been of great attention to scientists looking for new sources for drugs for the treatment of various diseases (Nagala et al., 2013).Antimicrobial Compounds from PlantsPhenolsAccording to Cetin-Karaca (2011), phenolic compounds atomic number 18 one of the most diverse groups of unoriginal metabolites found in edible plants. They atomic n umber 18 found in a wide variety of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, stems and flowers. There are different classes of polyphenols known as tannins, lignins and flavonoids.Cinnamic and caffeic acids are common representatives of a wide group of phenylpropane-derived compounds which are in the highest oxidation state. Herbs such as tarragon and thyme both contain caffeic acid that is effective against viruses, bacterium and fungi. Catechol and pyrogallol both are hydroxylated phenols, shown to be toxic to microorganisms. Catechol has two 2OH groups, and pyrogallol has three. The site(s) and number of hydroxyl groups on the phenol group are thought to be related to their relative toxicity to microorganisms, with evidence that increased hydroxylation results in increased toxicity (Cowan, 1999).FlavonoidsFlavonoids are the most widely occurring polyphenol and are present in roughly every form of human consumed vegetation. Flavonoids are potent antioxidants, free radical scavengers an d metal chelators they inhibit lipid peroxidation and exhibit various physiological activities including anti-inflammatory, anti-allergic, anti-carcinogenic, anti-hypertensive, anti-arthritic and antimicrobial activities (Cetin-Karaca, 2011).Flavonoids are to a fault hydroxylated phenolic substances but occur as a C6-C3 unit linked to an aromatic ring. Since they are known to be synthesized by plants in response to microbial infection, it should not be surprising that they have been found in vitro to be effective antimicrobial substances against a wide array of microorganisms. Catechins, the most cut down form of the C3 unit in flavonoid compounds, have been extensively researched due to their occurrence in oolong green teas. It was noticed some time ago that teas exerted antimicrobial bodily process and that they contain a mixture of catechin compounds. These compounds inhibited in vitro Vibrio cholerae, Streptococcus mutans, Shigella and other bacteria and microorganisms (Cowan , 1999).Plant Extracts as Potential Antibacterial AgentsNumerous studies investigated somewhat the antimicrobial activity of plant extracts against a great number of bacterial species. Plant extracts were prepared from fresh or dried plant material victimization conventional extraction methods (Soxhlet extraction, maceration, percolation). Extraction is process of separation of active compounds from plant material using different solvents. During extraction, solvents diffuse into the plant material and solubilise compounds with similar polarity. At the end of the extraction, solvents have been evaporated, so that an extract is a concentrated mixture of plant active compounds. Successful extraction is largely dependent on the case of solvent used in the extraction procedure. Water extracts and extracts from organic solvents such as methanol, ethanol, acetone and chloroform are usually used. Diffusion and dilution method are two types of susceptibility test used to determine the anti bacterial efficacy of plant extracts. Diffusion method is a qualitative test which allows classification of bacteria as susceptible or resistant to the tested plant extract according to size of diameter of the zone of inhibition. In dilution method, the activity of plant extracts is set(p) as Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC). MIC is defined as the lowest concentration able to inhibit bacterial growth (Stefanovic, et al., 2012).Marang (Artocarpus odoratissimus)Artocarpus odoratissimus is also known as Marang, Johey oak or Tarap which is a tropical fruit tree native to Asia. It belongs to the Moraceae family and is closely related to Jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus) and breadfruit (Artocarpus comminis). It originated in Borneo and has been introduced into neighbouring countries, including the Philippines, Malaysia and Thailand. It is an evergreen tree, which can grow up to 25 m tall and has a 40 cm diameter trunk with low buttresses. The leaves are in general elliptic to obovate at around 16to 50cm long and 11to 28cmwide. They are cuneated at base to slightly decurrent, margin entire or shallowly crenate, and apex heart-to-heart or shortly acuminate. It is a monoecious plant so one plant is enough for the production of fruit. The fruit is green, ovoid in shape, quite large, averaging more or less 16 cm in length, 13 cm in diameter and weighing about 1 kg (KPR Gardeners Club, 2009). It is roundish oblong, regular, and thickly studded with short, brittle, unripened yellow spines. The rind is thick and fleshy. The flesh is snowy white, very sweet when ripe, juicy and very aromatic. The flesh is separated into segments clinging to the central core and each segment contains a seed. The seeds are many, whitish, 8 15 mm in size, smooth surfaced and readily separated from the flesh (Subhadrabandhu, 2001).Escherichia coliEscherichia coliis the most prevalent infecting organism in the family of gram-negative bacteria known as enterobacteriaceae.E. coli is a Gram-negative, rod-shaped bacterium propelled by long, rapidly rotating flagella. Escherichia colibacteria were discovered in the human colon in 1885 by German bacteriologist Theodor Escherich. Dr. Escherich also showed that certain strains of the bacterium were responsible for infant diarrhea and gastroenteritis, an important public health discovery. AlthoughE. coli bacteria were initially called Bacterium coli, the name was later changed toEscherichia colito honor its artificer (Clark, 2005). It is part of the normal flora of the mouth and gut and helps protect the intestinal tract from bacterial infection, aids in digestion, and produces small amounts of vitamins B12 and K. The bacterium, which is also found in soil and water, is widely used in laboratory research and is said to be the most thoroughly studied life form (The Columbia electronic Encyclopedia, 2012).Staphylococcus epidermidisStaphylococcus epidermidis belongs to the genus Staphylococcus, and they are facultative anaerobes (Wiedemer, 2012). Staphylococcus epidermidis is a well characterized, non-fastidious, and it is a gram positive bacteria. Staphylococcus epidermidis is a coagulase negative staphylococcus (CNS) they are found and colonizes the skin and the mucous membranes of the human body and they play an important part of it normal flora (Sousa et al., 2008). These species of staphylococcus secretes and produces a biofilm of polysaccharides that protects the cell against the host insubordinate system or antibiotic treatments (Schjorring et al., 2002). These staphylococci are mainly dispersed during skin to skin contact using medical instruments and procedures. Staphylococcus epidermidis can suffice infections in humans like meningitis, urinary tract infection (UTI) conjunctivitis, and endocarditis (Wiedemer, 2012).BibliographyCetin-Karaca, H. (2011). Evaluation of Natural Antimicrobial Phenolic Compounds Against victualsborne Pathogens. University of Kentucky Masters Theses.Paper 6 52. Retrieved from http//uknowledge.uky.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1163context=gradschool_thesesClark, M. (2005). E. coli Food Poisoning What is E. coli and how does it arouse food poisoning? About E. coli. Retrieved from http//www.about-ecoli.com/. Retrieved on July 15, 2014.Cowan, M. (1999). Plant Products as Antimicrobial Agents. Clinical Microbiology Reviews Oct. 1999, p. 564582. Retrieved from http//www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC88925/pdf/cm000564.pdf?origin=publication_detailKPR Gardeners Club. (2009). Breadfruit Artocarpus odoratissimus, Marang. Botanix A Journal About Plants and Gardening. Retrieved from http//www.botanix.kpr.eu/en/index.php?text=6-breadfruit-artocarpus-odoratissimus-marangNagala, S., Yekula, M. Tamanam, R. (2013). Antioxidant and gas chromatographic analysis of ve varieties of jackfruit (Artocarpus) seed oils. Drug Invention Today 5 (2013) 315-320. Retrieved from http//www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0975761913000616Schjorring, S., Ramos, A., Fraustrup, H., Hallin, P.F. (2002). Pathogenic investigation of Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococcus epidermidis. Technical University of Denmark. Retrieved from http//www.cbs.dtu.dk/pfh/files/mrsa.pdfSousa,C., Teixeira, P. Oliveira, R. (2008). Influence of surface properties on the adhesion of Staphylococcus epidermidis to Acrylic and Silicone. International Journal of Biomaterials Volume2009(2009), Article ID718017, 9 pages doi10.1155/2009/718017. Retrieved from http//www.hindawi.com/journals/ijbm/2009/718017/Subhadrabandhu, S. (2001). Under-Utilized Tropical Fruits of Thailand. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Regiona Office for Asia and the Pacific. Retrieved from http//www.fao.org/3/a-ab777e.pdfStefanovic, et al. (2012). Antibacterial Activity of Naturally Occurring Compounds from Selected Plants. ISBN 978-953-51-0723-1, InTech, DOI 10.5772/33059. Retrieved from http//cdn.intechopen.com/pdfs/38642.pdfThe Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia. (2012). Escherichia coli. Infoplease.com. Retrieved from http//www.infoplease.com/encyclopedia/science/escherichia-coli.htmlWiedemer, C. (2012). Microbiology Unknown testing ground Report. CPR St. Louis. Retrieved from http//aclsstlouis.com/3961/microbiology-unknown-lab-reports/

Distributed Leadership Among Teachers Education Essay

Distri onlyed Leadership Among Teachers Education EssayDistributed leaveing stretches and sh atomic number 18s the lead practice to anatomy collection leaders so that those not in formal commanding position such as classroom teachers could be valued and learn a voice in leading. It disassociates from the vertical, bureaucratic and organizational hierarchy to enable collaboration and wide spread sharing of information and forcefulness to sustain improvement in inform and erudition. Distributed leaders is instalive as it is an open and democratic example of principle equipped with both(prenominal) vertical and squinty communication. This leaders is associated with concepts such as empowerment, team upwork, capacity building, teacher leadership and superior development. The theoretical entrapwork of distributed leadership is Theory Y as the leadership considers diverse contribution to the process of subtleties of leadership to shape collective action instead of the t raditional vertical leadership process which separates leaders from followers as mutually exclusive categories. The routine of this research proposal is to explore the perceptions of dot teachers, teachers and students about distributed leadership, how it is practiced in require aimtimes and the perceived effects on instruct and learning in three high execute urban secondary naturalizes in Klang Valley. Both qualitative and quantitative methodologies argon proposed in this vignette as semi-structured interviews with four head teachers to capture their perceptions on distributed leadership and what it way to them, plot questionnaires to be administered on teachers and students to investigate on the call for of distributed leadership practiced by head teachers and its effects on teaching and learning.Keywords Distributed leadership, collaboration, empowerment, teamwork, and capacity building.IntroductionDistributed leadership, I opine, presents a powerful concept of lead ership in the educational arena of 21st century as it enables a collaborative and sharing climb up among teachers and students and treats every person as a leader at the entry level, rather than leadership understood individually. It acknowledges various stakeholders and provides them with a voice about their situations to positively impact the teaching and learning outcome (Flowers, 2007).According to Leithwood and Mascall (2008), meaningfully leading schools requires collective leadership and interactions of people and their situation, and not centred on a single formal leader, so that they can specify and perform the tasks involved in leadership by identifying, acquiring, allocating, coordinating, and use the social, material and cultural resources necessary to establish the conducive conditions for teaching and learning in order to be powerful luxuriant to cave in significant effect on students.This active and purposeful involvement of triune individuals in school leadershi p enhances teachingal innovations as distributed leadership considers teachers and students as partners in school leadership, rather than as followers to engage them as collaborative leaders with their colleagues to learn from one another and empowering others to lead, participation in dual-lane finale-making, and development of a dual-lane vision for their school (Sheppard and Brown, 2009). A widely distributed school leadership at all levels and the greater partnerships are important as it enables sharing of ideas and insights and therefore has great influence on the school and student outcomes (PricewaterhouseCoopers, 2007). Distributed leadership enhances student outcome as it creates a culture for learning by promoting instructional leadership, leadership for learning, team work, capacity building, collective interaction and good communication among leaders, followers and their situations thus, creating trust and business among them.It is against this backdrop that this e ssay proposes to explore the perceptions of head teachers, teachers and students of selected high performing schools in Klang Valley about distributed leadership and its effects on teaching and learning. These perceptions are essential to gain a deeper understanding of distributed leadership and its impact on teaching and learning and to yield lessons regarding the ways high performing schools can effectively lead and operate with their workforce of headteachers and teachers.Background of the studyThere is growing empirical certify that distributed leadership causes a positive difference to student outcome as it has greater density of instructional leadership (Harris Spillane, 2008). This leadership identifies, develops and utilizes the pedagogical expertise and talent of teachers so that they are knowledgeable and responsible of the educational outcomes to positively impact the teaching and learning (Robinson, 2008).According to Chan and Sidhu (2009), tenuous principals in Malay sia had deliberately chosen distributed leadership to move the school forward by empowering others to lead so that there is collaborative, cooperative, participative, democratic teacher leadership passim the school.Distributed leadership which engages teachers as leaders with wider distribution of tasks rather than hierarchical distributions enables shared vision based on trust and a collective endeavour at heart the school which builds a broad capacity base is fast replacing the charismatic hero or the heroic leader in school leadership. Thus, the decision making processes are widely shared and school development shapes the responsibility of team of teachers to enhance student achievement rather than the senior management group.Although distributed leadership involves various stakeholders including principals, local education authorities, parents and community, the police detective proposes to explore the perceptions from those directly involved, that is, the headteachers, teac hers and students who are the participants in this study, in moving forward the teaching and learning agenda by investigating their perceptions of the term distributed leadership, how it is practiced and what they perceive as its effect on teaching and learning as it is not possible to bearing a study that incorporates the perceptions of all the stakeholders within the scope of this study at this time.The study would involve three urban, high performing secondary schools in Klang Valley. The first school is a large secondary school with an enrolment of 1,200 students and 105 teachers and 5 head teachers. The second school also has an enrolment of 1,100 and the third school with an enrolment of 1,090 learners. Pupils in these schools come from the wider community and are often sent by private vehicles. The students have no learning difficulties as they are the stick outlent students.Problem dictationThere is a growing recognition of the need to study distributed leadership in the field of education especially in high performing schools as there has been powerful effects on student outcomes and there has been growing dissatisfaction with the traditional vertical leader-centred leadership (Caskey, 2010). Leadership vested in one position has go obsolete as it is not the single and heroic individualistic leader who makes an organisation function but leadership should be broadly distributed throughout the school to take into consideration of the competences of its members. According to Richard Elmore, distributed leadership is linked to schools fundamental task of helping students learn. However, the concept is new and lacks the definition and empirical knowledge about how or to what extent the high performing schools actually use distributed leadership as well as evidence that firmly links distributed leadership to students achievement is static far in the future as there is little empirical selective information to support the effects of distributed leaders hip on teaching and learning. I believe distributed leadership can only be judged by the evidence of its impact on teaching and learning.Objective of the studyFirstly, the study aims to explore the perceptions of headteachers of distributed leadership and what it means to them. Secondly, to investigate on the level of distributed leadership practiced or how it is practiced by headteachers as perceived by teachers and students. Thirdly, it seeks to find out the contribution of distributed leadership to teaching and learning as perceived by teachers and students at each school.These objectives are in line with tentative conclusions from various studies which indicate that leadership that is distributed among the wider school staff is likely to have an effect on students academic performance than that of exclusively top-down approach (Muijs and Harris 2007 PricewaterhouseCoopers, 2007). However, to-date, there has not been any empirical data to support the effect of distributed leaders hip on student outcomes as studies have also confirmed that the effect of leadership on student outcomes is largely verificatory (Hartley, 2007 Rhodes and Brundrett, 2010). This study therefore proposes to support to knowledge about the impact of distribute leadership on teaching and learning by providing some empirical evidence from teachers and students and to integrate to previous findings of studies on distributed leadership.Research QuestionsThe research questions for this study with the aforementioned objectives include1. What are the perceptions of head teachers on distributed leadership and what it means to them?2. What are the perceptions of teachers and students on the level of distributed leadership practiced by head teachers?3. To what extent does distributed leadership gift to effective teaching and learning?Significance of the StudyThis emerging approach to leadership allow for be potentially useful to national and international policy makers, practitioners, traine rs and researchers in education as they are more directly attached to student learning. Policy makers could utilize the study to devise new leadership approaches based on distributed leadership while practitioners may assist in creating professional learning communities and for continued professional development for school improvement and effective leadership. Trainers could formulate training needs for stakeholders based on leadership distribution while researchers may use it to set future agenda for research.Besides that, there is little empirical data to support the effects of distributed leadership on teaching and learning in high performing schools (Mayr, 2008). By investigating the perceptions of teachers and students, the study will highlight how distributed leadership is practiced in these selected urban schools in Malaysia. The researcher also finds the study important so as to reflect on past practices of leadership and to seek new ideas on effective school leadership and teaching and further to contribute to knowledge by adding some knowledge base to distributed leadership.Literature reviewDistributed leadershipDistributed leadership stretches and shares the leadership practice among multiple formal and informal groups whereby the leadership responsibility is disassociated from the vertical, bureaucratic and organizational hierarchy so that there is interaction and wide spread sharing of information and power to sustain improvement in teaching and learning (Robinson, 2008). For example, when teachers, parents and support staff work together to solve certain problems, they are involved in developmental space and collective capacity building within the school as they utilise multiple sources of pleader, direction and expertise of these stakeholders and as such by their actions, they are engaged in distributed leadership.This leadership practice is the result of interactions between different members of the team or organization to contribute to the l ife of the school and maximize the charitable capacity and enhance self-worth of others by energizing others for tasks within the organization to contribute to broad and deep learning for all students. Distributed leadership is a way of cerebration about leadership and being involved in a common task or clear goal improvement of instruction and common frame of values in executing the particular leadership task rather than another technique.Distributed leadership is linked to the notion of collaboration, shared, distributive, dispersed and democratic as shown in Figure 1 below.Figure 1 Terminologies associated with distributed leadership (Moyo, 2010)Thus, distributed leadership is effective as it is an open and democratic model equipped with both vertical and lateral communication.Distributed leadership among teachersThe authorities to lead is no longer centered around one man theory as distribution is not monopolized by the headteachers initiative but is a collective leadership a nd dispersed within the school and among teachers through the cultivation of relationship and networks as classroom teachers are in direct contact with learners in the majority of cases and hence influence their learning.(Ameijde, et al., 2009).The school leadership adopts power equalization and inspires teachers to participate in leadership by developing a school culture which values the sorts of learning that enhance the capacity of individuals to lead and conducive to building norms of building trust to enhance openness, respect, appreciation and self-reliance for the teachers to conduct their activities in collaboration, to procure and distribute resources, support teacher growth for both individual and collective development, to provide both summative and formative monitoring of instruction and innovation so that teachers could develop skills and expertise by working together and have a sense of ownership to influence the quality of teaching which later on affect student outc ome.(Ameijde, et al., 2009).Distributed leadership which emphasizes collaboration of teachers with their colleagues in other schools facilitates teacher learning and enhances self-confidence as they engage in action research by trying new teaching approaches and disseminating their findings to colleagues, thereby minimizing teacher isolation but rather challenging teachers to promote personal and professional development so that they contribute to optimal student learning and achievement.The collective endeavour of efforts enables team based work and forms leadership community that share meaningful contexts and creates opportunities for learning as it integrates differing viewpoints and interests in approaching a highly complex and interdependent task. In this regard, teachers have clearly defined responsibilities which are linked to their area of expertise so that they could contribute effectively to leadership process. By doing so, teachers are not confined to the classroom but ar e rather transcended to contribute to the community of learners beyond the classroom to lead to improved practice and higher performance (Ameijde, et al., 2009).Distributed leadership is associated with a number of concepts and themes such as empowerment, teamwork, staff motivation, capacity building, teacher leadership and to a lesser extent professional development.(Ameijde, et al., 2009).Distributed cognitionDistributed cognition views mentation as social rather than individual activity. Teachers are no longer passive and isolated but are connected through dialogue and reflection so that they are active and weaved in the fabric of the school for a common task and shared common values. They become more knowledgeable and take responsibility about the task of teaching as more of the pedagogical expertise and talent of teachers will be identified, developed and utilized than a more hierarchical pattern of leadership to impact on learning and student outcome. This creates unity and i nstructional innovations rather than micromanaging instruction.(Ameijde, et al., 2009).Teaching and LearningAccording to PricewaterhouseCoopers (2007), the behaviour of school leaders impact pupil performance. By distributing leadership to teachers that emphasise collaboration and distribution of power and authority which is central to learning, they exert their influence on pupil performance by empowering pupils and creating a favourable condition for learning by applying learner centred approach to teaching and learning in classrooms and across the school which has the potential to effect learner inclusion, engagement and improved achievement. With collaboration which is effective in widening student learning opportunities and raising expectations, teachers could also help to resolve immediate problems through dialogue and establishment of a shared sense of accountability. Pupils are not treated as passive recipients and as such, good communication is ensured so that the students know what is going on and has a hand in shaping this.high performing schools high performing schools (HPS) or cluster schools act as models for other institutions within the same cluster and becomes the premise for pioneering new approaches and innovations in the education system. Students of these excellent institutions excel in academic and co-curricular activities and possess outstanding personality, leadership skills, high team spirit, creative thinking skills, and are patriotic, globally oriented and competitive. These schools are acknowledged to have ethos, character and own identity and unique in all aspects of education. The high performing secondary schools in Klang Valley are either regular day schools or residential schools, premier schools and 100-year schools and the Ministry of Education Malaysia uses the HPS as markers to point towards excellence in education and as special model schools to other schools in Malaysia (MOE, 2008). honorable and orderly learning environ ments are created in these schools with clear instructional objectives in which the head teachers expect high performance from teachers and students through increased time on task and develop positive relationsAll students are required to show excellent performance comparable to benchmark standards such as the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), and the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) with proficiency in Math, Science and English.Besides that, the students should also master higher-order thinking skills such as applications, problem-solving, participation in co-curriculum activities, and personal development or soft-skills (The Malaysian Insider, 2012). In order to maintain the schools high performance, leadership is distributed throughout the school and its community and when teachers are empowered in areas they believe are important (Jacobson, 2010).According to Muhyiddin, Malaysian Education Minister, the objective of HPS is to ens ure that all students regardless of stream, medium, or urban or rural locations would attain continuous excellence(The Malaysian Insider, 2012).The principal and teachers from these schools are expected to set examples and share their experiences with counterparts in other institutions. Their accountability is outlined by a set of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) relating to human resource development, physical development, financial management, professionalism among staff member, and school achievements (academic, co-curricular activities and aptitude) (MOE, 2008).According to MOE (2008), high performing schools are expected to bring about positive impact to the national education system through excellence in co-curricular activities programmes exemplary career guidance programmes outstanding all-rounded students that is 5.8% of 5.2 million students acceptance of students from high performing schools at world renowned universities government and private sector sponsorships interna tional acknowledgements as benchmarks for other schools, both local and foreign quality leadership and excellent teachers.Theoretical and Conceptual underpinningDistributed leadership in which the leadership functions are shared, employs Theory Y as the leadership enables diverse individuals to contribute to the process of subtleties of leadership to shape collective action instead of the traditional vertical leadership process which separates leaders from followers as mutually exclusive categories.Conceptually, distributed leadership refers to democratic style of leadership to allow voices of influence beyond just one and increases participation of stakeholders. It de-monopolizes concentrated leadership and enhances foreign mission of authority, collective decision-making, power, influence and coordination to enable plurality of analyses and boundarylessness so that the organizational phenomena such as information systems, knowledge, cognition, learning systems and work can be dis tributed. As leadership expands to multiple players, it displays holistic framework and allows flexibility, open-endedness with overlapping expertise to complement and reinforce one another, and strengthened decision making commitment and quality, and further utilizes fully the resources of the schools to cooperate and collectively devise strategies to improve students progress. It eliminates the tightly drawn lines, borders, commands and control associated with a Weberian bureaucratic paradigm (Gronn, 2008).Conceptually, distributed leadership is associated with notions of empowerment, teamwork, collegiality, staff motivation, capacity building, teacher leadership, professional autonomy and professional development (Muijs and Harris, 2007). According to Moyo (2010), collegiality results in strong professional culture in the school as it includes collaboration among teachers, mutual respect, shared work values, cooperation and specialized conversation about teaching and learning.Ac cording to Ameijde et al. (2009), distributed leadership underpins is a shared influence process to which several individuals contribute and leadership arises from the interactions of diverse individuals which together form a group of network in which essential expertise is a dispersed quality.EmpowermentEmpowerment of teachers is an essential component of distributed leadership. Distributed leadership disassociates from control and self-confidence but rather creates opportunity, support, space, capacity and growth among teachers by encouraging them to have the power to decide how to do the defined tasks and to get involved vigorously in school policies, curriculum and educational practices and voice their views openly without fear of retribution to experience a greater sense of efficacy. With empowerment, teachers are more motivated to take risks and committed to work with surprising ability as it cultivates teacher leadership which extends beyond their own classrooms to others wi thin and across schools, and further enhances teacher involvement in collective and collaborative process of school decision-making that promote teacher learning to contribute widely to teaching and learning.The empowerment elevates teachers expertise, confidence and self-esteem as they have control over resources, methods and decision making and further to experiment with novel, cutting-edge teaching methods, and to evaluate their colleagues teaching performance through team work, selection of instructional materials and textbooks, curriculum development, school policies and plans, coordination of programmes, professional development, organizing visits to other schools, collaborating with colleagues, leading study groups and coaching and mentoring students which impacts positively on their effectiveness as teachers and to have a positive effect on students.TeamworkTeamwork which refers to setting up of teams by the headteachers with the need to work together on a common purpose is crucial for distributed leadership. This implies that the headteacher is willing to distribute leadership. The team must be equipped with clear goals and results driven, competency, unified commitment, collaboration climate based on trust to develop honest openness and respect, clear standards of excellence, and away support and recognition to achieve an optimum degree of synergy. With these characteristics, the team will have comprehensive knowledge and responsibility of student learning and outcomes. They further become role models for students to emulate.Capacity buildingCapacity building through collaboration and trusting relationship for mutual learning can be achieved with distributed leadership in order for teachers to become professional communities and to focus on teaching and learning as they participate in decision-making and have a shared sense of purpose so as to have a joint responsibility for the outcomes of their work. The capacity may be built by reviewing the perf ormance of teachers, adding more resources, materials or applied science and by restructuring the tasks so that teachers can work together, experiment, reflect and explore with colleagues to acquire new skills and practice of the profession. Capacity building enables continuous learning of teachers to enhance pupil learning. According to Harris (2002), the conditions for capacity building to create a learning culture may include commitment to teachers development, inclusion of teachers and students in school policies and decisions and collaborative formulation with effective coordination strategies.Teacher leadershipresearch methodology

Shakespeares As You Like It - A Pre-oedipal Reading :: Shakespeare As You Like It Essays

A Pre-oedipal Reading of As You Like It   In these lines we see how Orlando saves his brother from a snake and a lioness. This is basically what leads to their reconciliation. On the summon this seems fairly simple, but by using a pre-oedipal reading on this passage Ill make it a bit more complex. I will separate out to show that this passage depicts Olivers liberation from his mother. I will also point out how Oliver is unable to achieve this liberation himself, and how he needs to be helped by his brother Orlando.             Already in line 106 we get a glimpse of Olivers job A wretched ragged man, oergr own with hair, He is unknown and unrecognisable, even to his own brother. You can see that he is an adult person by his hair (beard), but he has not got an identity as a man. Oliver suffers from the same problem as Orlando had before he met Duke Senior, in the respect that he does not have a father-figure to identify with. Rowl and de Boys, who was his biological father, is dead. His only substitute, Duke Frederick, has threatened to expect his estates from him, and thereby denying him his identity.             A snake is crawling towards Olivers mouth. If we take a closer look at this snake in a pre-oedipal context it is fairly limpid that it is a phallic symbol. As I said it is moving towards Olivers mouth. If we regard the snake as a symbol of a penis, the vagina is represented by Olivers mouth. On that basis, we can claim that Oliver is about to be penetrated and violated. We also witness a reversal of gender roles as we notice that the snake is female. This might represent Olivers (or indeed, mens) fears of organism effeminated.             Whats more, Oliver is sleeping. In other words he is not fully aware of the situation he is in. He is also defenceless. He therefore needs person to enlighten him and to sa ve him. This is where Orlando comes in. He is now a representative of the liberated man, having found his father in Duke Senior, and having proved his manhood by being dauntless and gentle. The mere sight of him makes the snake impotent, and it escapes. Orlando has now saved his brother from the threat of becoming effeminate.

The Variations in Little Red Riding Hood Essay -- Fairy Tales Literatu

The Variations in Little Red riding Hoodqueen tales are under attack in the United States from both right- and left-oriented storm sensation groups. (Ravitch, 62-96) From the left, the charges include sexism, stereotyping, distortion, and anti-humanism. (Ravitch, 84) From the right, the charges include immorality and objections to the portrayal of violence, death, and the supernatural. In addition, some critics claim that the tales terrify their children. (Ravitch, 76). In The Language Police, Diane Ravitch claims that both groups understand the importance of putting pressure on state textbook adoption committees, and that, as a result of such pressure, most major publishers are simply dropping the tales from the textbooks they sell to schools. (77-78) and then parents who assume, or would prefer that, their children are reading traditional fairy tales in school may find themselves mistaken.The seriousness of the question is itself a matter of debate, solely the biggest problem with the current debate is that a fairy tale is fictional to be a fairy tale in the sense that Dickenss A bosh of Two Cities is A Tale of Two Cities. Editors do make some changes in Dickenss text, but essentially what Dickens wrote is what he wrote. This is not the case, however, with fairy tales. on that point are several, perhaps dozens, of different versions of most of the best-know tales. To argue that tale A is good or bad, moral or immoral, for children to read is thus comparable to build a house out of straw. One of the central tales in the debate is Little Red Riding Hood, and Little Red Riding Hood is assumed to be Little Red Riding Hood. It isnt.There are apparently dozens of versions of this tale, but the best known are those by Charles Perra... .... 28, 2002. ProQuest Direct. Penn. Coll. Lib., Williamsport. 22 venerable 2004. <http//www.proquest.umi.com/pdqweb.Ravitch, Diane. The Language Police How Pressure Groups Restrict What Students Learn. N.Y. Alfred A. K nopf, 2003.Tatar, Maria. Off with their Heads Fairy Tales and the Culture of Childhood. Princeton Princeton University Press, 1992.Weldon-Lasiter, Cynthia. Review of Little Red Riding Hood A Newfangled Fairy Tale. Book Links. 114 (Feb/Mar, 2002)11. . ProQuest Direct. Penn. Coll. Kib., Williamsport. 22 August 2004. <http//www.proquest.umi.com/pdqweb. Ziolkowski, Jan. M. A Fairy Tale from before Fairy Tales Egbert of Lieges De puella a lupellis seruata and the Medieval Background of Little Red Riding Hood. Speculum 673 (July 1992) 549-575. JSTOR. Penn. Coll. Kib., Williamsport. 23 July 2004. <http//www.jstor.org.

A Career in Insurance Sales Essay -- essays research papers

A Career in Insurance Sales Nature of the WorkInsurance agents sell one or much types of insurance, much(prenominal) as liveness, property, casualty, health, disability, and long-term care (Edwards, 1999, A12). Agents sell insurance policies to individuals and businesses to provide protection against loss or catastrophe. Insurance agents consider the fiscal status and life situation of their clients, and assist them in selecting their optimal insurance policy. Some policies can be designed to provide retirement income, funds for the education of children, or some other benefits (Edwards, 1999, A12). Insurance agents prepare reports, maintain records, and they help policyholders to settle insurance claims (Abraham & Herman, 1998). Special in-group policies may help employers provide their employees the opportunity to buy insurance through payroll deductions (Abraham & Herman, 1998). Agents may work for one company or independently for several companies (Abraham & Herman, 1998). Br okers do not sell for a particular company, but direct their clients to companies that wisecrack the best rate and coverage (Abraham & Herman, 1998). Life insurance agents and brokers are sometimes referred to as life underwriters (Abraham & Herman, 1998). Property and casualty insurance agents and brokers sell policies that protect individuals and businesses from financial loss, as a result of automobile accidents, fire or theft, tornadoes and storms, and other events that can damage property (Edwards, 1999, A13). Property and casualty insurance can overly sell health insurance policies to businesses that cover the costs of hospital and medical care for their employees (Edwards, 1999, A13). Increasingly, insurance agents and brokers bid comprehensive financial planning services to their clients, such as retirement planning counseling (Edwards, 1999, A13). Because of this, many insurance agents and brokers are licensed to sell mutual funds and other securities (Edwards, 1999, A13 ). Education and Training RequirementsCollege readying may help agents or brokers grasp the technical aspects of insurance policies and the fundamentals and procedures of selling insurance (Abraham & Herman, 1998). Many colleges and universities offer courses in insurance, and a few schools offer a bachelors degree in insurance (Abraham & Herman, 1998). College courses in finance, mathematics, a... ... growth of mutual fund sales (Vault.com, 1999). Insurance agents do not impulse a rise in crime, since fear of crime leads more people to seek insurance coverage for their homes, cars, and valuables (Vault.com, 1999). Sales of commercial insurance should increase as new businesses emerge and existing firms expand their coverage (Vault.com, 1999). Trends toward multiline agents, self-insurance, and group policies will also contribute to increased volume of insurance sales, and open positions (Vault.com, 1999). Since insurance is considered a necessity, agents are unlikely to face une mployment in times of recession (Vault.com, 1999).ReferencesAbraham, K. G., & Herman, A. M. (1998). Insurance agents and brokers. Occupational outlook handbook. (1998-1999 ed.). 250-252.Edwards, S. A. (1999, March 8). Insurance what you need to know. The Hartford Courant, pp. A12, A13. (Article appears on twain separate pages.) Vault.com Inc. 1999 150 West 22nd St., 5th Floor, New York, NY 10011http//www.vault.com/vstore/pages/occupations.cfm?Product_id=513&objectgroup_id=284&chapter=1

Christine de Pizan :: Essays Papers

Christine de Pizan Perhaps what Christine de Pizan found most alluring in Jeanne dArc was her eagerness to go, non only where no woman had gone before, but where no man had worn the path d own either she was not only the first woman to lead France in War, but the first person under 19 to do so. She experienced that which had hitherto not been discovered or known, a devising Christine gives to women whom have claim to great feats (herself included) in her Reply to Lady Reason from THE BOOK OF THE CITY OF LADIES. Unlike Christine, Joan had faced adversity early on in the form of her parents who wished to force a husband upon her. While (respectively) Christines father was encouraging her classical education, which would later(prenominal) help support her own children, Joan was on trial against her parents for refusing to marry. At 15, Christine married a court secretary, Etienne de Castel. At 17, Joan led France into battle. The two seem to have nothing in common but th at they are both French women. At 25, however, Christines fortune changed. She too had to fight for her rights in the French courts after her father, Tommaro di Benvenuto da Pizzano, died in 1380 (or 85, depending upon the source). Her husband died five or ten years later in 1390, leaving her estates along with those her father had left, both of which the French government would have liked to take from her in the lawsuits (lasting five years) following his death. Of this, she writes, in fluctuation OF FORTUNE, that by abandoning her with three children, fortune forced her to rely on her literary skills to support her family, thus transforming her role in society into a mans, allowing her to fight for her own rights as a woman. Moreover, in VISION, written in 1405, she argues that if her husband had lived, she sould never have had literary success. The three most apparent themes in Christines life and work womens rights, political ethics, and religious devotion- also ex plain her draw to Jeanne dArc, whose first and last experiences with Frances judicial system, as well as her millitary experiences, encapsulate all of these themes.

Why Are There So Few Men In Nursing? Essay -- Nursing

Among twenty leading female-dominated professions, registered nurses (RNs) are the second most occupation that employed women in 2006. Similar to many traditionally female professions, the percentage of male in nursing is small. In fact, male nurses only comprised eight percent of RNs in 2008. Although much trial has been made to recruit more men into nursing, many contributing factors have driven them away from this profession. Those factors include poor nursing image, negative public perception, emit economic status, and gender stereotypes. One of the most significant factors that deter men from entering the profession is stereotypes. Research shows that men might be more probably to encounter stereotypes than discrimination however, gender discrimination throughout the society still exists, which may discourage them from entering the profession. Gender segregation has separated male nurses into the minority group that faces many obstacles within the profession, in which neg ative stereotypes are the primary obstacle for men who want to enter the nursing force.Although women historically have been the bulk in the nursing workforce, the earliest record of male nurses known to perform nursing duties was between the fourth and fifth centuries. The first removal of men in nursing noted in the sixteenth century due to the destruction of many monastic institutions . In the mid-nineteenth century, Florence Nightingale initiated the idea of nursing as an alone womans profession. Nightingale believed only women had the capability to do nursing work because it was natural to them. Her vision caused the complete dissolution of male workforce in nursing . Only until 1955, for the first time, the military allowed men to se... ...ity Indianapolis, 2005), pp. 51, 52, 65. web 12, April. 2012. https//scholarworks.iupui.edu/handle/1805/1675What is Behind HRSAs Projected Supply, Demand, and Shortage of Registered Nurses? Health Resources and Services Administration (H RSA, 2004). Web 22, April. 2012. http//dwd.wisconsin.gov/ healthcare/pdf/behind_the_shortage.pdfWilliams, Christine. The Glass Escalator Hidden Advantages for Men in the Female Professions. Social Problems (1992), pp. 227-240Womens Bureau (WB) 20 Leading Occupations of Employed Women. U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics (2006). Web 22, April. 2012. http//www.dol.gov/wb/factsheets/20lead2006.htmWomens Bureau Quick Facts on Registered Nurses (RNs). U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics (2007). Web 22, April. 2012. http//www.dol.gov/wb/factsheets/Qf-nursing-08.htm