Holistic/Direct Observation/Witness Statement Professional Discussion Essay

Outcome 1.1: How do you review the range of individuals and groups in your workplace whose communication needs must be addressed? As an assistant manager I have a responsibility to my residents, to accommodate, and provide support for all residents, and their individual communication needs. By performing assessments with individual residents, I am able to understand the problems they have with communication, and actions and aids we can supply, to enable them to communicate effectively. In assessing communication needs, I need to consider each individual, and cater for the individual’s needs. I need to consider ‘groups’ of individuals, for instance males/females, foreign speaking users, deaf/Blind users etc. The actions and aids we supply for communication needs should benefit not just the individual, but the group of service users as a whole, and encourage interaction, inclusion, and social contacts. Regular reviews should be performed to ensure individual needs are being met and I do this during my 3 monthly care plan reviews. Outcome 1.2: Explain how you support effective communication within your job role To support effective communication within my job role I encourage the staff and clients to discuss any concerns or suggestions they may have to improve the care and service we provide. This Is done through supervisions/appraisals and we also give the staff the opportunity to make suggestions in our staff meetings. Staff are encouraged to put any points they would like to raise in writing and hand to myself or the manager for team discussion at the meeting. Our clients have the opportunity to raise any issues or concerns at the resident meetings that are held every two months, and also via their keyworker on a monthly basis. Staff and clients are also able to discuss any issue in confidence with myself or the manager in private. Outcome 1.3: Explain how you analyse the barriers and challenges to communication within your own job role. There are several barriers that may affect the flow of communication. These barriers interrupt the flow of communication from the sender to the receiver, thus making communication ineffective. It is essential for managers to overcome these barriers. The first barriers to check out are those that an employee could be creating. People may think that they are doing everything possible to assist communication, but they should make sure that they are not making it difficult for people to understand what they say for instance using abbreviations another person does not understand. People should avoid professional jargon and terminology. Also to speak as clearly as possible and repeat themselves if necessary. Someone with a strong accent may find it increasing difficult to make themselves understood. Physical barriers – these are due to the nature of the environment where people are trying to communicate. It could be there are distractions or noise, such as the TV on or interferences from a loudspeaker. Other problems may be caused by faulty equipment and it is important to check things such as hearing aids on a regular basis to make sure they are working effectively. Outcome 2.1: Explain how you monitor the effectiveness of communication systems and practices in your work place. This is monitored through supervision and appraisal, quality assurance survey, daily reports and handovers. Outcome 2.2: Explain how and why you should evaluate existing communication systems and practices We evaluate by communicating on a regular basis with staff and clients through meetings and informal chats to make sure systems and practices are working effectively. This is important to maintain a high standard of communication and care, and to minimise the risk of important information being lost or overlooked. Outcome 2.3: What improvements would you propose to put in place for the communication systems and practices used which will address any shortcomings? I would propose regular training updates for staff and maintain a close working relationship with our local gp’s and district nurse team to keep informed of any changes on either side. Outcome 3.2: How do you compare the effectiveness of different communication systems for partnership working? Effective partnership working is built upon a clear understanding of the different roles each person has in supporting the client. Increasing clarity and agreement about roles and responsibilities improves understanding, and leads to mutually supportive relationships. We compare the effectiveness by keeping open close lines of communication with all agencies that maybe involved in an individual’s care and relaying appropriate information to those involved. We also send out annual quality assurance surveys to all agencies we work with and the families of our clients. Collating or collecting information is essential in monitoring the effectiveness of the  communication systems. We can collect the information observing, getting feedback from others and recording information. So we need to work with others to identify ways to support the continued development of communication. Care professionals communicate with colleagues and other professionals in many contexts every day. Effe ctive communication requires personal and professional respect for others, trust in the judgement and values of colleagues, good verbal and listening skills. Outcome 3.3: What improvements would you propose to make improvements to communication systems for partnership working? I would propose a main point of contact for each team involved and regular group meetings to discuss issues that may arise, also regular feedback sessions to ensure we are working together effectively. Outcome 4.1: Explain legal and ethical tensions between maintaining confidentiality and sharing information. This arises when you feel someone in your care maybe suffering from some form of abuse from either a family member or member of staff or they have told you something in strict confidence. You have a duty of care to protect the individual but the tensions may arise if the client has told you something in confidence but you feel action needs to be taken and you have to pass sensitive information to a third party. Outcome 4.2: What are the essential features of information sharing agreements within and between organisations? Information needed for the safety and wellbeing of a client should only be passed on to outside agencies after consultation with the client and only after their consent has been obtained. Information should only be shared on a need to know basis and total respect must be given to confidentiality regarding all aspects of a client’s care.

An Investigation of the Gender Gap of Boys’ Underachieving in Literacy Essay

The purpose of this study was to investigate the gender gap, especially of boys’ underachievement in literacy, and discover if there are particular strategies that schools can implement in order to raise the attainment levels of boys. As the issue of the gender gap is so wide I selected literature to review which covered a wide range of theorists and existing studies. Specifically I wanted to identify some of the suggested causes for the underachievement of boys and any already proposed effective strategies which I could execute in my own study. The data I collected from the study was both qualitative and quantitative in order to give a more valid outcome; these included an open-ended, semi-structured interview, which I felt would enable the respondent to provide a wider range of ideas; questionnaires, observation and existing data. The results showed that there is in fact a close correlation between boys who do not read for pleasure/enjoyment and boys who underachieve. However it also showed that there are specific strategies that can be applied to meet the learning needs of boys in order to raise their achievements. However due to the scale of the topic this small study cannot provide a definitive outcome for the causes and solutions of boys literacy, it has merely suggested some probable reasons for and some possible remedies. HYPOTHESIS During the past twenty years there have been rising concerns over the achievement gap between boys and girls, particularly with boys underachieving in literacy. The aim of this investigation is to identify if reading is the main factor for the achievements of boys in literacy, or if there are other strategies that can be implemented to raise the attainment levels of boys and therefore close the gap. To complete this study, I will undertake the investigation at an all boys’ school (for ethical reasons of anonymity, the school will be known as School A) located in a leafy suburban area in the North West of England. School A is a high achieving school compared to other mixed and same sex schools in the Local Area. The current Head of English (HoD) is driven, ambitious and highly motivated towards pupils’ achieving the best results possible. During the research I expect outcomes to show that there is a correlation between high achieving boys and enjoyment of reading for pleasure. I also expect to find that particular classroom strategies can effectively impact the attainment levels of boys, particularly in those who do not read for pleasure. LITERATURE REVIEW In 1993 Ofsted reported that boys do not perform as well in English as girls (cited in Bearne, 2004), and more recently the National Assessment of Education Progress (2009) has found that ‘female students consistently score higher than boys on average in both reading and writing’ (Watson et al., 2010: 356). However this concept is not a new one; researchers for the Gender and Education Association noted that in the 1950s and 1960s the pass rate for the eleven plus examinations, taken by almost all eleven year olds at this time, were different for boys and girls; Epstein et al. (1998 cited in Watson et al., 2010) claims that the pass rate for boys was lower than girls because girls supposedly matured earlier than boys. Gareth Malone, writing for the Telegraph in September 2010 stated that nationally ‘boys lag behind girls in reading by 6 percentage points and in writing by 15 percentage points’ (Malone, 2010). Despite this, Gorard (2001, cited in Malacova, 20 07) believes that, the panic about the gender achievement gap is exaggerated; he blames the concept on lack of sufficient data, which until recently had not been available, and believes that a lot of the assumptions regarding boys underachievement is based on statistical misinterpretation. Gorard (2001, cited in Malacova, 2007) conducted the first UK analysis of national data set over a six year period; he found that the gap only appeared amongst high-ability pupils and that the number of boys and girls failing exams was similar. His conclusions found that the gender gap was, if anything, decreasing. Regardless of Gorard’s (2001) analysis, there are many who still feel that the performance gap is a concern. In 1993 the Ofsted report offered some insight into differing perspectives and explanations for boys’ underachievement, including the lack of male literacy role models, classroom strategies, curriculum literacy content, perceptions of behaviour, social class and ethnicity (cited in Bearne, 2004). Solsken (1995, cited in Bearne, 2004) added to this list claiming that literacy is associated more with females and femininity and believes that this possibly has a negative effect on boys and their attitudes towards reading. Solken’s (1995) argument links very closely with Watson et al.(2007) who proposed that popular explanations often focus on boys’ ‘biological make-up’. They claim that evidence shows that ‘hegemonic masculinity is central to †¦ the struggles boys face as literacy learners’ (Watson et al. 2010: 357). Rowan et al (2002) also believes that ‘boys are biologically different to girls and that this biologically difference is the cause of behavioural differences’ (Rowan et al. 2002, cited in Watson et al. 2010:357). He believes that due to these biological differences, boys and girls are defined by inherent masculinity and femininity characteristics and in order for educational success this must be acknowledged and accommodated for. This is an important assertion to consider for this particular case study; due to the domination of boys in School A it is important to understand how masculine characteristics are catered for in an all boy s’ school. One of the suggestions to improve literacy for boys is to make education more ‘boy friendly’ by including more reading materials that boys enjoy, such as action and graphic novels, which will motivate boys to read. Hornton (2005) believes that adolescent boys could rediscover the magic of books by using texts that appeal to their interests. Young and Brozo (2000, cited in Brozo, 2010) deem that encouraging boys and actively helping them to find access points into literacy and reading should be made priority by teachers. During this particular study the idea and notion of actively promoting literacy through any route possible is addressed by School A’s English department head in the interview, and shows that it is essential for boys be aware that reading does not have to be confined to specific genres and authors. Furthermore Cole & Hall (2001, cited in Taylor, 2004) claim that boys read less fiction than girls, preferring to opt for texts that contain more facts and less narrative, such as magazines or texts that are analytical. Similarly Millard (1997) claims that boys tend to opt for genres such as action and science fiction whilst reading as little as possible in school that they think they can get away with. Due to these preferences, boys’ are at a disadvantage in academic literacy as their motivation towards school texts and curriculum texts is affected. Probst (2003, cited in Taylor, 2004) believes that if boys are to engage with reading, the texts that they are asked to study need to be significant to them. In other words it seems that in current literacy education, there is not enough stimulating material which addresses the needs or interests of boys. Millard (1997) relates the findings of boys’ apparent lack of interest in reading as significant to low achievement in English, while Holland (1998) attributes lesson style and strategies as some of the other causes for underachievement. Both of these arguments are valid for this particular study and will be investigated further by studying the reading habits and the predicted GCSE grades of boys in a high set and a low set, and by exploring particular teaching styles implemented in School A. Holland’s study (1998) showed that boys can spend any amount of the day, stemming from 25 percent up to 75 percent, passively listening to the teacher rather than actively engaging. When trying to reason why boys had a tendency for this she found that the boys preferred lessons which were practical, had a range of different activities (such as personal research, groups work or discussions), or involved competition. If boys are passive during English lessons they are not learning the essential literacy skills required to help them achieve results. Taking this into consideration it seems then that pedagogical practice needs to be addressed. Taylor (2004) suggests that teachers contemplating their own practice could reflect on whether they are meeting the individual learning needs for each boy through learning pace and style, and innovative strategies which build on boys’ existing interests to maximise their potential, development and emotional needs. Pollack (1998, cited in Taylor, 2004) agrees with this theory suggesting that numerous opportunities should be presented to boys for hands on, interactive learning. METHODOLOGY My approach to research was identified by the nature and context of the question. After considering the purpose and desired outcomes for the investigation I decided that the research would take the form of a case study, incorporating a combination of both qualitative and quantitative data to ensure validity and reliability; ‘qualitative methods may supplement the findings by identifying gaps from the quantitative study’ (Bryman & Bell 2007:650). The decision was made to collect evidence using a multi-method approach including interviews, questionnaires and analysis of existing recorded data. According to Gillham (2000) ‘different methods have different strengths and different weaknesses’ (Gillham 2002:13), and so ‘triangulation†¦ to strengthen your findings’ (Greetham 2009:184) was implemented to strengthen the validity of the study. To form part of the qualitative data I arranged an interview with the head of the English department. The purpose of the interview was to gain a deeper understanding of the context of the department and of the strategies which have raised attainment and achievement within the subject. Jones (1985) claims that ‘In order to understand other persons’ constructions of reality, we would do well to ask them†¦ and to ask them in such a way that they can tell us in their terms (rather than those imposed rigidly and a priori by ourselves)’ (Jones cited in Punch 2009:144). Taking this into consideration I decided that the interview should be open-ended and semi-structured for flexibility; Cohen et al. (2007) claim that semi-structured interviews gather ‘more intangible aspects of the school’s culture, e.g. values, assumptions, beliefs, wishes, problems.’ (Cohen et al., 2007:97). A semi-structured interview then would enable me to gather more in-depth information regarding the Head of Department’s ideas and beliefs surrounding School A’ s successes. To understand boys and literacy, and whether reading habits have an impact on GCSE results, a questionnaire was compiled to collect primary data and distributed to a top set and a bottom set year 11 English class. According to Gillham (2002), questionnaires are not typical of case study research; however they can be used to obtain simple, factual information. For the purpose of this part of the study I felt that a questionnaire was a practicable way to acquire important facts regarding the reading habits of a group of high ability boys and a group of low ability boys. These would then be compared to analyse and identify any correlation between reading habits and English predicted exam results using samples from the furthest range on the ability spectrum. During the research I also decided to collect additional data through participant observation. The aim of this was to gain an ontological perspective of the pupils enabling me to observe interaction, relationship and actions performe d by pupils. I felt that this would help me to make sense of the data collected in both the interview and the questionnaire. In regards to validity and obtaining accurate results from my observations, I first needed to develop a relationship with the classes I intended to observe to ensure that my presence was unobtrusive and did not affect their normal behaviours and create a bias observation. To achieve this I regularly participated in classroom observation at the back of the room in attempt to become a participant in the classroom context. Trochim (2001) claims that ‘the researcher needs to become accepted as a natural part of the culture to ensure that the observations are of the natural phenomenon’ (Trochim, 2001: 161), therefore I attended certain classes as an observer over a series of months to ensure that the pupils were comfortable with my presence and so acted within normal behaviours. The final set of data collected was secondary data compiled of the school’s GCSE results since the Head of English was appointed, including results form 2008, 2009 and 2010. The data also provided average GCSE results for the rest of the Local Authority enabling me to compare the school’s results against average achievements in the LA. The purpose of this data was to compare the information obtained from the interview with the head of department, about strategies implemented to raise attainment, against the GCSE results. ANALYSIS The Interview: The aim of the interview with the English Head of Department (HoD) was to discover if GCSE results had improved since being appointed Head of English at School A, and if so to discuss the strategies and provisions which had been implemented to raise the achievement levels in literacy at School A. The current HoD had taken over the English department in April 2008; the English GCSE in the Local Authority that year was 64.5 percent of students achieving A*- C; School A achieved 58 percent, more than 6 percent less than the LA average and 2.1 percent less than the national average. However in 2009 the following year, after just one year as the department head, School A had improved their results by 20.7 percent. The LA’s average results in English in 2009 was 66.7 percent achieving A*-C, the national average was 62.7 percent, while School A’s results were up to 78.7 percent. In 2010 the GCSE results at school A dipped slightly to 76.8 percent due to the school’s wea ker cohort for that particular year; however the results were still higher than the Local Authority’s average of 70.4 percent and the national average of 64.8 percent. Due to the weaker cohort that year the HoD considered this result to be an excellent achievement. Strategies implemented in the department were a crucial factor for the improved attainment levels across the Key Stages at School A. In September 2009 a centralised, uniformed English curriculum was introduced to Key Stage 3 aiming to â€Å"drip-feed† appropriate skills and assessments to pupils that prepares them with relevant GCSE experience before they enter Key Stage 4. Pupils in Key Stage 3 are assessed each half term (part of Assessing Pupils’ Progress) and are assessed in relatively the same way as the new Specification GCSE, ensuring the identification of weakness areas for improvement. Despite the success of raised attainment across the Key Stages, these strategies cannot be considered as part of School A’s GCSE progression; the first year group from Key Stage 3 in September 2009 are due to sit their GCSE exams in the summer of 2011, only then will it be pos sible to determine if this strategy attributes to the departments achievements. There are, however, specific strategies in place which can be measured against the department’s raised achievement results. These are those that have already been applied at Key Stage 4, including a uniformed teaching curriculum incorporating, for example, all of the same poets and clusters in the GCSE specification; personalised revision packages which identify individual’s weakest areas combined with personalised intervention to improve these weaker areas and ensure pupils’ achieve highest marks possible; ceased timetables for year 11 pupils close to exams and new timetables put in place to prioritise learning for the nearest exam. The Head of Department believes that all of these are essential contributing factors for the departments improved results. Other elements, which the Head of English believes help pupils at School A to maximise their achievements, are more innovative and practical activities for example the employment of production companies to perfor m GCSE texts such as Of Mice and Men; and school trips to events such as Poetry Live, an event hosted by poets from the GCSE anthology. Pollack (1998) argues that ‘we need to develop and implement innovative teaching approaches†¦ this may mean providing numerous opportunities for hands-on†¦ as well as interactive teaching’ (cited in Taylor, 2004:294). The English Head felt that these opportunities expanded the boys learning and understanding by developing them outside of the classroom context. Bearne (2003) claims that ‘There is a tendency for boys to draw on visual sources for their writing’ (Bearne, 2003:3) and so visual performances such as Of Mice and Men help the pupils to draw on their experiences through vision and memory. In addition to those already mentioned, the Head of Department also felt that the ethos created in the department combined with class room methods were an essential factor in the development and attainment of the pupils at School A. The department has a strong focus on literacy which is promoted broadly amongst all pupils, including reading groups and book clubs, as well as spelling and reading lessons delivered to pupils on a weekly basis. Pupils are encouraged to read regularly, regardless of material, to ensure positive enjoyment of reading. In contrast, Brozo (2002, cited in Taylor, 2004) felt that teachers were more likely to choose texts with narratives that did not appeal to boys. The HoD however regularly promoted the reading of any materials, whether it was comics, newspapers, information books or autobiographies; she felt that if pupils were to enjoy reading and increase their confidence with literacy, they should feel that any text that they enjoy to be suitably considered. In terms of classroom strategies the department endorses well paced positive learning in an environment of mutual respect between pupil and teacher; clear personal targets which are monitored explicitly; strong Assessment for Learning to test and extend pupils’ understanding and learning through challenge, feedback and routes to improve; short, sharp activities; a strong focus on reading; regular homework; and clear learning objectives which are reviewed during the plenary to ensure all pupils know the direction of learning. These techniques are consistent to that of a survey which was conducted of fourteen schools in 1997. The survey was performed by former HMI Graham Frater; he concluded that the most successful schools in regards to boys and literacy were the ones that paid a lot of focus towards teaching methods. Particular methods that he felt where important for success included: prompt starts to lessons with clear learning objectives shared; a challenging pace sustained throughout the lesson; lesson endings which reflected on the learning objectives and achievements within the lesson; a variety of activities; high expectations of the pupils combined with a non-confrontational attitude towards discipline; and effective modelling. It seems quite clear then that pupils’ achievements at School A can be attributed to the methods and strategies implemented consistently across the department. The pupils are suitably challenged with pace and activities, they know what the aims of their lessons are and how they have achieved these aims, they regularly assess their strengths and weaknesses and so understand what they need to do in order to raise their achievement levels. On the contrary, however, it is difficult to determine whether classroom and reading strategies are the most influential factor for raising attainment in boys and literacy. From observation of quiet reading lessons I discovered that many of the high ability pupils in the top set classes within Key Stage 3 welcomed the lesson as a chance to read an engaging book; however the lower ability groups were often much more difficult to set on task. Indecision over which books to read, reluctance to read quietly, and regular disruption amongst the pupils seemed a frequent occurrence in the low ability classes. When addressing reading, the HoD spoke about the issues regarding boys and reading, specifically in respect of boys’ loss of motivation of reading in their teenage years. She believed that possible causes in lack of motivation in boys and reading was due to their increased socialisation as they grew older, the introduction of more complex reading materials in preparation for GCSE, peer pressure from others that could overshadow pupils’ personal preferences, and she also felt that a lot of teenage boys only read to obtain information and not for pleasure. Taking these factors in to consideration she claimed that it is important to understand the reasons why boys do not enjoy reading but it is more productive to motivate and encourage them to read. The HoD considers the best way to encourage reluctant readers is by getting to know individual pupils and then gauge their interest levels and preferences as a starting point. Some of the suggested strategies, she felt were particularly useful, are to provide a variety of books, both fiction and non-fiction with appropriate reading levels; to keep in touch with boys current interests and provide books that reflect them; respect reading interests of young people and don’t expect them to only enjoy books suggested by the teacher; allow pupils to self-select their own books; encourage an interest in short stories, graphic novels and magazines, working up to full-length books; and to give academic recognition and credit for books read. These ideas meet the suggestions put forth by Hornton (2005), who stated that boys’ motivation should be encouraged with texts that appeal to their interests, and Young and Brozo (2000, cited in Brozo, 2010) who find it important to aid boys to seek access points into literacy and reading. The Questionnaire: The questionnaire was distributed to a high ability top-set year 11class and a low ability bottom set year 11 class. There were 32 pupils in the high set and 13 in the low set. The aim of the questionnaire was to compare the reading habits and attitude towards reading from a range of pupils of different abilities. According to Hornton (2005) there is a correlation between individuals with low level literacy skills and those who dislike reading for pleasure, and so I predicted that an individual’s attitude toward reading would correlate with their predicted GCSE grade; the more pupils enjoy reading and feel that it is important, the higher I expected their grade to be. The predicted GCSE grades in the set one class ranged from A* – C while the set five classes’ grades ranged from B – G. The questionnaires revealed that in the top set group 84.38 percent of pupils enjoyed reading and 90.63 percent felt that reading was important for reasons such as expanding vocabulary, increasing knowledge and learning new things. There was a vast difference in comparison with the lower set where only 23.8 percent of pupils enjoyed reading and just 53.85 percent felt that reading was important. It appears then that there is indeed a correlation between literacy skills with enjoyment of reading, however other elements surveyed in the questionnaire aimed to establish whether boys and literacy could have a direct link to their parents’ relationship with reading. The survey asked pupils if their parents enjoyed reading and if they had been encouraged to read as a child. Sadowski (2010) analysed the literacy gap between working and upper class boys, he found that the gap for more affluent boys was not as large as those from working class backgrounds and attributed this to richer boys growing up with father’s who were readers. This suggests that pupils whose parents enjoy reading and encouraged them to read from a young age would achieve higher results than those whose parents either did not enjoy reading or did not encourage them. Surprisingly the results did not reflect this to an extent that one would have expected. In regards to pupils’ parents who enjoy reading, 76.92 percent of pupils in the lower ability set agreed that their parents enjoyed to read while 81.25 percent of pupils’ in the high ability group confirmed the same. Of parents who encouraged their sons to read as a child, 61.54 percent from the low ability agreed and 78.31 from the higher ability group. Despite a difference between the percentages for both groups’ parents who read and encouraged them to read when they were younger, the gap is not a remarkable one and does not qualify a distinct correlation between pupils’ ability in literacy and the relationship their own parents have with reading. The questionnaires revealed that in spite of 76.92 percent of their parents having an enjoyment of reading, only 23.08 percent of pupils in that class enjoy reading, which suggests that perhaps even if a higher percentage of parents had encouraged their son to read this would not necessarily have affected their attitude towards reading for pleasure and therefore would not affect their achievements in literacy. EVALUATION The outcomes and findings from this case study have, to some extent, complemented a lot of the existing research addressed in the literature review. For example Holland (1998) discovered that boys tend to spend a lot of time listening passively to teachers because they prefer lessons that are practical and involve a range of activities. From my observations in the classroom and confirmation from the Head of English in the interview, the boys at School A also learned best when lessons involved a series of different activities such as discussions, group work or practical tasks such as drama-based role plays. This outcome also corresponded with Malone (2010) who, in a venture to discover why boys where underperforming in literature, stated that he aimed to perform short, achievable tasks with the boys, he also suggested that giving explicit time frames focused the boys into completing their work. During the interview the HoD explained that by giving the boys at School A short time frame s to complete specific task, it kept the pace of the lessons challenging and rigorous and therefore engaged them in learning more effectively. However the problematic outcome for this particular study is that only one school has been investigated and so it is difficult to determine whether the observations, questionnaires and interview conclusions, pertaining to strategies and the improved GCSE literacy results for School A, are a true reflection of causes and solutions of underachievement. The English GCSE results were really poor at School A in 2008, just as the current Head of Department took over, and from the interview questions and answers it would seem that the department and classroom strategies implemented since then have helped to improve the pupils’ achievements. Nevertheless it is certainly impossible to verify whether these are the sole reason for improvement; one particular reason is that it was never established what mode of departmental and classroom strategies were in place before the current HoD took over from the previous. Another reason is that School A’s GCSE results prior to 2008 were not obtained for this study and so results before this year have simply been generalised based on the last available statistics. It could be assumed that the 2008 result may have been an isolated case and so accessing results prior to 2008 would have endorsed whether or not the results had improved substantially. Gorard et al (2001, cited in Malacova, 2007) believes that the gender gap is exaggerated and to some extent it is possible from this research to argue in favour of this. Over the past three years School A has achieved excellent GCSE results, especially in English and particularly in comparison to local and national results. School A is an all boys’ school and so advocates that boys in this particular context are not underachieving as are others in other contexts. This suggests that if School A can produce results above the average mark, particularly in a year when the cohort was extremely weak, i t should be possible for other schools to raise the achievement levels of literacy in boys just the same. However it would be possible to prove or disprove Gorard’s theory of the gender gap, if the strategies implemented at School A could be put into action in a school of a different context. If successful this would validate the outcomes from this case study, it would also give rise to further research based on boys and literacy and whether these strategies could be used in a co-educational school or if they are too specific to the needs of boys’ learning and therefore not beneficial to girls’ learning. I felt that the findings made regarding boys reading habits and their attainment levels were significant. From the sample of questionnaires taken there seemed to be a direct correlation between predicted grades A*-C and boys who enjoyed reading or felt that it was important; 100 percent of the boys in the high ability group were predicted a grade A*-C (although three pupils were unaware what their predicted grade is, the school setting procedures ensured that only bo ys predicted A*-C would be allocated to set one). Of this a high 90.63 percent felt that reading was important and 84.38 percent enjoyed reading for pleasure. There were however exceptions to this; one pupil in the higher ability group stated that he did not think reading was important because ‘I do not read and I am predicted A’s at GCSE’. Another boy from the high ability group, who has been predicted a C grade, also felt that reading was not important because it ‘doesn’t do anything’, however this boy also claimed that he enjoyed reading and so regardless of whether he felt that it was important or not, reading is part of his literacy development. Despite the boys who did not feel that reading was important, the majority of the boys in the class felt that reading was important; this suggests that the highest achieving literacy pupils in School A were ones that enjoyed reading and so this would also be an essential contributing factor to the success of their achievements. It is difficult here to state whether the reasons for the boys’ enjoyment of reading is owing to the strategies for motivating reading encouraged by the HoD and so part of the questions on the questionnaire should have been more open ended to allow pupils to explain perhaps what motivates their enjoyment of reading. The lower ability results from the questionnaire were also significant for showing a correlation between literacy achievements and reading habits. Only 23.08 percent read for pleasure and only half the class felt that reading was important, this suggests that the reason for low ability achievers is possibly due to the lack of enjoyment in reading. Once again the problematic issue with these results is that the number of pupils in the low ability class was considerably less than the number of pupils in the high ability class. To gain a perhaps more informed result from the questionnaires a larger sample from low ability classes should have been obtained to match the number of pupils in the high ability class. This may or may not have produced different results, but, whatever the outcome, they certainly would have been more valid. One final evaluation to consider, in regards to the low ability group, is how effective the suggested motivation strategies have been in engaging boys in reading. With only 23.08 percent of pupils in this class finding an enjoyment in reading it would seem that the strategies have been ineffective in increasing motivation and achievement in these particular pupils. What would have been an interesting study if had been possible, would be to assess pupils attitude towards reading and predicted grades before the HoD had taken over and implemented strategies, and then to compare them to the results that have been found during in this study. CONCLUSION Returning to the hypothesis, my aim was to find out if reading for pleasure impacted on boys’ attainment levels; whether the achievement of boys who did not enjoy reading was affected. I also wanted to identify successful teaching strategies and whether these would raise the levels of those boys who again did not enjoy reading. The study has shown that there is a correlation between boys reading habits and their achievement levels’; it has also identified some strategies that can be used to raise their attainment levels. However from this study alone it is difficult to say if those strategies implemented in an all boys’ classroom would be equally effective in a mixed sex classroom. Due to this it would be interesting to expand the research on a larger scale to investigate the impact of those strategies, which are effective for boys learning, on a) girls learning in a mixed classroom and b) boys learning in a mixed classroom. The gender gap issue is such a broad topic that research can be extended to a greater degree of investigation. For example I have covered some possible causes of boys’ underachievement in this study; however on a wider scale other possible causes could be explored such as masculinity and identity, class or ethnicity. I feel that the most important route to take continuing from this particular investigation would be a focus on masculinity stereotypes in the single sex classroom and the mixed classroom. Holland (1998) states that: Boys do appear to be locked inside a stereotype which appears to make them succumb to peer pressure and which inevitably impacts on their attitude to work’ (Holland, 1998: 177). Therefore researching ways that can reduce or even prevent these macho stereotypes in the classroom would be an important factor for understanding boys and underachievement. Despite that there is no definitive outcome from this study; I feel that it is something that I will take forward into my professional development; whether it is through consideration of differentiation in boys learning style in a mixed classroom, or through a focus of raising attainment levels in my classes. Whichever way I incorporate consideration of gender into my teaching, it is certainly something that needs to be addressed. Gorard (2001) believes that concern over the gender gap is exaggerated; however it is clear through GCSE tables that boys tend to achieve lower than girls. In relation to this then, it is important for both newly qualified teachers and established teachers to consistently strive to meet the learning needs of their pupils. It seems the most important way is by adapting their style and approach to learning styles to ensure that both girls and boys have equal opportunities to work and achieve their highest potential. BIBLIOGRAPHY BOOKS Bleach, K. (1998). Raising Boys’ Achievement in Schools. Staffordshire: Trentham Books Ltd. Brozo, W. G. (2002). To Be A Boy, To Be A Reader: Engaging Teen and Preteen Boys In Active Literacy. US: International Reading Association. Bryman, A. and Bell, E. (2007) Business Research Methods 2nd Ed. Oxford University Press Cohen, L. , Manion, L. & Morrison, K (2007). Research Methods In Education. London and New York: Routledge. Cox, T. (2000). Combating Educational Disadvantage: Meeting the Needs of Vulnerable Children. London and New York: Falmer Press. Frances, B. (2000). Boys, Girls and Achievement: Addressing the Classroom Issues. London and New York: Routledge. Frater, G. (1997). Improving Boys’ Literacy. London: The Basic Skills Agency. Gillham, B. (2000). Case Study Research Methods. London and New York: Continuum. Greetham, B. (2009) How to Write Your Undergraduate Dissertation. Palgrave Macmillan. Mason, J. (1996). Qualitative Researching. London, Thousand Oaks, N ew Delhi: Sage. Millard, E. (1997). Differently Literate. London, Washington DC: The Falmer press. Punch, K. F. (2009). Introduction to Research Methods in Education. Los Angeles, London, New Delhi, Singapore, Washington DC: Sage. Rae, T., & Pederson, L. (2007). Developing Emotional Literacy With Teenage Boys. London, California and New Delhi: Paul Chapman Publishing. Trochim, W. M. (2001). The Research Mothods Knowledge Base. Cincinnati, OH: Atomic Dog Publishing. Weeks, A. (1999). The Underachievement of Boys. Northants: First and Best Education. JOURNALS Holland, V. (1998). Underachieving Boys: Problems and Solutions. Support for Learning , 13(04), pp.174-178. Hornton, R. (2005). ‘Boys Are People Too: Boys and Reading, Truth and Misconceptions’. Teacher Librarian ,.33(2), pp 30-32. Malacova, E. (2004). ‘Effects of Single-sex Education on Progress in GCSE’. Cambridge Assessments UK , 33, pp233-259. Mills M. & Keddie, A. (2007). ‘Teaching Boys and Gender Justice’. International Journal of Inclusive Education ,11 (03), pp.335-354. Myhill, D. (2002). ‘Bad Boys and Good Girls? Patterns of Interaction and Response in Whole School Teaching’. British Education Research Journal , 28 (03), pp.339-352. Reichert, M. & Hawley, R.(2010). ‘Reaching Boys An International Study of Effective Teaching Practices’. Phi Delta Kappan ,91 (04), pp35-40. Sadowski, M. (2010, August). ‘Putting The Boy Crisis in Context’. Education Digest , pp 4-6. Taylor, D. L. (2004, December). â₠¬ËœNot Just Boring Stories: Reconsidering the Gender Gap for Boys’. Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy , pp290-298. Watson, A., Kehler, M. & Martino, W. (2010, February). ‘The Problem of Boys’ Literacy Underachievement: Raising Some Questions’. Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, 53(5) , pp356-361. WEBSITES Bearne, E. (2004, September). Raising Boys’ Achievement in Literacy. Retrieved March 2011, from RBA: www-rba.educ.com.ac.uk/PaperEB.Paf Boys’ Underachievement. (2005, November). Retrieved December 2010, from Teaching Expertise: www.teachingexpertise.com/articles/boys-underachievements-101 Gender and Achievement. (n.d.). Retrieved December 2010, from National Strategies: http://nationalstrategies.standards.dcsf.gov.uk/node/46121?uc%20=%20force_uj Malone, G. (2010, September 2nd). Extraordinary School For Boys: helping boys love literacy. Retrieved April 11th, 2011, from Telegraph: www.telegraph.co.uk/education/7976044/Extraordinary-School-for-Boys-helping-boys-love-literacy.html Mendick, H. (n.d.). Retrieved April 12, 2011, from Gender and Education:

Multi media package Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Multi media package - Essay Example This is primarily attributed to the inability by the student’s family to raise adequate funds to support their education. Statistics of the number of students balancing between their studies and part-time jobs is increasing with each new day. During thanksgiving holiday, I happened to meet with four of my old schoolmates from Edmunds Community College at Seattle, namely Norman Pitt, Candice Clarke, Katherine Little, and Elias Okoth,. We had a long chat that resulted to the discussion of hunger in campuses. I had earlier read an article by Bond (1), which indicated that hunger was a rising trend among college students. As I shared my views on what I read about hunger increasing among students, my colleagues also shared their own experiences on the matter. In our conversation, it was evident that the tough economic times are one of the reasons why the number of students who do not know when or what will be their next meal is increasing. Additionally, I realized that none of thes e hungry students are willing to disclose to their friends about their situation for fear that they may be mocked or looked down upon. I recorded the responses and utterances that were made by all the participants. Katherine Little, an old schoolmate and a senior student in a renowned University, is one of the friends who shared with us on how her friend was suffering from hunger till she faced up to her, â€Å"I did not know that she was suffering from hunger and I took her for a snack, after seeing that she looked worried and not ok, and demanded to be told what was wrong†. Katherine noted that it was until her friend told her, that she understood her condition. Katherine affirmed that she came to comprehend that her friend’s family became financially unstable after a medical emergency crushed the family’s insubstantial finances, leaving her on her own to finish school. â€Å"She had to take up two jobs in order to settle her tuition fees† Katherine not ed. Additionally, another aspect that emerged from the conversation was that colleges should strive to identify such needy students in order to assist them. None of us can be glad if a friend or even a classmate slept hungry for lack of anything to eat. Elias Okoth, an international student and an old schoolmate, asserted that the campus should institute mechanisms of identifying such food insecure students. â€Å"The campus should establish a room within the premises, particularly in the student center, to turn it into a food pantry operated by students where the food insecure students can report and be assisted† says Elias. This will assist as it may be challenging to identify the hurting students among the crowd. Candice Clarke, a former member of a students’ relief group and an old schoolmate, also added by noting that it is essential that, as friend, we should know the state of our fellow classmates and friends. â€Å"We ought to be our brothers and sisters keepe r, and should follow up on them to check if they have had a meal or not†, Candice said. However, not all friends and classmates may disclose their personal or private life. If this happens, there are other ways of identifying a needy friend. Katherine Little identified her friend’s worried look and confronted her to tell her what was wrong. â€Å"I could tell that something was wrong, and had to ask her†, Katherine acknowledges. Such students can also be identified through deteriorating class performance. This can be done by professors within the numerous departments in the

Reflective Critical Report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Reflective Critical Report - Essay Example At the onset, (instructor) proactively set the classroom policies that everyone should follow. (Instructor) outlines the aims of the course and communicated these effectively to the students. (Instructor) also allowed the students to raise their concerns and own goals to ensure that they are reasonably in-line with the course objectives. Introduction Throughout the class discussions and lectures, I learned that teachers need to be flexible and able to balance between keeping up with the schedule and ensuring that students fully understand what is being taught inside the classroom. Some classes may have students who have previous knowledge in the subject, some may have students who are able to catch-up easily and deal with fast-paced learning. However, this is not always the case. What I learned during the observation is the way (instructor) responded to these circumstances. This is why teachers need to be flexible and quick in solving concerns such as things or schedules not happenin g as planned. (Instructor) also maximized the opportunity for learning by making effective use of the limited time for lectures. I learned that it is important to make the most of classroom time while students are fully involved in the learning activities (Eggen & Kauchak 2007, p. 372). ... Overall, the feeling it gave the students most probably was eagerness to learn. Questions were always encouraged, and every question was treated like it was the most important question ever asked. This encouraged the students to probe more, thus improving the interactive learning process. However, it must be hard to balance paying attention to every question and staying within the schedule of activities and topics. I never saw any waning of attention from the students because the class was very lively since (instructor) encouraged class participation. Methods/Approaches/Techniques (Instructor) gave a small test at the start to gauge the knowledge of the students. I observed it was a good strategy and it gave me valuable insight on the importance of an almost particularized approach in teaching. Also, in every lesson, (instructor) provided the logic behind the importance of learning what is about to be taught. My favourite part of the classroom activity was when (instructor) played a taped and allowed the students to discuss in pairs what they just listened to. It encouraged the students to encourage their partners to analyze more. It also provided an opportunity for the partners to develop teamwork and constructive evaluation of each other’s ideas. In this listening and comprehension activity, (instructor) gave statements or phrases which students needed to arrange in proper order to make the overall thought in line with what they just listened to. Some students merely guessed, showing that active listening should be improved. I found these group activities very interesting and valuable because they help make students learn through immersion and application of classroom theories.

Discussion- ch1 Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Discussion- ch1 - Coursework Example investing in important infrastructure, increasing access to finance to entrepreneurs, reducing regulations of doing business, encouraging local and foreign investment and increasing the country’s exports and decreasing what the country imports. This can be done by lowering interest rates to ensure business people have ready access to finance. Enacting less stringent laws on doing business and holding investment forums will also stimulate economic growth. I agree that that the measuring the economy is important for any government to establish the rate of economic growth. However, on the second point about protecting the business people and the society, I think the point needs further clarification. I agree that creating more employment opportunities and increasing exports will stimulate the economy. This is an excellent piece; however, the author needs to elaborate further the ambiguous point. I do not agree that measuring the economy will help the government avoid economic instabilities. Rather, measuring the economy will help a government know if any, economic instability exists and take necessary measures to solve the economic instabilities. I agree that reducing interest rates will stimulate the

How Advertisement Manipulates Customers Choices and Spending Habits Essay - 11

How Advertisement Manipulates Customers Choices and Spending Habits - Essay Example We know advertisement is an investment only when it is not a false advertisement. It should not manipulate the customer’s desires and spending. Advertisement can actually modify the spending habits and customer choices by convincing its audience in a manner that may be ethically unacceptable. These days companies tend to use manipulative advertisements. Some ads are very informative; e.g TV ads about the yellow pages, information about supermarkets etc. These ads may be a little bit manipulative but customers end up purchasing a good because of the information provided by these ads (Phillips 14). For example, there are some ads like Mountain Dew (beverage), which portray the ability of humans to act in ways that are beyond ordinary. Now this is just a false manipulation that can literally affect the perception of viewers. But some authors argue that manipulative advertisement is the second name of persuasive advertisement which is a big source of forcing the customers to purchase the product. In other words here the marketer is hitting/targeting the customers emotionally. Once you persuade a person emotionally, selling the product becomes easy. In manipulative advertising the marketers are doing the same. Seeing this idea, manipulative advertisement becomes objectionable . It cannot be termed as the ethical one because it is persuading the customers in unacceptable manner. Some manipulative advertisements can be in the form of celebrity marketing especially female model. This makes the product so special to the customers, when they think of it they say this celebrity uses it, I must use this (Dachis n.p.). Here again the customers are being hit emotionally by getting the celebrity in to the product. This motivates the general public especially the youth to a great extent. In this case they are inventing the feelings which you as a customer never had before. They make you feel like that hero/model who uses that product.  The purpose of all this is to make the consumer feel like being the person that is being used as a character in the advertisement.  

Story comparison Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Story comparison - Essay Example These stories are similar in depicting the conflicts between modernity and traditions and how culture exerts a great influence in how people perceive life and death, but they are different in how the characters react to traditions. â€Å"Dead Men’s Path† and â€Å"The Man to Send Rain Clouds† share the same clashes between modernity and traditions. In â€Å"The Man to Send Rain Clouds,† Michael Obi is the new headmaster of Ndume Central School. He seeks to inject modernity into the â€Å"backward† situation of the school. He does not only change the physical appearance of the school, because he further wants to eradicate ancient beliefs and practices. There is a sacred path that goes into the school; â€Å"it connects the village shrine with their place of burial† (Achebe 11). Obi resolves to close the path, even after being warned by the old village priest of Ani. This shows the conflict between new and old beliefs. â€Å"Dead Men’s Path† portrays a more passive resistance to a new culture and religion. Ken and Leon seek to bury their grandfather using their traditional methods and rituals, such as throwing pinches of corn meal and pollen into the wind and painting the dead man’s face. Louise, however, remembers Christian rites and suggests that their grandfather be blessed with holy water.

The quietly management Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The quietly management - Assignment Example Quality system ensures all pre-requisites are being followed and every product that is being prepared or any service provided has undergone all the procedures that are necessary for ensuring the conformance tests. The output yield achieved to fulfils the customers’ requirements. The quality system eliminates all those elements of the component that stand any hurdle between a standard product and a sub-standard product. Any product or service went through quality system will have automatically gone through the standard procedures that are necessary for a successful yield. Quality system makes use of all the necessary tools and techniques that are vital for making any standard product. Hence, it is vitally important for a good quality product to undergo the quality system and its procedures. The International Organization of Standardization has given a new dimension to the world of standardization in the field of manufacturing and production. ISO 9000 is vitally important for an organization’s success. It provides organizations with sufficient guidance over how to go about the processes, how to achieve what is desired, it specifies the dos and don’ts of a process. Certain rules are being specified in the continent Europe which makes the ISO 9000 Certification mandatory for products to be imported into Europe. It allows organizations meeting the deadlines. It enables achieving the highest level of quality. Documentation of working procedures and methods is part of successful strategy; it helps the organization in a longer run and ensures security against many odds that might appear on the scene in later stages of project life. The documentation serves as standard and record keeping. At times there are communication problems and verbal learning and explanation is difficult, thus, the best source is documentation. Legal aspect of any process requires documented evidence; therefore, it is very important from legal point of view, because terms and

Cheif Security Officer Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Cheif Security Officer - Essay Example A chief security officer should have vast expertise in areas beyond mere security thereby requiring global experience. A CFO requires global experience for notable reasons. To begin with, such a position requires knowledge of the complex global chain. In this sense, a CFO should be aware of how trade in other countries affects trade in particular country. The officer, therefore, easily participates in business continuity planning. In addition, global experience enables the CFO understand the intricate global internet network that poses threat to an organization’s IT system (Fay, 2011). Internet, as a tool, connects the world in a single sphere. It is essential for a CFO to possess knowledge on how the internet can be integrated in the general security of the company. Besides, a global experience is crucial for understanding the evolution of organizations. This is because structures of organizations are continually changing and this leads towards the shrinking and expansion of given departments. Furthermore, a CFO requires an adequate understanding of global politics and make out how such poli tics influence organizational

Working with and Leading the People Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Working with and Leading the People - Essay Example This can be done through posting advertisements on job and career websites. I can also look out for candidates in the automobile industry who have proven themselves experts in designing vehicles. In order to retain skilled engineers, Renault can offer satisfactory pay, perquisites and job security. Currently, there is a dearth of skills of international caliber in Japan and it has been seen that Japanese employers are slowing down their recruitment process. One way to recruit and retain top talented international level automotive engineers is to make English a more common language in the workplace and giving them more responsibilities (Tanikawa, 2012). The seven steps of recruitment process can work effectively in this case. Firstly, it is important to understand the nature of job and which group would fit what kind of job or portfolio. The main problem was the designing of well advanced products and hence the company required either skill upgradation or new engineers. After identification of the purposes of different jobs and goal set, second step would be to prepare the job and profile of the person. It is important to have people with innovative mindsets and modern degrees and certificates. It is important to figure out a set of skill and personal attributes which the human resource manager would be looking forward to. The third step would comprise of finding the appropriate candidates through referrals from staffs and collecting resume databanks by consulting agencies or advertising. The hiring committee should be formed and the databank of CVs should be arranged according to requirements. The members of the hiring committee o r interview board should be chosen with care as per their ability and knowledge regarding the job profile and requirements. The fifth step is very important as it is about selection process. This comprise of general interviews, competency based interviews, role play and finally

IT technical support Essay Example for Free

IT technical support Essay External would mean that the company would send you to perhaps a training course which would perhaps cost a bit more then internal training. Internal training would mean that you would train within the company. The amount of training that the IT Technical has done would depend on the organisation hence the better the company the better the IT Technical support will be. Budget A good company with loads of money would be able to employ more technicians which may not be the case for a charity where they are on a low budget where they may only have a few employees. The more employees you would have, the more efficient your company would be which wouldnt be the case for a charity. An example of a company that would have a huge budget would be Microsoft. They have many employees and are able to expand in certain things as in the amount of computers. A charity like Oxfam would not be able to expand which would mean they would only have a few computers and employees. Overall a bigger budget would mean more and better things as in training, computers and more for the IT Technical Support. Type of Organisation. The policies and procedures would depend on the type of organisation as in if it was a company like Microsoft they would have very high and clear policies and procedures. If it was a charity, the policies and procedures would be much more simple meaning they would not have as many targets as a large company would have. This would be because the bigger organisations would have more employees hence they would get through things much faster. This would mean that the IT Technical Support would be depend on the organisation as in Microsoft would have a big team whilst a charity like Oxfam would not. Company Culture This would depend on the employees. A company like Microsoft, Cisco and IBM would have a professional work culture because they would usually work in a team meaning a lot of cooperation would be needed as well as patients. If the staff relationships were good this would mean that they would be very professional meaning they would be able to do their work. This would mean that Microsoft, Cisco, IBM IT Technical Support would be very efficient as in the amount of work completed perhaps because they are company orientated. Work pressure This would depend on the type of company it is. If it is a very big company like Microsoft the work pressure would have very high standards because of all the deadlines that the staffs have to meet. The work pressure of the company would be able to tell whether the staffs are capable of performing the task as in if they can handle it. If they cannot then they would not be needed especially if they work for a company like Microsoft where all the policies and procedures are at a high standard. Overall it would mean that a large company would have a restricted time limit and a charity would have a longer amount of time. This would mean that the IT Technical Support would have to meet the deadlines. User IT expertise This would vary because at Microsoft the user IT expertise would be at a very high standard because they are trained to be very computer literate especially with the training that the company has therefore would depend on the training. For example a charity would not be that focused on the user IT expertise. It would depend if the user is well ne through the right educated meaning that they should have gone through the right procedures which would be linked to the amount of knowledge they have in order to work in a big company. This is needed so that the IT Technical Support knows what they are doing. Other factors Other factors would include Security as in which type of antivirus that the company would use, this would be mainly because of malicious threats also to prevent certain faults. A big company like Microsoft would use an antivirus that cannot be penetrated. A charity may use a normal one such as Norton or one that is better. Fire walls are used in order to stop fraud. Another factor would include the confidentiality; this would consist of the privacy of files that would be restricted to certain staff. The confidentiality would mean the clients files as in their history, Address, Phone number, Date of Birth, account number, Age ECT. This would mean that they would have the data protection act in use where if in breach they would be sued for this. This would keep the IT Technical support on task which would mean that they would not be able to show files or share. Confidentiality is a major thing for a company where they protect certain things from people, it may either be encrypted. Task 3 (M2) Produce appropriate support material that will guide users in relation to a specific area of expertise a) Produce support material that will guide the employees at Cranks Ltd in relation to an appropriate specific area of expertise. This support material can be for one of the following or choose your own. The procedure chosen should not be trivial and the support material should be in depth and cover every aspect of the procedure for everyone concerned   Procedure for advising the staff that the Operating System will be getting updated Tuesday 13th January I will be producing support material that will guide the employees at Cranks Ltd in relation to the system getting updated. The support material that I will be providing will be in depth so that the staff will be able to understand it. The support material will be a letter and an email and a meeting will be held so that the staff will be well informed and aware of what is going to happen. A letter will be produced which will be sent to the staff of Cranks Ltd twice, a week before the Operating system gets updated and then two days left to the system getting updated. The email sent to the staff would contain exactly the same information as the letter. A meeting will be held for the IT Technical Support which would insure that the staffs are well prepared. The meeting will be held before the letter is sent out to the staff. The meeting will be a week before the operating system will get updated where an email will be sent to the staff informing them of the meeting. In this meeting I will be telling the staff what is actually going to happen and what needs to get updated. Notifying the employees at the meeting The Operating system will be implemented on the 13th January. The primary reason we are updating the operating system is so that it can perform tasks efficiently and allows you to get through more tasks throughout the day. This operating system features a friendly user interface. The operating system will have everything the previous operating system had but with a couple more features and it works more productively. The Operating system package has been ordered to be sent to us on the 9th January so that everything is all set up for when the engineers come in to install the operating system. The engineers will be coming in on the 13th January 2009 for the whole day so that everything is set up correctly meaning functioning to the standard. The staff will have to make sure that everything is saved which also includes them having a back up file as an added security measurement. The staff will find using this system is no different from the other therefore know training will be needed. The area will be restricted until the engineers have completed the update therefore you will not be able to go into the area. Once the operating system is updated everything will commence as normal on the following day where you would continue on the tasks that you would usually do. The procedure was explained during the meeting but as an extra measurement it will be shown on this letter which will be sent to the staff twice. Letter Dear IT Technical Support Staff I am producing this letter as a guide to you in relation to the system getting updated on Tuesday 13th January 2009 for the whole day. This letter will consist of the procedure that will have to be taken before the Operating system will get updated. Procedure The Operating system will be implemented on the 13th January. The primary reason we are updating the operating system is so that it can perform tasks efficiently and allows you to get through more tasks throughout the day. This operating system features a friendly user interface. The operating system will have everything the previous operating system had but with a couple more features and it works more productively. The Operating system package has been ordered to be sent to us on the 9th January so that everything is all set up for when the engineers come in to install the operating system. The engineers will be coming in on the 13th January 2009 for the whole day so that everything is set up correctly meaning functioning to the standard. The staff will have to make sure that everything is saved which also includes them having a back up file as an added security measurement. The staff will find using this system is no different from the other therefore know training will be needed. The area will be restricted until the engineers have completed the update therefore you will not be able to go into the area. Once the operating system is updated everything will commence as normal on the following day where you would continue on the tasks that you would usually do. Yours sincerely A. Gooman Azhar Gooman Email Dear IT Technical Support Staff I am producing this email as a guide to you in relation to the system getting updated on Tuesday 13th January 2009 for the whole day. This email will consist of what is happening and when also the procedure that will have to be taken before the Operating system will get updated. Procedure The Operating system will be implemented on the 13th January. The primary reason we are updating the operating system is so that it can perform tasks efficiently and allows you to get through more tasks throughout the day. This operating system features a friendly user interface. The operating system will have everything the previous operating system had but with a couple more features and it works more productively. The Operating system package has been ordered to be sent to us on the 9th January so that everything is all set up for when the engineers come in to install the operating system. The engineers will be coming in on the 13th January 2009 for the whole day so that everything is set up correctly meaning functioning to the standard. The staff will have to make sure that everything is saved which also includes them having a back up file as an added security measurement. The staff will find using this system is no different from the other therefore know training will be needed. The area will be restricted until the engineers have completed the update therefore you will not be able to go into the area. Once the operating system is updated everything will commence as normal on the following day where you would continue on the tasks that you would usually do. Yours sincerely A. Gooman Azhar Gooman Task 4 (M3) Explain the advantages and disadvantages to users and organisations of outsourcing the provision of technical support. Cranks Ltd are considering outsourcing their IT technical support. This is to be a confidential report as this matter is very sensitive as if they outsource the Technical Support the staff in that area would be redeployed (employed elsewhere) or made redundant. a) Explain the advantages and disadvantages for the staff at Cranks Ltd of outsourcing IT technical support. There are many advantages for the staff at Cranks Ltd of outsourcing IT technical support Advantages: Outsourcing the staff would allow the business to be able to save on expenses if the IT Technical Support has outsourced such as certain equipment, software and maintenance of which the IT technical support would deal with. Once you have outsourced IT technical support there would be enough time to complete other tasks of yours. The technical support would have very good user IT expertise meaning that they are very knowledgeable in solving problems therefore would be able to work professionally especially in a team or as an individual. The company itself would have to pay a sum of money for outsourcing but once paid there will be no other expense as in equipment, software and more. Another advantage would be that the customer satisfaction would be improved drastically this is because of the efficiency that the technical support performs at. If outsourced abroad this would mean that they would learn the companys culture and perhaps would have the ability to learn different languages. One of the most major disadvantages is that you will not have that much control over what happens once outsourced therefore things could change as in your first purpose of outsourcing the IT technical support, this would perhaps cause an interruption as in to the clients if the task is out of sight once outsourced. The clients will then end up leaving because of the quality of service. If you wanted to promote a technician you wouldnt be able to because there would be none at the company At times there may be a communication barrier between you and the selected vendor therefore may become a slow process and wouldnt be that efficient. The chosen vendors may have other plans to the selected outsourced department in this case would be the IT Technical support. b) Explain the advantages and disadvantages of outsourcing IT technical support for the Cranks Ltd Organisation (Business) Advantages Outsourcing the business would be a great way of helping it to grow in reputation which would then lead onto more clients. Once done the company would be able to have time on focusing on different factors which would also help it grow. The expenses would be reduced. The company would become very efficient meaning that it would be on task. The business would be able to save on expenses such as certain equipment, software and maintenance. Outsourcing the business would lead to an increase in quality which would mean that the reputation would increase which then makes the company money and perhaps even a bit of profit from the work produced. Another advantage would be that if outsourced abroad to somewhere like India, there would be a time zone difference as in night there and day here this would mean that the work would be done with much efficiency. lastly you would be handing most of the responsibility to the outsourced Disadvantages: There are many disadvantages towards outsourcing IT technical support for Cranks Ltd Organisation. One of them would be that there would be hidden costs which would mean that it would be expensive because you would be signing a contract and if abroad there would be more complications towards the cost. At times things could go wrong as in you would have to do a lot of research before outsourcing, this would mean choosing a good partner so that there are no complications as in deliveries and other factors. One of the major disadvantages of this would be that once the business has outsourced the confidential data would be in risk of exposure. Once the company has outsourced the employees are at risk of losing their jobs. The quality of the company might not be as it was because of the change and perhaps the way it will be managed and organised would be different. An outsourced company would perhaps lead away from customer focus this is because you will be more focused on the needs of other things. There may be a communication barrier. Lastly you will not have any control over the management. Lastly the vendor may be contracted to a multiple amount of other businesses therefore be more interested in the others. BIBLIOGRAPGHY http://jobs. lovetoknow. com/Pros_and_Cons_of_Outsourcing http://www. flatworldsolutions. com/articles/advantages-disadvantages-outsourcing. php http://ezinearticles. com/? The-Advantages-and-Disadvantages-of-Outsourcingid=1401755 http://www. ipmaxx. com/article. aspx? id=203958 http://cathlawson. com/2008/02/26/the-pros-and-cons-of-outsourcing/ http://www. bizhelp24. com/small-business-portal/advantages-and-disadvantages-of-small-business-outsourcing-3. html.

Promotion of Effective Communication †Workbook Essay Example for Free

Promotion of Effective Communication – Workbook Essay Question  1 Look at your company’s policies and procedures on completing records and maintaining effective communication, what is your role? Answer: I browsed and read my organisation’s policy regarding the service user’s rights and those legislations which promotes equality, diversity, and discrimination. a. Each service user has a right to information regarding their care service that does not discriminate on the basis of race or ethnic origin, creed, colour, religion, political affiliation, disability or impairments, marital status, parenthood, sexual gender or sexual orientation. b. Each service user has the right of access to their personal care records and to comment on them accordingly. Service users have the right to appoint an advocate to make their wishes and preferences known if they are unable to do so. c. Each service user has the right to be assured that no personal or confidential information concerning their affairs will be disclosed to a third party without their express permission. d. Each service user has the right to communicate using their preferred methods of communication and language. When completing records and reports look through your staff hand book or induction pack you were given at work and explain any rules and regulations or policies you need to follow when completing records and reports at work some of which might include: †¢ Records should be completed as soon as possible after the event †¢ Details should be accurate †¢ Details should be relevant †¢ Details should be legible †¢ Details should clearly indicate if it is a fact, opinion or hearsay. Opinions are acceptable as long as it is clearly stated as such. †¢ Always record as little as possible but detailed and as much as necessary. 2, 3, 10, 11 Describe ways that you provide support to individuals to communicate their needs. How might your communication alter with different individuals ? What aids might be used to support effective communication ? Answer: To support individuals and key people to communicate their needs you will need to: a. Arrange the individual’s environment to facilitate effective communication and promote understanding. This can be done by ensuring privacy going into a quiet room, if the area is noisy because of the volume of a radio or television it needs to be reduced. Poor lighting in the room needs to be changed and some more that you can think of. b. As a care worker you need to check that the individual have the appropriate support to communicate their views. This could be making sure the individual who uses glasses and an hearing aid is supported by making sure the glasses is at client’s reach or that hearing aids is switched on and working properly. c. Appropriate styles and methods of communication should be used with respect to the individual. Such as: Active listening – showing be gestures that you are listening, sitting or standing half turned away gives the message that you are not listening. Responding appropriately – nodding your head.  Good body language and maintaining eye contact – Leaning forwards can be used effectively when you want to emphasize your interest or support. The methods that can be used to communicate effectively are: a. Support equality and diversity †¢ This can be done by using appropriate language that the service user understands also using the appropriate register of language, for instance not using phrases that could be referred to as jargon. Another method is to use the appropriate way of speaking within a speech community. For instance communicating with young people may mean using their style of language e.g. whats up with you, hello mate. †¢ Provision of communication aids and use of non-verbal communication if service user has hearing or vision impairments or learning and physical disabilities. b. Are effective when dealing with, and challenging discrimination †¢ Working with key people demands that you communicate in a language that they understand and also using simple words. For example the use of clinical words that is not commonly understood would not be necessary if you know they are not familiar with them. †¢ Sometimes we come across people who cannot understand us for one reason or the other instead of ignoring them it would be helpful to source a skilled interpreter but we still need to make effort to communicate with the person by learning some of the ways of communication or a few useful words from their language. The methods to support individuals to communicate are: Ensure environment is suitable (lighting, noise background) Provide interpreter if necessaryAllow sufficient time for individuals to understand the content of communication. Use relevant aids for communication (e.g. cards, symbols, hearing aids, large print) Provide advocate to speak for a service user Ensure written material is in suitable formats or language. Specific aids that may be used to support effective communication : Aided communication is communication supported or replaced by materials or equipment. There are simple materials or equipment used everyday such as a pen and paper to write messages, alphabet charts, pictures or symbols or photographs. Communication aids can be categorized into 3 broad groups: Symbolic Aids This is commonly the use of signs and symbols, it requires individuals to undertake a form of training on the correct forming of signs used and types of symbols: †¢ British Sign Language used as a communication aid for individual with hearing loss. †¢ Makaton used as an aid to support speech and not intended to replace it. †¢ Picture Exchange communication systems (PEC) This aid helps individuals to be independent as they able to exchange a picture for what they want from a compiled album of pictures. †¢ Deaf Blind manual alphabets Slightly modified version of the BSL. Finger- spelling alphabet is used. Technical Aids †¢ Talking microwaves usually for individuals with sight loss †¢ Computers which read out the text on the screen. †¢ Light writer this is a portable device into which the individual types in what they would want to say. Human Aids †¢ Interpreter is a person who supports the communication between two people who do not have the same language. This also includes the sign language. †¢ Translator is a person who changes the written word into an easier format for the individual to read. This could be into Braille or symbols. †¢ Advocate This is someone who speaks on behalf of an individual when they are not able to do so. 4, 5, 19 In relation to the promotion of effective communication, give examples of what you do to maintain the following laws and guidelines: a) Data Protection Act b) Access to Health Records Act c) The General Social Care Council Code of Conduct d) Standard 37 National Minimum Standards for Care Homes e) Caldicott Report Answer: a) To maintain Data Protection Act it is necessary to complete the records as soon as possible after the event and always record as little as possible but detailed and as much as necessary; to make sure that the details are accurate, relevant and legible and that they clearly indicate if it’s a fact, opinion or hearsay. Another important thing is that opinions are acceptable as long as it is clearly stated as such. The information shared by the individuals must be confidential to ensure data protection. In case that the information suggests that the client is under risk, the consent of the individual needs to be obtained before passing the information to an appropriate member of the staff, and even when the consent is not given it becomes important to report. b) To maintain the Access to Health Records Act I have to make sure that the records are accurate, legibly written, shareable so that the information can be used to provide individuals with the support and care required. The  members of a care team are fully informed of new developments and changes in a client’s care plan and the evidence of the actions taken in specific circumstances are available if the need arises. I can access information and records about an individual by: talking to the service user, accessing previous records after permission has been sought from the appropriate person, talking to colleagues who know the individual, to family members or to other professionals c) To maintain The General Social Care Council Code of Conduct, as a social care worker, I must establish and ensure the confidence of service users and carers. This includes: communicating in an appropriate, open, accurate and straightforward way; respecting confidential information and clearly explaining agency policies about confidentiality to service users and carers. I must be accountable for the quality of my work, I have to maintain clear and accurate records required by procedures established for my work. 6,7 Where can you find out about an individuals communication and language needs, information about communication and language skills to improve your practice ? Answer: I can find out about an individuals communication and language needs by asking my manager or the service user, discussing with other care workers who know the individual, talking to family members, to a speech therapist or other professionals for advice, exploring the internet or consulting a library for more information. In order to improve my practice, I can find out about information, communication and language skills by asking my supervisor or manager, or colleagues who have confronted with similar cases. I can also consult the case notes of the individual, or relevant documents provided by the organization that will help me learn how to communicate effectively – for example the induction manuals, search for information via the internet or specialist organizations for the particular condition, attend relevant training courses to communication, supervision and appraisal sessions. 9  What factors may affect communication skills, abilities and behaviour of an individual ? How may they react as a result of these factors? Answer: Factors that can affect communication skills, abilities and behaviour of an individual are: Physical Impairments visual and hearing Language barriers accents, different language Cognitive or sensory impairments learning difficulties, memory loss, Illness – dementia, stroke Environmental problems – poor lighting, noisy environments If this happens, the individual in question becomes withdrawn from others around them, isolated from others. This may affect his self-esteem and self-confidence negatively. That individual may also become confused, angry and frustrated. 12  If you were trying to have a conversation with an individual how would you arrange the environment and position yourself to communicate effectively? Answer: First of all, I have to make sure that there isn’t any background noise that could make the communication difficult. Then, another important step to achieve effective communication with individuals is arranging the environment to aid communication. Here are some factors that can hinder or disturb good communication: Poor lighting, because individuals with poor sight are unable to see you Background noise from the radio, other individuals, TV and so on Obstacles between me, the care worker, and the individual, for example furniture and household items Insufficient distance to keep appropriate space within me and the individual to avoid encroaching or invading on their personal space 13, 14  Describe some conflicts that might occur as a result of communication difficulties. How would you deal with these conflicts? Answer: Some of the conflicts that might occur as a result of communication difficulties are: individuals can become frustrated and isolated when the  communication between themselves and their workers is encountering problems. These problems or dilemmas are sometimes the result of: a difference in the language spoken by the service user and the worker the service user has visual impairments or hearing difficulties the individual might have a physical illness or disability either physical disability or learning disability. There are many ways to solve the conflicts that might occur. It depends on the nature of the problem. For example, for: †¢ Language differences: If there are conflicts due to language differences, then an interpreter will be appropriate for any serious discussions or communications. Efforts should be made to learn a few important words to communicate with the individual or teach the individual some words in the workers language if they are willing to facilitate communication. Non verbal communication will be an effective method in solving this kind of conflict. †¢ Hearing difficulties: Individual with hearing difficulties need to be assisted to ensure their hearing aids are working and fitted properly. It would be necessary that a worker will assist the individual to clean the equipment, change the batteries when appropriate. Workers will also need to give the client the appropriate space and communication pace that would make communication effective. If the need arises words can be written down for clarity. The use of signs and telecommunication services such as type talk service are very useful. †¢ Visual difficulties: Individual with visual difficulties need to be provided with glasses or contact lenses so they can observe non verbal communication. This will prevent misunderstandings during communication with people. †¢ Physical disabilities: Communications with individuals in this category will be according to the type of physical disability or illness. If the illness has affected the individual’s ability to speak and understand, for instance a stroke then the use of short, simple sentences, gestures, writing and drawing or using flash cards, the use of closed questions which only need yes or no should be useful. †¢ Some illness do not affect the clients understanding, so there is no need to speak slowly but will need to be patient to receive a response as the client might have difficulty with their speech e.g. stroke. †¢ Learning disabilities: The method of communication will depend on the level of the disability. I will need to communicate at the pace and space suitable for the client. Physical contacts are of an advantage to be used along with  verbal communication. †¢ Cultural differences: People have different cultural backgrounds, therefore it is necessary to find out from the individuals their communication preferences or alternatively check their care plan records or ask people such as their family, f riends, colleagues or key people who have worked with them. 15, 16  When communicating difficult, sensitive or complex messages, how might your style of communication alter? What type of environment would be most appropriate for this sort of communication ? Answer: Communicating with individuals who are distressed or upset due to bereavement this could be sensitive, complex or difficult. In this situation, I will ask if the person would want to discuss any concerns with me or maybe another person of their choice. I can use non verbal communication while been a good listener such as making good eye contact with the individual as she talks, which will depict that I’m willing to listen. If the client is displaying a behaviour that dictates that they are able to put others or themselves at risk, then I might need to involve the attention of appropriate members of the care team. For this sort of communication, the environment must be comfortable and appropriate. I would come across times when I need to discuss matters with individuals that are referred to as sensitive issues. If an individual needs to discuss his personal needs with me, I have to ensure that he feels comfortable and encouraged to communicate these issues. On the other hand, I might want to discuss with the service user about their changing needs such as diet, incontinence, mobility and so on. Communicating bad news, like a bereavement of a spouse or close person to the individual will also require certain communication skills. The things that should take into account are: †¢ Remember individuals have a right to their privacy, therefore the immediate environment should be arranged to ensure privacy. For example a client’s bedroom or apartament should be free from visitors at the time. †¢ Individual’s preferred method of communication should be made available. †¢ Communication should be made at the pace of the individual, giving enough time for both of us to understand the content of the communication. †¢ Observe and respond appropriately to reactions fromà ‚  individuals. 17  Who do you need to gain permission from to access records and why ? Answer: I need to gain permission of my manager or client to access records. Accessing information will help me to improve my practice and also my responsibility. Within the organization there should be relevant documents to access information or if I work with individuals in their own home the care plan should contain useful information. 18  Define the following words: a) Fact b) Opinion c) Judgement Why is it important that you aware of the difference of these words when reporting and recording information about individuals ? Answer: a) A fact is a true statement that cannot be disputed, knowledge or information based on real occurrences; something demonstrated to exist or known to have existed. b) An opinion is a personal belief or judgment that is not founded on proof or certainty- it is the result of emotion or interpretation of facts, a subjective statement or thought about an issue or topic. An opinion may be supported by an argument, although people may draw opposing opinions from the same set of facts. c) A judgement is a cognitive process of reaching a decision or drawing conclusions. Judgments are also personal and developed from experience; they differ from person to person. For example, if a client is dying and all the symptoms and signs show the evidence, reports and records should show these facts. On the other hand if the client only refused to talk, people might have different opinions and judgments to explain the reason. Records and reports will need to be verified to deduce the correct and most suitable reason. It is important to aware of the difference of these words when reporting and recording information about individuals because I have the responsabiliy to provide seamless services for individuals, and this thing can be done only if the  information is correct, precise.

Understanding Personality In Order To Improve Communication

Understanding Personality In Order To Improve Communication New Britain Oils is a Palm Oil manufacturer who specialises in fully sustainable Palm Oil. The organisation is a subsidiary of New Britain Palm Oil Limited which has been around since the 1980s. The organisation consists of a number of site across the globe with the main plantations growing in Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands covering 82,000 hectares and employing over 10,000 workers. There are only two refinery, one in Papua New Guinea and the second is in Liverpool. Liverpool is the only site outside of Australasia and had an opening employment count of 26 in 2010, this number currently stands at 78 in 2016. The Liverpool Refinery opened in 2010 starting with bulk oil supply into 28 tonne road tankers. In 2012 the Packing Facility was opened, this plant converts some of the bulk oil into industrial margarine and other bakery fats. Since opening in 2010 New Britain Oils is now the number one supplier of sustainable Palm Oil in the UK. With the rapid growth of the Liverpool site came an increase in employees and inevitably the dynamic of the working environment changed with it. Some employees left the organisation, who have since been replaced, and new departments have been created to cope with the growth of the business. Consequently this instability has affected the productivity in some areas. This issue couldve been exacerbated by the management teams failure to recognise this variation and react accordingly. Bringing in new workers will bring in differing psychological preferences and according to Jung (1971) preferences influence our choice of careers, ways of thinking, relationships, and work habits. Richard L. Hughes et al. (2015) stated that our preferences play a role in the characteristic and unique ways we behave from day to day. Consequently, could increasing the management awareness of their teams individual preferences promote better relationships, through improved communication, within the organisati on? Mary Uhl-Bien and George B. Graen (1995) discovered that higher quality Leader-Member Exchange relationships have very positive outcomes for leaders, followers, work units, and the organisation in general, the same research also found that the development of Leader-Member Exchange relationships is influenced by characteristics and behaviours of leaders and members. This assignment will first outline what can affect the effectiveness of a leader and why increasing the value of relationships could increase the effectiveness of a leader. Using existing research it will look at why communication is a crucial tool for a leader and how an understanding of how differing personality types interact, prefer to receive information and what drives their decision making,   can enable leaders to communicate more effectively.   A recognised psychological test will be used to gather data about the psychological preferences of some of the employees across different areas of the business with the objective being to identify potential differences in preferences. The overall aim of the research is to increase the management teams awareness of some of the differing personality types within their department and understand the differences between these types. The intention is to educate the management team and give them the opportunity to adapt their leadership s tyle to promote better quality relationships through a better understanding of the individuals within their team. Literature Review Leadership Leadership has been the subject of research for a long time. Burns (1978) stated that due to its importance in human groups, the concept of leadership is one of the organisational topics that have most intrigues researchers for centuries. As a result, attempts to define leadership have proved to be an ambiguous. Leadership as simply a complex form of social problem solving (Miller and Ross 1975), leadership is directing and coordinating the work of group members (McCall Jnr et al. 1988), leadership is creating conditions for a team to be effective (Reason and Mycielska 1982). Powell and Pirsico (rev. ed. 2003) defined leadership as the process of influencing an organized group toward accomplishing its goals. All of the definitions stated have a connection which is the reference to a group or team. This implies that leadership would not exist without individuals to lead. The definitions detailed show the variation in concepts of leadership and this is reflected in the research. Some leadership researchers have focused on the leader-follower relationship and Geoff Thomas et al. (2013) stated that the reason we focus on the leader-follower relationship is because research shows that the quality of this relationship is reliably linked to follower well-being and performance. Other researchers, such as John Adair, looked at how the situation can affect the way leaders act. Adair identified that leadership is affected by three things. The task, the team and the individual and leaders need to balance their time equally between the three areas and at certain times one of the areas will dominate, but over the long run a balance would be achieved (John Adair 1982). Figure 1. shows John Adairs concept of action centred leadership. In different situations the circles will be overlapping different amounts showing which the dominant factor is. Figure 1. John Adair (1982) Researchers have studied the behaviours of the leader and what behaviours are associated with an effective leader. Leadership is earned and it is not granted by role or rite of passage (Lloyd l. Sederer 2012) and through our interactions humans sustain the effect of leadership and we interpret it even though we may not be aware that we do so (Kempster and Parry 2011). This means that leaders could be established by displaying a distinct set of behaviours which followers associate with a leadership role. Research shows that there are behaviours that can be attributed to an effective leader. These are known as The Six Cs of Leadership Credibility (Bamford, 2016) Figure 2. David Bamford (2016) Communication would fall under the Character umbrella and plays a crucial fundamental role in every business. The quality of the communication can be affected by the relationship between two individuals and a key element of the quality of the relationship is the interaction between the personalities. Different personalities and give out information in different ways and how this information is interpreted can affect the quality of the communication.   Leaders who have calm dispositions and do not attack or belittle others for bringing bad news are more likely to get complete and timely information from subordinates than are bosses who have explosive tempers and a reputation for killing the messenger (Hughes et al. 2015). Personality Many theories have been developed to explain what causes individuals to behave the way they behave and why they behave differently to other individuals. The term personality is among the most comprehensive of those in the psychologists vocabulary, clarification of its connotation to the satisfaction of a majority, even of psychologists, is difficult (John K. McCreary 1960). This view begins to explain the range of opinions as to what personality means to people. McCreary goes on to describe some the definitions as experimental, calling for criticism and inviting agreement. This belief is quite ambiguous as all definitions would fall under one of those three categories. Robert Hogan (1991) had a different approach and he stated that the term personality is fairly ambiguous and has at least two quite different meanings rather than a definition. The first meaning implies that personality is the impression a person makes on others. The second meaning is less obvious and focusses more on the unseen processes within a person which explains why we behave the way we behave. These internal processes have been categorized as traits by some researchers. Personality traits as useful concepts for explaining why people act fairly consistently from one situation to the next (Hughes et al. 2015). Traits are characteristics or habits which are specific to an individual. Traits can have one of two outcomes, such as extroversion and introversion however, individuals are not categorized into one these traits but rather they sit on a scale which may show a preference towards one of the two oppositions. If we attempt such scaling, we should remember that we are likely to constrain personalities unnaturally fitting them into one mould (Allport and Odbert 1936) Gordon Allport and Henry Odbert were theorists the idea of traits and trait names. They explored two comprehensive dictionaries and identified 17,953 trait-names in the English language. They reduced the list down to 4500 adjectives. They reported that the unfamiliarity of a large proportion of the trait-names in our list proves that our practical vocabulary is inadequate to the task of representing the complex phenomena of human nature (Allport and Odbert 1936). They arrange the traits into a hierarchy of three: Cardinal Traits the dominant trait Central Traits general characteristics Secondary Traits not obvious, such as attitudes Raymond Cattell further explored the work completed by Allport and Odbert by taking the list of 4500 adjectives and reducing it down to 171 by removing all the synonyms. Cattell was the first to collect data regarding personality traits. The outcome of the data he collected allowed him to come up with 16 personality factors which he used to come up with an assessment called the 16PF. This was one of the first attempts to measure personality. Myers-Briggs Type Indicator Measuring personality is difficult because personality cannot be seen but some psychology researchers have devised tools that can be used to give results owing to an individuals psychological preferences. The most commonly used tool is the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI). This tool evolved over a period of 5 decades and was based on the work carried out by Swiss Psychologist Carl Jung who spent a lot of his career researching personalities within individuals. Jung defined two opposing tendencies in personality: introversion and extroversion and while both tendencies are present in all individuals, one tends to dominate the other (Almerinda Forte 2005). Along with the two opposing tendencies for personality, Jung also identified four functions relating to personality which are thinking, feeling, sensing and intuiting. Katharine Briggs and her daughter Isabel Myers both had an interest in individual differences which they brought together, including the work done by Carl Jung, which resulted in the development of the MBTI. The MBTI is a very popular tool used worldwide mainly for psychiatric patients but also the MBTI has been in extensive use in personal and management development since the early 1970s (Leary et al. 2009). The MBTI is based on the principle that the differences in behaviour from one person to another can be expressed in terms of preferences between the polarities (Amel Behaz and Mahieddine 2012) and the MBTI focuses on two primary human activities: how people gather information and how they make decisions (Richard J. Daisley, 2011). However, note that measurement is only possible if we blindly insist that people are comparable in respect to each common trait (Allport and Odbert 1936) Allen et al. (2002) adapted the Four-Part Framework developed by Susan Brock to demonstrate the difference between each of the oppositions. This is shown below: Figure 3. Allen et al. (2002) In completing the MBTI each of the individuals will demonstrate a preference for one of the two oppositions. For example the introvert/extrovert scale is based how the individual get their energy whilst the sensing/intuitive scale considers how people interpret data. The thinking/feeling scale looks at the factors people take into account when making decisions and the judging/perceiving scale considers the amount of information an individual needs before making a decision. Yuval Cohen et al. (2013) described each of the bipolar oppositions in their paper based on personality types of project managers. Figure 4. Yuval Cohen (2013) The first opposition is the most commonly associated when thinking about differing personalities: Introversion or Extroversion. There are three main differences between introversion and extroversion. Energy creation is noted as the most important difference, but the response to stimulation and the approach to knowledge are also different (Heidi Eve-Cahoon 2003). Introverts are energized by the internal world of ideas, impressions, and emotions, whereas extroverts focus outside of themselves and are energized by activities, people, and things of the outside world (Heidi Eve-Cahoon 2003). Extroverts are often seen as possessing the desirable set of personality traits for success in todays fast-paced world, on the other hand, introverts bring a whole host of desirable personality traits to the table, which need to be equally valued, nurtured, and utilized (Shelley J. Schmidt 2016). Samples for the United States suggest that 55 to 60 percent of all people are extroverts (Gardner and Martinko 1996). Fretwell et al. (2013) highlighted some data (Filbeck et al. 2005, Fox-Hines and Bowersoch 1995) relating to each of the four dimensions, which demonstrates the preferences of the U. S. population. This data agrees with other research that a greater percentage of individuals have an extroverted preference. Results of this study will demonstrate any direct correlation to the results of the U. S population. Figure 5. Fretwell et al, (2013) A similar study was documented in Training and Coaching Today (2007) which showed the findings from a recent MBTI study of 1634 individuals in the UK. Figure 6. Training and Coaching Today (2007) As New Britain Oils is situated in the UK, it is predictable that the results from this study will correlate to the results from the study of the UK individuals. As there are four bipolar oppositions for MBTI, this means that there are sixteen possible results which could be given based on the responses to the questions and the scores obtained on the bipolar scale.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Figure 7. One downside to having so many possible outcomes and factors involved is that it takes interest and effort to remember ones type (William A. Lynagh 2006). Psychology researchers and advocates of personality preferences maintain that no one type is better than the others because a team benefits from the presence of varied personality types (Cynthia Plonen 2015). The best way to think of it is that neither set of traits is better or more valuable than the other rather, they are different, often complementary, and both are needed to make the world go round, so-to-speak (Shelly J. Schmidt, 2016), however many more leaders are ISTJs, ESTJs, and ENTJs than other types (Hughes et al. 2015). Gathering data from the management team will be able to demonstrate a positive or negative correlation to this statement. Methodology The data collection process involved 25 employees from a number of departments and all of the employees who completed the questionnaire did so voluntarily. Results were obtained from 100% of the employees in two departments along with 50% of employees from another department. Shift patterns limited one department but a representative sample of 65% was obtained to provide data. In addition, 57.14% of the management team were included in the study to determine the range of the personality preferences amongst the management team. Figure 7 shows the structure of the organisation. Figure 7. Despite there being question marks over the integrity of personality measurement instruments, they are still widely used in organisations. A Humanmetrics Jung Typology Test, based on the MBTI, will be used to gather the data for this study. The questionnaire consists of 64 multiple choice questions which will result in a four letter type based on the Myers-Briggs 16 types. The Humanmetrics Jung Typology Test was selected because the results will correlate directly to the MBTI theory and also this method is more accessible for employees and allows for more data to be collected. The purpose of the questionnaire is to begin to develop an understanding of the personality types that exist within some departments of the organisation because personality questionnaires are ideal for describing personality (Luke D. Smillie 2008). The MBTI has been used widely across a number of business sectors for decades. The instrument has been extensively tested for reliability and validity (James C. Lampe 2004) and the extensive research on the instrument since its development supports its reliability and validity (Moore et al. 2004). Over 2 million copies of the instrument are sold each year (Pittenger 1993) and the MBTI is the most widely used instrument for non-psychiatric populations (A. J. DeVito 1985). Despite its depth of validation there are still many sceptics of the MBTI itself as a viable instrument and future research must use more rigorous designs before greater confidence can be placed in the results (Gardner and Martinko 1996). It has been speculated that subjects of the instrument can falsify their responses in an attempt to achieve different results. This wary approach, when questioning the validity of the responses, could be considered when the instrument is used as part of an organisations recruitment process as subjects could change their responses in an attempt to become more appealing to an employer. The organisation has 78 employees and a sample of 32% were included in the study but statistical generalisation is difficult owing to the low number of cases (Bamford et al. 2003). Some correlations can be made between the existing literature and the results of the MBTI used in the organisation but this cannot be reflective of the organisation as a whole. Findings Key Findings The key findings from the research showed that there are a range of personality types present within the organisation and out of the 16 possible personality types the individuals from the organisation fell into 9 of those types. Over 50% of the results from the individuals who took part in the study fell into 3 of the possible 16 personality types. All 3 of the common personality types included a preference for thinking rather than feeling and judging rather than perceiving. This means that 68% of the individuals included in the study prefer to be analytical, critical and make decisions objectively but those individuals only require a minimal amount of information to make decisions and as a result they can make poor decisions. ISTP ISFP ISTJ ISFJ 7 ESTP ESFP ESTJ ESFJ 1 5 3 INTP INFP INTJ INFJ 1 ENTP ENFP ENTJ ENFJ 1 1 4 2 Figure 8. Introvert/Extrovert Preference As mentioned previously, one of the dimensions that then MBTI specifically looks at is where individuals prefers to focus their energy. This dimension has two bipolar oppositions, introversion and extroversion. The data gathered shows that 68% of the individuals who took part in the research had a greater preference for extroversion. This means that more than half of the employees at the organisation prefer to work in larger groups, get their energy from people and activities. The management team could use this data to adapt their leadership style to suit some of the personality preferences within their team and using a collective approach to problem solving may prove to be more effective. Customer Service Team Personality Types 75% of the customer service team have a preference for extroversion and this would fit well with their role and responsibilities as they obtain their energy from interacting with people. Having this preference could help them to build better relationships with customers and suppliers. 100% of the customer service team had a preference for thinking which means they are more concerned with operational considerations and are able to detach themselves from the decisions they make which is a good characteristic to have relative to their role. Engineering Team Personality Types          50% of the engineering department contributed to the research and 100% of the employees who contributed showed a preference to extroversion so using team meetings when tackling engineering issues would give the extroverts the forum to think out loud, share ideas with each other and has the potential to be very effective. The Engineering Manager showed a preference to introversion and so he would prefer to take the information gathered from the team meeting and spend some time thinking about in order to come up with the most effective solution. This approach to engineering issues has the potential to be very productive by considering the individuals preferences in order to maximise their input and provide the Engineering Manager with lots of information before making decisions. Shift Workers Personality Types The responses from the shift workers presented a large amount of variation, however, 69.23% of the shift workers, who completed the questionnaire, showed a preference for extroversion. This outcome is reasonably foreseeable in having a higher number of extroverts in this department as all of the individuals work on a shift consisting of four employees. Individuals with a preference for introversion would be less attracted to work which would include them working within shifts, although only having four employees on a shift would be more attractive than organisations with high numbers of employees on each shift. 92.3% of the shift workers showed a preference for judging rather than perceiving and individuals with this preference only require a minimal amount of information before making a decision. Shift workers operate on a 24 hour rotation system therefore they work outside of normal hours and so they are expected to make quick decisions independently. Individuals who have a preference for perceiving like to intake as much information as possible before making a decision and so too many perceivers on one shift could delay decisions and corrective action which could result in reduced output from that shift. Management Team Personality Types 57.14% of the organisations management team took part on the study. The data shows that the management team fall into three different personality types: ISTJ, ESTJ and INTJ. The results showed that 50% of the individuals who contributed had a personality type of ISTJ which displays characteristics which would typically be associated with someone who is in a senior position, such as being serious, practical and realistic. 75% of the management team, which would equate to 42.8% of the total management team, demonstrated a preference for introversion rather than extroversion and these members of the management team are responsible for technical, engineering and the safety department. All of these departments are smaller, in team size, than all of the other departments and each of these members of the management team have their own individual office and so it is foreseeable that they would have a preference for introversion. The extroverted individual from the management team is responsible for a large team consisting of 20 shift workers and their workspace is located in the production area and so having the extroverted preference is advantageous to their ro le. All of the members of the management team showed preferences for thinking and judging rather than feeling or perceiving respectively. This again is a predictable outcome given their position within the organisation as this indicates that they prefer to be analytical, approach decisions objectively and pay careful attention to any potential operational impacts. Discussion The first of the four dimensions provides data on the individuals preferences towards introversion or extroversion. Samples from the United States suggest that 55 to 60 percent of all people are extroverts (Gardner and Martinko, 1996). The data obtained from this study appear to validate this statement as 68% of the individuals showed a preference for extroversion. The data in the study by Fretwell et al. (2013) noted that 70 75% of individuals in the U. S. have a preference towards extroversion and that data would correlate more closely with the data obtained in this study. The study of the U. K. showed only 52.6% of the individuals have a preference towards extroversion which is contradictory to the results of this study. Consequently more than half of the employees, involved at the organisation have a personality focused on the outside world, get motivation from interaction with other people and by doing things (Yuval Cohen, 2013). The data could be used by the management team in order to improve productivity by using groups sessions allowing the individuals share ideas. Comparison to Existing Research The data previously mentioned in the study by Fretwell et al. (2013) and the data shown in Training and Coaching Today (2007) showed results for individuals in U. S. and U. K respectively and some of those results are closely correlated to the results of this study. Dimension U.S. U.K. New Britain Oils Extrovert 70-75% 52.6% 68% Introvert 25-30% 47.4% 32% Sensing 70-75% 76.5% 60% Intuition 35-30% 23.5% 40% Thinking 60% males 40% females 45.9% 68% males 36.6% females Feeling 40% males 60% females 54.1% 32% males 33.3% females Judging 55% 58.3% 88% Perceiving 45% 41.7% 12% The similarity of results for the extrovert and introvert dimension has already been discussed but there are similarities with results for the other dimensions. The sensing and intuition dimension results are similar to the results from the studies of the U. S and U. K. albeit closer to the results from the U. S study, as there is a greater preference towards sensing. This means that the individuals prefer concrete details of a situation and rely on the five senses to observe facts or happenings (Fretwell et al. 2013)This also means that they tend to be practical, orderly, and down-to-earth decision makers (Hughes et al. 2015). When comparing the thinking and feeling dimension, the results are more closely correlated with the results for the study of the U. S. population. 72% of the individuals, in this organisation, showed a preference to thinking, however in the study of the U. K. the majority of the individuals showed a preference to feeling. This means that individual from this organisation prefer to assume a more objective approach to decisions and show more consideration to operational factors. Individuals who show a greater preference towards thinking are associated with careers such as consultants, lawyers, executives and engineers. (www.similarminds.com). The results for the final dimension show that overall the individuals from the organisation have a much greater preference for judging rather than perceiving. These results compare with the studies from the U. S. and U. K., in terms of the majority of the individuals showing a greater preference towards judging, however nearly 90% of this organisation shares this preference as were the other studies show just over 50%. This could impact the organisation because individuals with this preference tend to make up their minds quickly and as a result can make poor decisions (Hughes et al. 2015). The management team in the organisation presented results which partially correlated with the work done by Hughes et al. (2015), who stated that more leaders are ISTJs, ESTJs, and ENTJs than other types. In this organisation, the management team demonstrated personality types matching ISTJ and ESTJ however there were no ENTJ personality types from the results collected. 50% of the management team showed a personality type of ISTJ and this preference would be associated with behavioural characteristics such as being responsible, organised and punctu