EFFICIENCY OF CAPITAL MARKETS Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

EFFICIENCY OF CAPITAL MARKETS - Essay Example Funds that have bet against the market and performed poorly have been closed or folded into other funds, because their performance is not strong enough to attract new buyers. When one counts fund performance over two different periods of time, if one does not allow for survivorship bias, the data can be biased in favors of those funds that have done well, and can make the overall market’s fund performance seem better than it is. 3) What is the relationship between risk and return? How do we normally calibrate returns for risk? In a classic model, the higher the risk, the greater the return should be. Risk is the potential for loss weighed against return, the actuality of gain. With survivorship bias and fund piloting (where a group of funds begin at the same time with the notion that only the successful will ultimately survive), risk tends to be hidden by the mutual fund industry, making it seem like returns are higher than they are, and safer. 4) What is alpha and what does it measure? Alpha is a risk-adjusted statistical measure that weighs the return that is afforded in excess of the risk borne. It can usually be determined by subtracting funding performing from a relevant benchmark index. If one bets on the fund manager, one expects the fund to outperformance the basket of stocks bought in an index. 5) What is a t test and what does it measure? The t-test is a statistical measure used to weigh the significance of two different sample means, through a comparison of the variance between the means. In the case of the Malkiel study (p. 554) it indicates that there is a fairly strong difference between the mean performance rating of surviving funds and non-surviving funds, supporting the notion that survivorship bias must be account for to get a true picture of mutual fund records over time. 6) What conclusions can you reach about "the hot hand" investor? Who are the notable exceptions to this observation? The idea of a â€Å"hot hand† manager

Comparison of the key management and leadership aspects of Essay

Comparison of the key management and leadership aspects of organisations in the private sector, public sector and not for profit - Essay Example The behavioural approach to management is preferred to other approaches to management because it takes into consideration the behaviour of employees. Behaviour is one of the key factors that significantly influence performances of employees in various organizations. Therefore, managers who wish to lead and motivate employees should fully understand how behaviours of individuals under them respond to different phenomenon in the organisation. This will enable them integrate and influence the environment under which the employees work, without hurting their feelings. According to Sloan (1964), number of factors including manager’s biasness, the type of organisation as well as growth and development stage of an organisation among other factors influence choice of management approach in any given organisation. The development of the behavioral approach to management in an organisation The behavioral approach was derived from human relations approach management. This is because its major focus is human dimension at work. According to this approach, productivity is improved through proper understanding of individual’s behavior at work. Human relation theorists defined the employees as individuals, resources, and assets. In the behavioral approach, direct relation exists between employee satisfaction and production. Most human experts believe that workers are more productive when they are satisfied. Therefore, managers who wish to increase and improve organisation’s performance should work hard to meet the needs of people who are working for them. In addition, the theorists believe that employees can be empowered through training, motivation and providing appropriate tools for work. According to Tripathi (2008), the behavioural approach to management gives employees more flexibility in terms of autonomy, independence and empowerment in the organisational structure (Barnard, 1962). The behavioral approach points out that human rationality has constr aints when making the optimal decisions. These constraints are both practical and situational. Both employees and managers may make sub-optimal decisions due to influence by their behaviour. According to Vroom (1964), behaviorists insist that it is appropriate to humanize administration control process and encourage self-direction process rather imposing controls to restrict individuals. Managers should also consider various needs of individuals when influencing people because employees are different. In organizational conflict and change, behavioral approach remains to be practical. It addresses the inevitability of conflict and proposes that conflicting individuals should be understood. Furthermore, it acknowledges that individual often resist change on social aspects. Workers are often organised into teams in the behavioural approach. This is because managers in most organisations are biased to a flatter organisational structure. Application of behavioural approach to management began in 1930’s as a reflection of Hawthorne’s expression of human relation movement and organisational behaviour development. The field of organisational behavior was developed to fill the gap left by early human relation experts who concentrated on inter-personal relations and gave little attention to the patterns of group behavior. As compared to human relations approach management, behavioral approach concentrates it efforts in the study of human behavior. Douglas, McGregor, Chester Barnard, Rensis

History Essays Americas Involvement in the Vietnam War

History Essays Americas Involvement in the Vietnam War How can we explain Americas involvement in the Vietnam War?To what extent did America get it wrong, terribly wrong? Americasofficial explanation for its involvement in the Vietnam War was the containmentof communism and the liberation of the Vietnamese people. As is usually thecase when nations involve themselves in war, the reasons for it are not assimple as are made out. In this essay I will argue that the allied victory inWorld War 2, the Cold War, and the national image, all played a part in Americasinvolvement in Vietnam. Robert McNamara, the then Secretary of Defence, wrotetwenty years after the war We were wrong, terribly wrong.So how did they get it wrong? The blanket answer is their failure to see thatvictory was highly unlikely and victory without massive cost was impossible.Repeated advice to that effect from their own military experts and others wentunheeded. The history of the Vietnamese response to centuries of attack byother nations, the extent of their desire for independence and justice, and thegrass-root support for the iconic Ho Chi Minh and his motivated resistancemovement were not taken into account. I will show that these factors togetherwith civil unrest at home and an unwillingness to lose face are why America gotit terribly wrong. World War 2ended in victory for allied forces with America emerging as a superpower. A newconfidence after pre-war recession found it extending its interests around theworld, with the aim of opening up global markets. At the same time, it wascommitted to protecting those interests against the spread of Communism,predominantly from Russia and China, which might threaten their Capitalistaspirations. Buzzanco (1999, p.16) summarises the U.S. post war agenda: TheUnited states had interests [I]n Europe, Americans hoped to rebuild Britain,Germany, France, Italy, and other countries along Capitalist lines while alsousing those areas to prevent the Soviet Union from spreading Communism beyondEastern Europe, and in Asia, the Japanese, with American direction andaid, were being transformed into the foundation for Capitalist expansion andanti-Communism in Asia. Asself-proclaimed liberators of nations from poverty, and leading protagonists inthe Cold War conflict between Capitalism and Communism, the stage was set forAmerican intervention that would see military action for many years to come.The inevitability of this was seen by certain observers, who realised that therewas but a short step between this containment policy and an indiscriminateglobalism that could compel the United States to intervene militarily on behalfof weak puppet states in remote areas of the world places, that is, likeVietnam. (Logevall, 1999, p.385). In the early1950s, the French occupation of Vietnamwas meeting fierce resistance from the Viet Minh,In response America began sending limited financial and military aid to theFrench occupying forces. By 1954, the occupation was virtually broken and theFrench hold on Vietnam was in dire straits. Conditions in Asia were seen ascritical by the U.S. leadership. France was requesting urgent Americanassistance, and the Chinese Communist Party was gaining increasing power inopposition to the U.S. friendly Chinese government of Jiang Jieshi. The Frenchsituation and the prospect of an independent Vietnam posed two major problemsfor America. Firstly, to withhold assistance from the French would be to risklosing a major ally in the Cold War. Secondly, an independent Vietnam left anopen door for the expansion of Chinese communism into Vietnam and a significantbarrier to U.S. economic development in Asia. In order to confront theseproblems, America began to increase financial aid to massive propo rtions, aswell as military hardware and advisors. At the same time an agreement inGenevaresulted in the partition of Vietnam into the North and South sectors, to becontrolled by the Viet Minh and a nominal moderate power, respectively. Thisarrangement was to exist pending a re-unification election for Vietnam withintwo years. By 1955, America,unhappy with the status quo in Vietnam had installed a pro-Americananti-communistas governor of the Southern sector. Diem subsequently proclaimed his sector asthe Republic of Vietnam. The South now became the central focus for the U.S.and with the inauguration of John F. Kennedy as U.S. President in 1961, cameincreased involvement. Kennedy, reluctant to commit to all out war in Vietnamsaid: Wewill continue to assist [Diem regime] them, but I dont think that thewar can be won unless the people support the effort However, Kennedywas dealing with other problems, and his solutions often went against the grainof more hawkish elements in Washington, which led to pressure on him. Hisdealings with the Russians and Cubaresulted in critics strongly advising that a stand needed to be taken withwhich to assert the image of superpower and that the stand should be made inVietnam. Buzzanco (1999, p.65) writes: oneof his closest advisors, suggested that clean-cut success in Vietnam coulderase the stain of the Bay of Pigs. In Saigon General Lionel McGarr, likewisenoted the White Houses strong determination to stop the deterioration of USprestige By the time ofKennedys death in 1963, over 16,000 U.S. military advisors were deployed inSouth Vietnam, against increasing strikes by the Viet Minh from within SouthVietnam and from the North. Linden Johnson took over the presidency from Kennedy in1963, and vowed to continue the policy of involvement in Vietnam. In the sameyear resistance in South Vietnam increased significantly so that by 1964 thepossibility of the overthrow of the U.S. installed regime loomed large. Johnsonresponded with an escalation in U.S. involvement. By 1965, sustained, intensivebombing campaigns were being carried out on North Vietnam, and the number ofAmerican troops deployed in the South had risen to over 184,000, leavingthousands of American troops dead along with thousands of Vietnamese troops andcivilians. This was despite the misgivings of leading senators who were agreedthat: insofaras Vietnam is concerned we are deeply enmeshed in a place where we ought not tobe; that the situation is rapidly going out of control and every effort shouldbe made to extricate ourselves (Siff, 1999, p.40) The militaryalso were against escalation. The Commander of U.S. forces in Vietnam, GeneralWestmoreland expressed strong reservations: Westmorelandwas likewise reluctant to fight in Vietnam. In September 1964, the commanderdid not contemplate putting US troops into combat; that would be amistake, because it is the Vietnameses wara purely military solution isnot possible (Buzzanco, p.74) By the end of1967, the number of U.S. troops deployed in Vietnam had reached half a million.Despite this, there was no sign of an American victory, and despite increasingconviction among the military, senators, financial institutions and largeportions of the American public, there was no movement by its leadership toextricate the nation from a seemingly losing battle. The fear of Communism andlosing face in the eyes of the world left America locked into a no-winnightmare. The VietnameseNationalist forces, although sustaining heavy casualties throughout the war,constantly gained the upper hand and were always able to replace their losses.A major figure behind the success of their campaign for independence was Ho ChiMinh. Minh was inspired by the historic resistance of the Vietnamese peoplethroughout centuries of invasion by other nations. The Mongols, Chinese andFrench had all encountered fanatical opposition to occupation. Even if it tookyears, the Vietnamese fought doggedly to victory, and when World War 2 broughtanother occupation, this time by the Japanese, Ho Chi Minh: Ledan underground, communist-led resistance movement called the Viet Minh (theLeague for Vietnamese Independence) against the Japanese invaders Well-organised but under-funded the Viet Minh carried out a campaign ofterrorism and intelligence-gathering (Elliot, 1996, p.22). The Japanesesurrendered to allied troops in 1944 and the prospect of an independent Vietnamlooked possible. It was not to be though. The French re-established controlwith the help of the British and once again the Vietnamese found themselvesfighting for freedom. Over the next thirty years the Viet Minh (came to beknown as the Viet Cong in the South) proved to consist of soldiers andsupporters with high discipline, motivation and confidence in their quest forliberation from first the French and then the U.S. and its puppet regime.Those qualities and the advantage of fighting in their own land and on theirown terrain were factors in their eventual ejection of America. In Ho Chi Minhand the Viet Minh, the Americans: Wouldface a leader and organisation that seemed dedicated to their defeat and whocarefully and effectively used the images of rebellion that resonated deep inthe Vietnamese past (Edmonds, 1998, p.33). The Americanforces contrasted sharply with that of their enemy. Apart from having to fighta guerrilla war, for which they were not trained or experienced, on unknownterrain, civil unrest at home impacted deeply on morale and discipline. At theheight of the Vietnam War, America was seeing violent protest and massdemonstrations on civil rights issues. Martin Luther King was openly condemningthe Vietnam War along with other civil rights campaigners. A member of the StudentNonviolent Coordinating Committee: Warnedblacks that when LBJ talks all that garbage about hes sending boys over thereto fight for the rights of coloured people, you ought to know thats a lie.Cause we live here with them, and they dont ever do a thing for us. Hewent on to describe the war as white people sending black people to makewar on yellow people to defend the land they stole from red people.(Buzzanco,p.206) The messageresonated with the thousands of black soldiers in Vietnam and contributed toracial division, often resulting in ghetto environments in which ethnic groupsswore allegiance only to themselves and rejected others. Further, a lack ofleadership conviction in the war caused by deep rifts in policy making and thedirection it should take, inevitably filtered down through the chain of commandto the white soldiers on the ground. Disillusionment in the cause for war, andexposure to the brutalities caused by it, hit morale hard, and drugs andalcohol use became rife among troops. Capps (1991, p.34) writes: Whatwas experienced was the harshness of war: brutality, death, and atrocitywithout a comprehensive rationale to seal over the reality. The Vietnam Warprovided no transcendent meaning by which the national purpose could beinterpreted American unwillingness to accept the prospect of defeatand loss of face continued after Johnson and throughout the Nixon presidency,keeping its troops in Vietnam until 1975. I have argued that the emergence of America from World War2, as a superpower with aspirations of global expansion and a dedication tooppose Communism wherever it deemed fit, led to its involvement in Vietnam. Arefusal to withdraw in the face of defeat, in order to maintain its image as asuperpower in the eyes of the world, and in fear of the Communist threat, meantan involvement that lasted over two decades. The last thirteen years of it cost58,000 American and at least 1.5 million Vietnamese lives, as well as thedestruction of millions of acres of land. By misjudging the resources of theVietnamese people, and disregarding the voice of its own people, the cost paidfailed to achieve the aims for Americas involvement and resulted in themgetting it Wrong, terribly wrong. Bibliography Buzzanco, R. (1999) Vietnam and the Transformation ofAmerican Life Oxford, Blackwell. Capps, W. (1991) The Vietnam Reader New York,Routledge. Edmonds, A. (1998) The War in Vietnam U.S.A.,Greenwood Press. Elliott, P. (1996) Vietnam Conflict and ControversyNew York, Arms Armour Press. Kissinger, H. (2003) Ending the Vietnam War NewYork, Simon Schuster. Logevall, F. (1999) Choosing WarCalifornia, University of California Press. Prados, J. (1995) The Hidden History of the Vietnam WarU.S.A., Ivan R. Dee. Siff, E. (1999) Why the Senate Slept U.S.A.,Praeger Publishers.

Industrial Hemp Essay -- essays research papers

Hemp is the longest, strongest most durable natural fiber known to mankind and has been used for over twelve thousand years. Hemp can be grown in four months, is drought resistant and does not require herbicides or pesticides. The hemp plant is harvested for its fibers, seed, seed-meal and seed oil. Hemp is a distinct variety of the plant species cannabis sativa L. Due to the similar leaf shape; hemp is frequently confused with marijuana. Although both plants are from the species cannabis, hemp contains virtually no THC (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol), the active ingredient in marijuana. Hemp cannot be used as a drug because it produces virtually no THC (less than one percent), where marijuana produces between five to twenty percent THC. Hemp is among the earth's primary renewable resources. Trees cut down to make paper take fifty to five-hundred years to grow back while hemp can be cultivated in as little as one-hundred days, and can yield four times more paper over a twenty year period. Hemp also does not require pesticides, while half the pollutants in the U.S. today are sprayed on cotton plants, hemp is naturally mildew resistant, requires no pesticides, and maintains a healthy environment for the surrounding streams, air, flora and fauna. Hemp slows ozone depletion: the industrial use of fossil fuels, like petroleum, contributes to global warming by rapidly increasing the amount of CO2 in our atmosphere; however, hemp fuels, derived from the plant itself, maintain the e...

China’s Renminbi: “Our Currency, Your Problem” Essay

Our Currency, Your Problem is a case involving the issue of exchange rate regimes and the impact currency manipulation has on economies and trade. The United States and Europe argued that the Renminbi (RMB) was undervalued and claimed that the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) deliberately manipulated the exchange rate to lower the prices of exports, which caused the US and Europe to run huge trade deficits with China. The US and Europe felt that the RMB was undervalued for several reasons. One reason is that China’s exports had dramatically increased, growing 30% from 2004 to 2005, making China the third largest exporter in the world and accounting for 6.5% of the world’s export. Another argument was that China’s inflow of FDI had become the second largest in the world by 2004. The Chinese argued that their currency was not undervalued, that the policy of the PBoC benefited the US by helping them finance its huge budget, that even though they ran trade surpluses with the West they ran deficits with Asian countries, and that a low currency rate benefited multinational companies investing in China. Meanwhile, Japan and the newly industrialized economies (NIEs) including Taiwan and South Korea were less vocal than the US and Europe because they had become so economically linked with China. They had invested themselves in China, thus an undervalued RMB would maintain operating cost low. Additionally, Japan and the NIEs ran trade surpluses with China and received essentially most of the benefit of value added process trade with China. When choosing an exchange rate regime, countries can operate between two primary exchange rate systems. The first is a fixed exchange rate where the currency is strongly fixed to another value or â€Å"pegged† within a particular band and the rate is adjusted from time to time to stay within the defined or pegged range. The second is a floating exchange rate where the rate is allowed to depreciate or appreciate based on the market. Both of these systems have advantages and disadvantages. A fixed exchange rate regime will offer an economy greater stability in international prices and therefore encourage trade. Additionally, for developing countries a fixed rate will assist in promoting institutional discipline as the country will adopt restrictive monetary and fiscal policies that foster an anti-inflationary environment. A significant weakness of a fixed rate is that it is subject to destabilizing speculative attacks which could lead to financial meltdowns and devastating economic contractions. A floating exchange rate regime allows central banks to combat macroeconomic factors such as unemployment, inflation, and interest rates without having to worry about the effect on exchange rates. However, developing countries whose economies depend on trade will be reluctant to allow their exchange rates to fluctuate freely. In 1994 the Chinese government made the decision to peg the RMB to the US dollar at a rate of US$1 to RMB8.7, a year later the Renminbi appreciated 5% and was revalued to RMB8.28. This rate would remain unchanged for the next 10 years, even though the Chinese faced heavy scrutiny and pressure to revalue their currency. The Chinese exercised many policies in maintaining their exchange rate. The PBoC controlled the amount of foreign currency by forcing all exporters to immediately sell their foreign currency to designated banks. The RMB could only be traded on the China Foreign Exchange Rate Trade System, which was exclusive to the designated banks. Furthermore, China mandated daily foreign reserves to total reserves ratios forcing the member banks to either buy or sell foreign reserves. After absorbing foreign currencies in circulation, the PBoC reinvested these funds in US treasury bonds and stockpiled US debt in order to maintain the peg to the US dollar against natural market forces. Maintaining an undervalued exchange rate also allowed China’s economy to continue to grow. Foreign Direct Investment in China grew from $4.4B a year to $63B a year from 1991 to 2006. For every one dollar earned China would put 8RMB into circulation. This over supply of RMB also maintained the RMB artificially low. However, over time this policy of excess money could lead to inflation. China combatted inflationary pressures by issuing bonds thus removing excess RMBs and by imposing tighter liquidity ratios on banks. On July 2005 China reluctantly reformed their exchange rate regime. The renminbi was revalued by 2.1% to RMB8.11 to the US dollar. The peg to the US dollar was dropped and replaced by a peg to a basket of currencies. However the basket was predominately represented by the USD, the Euro, and the Yen. Despite this reform the US continued to lead international efforts in pressing for greater acceleration of the renminbi’s revaluation as trade deficits with China continued to increase. The Chinese claimed that if a major revaluation took place, such as 15%, it would level their exports causing a contraction in exports. Such dramatic measures would surely have an impact on international trade. For example, the US would see their trade deficit shrink; while Japan and NIEs would see their exports decrease. Therefore I think that China should address their revaluation in a conservative but yet progressive approach. Forcing a major economy to do a one-time 10%, 15%, or 20% revaluation could have damaging and unwanted consequences to a fragile world economy.

Emerging possibilities and ongoing reforms Essay

In 21st century, nations are increasingly becoming diverse, globalised, and complex and media structured. This rapidly changing world filled with fantastic new tribulations needs to be addressed using exciting new emerging possibilities. To adopt new possibilities, modern education reforms are progressively driven by a growing understanding of what works in education and how to go about productively improving teaching and learning in schools. This essay will focus on emerging possibilities and ongoing reform in primary education that are necessary for 21st century learning and hence need to be embraced both locally and globally. This essay will include the elaboration on emerging technologies that are being utilized with the purpose of meeting the global and local requirements and ongoing reforms on education such as Gonski for better schools, Melbourne declaration that acknowledges major changes in the world that are placing new demands on Australian education and globalization. People around the world are taking their education out of school into homes, libraries, internet cafes and workplaces, where they can decide what they want to learn, when they want to learn and how they want to learn. (Colin, Allan et.al, 2009, p3). This new learning model uses technologies to enable people of all ages to pursue learning on their own terms. Traditional class room based, single teachers as instructor model of education has now been replaced by emerging technologies that are being developed constantly in today’s fast moving digital world. It is an innovative technology that is reshaping the nature of education. Computer and network based technologies now hold great potential for increasing the access to information as well as a means of promote learning. (schoolcomputing.wikia.com/wiki/Emerging_Technologies). It redefines the way educators teach and the role of sole source of information to being a guide, facilitator and coach in the learning process. The major emerging technologies for primary education can be interactive whiteboard, I pads and cloud computing. Interactive whiteboard is designed to help students learn variety of ways and for teachers to teach in a range of ways with the ability of using online resources and fun presentation. It is an emerging technology in Australia but globally like UK it has been found to be successful and effective in teaching primary students (Torff & Toritta, 2010). Now what is the rationale for using interactive whiteboard in primary classroom? It increases motivation and performance of student as teachers  can integrate flexibly a variety of pedagogical approaches and the power to efficiently deliver multimedia or multimodal presentation with a touch sensitive screen. It can also increase the student and teacher interaction and can make the teachers teaching process smoother and effective. An interesting element of interactive whiteboard is it allows students from different classroom around country and globally to interact through programs such as Skype or YouTube. This allows for an expansive online classroom, broadening the students own community of practice. Another form of emerging technology is the use of Ipad in the classroom, which is a creative, hands-on device which allows students through educational applications, eBooks and iTunes to engage with content interactively and instantly obtain information moving away from the industrial era model where the classroom is the central learning place. Why do teachers might use Ipad in primary classroom? There are number of reasons why Ipad can be very beneficial emerging technology but one of the most useful features is its sharing information, receiving updates and conducting research hence helpful in communicating and collaborating with the world outside the classroom. Ipad can be very useful tool to interact with others around the world so it connects and create extended learning. Final emerging new technology for 21st century learner is cloud computing. It refers to as the future of education and storing and accessing of applications and computer data often through web browser rather than running installed software on personal computer. (www.cloudcomputingdefined.com). It is an interactive tool where student and teacher can instantaneously collaborate both in and out of the classroom and learn in real time with instant feedback. Cloud computing provides transparency for teachers and their student; collectively they are able to communicate with each other. What is the rational for cloud computing being a useful emerging technology for 21st century learner? One of the reasons it can be useful is its versatility as it can be accessed from home or school therefore great for collaborative assessments or group based projects. This new technology will encourage students to develop and maintain ICT skills (http://cloud-computing3100.wikispaces.com/Rationale+for+cloud+computing). The driving force behind educational reform comes from new technologies that greatly enhance educational opportunities. These new emerging technologies  allow the improved pedagogy that will revolutionize learning. ( Molebash, 1999). In 21st century, ubiquitous availability of ICT had significant implications on education. A significant reform is needed in education, world-wide, to respond to shape global trends. Systematic education reform is needed that include curriculum like National education agreement, pedagogy, teacher training and school organization like GONSKI reform. (Mcgaw, 2009, p1). Earlier this year, Skidmore and Carmicheal mentioned in The Telegraph UK that â€Å"reform is not only necessary, it is essential if we are to ensure that pupils are equipped with the knowledge and skills for the twenty first century.’(Skidmore and Carmicheal, 2013). Being able to do my practical placement at Garfield Barwick School managed by Royal Institute of Deaf and Blind Children (RIDBC), I realized that there is a huge requirement of special education teachers not only in Australia but globally. In England, an education reform is passed where parents are given control over their children’s special education needs (SEN) budgets, allowing them to choose expert support rather than local authorities being the sole provider. (Quinn and Malik, 2012). This is described as being the biggest reform of SEN for 30 years. However, while this reform offer hope, it create anxiety among parents too, as it divides children into two groups School Action and School Action plus. Lorraine Peterson, chief executive officer of the Nation Association of SEN, fears teachers could be left with endless lists of pupils and too little expertise as to how to deal with them (Shepherd, 2012). Furthermore ,there is also a concern in relate to this reform that what impact it will have of forward planning and co-ordination of putting budgets in the hands of many individuals and families, keeping in mind that not all parents are best advocates of their children’s needs hence will not be able to provide the best expert assistance for their children. (Shepherd, 2012). This is one of the drawbacks of SEN reform in England. In comparison to that, Australian government has deferred this reform since 2009 in order to allow more time for further consultation. (â€Å"Special education reform put on hold – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)†, 2009). An article by Philip Garner and Fiona Forbes in 2012 mentioned that Australia is appeared to slow down in some areas of special education and appearing to adopt wait and see approach. (Garner and Forbes, 2012, P 62). Currently Australia is investing $550 million in Improving Teacher Quality National  Partnership, in this reform agenda, priority and highest status should be given to inclusive environment to ensure that schools are given best possible teachers to be inclusive for the special need education. (Garner and Forbes, 2012, P 65). Special education need reform is not particularly focused locally but globally like UK it is getting implemented. The core principal behind this reform is proper funding to school and teacher training to allow every child to receive world class education and Australia is endeavoring to establish a reform around SEN. Gonski reform can correlate to SEN reform as it focuses on the funding of schools to support their student and help teachers to receive additional training and support, from pre-service teachers to principals. Under Better School Plans commencement in 2014, it is a plan to improve results of all schools and students by introducing education reforms that evidently improves results. This plan is based on five core areas; 1.Quality teaching 2.Quality learning 3.Empowered school leadership 4.Meeting student need 5.Greater transparency and accountability This plan aims to take Australian schools into top five by 2025 (What is the Better Schools Plan?, n.d. ). Therefore why do we need this plan? This plan is mandatory to meet the international standard as it has been revealed that even though Australian schools are good, our performance is declining and a greater gap has developed between highest and lowest performing students. The recent review of funding of schooling stumbled on current school funding do not fulfill the requirements necessary to meet the educational needs of all students (What is the Better Schools Plan?, n.d. ). In my point of view, Melbourne Declaration on education goals for Young Australians can articulate better school plans core reforms by overarching two goals for schooling in Australia where one goal promote equity and excellence in schools and secondly making creative individuals and active and informed citizen. Under this declaration, local education goals can collaborate with global education goals. The Melbourne Declaration supports National Education Agreement which articulates the commitment of Australian government to ensure that all Australian school students acquire the  knowledge and skills to participate effectively in society and employment in a globalised economy. (Educational goals | ACARA†, 2009). This National Education Agreement (NEA) has been made between the Commonwealth of Australia and all State and territories. The key objective of this agreement is to enable Australian students to compete with world and participate effectively. Under this agreement, the state wise curriculum is abandoned and standardized curriculum is introduced which is called national curriculum. It is ongoing reform and changes to curriculum is commencing from next year starting from English then moving into Mathematics and Science. Consequently, all of these reforms are in cooperating emerging possibilities to meet the local and global requirement. (National Education Agreement, 2012). To meet the pace and acceleration of 21st century, these emerging technologies need to be embraced and in doing so reforms need to be constructed, this way we will achieve success both locally and globally. In conclusion, education is transformed by emerging possibilities and in this technology rich environment, one must remember that educational focus is on learning and instructional goal instead of technology itself, because technologies are merely tools or vehicles to deliver instruction and are just driving force for education reform. These emerging technologies shift the local education scale to global and hence promote to develop reform around these new emerging possibilities so we can meet the global standard. Thus, for successful 21st century learner, emerging possibilities and ongoing reforms are necessary and need to be embraced both locally and globally. References Cloud Computing Defined. (n.d.). Retrieved October 1, 2013, from http://www.cloudcomputingdefined.com Educational goals | ACARA. (2009). Retrieved from ACARA website: http://www.acara.edu.au/reporting/national_report_on_schooling_2009/national_policy_context/educational_goals.html Educational goals | ACARA. (n.d.). Retrieved October 3, 2013, from http://www.acara.edu.au/reporting/national_report_on_schooling_2009/national_policy_context/educational_goals.html Garner, P., & Forbes, F. (2012). Disposable assets. Are special education teachers still needed in 21st

Who is Jesus Essays

Who is Jesus Essays Who is Jesus Essay Who is Jesus Essay Jesus Christ is the Son of Man; born of a virgin, and child of the Lord. He was born in Bethlehem, in modern day Israel, in the year 0AD, and lived a humble life of poverty.   He was a carpenter, in a poor household, and never sought fame or wealth, or anything selfish for himself, and was all-loving. This love and kindness is the reason he suffered such awful pain on the cross, for the purpose of saving all of mankind, and welcoming us with open arms into the Kingdom of Heaven, and freeing us from eternal condemnation. Throughout his life he stopped raging seas, walked himself upon their water, raised a man from the dead, and fed thousand’s from one boy’s lunch, and yet still rode humbly on a donkey. These miracles have proved to millions of people for the past 2,000 years that he is truly the Son of Lord, and the Christ. His mission on earth was simple; to share God’s love and goodwill, but this love was so strong that not even King Herod, nor Satan nor any Roman could prevent it spreading throughout the world. Jesus Christ’s desire is for us to all be at one with our Lord, and to accept him into our hearts, and he has promised to be patient, and gentle until we make the final step, and save ourselves.