G. B. S. pamphleteer or playwright?

Shaw was a Fabian Socialist. His political philosophy is shaped by the belief that every individual should be allowed to develop to his highest capacities.1 The function of government, therefore, should be to insure that equal opportunity for this development is provided for every individual. At present, there is no equality; the existing economic system makes it impossible. Capitalism with its unequal distribution of income enables the few rich to prosper, while the majority of the people must live in poverty. Poverty is regarded by Shaw as a great crime of civilization. Whereas the poor have no time for the cultivation of cultural and intellectual interests, the system of unequal distribution fosters the growth of the idle rich class who become corrupt and irresponsible. To eliminate these evils in society and to increase the leisure time of the poor and the work requirements of the rich, Shaw proposes economic reform to be carried out by a newly organized and competent parliament

Alexander Herzen : a study

Russia's nineteenth century revolutionary movement had few more Influential and distinguished figures than Alexander Herzen. He became a social radical at an early age but tended consistently to avoid the well-worn paths of his contemporaries. His social and political thought is rare and complex for its time and place. It combines a devotion to the absolutes of human freedom and Justice with a realistic perception and acknowledgment of human limitations. It is the resulting interaction of Idealism and realism that lends Herzen’s thought its arresting and distinctive quality

Methods and materials for teaching adult beginning readers

According to research, there are approximately 60 million American adults who need to improve their basic literacy skills. Unfortunately, present literacy programs serve only a small number of these people and have problems which reduce their effectiveness such as inadequate funding and lack of qualified personnel. One major problem of the program is that although research indicates that adults differ from children as learners, many programs use methods and materials more suitable for children than adults. The purposes of this descriptive study are to survey teachers in a representative literacy program, the North Carolina technical/community college Adult Basic Education program to determine what methods and materials are being used as well as student interest areas; to examine research in reading and adult education to find methods and materials proven effective for adults; to rate available reading series according to content and appropriateness for adults; and to design a sample basal reading unit for adults based on research

THE EFFECTS OF TEACHERS’ ATTITUDES, BEHAVIORS, AND SKILLS ON CULTURALLY RESPONSIVE TEACHING AND THE MULTICULTURAL CURRICULUM: AN ACTION RESEARCH STUDY OF A CULTURALLY RESPONSIVE TEACHING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT GUIDE IN AN ELEMENTARY CLASSROOM

Today’s students are more ethnically diverse than ever, but are taught by teachers who are a majority white. In response to this cultural mismatch, teachers are adopting innovative practices such as culturally responsive teaching. This qualitative research study utilized participatory action research to examine the perceived culturally responsive attitudes, behaviors, and skills of teachers. Next, this research study examined how teachers operationalized culturally responsive teaching and how the culturally responsive teaching professional development guide informed teachers of their culturally responsive practice. Specifically, through three observations of each participant using the theoretical culturally responsive teaching professional development guide individual participant interviews, culturally responsive attitudes, behaviors, and skills were observed and discussed. The theoretical culturally responsive teaching professional development guide was developed from a synthesis of scholarly culturally responsive literature and research. During two focus group meetings the participants revised the theoretical culturally responsive teaching professional development guide into a teacher-friendly culturally responsive teaching tool. Then a semantic analysis was conducted to ensure the participants’ revisions maintained the integrity of the theoretical culturally responsive teaching professional development guide. Resulting from this research study are findings that teachers’ voices should be utilized to create culturally responsive teaching tools, and there is a need for culturally responsive professional development for teachers and administrators

Types of information and services obtained and desired by parents of early adolescents

In the changing world of today, the parent's task of rearing an early adolescent is no easy one. New situations and problems are continually arising to confront the parent. The parent must adjust his life in preparation for meeting these new challenges. Because of the increased responsibilities of parenthood and the greater demands of society, the role of the parent is more important today than ever before. To cope with this demanding, responsible role the parent needs to know more than ever before in order to help the early adolescent child develop into a normal, well-adjusted individual. Not only does the parent need help in realizing the normal areas and processes of development but in understanding his own relationships with the child

The effectiveness of the SmartMusic assessment tool for evaluating trombone student performance

The purpose of this study was to discuss the SmartMusic® assessment feature and to determine the effectiveness of this software with regard to student trombonists. The study was completed due to the widespread use of this convenient method forevaluating trombone student performances.The document includes an overview of evaluation that addresses subjectivity and objectivity, as well as the need for evaluation in music education. A discussion of evaluation was applied specifically to trombone students along with an examination of the essential criteria that were to be addressed during a performance evaluation. Visual criteria in the study included the advantages and disadvantages to having a blind evaluation. Aural criteria included subjective and objective elements in five categories of brass performance evaluation including articulation, rhythm, tone, intonation, and musicianship/style as presented in Wardlaw's (1997) Brass Performance Rating Scale. Background information about the software SmartMusic® and its grading feature was presented. The study also included a discussion of seventeen recorded performances using SmartMusic®. To test the evaluation feature of the software, an etude was performed seventeen times on the trombone. In each performance, one element was changed that focused upon one component of the evaluation. The purpose of this part of the study was to see how each change affected the assessment feature's assigned grade for each performance. The SmartMusic® assessment feature assigned a dichotomy of high and low grades, classifiable as A and F respectively. This grading tendency was a result of the parameters used by the assessment feature to determine which notes are deemed correct or incorrect. The SmartMusic® assessment feature only employs limited objective criteria to evaluate; subjective criteria and all other objective criteria are not evaluated. As a result, many common problems for trombone students automatically result in a failing grade, whereas a human evaluator may only reduce a student's grade marginally for such problems. Furthermore, other common problems for trombone students are not addressed by SmartMusic®. A human evaluator, however, can address these problems, grade the student appropriately, and provide feedback for future performances

The Acolytes of Being: A Definition of "Transcendence" in German History and Politics

Acting as my Senior Honors Thesis in the departments of History, Political Science, and University Honors, this project, “The Acolyte of Being,” aims to present an aesthetic history of twentieth century German philosopher Martin Heidegger’s concept of “Da-sein:” the “thereness” of Being (or existence) itself. Taking into account 2,500 years of Western metaphysics, my thesis begins by redefining one key philosophical term: transcendence, and in so doing revive four others as well: truth, beauty, freedom and the term metaphysics itself. As such, this work begins with a “Definition of Transcendence,” informing the following five chapters. These chapters, in keeping with the historicity of Da-sein as an aesthetic one, each name great works of art, opening of the oblivions of Being to man. Each of my chapters follow the guiding definition of “Transcendence” and correspond as well to one of five Wagnerian operas: Das Rheingold, Die Walkyrie, Siegfried, Götterdämmerung and, finally, Parsifal. This operatic chapter structure is linked as well to my the naming of my “Acolytes of Being:” Friedrich Nietzsche and his The Birth of Tragedy out of the Spirit of Music, Richard Wagner and his concept of the Gesamtkunstwerk, T.S. Eliot and The Waste Land, and, finally, National Socialism—as an aesthetic, poetic politics. In constructing my argument in this manner, I am able to communicate that not only is history artistic, but that this aesthetic details the gradual return of metaphysics. With National Socialism acting as the final “Acolyte of Being,” the distinction between the ontic (things as they appear) and the ontological (things in themselves) is defaced and Being as such returns with force to the dwelling of man. With Heidegger himself offering up his ground breaking philosophy to the spiritual impetus of National Socialism we come before my chief question in this thesis: How did National Socialism pose the question of Being in the twentieth century? Certainly a troubling assertion we must also add: What can this mean

Seeing India: A Hyperreal Yoga Fantasy

How does the yoga studio present India for viewing? As a yoga scholar-practitioner, I examine visual, linguistic, and embodied representations of India at a local yoga studio to address this question. The fieldwork for this ethnographic thesis spans yoga classes, yoga teacher training, and a two-week pilgrimage to India with members of this yoga studio. I pay special attention to bhakti yoga, a devotional form of yoga taught by the yoga studio as a way to offer a more spiritual and therefore more authentic yoga. Placing my experiences within a critical understanding of postcolonial yoga history, I show that yoga has been constructed to meet various ideologies and political projects, challenging the production of yoga as India’s pristine and unchanging cultural icon. I find that India is exhibited as an ultra-spiritual, pre-colonial, anti-modern location both at the yoga studio and when traveling as a yoga tourist. Using Jean Baudrillard’s theory of the hyperreal, along with postcolonial theories, I argue that the yoga studio creates a particular India for consumption that is not based in reality but is instead the product of oriental fantasies

Claiming Disability In Appalachia

Appalachia has been seen as a disabled region, commonly positioned as needing development to be brought in line with the rest of the United States. Instead of automatically assuming that this disablement is negative, I interrogate the multiple meanings and potentialities of disability. I draw on the work of disability scholars and activists to discuss how disability provides a transformative site for social justice. Taking a critical disability studies methodology, I track the ways in which Appalachia has been disabled, primarily through histories of environmental extraction and domination by outside forces. Perceptions of Appalachia as a disabled region, along with lived experiences of disability and impairment, are salient to Appalachia’s past, present, and future. I consider how disability relates to and can inform social movements in Appalachia, including labor, environmental justice, LGBTQ+ organizing, and caregiving. Throughout diverse case studies that challenge the boundaries of what we consider disability, I argue that understanding disability is crucial to the question: What would a good future for Appalachia look like? Instead of assuming that this hypothetical future would include an eradication of disability, I contend that disability offers a source of cultural knowledge and expertise, especially for cross-movement building in times of precarity

Causative Factors Of Absence In Newell School

It was the purpose of this study (1) to determine the causes of absence as stated in parents' written excuses; (2) to determine the causes of absence as shown by a statistical analysis of attendance records; and (3) to determine the causes of absence by investigations and use of pupil guidance questionnaires