The Kite Runner Theme Assessment Essay Example for Free

The Kite Runner Theme Assessment Essay Sex, it can be an act of love or even a way to demonstrate passion, but can it also be used as a way to show dominance? In the play â€Å"A Streetcar Named Desire† Sex represents power. Stanley rapes Blanche in order to demonstrate his superiority over her. Sex is not just a way to show affection to another person. Stanley uses sex as a tool to prove his might. He demonstrates to Blanche that he can have her whenever he wants her. Raping Blanche is one way Stanley proves he has control over Blanche and her sister. Even now in modern society sex is used as not only a way to show affection, but also as a way to display supremacy. In southern California we have thousands of sex offenders running rampant through the streets. In there minds its okay to dominate another person through sexual activities. Stanley, in the play, is described as a masculine person. He is physically strong and is often referred to as a beast. Animals, out in the wild, use sex to show dominance in their clan or group. For example the rest of the walruses looks up the walrus that has a mate. Stanley is in this way an animal. He allows his primal instincts to take over. Therefore he is the dominant male in the household and must have everything his way. Around this time males are still looked upon as the â€Å"providers† for their families, therefore they had a higher position. Even without Stanley raping Blanche he already had some type of influence over her and her sister. Blanche tries to make Stella leave Stanley. Stanley already does not like Blanche and when he notices her not falling in line with what he wants he begins to attack her. First by removing Mitch from her side then by removing Stella. Once he notices she is weak he decides to strike. Power is a desirable thing to come by. It comes to no surprise that Stanley took advantage of Blanche and raped her. Like in the animal kingdom if their dominance is being challenged they must answer the call or risk loosing everything. Stanley like having things the way they were and in the end he displayed his power and control over Stella and her sister.

Shinee Facts Essay Example for Free

Shinee Facts Essay 1. When Onew Taemin were practicing on the rooftop in their trainee days, they didn’t know that they would be in SHINEE together. 2. Minho BoA like playing together at the waiting room (after they both made comeback) and also at pre-recordings. 3. Jonghyun used to LIKE dressing up as girls. But he thinks that it was embarrassing. 4. Taemin’s favorite song from Lucifer album is â€Å"Life†, he likes ballad songs and likes listening to it while travelling. 5. During trainee days, the other members used to don’t understand Onew’s jokes. But now, they understand it immediately. 6. Key’s favorite song in Lucifer album is â€Å"electric heart†. 7. There was once that Taemin, Minho, and Jonghyun went bathing together and there Taemin said â€Å"I’m a man†. 8. Taemin always carries a bag containing a lot of sweets around, all with a SHINEE logo attached on it. He will give out these sweets whenever he sees noonas. 9. â€Å"If I meet an alien, I will definitely be scared at first, but after awhile when I get to know it, I will consider how to send it back home.† -Jonghyun 10. Key has a love-hate relationship with horror movies and horror stories, he yearns for them but he is also scared of them, he likes them but he also dislikes them. He lost his composure/image in the cinema many times because of that, he is only able to rent horror movies/dramas to watch at home to continue scaring himself. 11. Onew feels shy about presenting himself to people, and because of it, he did not dare to participate in auditions. When he was a trainee, everyone else seems to be improving everyday, while he seems to be staying stagnant and not improving, that to him is the saddest period of his life up till now. 12. â€Å"When I first saw Taemin, I thought he was really pretty. At that time there was a trainee noona in front of him, and Taemin was even prettier than her†. -Eunhyuk 13. Jonghyun is a very lively student in high school, able to digest English and Korean songs very well. Formed a band, composed music during that time, believes that if you truly like something, it is not difficult to persevere on. 14. Minho’s ideal type just need to be of an average height, must definitely be kind at heart, have long hair, wears dresses frequently. 15. Key is confident that he can be a gourmet chef, nobody can escape his dumplings trap. Our Comments: Onew is a sweet person put into a group of evil people. He deserves some sort of respect as the leader, so we shall spare him any nastiness. He is undeserving of the hatred bestowed upon him by, not only haters, but Shawols and Shinee as well. He has done nothing to deserve this treatment. This poor man needs to catch a break once in a while, and we shall deliver this break. His constant abuse from fellow members must cause him great distress and pain. Yet Shinee doesn’t appreciate him. Or his talents. So, Onew, we, P B, do issue you an apology, on behalf of the human race. P B Scale Appearance: 9.4 Slightly large nose. Good Complexion. Very pronounced apple of the cheeks. Soft jawline, as opposed to most males. Almond shaped, monolid eyes. Overall soft facial features. Definitely not ugly, contrary to popular opinion. Body is proportional for the most part. Fairly toned. Not the best looking for his age, but better than a majority. Talent: 8 Dancing is proficient. Truthfully, Onew has the best singing voice in Shinee. He is a little rough with control, but taking his age into consideration, he is good. Good at everything, but not fantastic at any one thing. Personality: 7.9 Awkward. But adorkable. He tries. Doesn’t succeed very much, but he tries. Gives a valiant effort. Total: 8.4 Jonghyun Basic Bio: Name: Kim Jonghyun Position: Lead Vocalist Birthdate: April 8, 1990 Bloodtype: AB Height: 173 cm. Our Comments: Jonghyun is the devil. He is the Lucifer. His singing is the Lucifer. We overall just despise this man. He’s short, he’s mean, and therefore has a Napoleon complex. He is like the tiny raptor in Jurassic Park that chases them into the laboratory and tries to eat them. He is not the biggest dinosaur on the island, but definitely the most annoying. His singing is God-awful and f*cking horrible (Cussing is never appropriate, but this is a special exception). It’s just bad. During his performance of â€Å"Lonely Night† on Immortal Song 2, we wanted to shoot ourselves in the face. Of course my friend, you will have many a lonely night, and your only solace will be Key. P B Scale Appearance: 3.5 His nose is disgustingly huge. Not only is his nose large, but his nostrils are excessive. His nose is upturned, and you see all of that excessive nostril. And in stark contrast to Onew, his face isonly angles, which is much too harsh. It makes him always look angry. And when he is attempting a smile, or a cheerful expression, it’s creepy. Let’s not forget how short he is. The Peach is taller than him, and she is a 16 year old, half asian girl. So there is no excuse. In short, Jonghyun is the very definition of a troll: Nasty, short and ugly. He hides under bridges. And terrorizes people, like poor Onew. Talent: 5 His vocal control is commendable, though control of his voice is insignificant due to the fact that he sounds like a cat getting raped. We don’t know how many of you people have heard this happen, maybe outside of your house, or to your own cat, but it is offensive. His dancing is average, nothing special. But his eternally angry face makes any attempt at dancing scary. Technically, his ability to control his voice and range would make him about a 7. But the sound of his voice drastically drops the score. Personality: 0 He’s mean. He’s very mean. You shouldn’t treat people the way he treats people. Especially Onew. Onew is his elder, and the leader. Jonghyun should treat him with respect and dignity. But because of his Napoleon complex, he finds the need to belittle and overall, just piss off, Onew. Total: 3.5 Key Basic Bio: Name: Kim Kibum Stage Name: Key Position: Vocal, Rap Birthdate: September 23, 1991 Bloodtype: B Height: 177 cm. Our Comments: Key is flaming. The second most flaming man in the world of Korean Entertainment. Jo Kwon is unsurpassable. There is no way either of them are the least bit straight. Key is one of the many Kim Kibums. However, congrats Key, to this day, you are the only Kim Kibum that has any real effect in the entertainment world. Not to mention the fact that you’re the only one still active in your group. Key in a nutshell is just fabulous. He sings a very good Kesha. He should just keep doing what†¦ Key does. P B Scale Appearance: 9.4 Key looks like a feminine, younger version of Jo Kwon. Almost as if he were  Kwon’s little sister. However, he does have one flaw. His eyebrows are awful. And as a gay man, he should be ashamed. His best assets however, are definitely his cheekbones. Very well pronounced; good genes. His body is in good proportion. Overall, we admit Key is attractive, but very feminine. Talent: 6.2 He’s a better rapper than Minho. Easily. Without any effort. We’re pretty sure everyone on this planet is a better rapper than Minho. However just because he’s better, doesn’t mean he’s fantastic or even remotely good. His singing is subpar. Dancing is passable. His best talent is swaying his hips to â€Å"Abracadabra†; it’s sickenin’. Personality: 8.6 He’s a nag, but who wouldn’t be trapped in a group with 4 kids. He’s in love with Jonghyun, which is obviously some sort of personality defect. Key’s maternal instinct is sensational. Without him, Taemin would probably be dead. Total: 8.06 Minho Basic Bio: Name: Choi Minho Position: Rap, Sub-Vocal Birthdate: December 9, 1991 Bloodtype: B Height: 184 cm. Our Comments: Minho is just futile. He doesn’t really do anything in Shinee, except rap badly. We don’t really see how he’s â€Å"flaming charisma† either. He’s not stunning, or even remotely good looking. He just looks like Rango. Other than the obvious, there is not much to say about Minho. He doesn’t matter, and we’re pretty sure that if he wasn’t in Shinee, it would make no difference. Except for the fact that Onew might finally be in a pairing. Introducing: TaeNew. P B Scale Appearance: 5.5 Minho is basically ugly. Sorry Shawols, it’s the truth. Everything is so long: His arms, his legs, his fingers. It’s just gross. He’s an alien. Not the sexy kind like T.O.P or Bom, but like Kyuhyun. Weirdly elongated, and kind of awkward. Talent: 3 Unlike the other three aliens, Minho has no talent. What Minho does is not rapping. He is talking (and not even fast, which is an excuse for most), with an autotuned voice. There’s a reason people’s voices are autotuned. And Minho is no exception. Shawols, netizens, everyone: You all really have to stop praising his rapping. For the sake of Minho, if you really care about him. Pretty soon he’s going to start believing your lies. We weep for Minho; we really do. All the pitiful guy has is his â€Å"rapping†, and truth is, it’s awful. Guess this means he has nothing. Personality: 1.9 His personality is nonexistent. There’s nothing really special about him. He’s good with kids, so I guess that’s a plus? We don’t know. He’s just plain vanilla. Total: 3.4 Taemin Basic Bio: Name: Lee Taemin Position: Lead Dancer, Maknae Birthdate: July 18, 1993 Bloodtype: B Height: 175 cm. Our Comments: Taemin is a cute little girl. And if you like him, and are older than him, you have pedophilia. He†¦is kind of a she. But a cute she. Taemin just shoots out estrogen. There’s not one testosterone producing cell in his body. It’s not his fault, and we are not bad mouthing it; it’s a medical condition after all. He’s really innocent and naive. His love for banana milk (which is delicious!), ice cream and â€Å"Lasco*†say it all. If you looked up â€Å"Perfect Maknae† in the dictionary, you’d find Taemin. He’s  cute, young, respectfuland knows how to use his â€Å"aegyo*† effectively. Too bad Shinee doesn’t appreciate his efforts. It seems all they do is bully him, when they’re not harassing Onew. Don’t worry Taemin, we know tons of groups that would want you all to themselves. P B Scale Appearance: 8.7 Taemin is the prettiest little girl in K-Pop. He has a cute nose. His features are very soft and round, and make his face look very feminine. It’s not his fault his face looks this way, but it’s his hairstylist’s fault he looks even more feminine than he should. His only flaw as â€Å"the perfect maknae† is that he’s a bit too tall. But his fans like that, so it’s okay. Talent: SC 9.2 He is a dancer. He’s not one of the absolute greatest, but definitely one of the best for his age. Over the years, Taemin has improved, and we hope he will continue to build his abilities. Personality: 7.9 The perfect maknae personality. He’s adorable, childish and you just want to be maternal towards him. Key cannot be blamed. Total: 8.6 Overall Shinee: 6.4 Shinee to us just seems like a TVXQ replacement. But a bad knock-off. Like a Chinese pikachu doll. Not successful and it’s just wrong. They’re too young. They had it way too easy.  Unlike their predecessors, they did not have to share a 1,000 square foot apartment with 20 other men. They did not starve and were not forced to sleep on the floor because of the lack of beds. They endured nothing, have felt no pain, and this has just created a spoiled group (Which is why they abuse Onew). Their souls and dreams were not broken by the iron fist that is SM Entertainment. They were not made thankful for their presence in the world of K-Pop. Because Shinee did not have to go through half a decade of intense, bone-crushing training, they don’t appreciate how easy their path to stardom has been. Shinee is given catchy songs by the maker of all catchy songs, and this explains their popularity. Without SM’s vast resources, they would be nothing more than the average, unpopular boyband.

Distributed Leadership Among Teachers Education Essay

Distributed Leadership Among Teachers Education Essay Distributed leadership stretches and shares the leadership practice to form collection leadership so that those not in formal authoritative position such as classroom teachers could be valued and have a voice in leadership. It disassociates from the vertical, bureaucratic and organizational hierarchy to enable collaboration and wide spread sharing of information and power to sustain improvement in teaching and learning. Distributed leadership is effective as it is an open and democratic model of principle equipped with both vertical and lateral communication. This leadership is associated with concepts such as empowerment, teamwork, capacity building, teacher leadership and professional development. The theoretical framework of distributed leadership is Theory Y as the leadership considers diverse contribution to the process of subtleties of leadership to shape collective action instead of the traditional vertical leadership process which separates leaders from followers as mutually exclusive categories. The purpose of this research proposal is to explore the perceptions of head teachers, teachers and students about distributed leadership, how it is practiced in schools and the perceived effects on teaching and learning in three high performing urban secondary schools in Klang Valley. Both qualitative and quantitative methodologies are proposed in this study as semi-structured interviews with four head teachers to capture their perceptions on distributed leadership and what it means to them, while questionnaires to be administered on teachers and students to investigate on the level of distributed leadership practiced by head teachers and its effects on teaching and learning. Keywords: Distributed leadership, collaboration, empowerment, teamwork, and capacity building. Introduction Distributed leadership, I believe, presents a powerful concept of leadership in the educational arena of 21st century as it enables a collaborative and sharing approach among teachers and students and treats every person as a leader at the entry level, rather than leadership understood individually. It acknowledges various stakeholders and provides them with a voice about their situations to positively impact the teaching and learning outcome (Flowers, 2007). According to Leithwood and Mascall (2008), meaningfully leading schools requires collective leadership and interactions of people and their situation, and not centred on a single formal leader, so that they can specify and perform the tasks involved in leadership by identifying, acquiring, allocating, coordinating, and use the social, material and cultural resources necessary to establish the conducive conditions for teaching and learning in order to be powerful enough to have significant effect on students. This active and purposeful involvement of multiple individuals in school leadership enhances instructional innovations as distributed leadership considers teachers and students as partners in school leadership, rather than as followers to engage them as collaborative leaders with their colleagues to learn from one another and empowering others to lead, participation in shared decision-making, and development of a shared vision for their school (Sheppard and Brown, 2009). A widely distributed school leadership at all levels and the greater partnerships are important as it enables sharing of ideas and insights and therefore has great influence on the school and student outcomes (PricewaterhouseCoopers, 2007). Distributed leadership enhances student outcome as it creates a culture for learning by promoting instructional leadership, leadership for learning, team work, capacity building, collective interaction and good communication among leaders, followers and their situations thus, crea ting trust and accountability among them. It is against this backdrop that this study proposes to explore the perceptions of head teachers, teachers and students of selected high performing schools in Klang Valley about distributed leadership and its effects on teaching and learning. These perceptions are essential to gain a deeper understanding of distributed leadership and its impact on teaching and learning and to yield lessons regarding the ways high performing schools can effectively lead and operate with their workforce of headteachers and teachers. Background of the study There is growing empirical evidence that distributed leadership causes a positive difference to student outcome as it has greater density of instructional leadership (Harris Spillane, 2008). This leadership identifies, develops and utilizes the pedagogical expertise and talent of teachers so that they are knowledgeable and responsible of the educational outcomes to positively impact the teaching and learning (Robinson, 2008). According to Chan and Sidhu (2009), excellent principals in Malaysia had deliberately chosen distributed leadership to move the school forward by empowering others to lead so that there is collaborative, cooperative, participative, democratic teacher leadership throughout the school. Distributed leadership which engages teachers as leaders with wider distribution of tasks rather than hierarchical distributions enables shared vision based on trust and a collective endeavour within the school which builds a broad capacity base is fast replacing the charismatic hero or the heroic leader in school leadership. Thus, the decision making processes are widely shared and school development becomes the responsibility of team of teachers to enhance student achievement rather than the senior management group. Although distributed leadership involves various stakeholders including principals, local education authorities, parents and community, the researcher proposes to explore the perceptions from those directly involved, that is, the headteachers, teachers and students who are the participants in this study, in moving forward the teaching and learning agenda by investigating their perceptions of the term distributed leadership, how it is practiced and what they perceive as its effect on teaching and learning as it is not possible to conduct a study that incorporates the perceptions of all the stakeholders within the scope of this study at this time. The study would involve three urban, high performing secondary schools in Klang Valley. The first school is a large secondary school with an enrolment of 1,200 students and 105 teachers and 5 head teachers. The second school also has an enrolment of 1,100 and the third school with an enrolment of 1,090 pupils. Pupils in these schools come from the wider community and are often sent by private vehicles. The students have no learning difficulties as they are the excellent students. Problem Statement There is a growing recognition of the need to study distributed leadership in the field of education especially in high performing schools as there has been powerful effects on student outcomes and there has been growing dissatisfaction with the traditional vertical leader-centred leadership (Caskey, 2010). Leadership vested in one position has become obsolete as it is not the single and heroic individualistic leader who makes an organisation function but leadership should be broadly distributed throughout the school to take into consideration of the competences of its members. According to Richard Elmore, distributed leadership is linked to schools fundamental task of helping students learn. However, the concept is new and lacks the definition and empirical knowledge about how or to what extent the high performing schools actually use distributed leadership as well as evidence that firmly links distributed leadership to students achievement is still far in the future as there is lit tle empirical data to support the effects of distributed leadership on teaching and learning. I believe distributed leadership can only be judged by the evidence of its impact on teaching and learning. Objective of the study Firstly, the study aims to explore the perceptions of headteachers of distributed leadership and what it means to them. Secondly, to investigate on the level of distributed leadership practiced or how it is practiced by headteachers as perceived by teachers and students. Thirdly, it seeks to find out the contribution of distributed leadership to teaching and learning as perceived by teachers and students at each school. These objectives are in line with tentative conclusions from various studies which indicate that leadership that is distributed among the wider school staff is likely to have an effect on students academic performance than that of exclusively top-down approach (Muijs and Harris 2007; PricewaterhouseCoopers, 2007). However, to-date, there has not been any empirical data to support the effect of distributed leadership on student outcomes as studies have also confirmed that the effect of leadership on student outcomes is largely indirect (Hartley, 2007; Rhodes and Brundrett, 2010). This study therefore proposes to contribute to knowledge about the impact of distribute leadership on teaching and learning by providing some empirical evidence from teachers and students and to integrate to previous findings of studies on distributed leadership. Research Questions The research questions for this study with the aforementioned objectives include: 1. What are the perceptions of head teachers on distributed leadership and what it means to them? 2. What are the perceptions of teachers and students on the level of distributed leadership practiced by head teachers? 3. To what extent does distributed leadership contribute to effective teaching and learning? Significance of the Study This emerging approach to leadership will be potentially useful to national and international policy makers, practitioners, trainers and researchers in education as they are more directly connected to student learning. Policy makers could utilize the study to devise new leadership approaches based on distributed leadership while practitioners may assist in creating professional learning communities and for continued professional development for school improvement and effective leadership. Trainers could formulate training needs for stakeholders based on leadership distribution while researchers may use it to set future agenda for research. Besides that, there is little empirical data to support the effects of distributed leadership on teaching and learning in high performing schools (Mayr, 2008). By investigating the perceptions of teachers and students, the study will highlight how distributed leadership is practiced in these selected urban schools in Malaysia. The researcher also finds the study important so as to reflect on past practices of leadership and to seek new ideas on effective school leadership and teaching and further to contribute to knowledge by adding some knowledge base to distributed leadership. Literature review Distributed leadership Distributed leadership stretches and shares the leadership practice among multiple formal and informal groups whereby the leadership responsibility is disassociated from the vertical, bureaucratic and organizational hierarchy so that there is interaction and wide spread sharing of information and power to sustain improvement in teaching and learning (Robinson, 2008). For example, when teachers, parents and support staff work together to solve certain problems, they are involved in developmental space and collective capacity building within the school as they utilise multiple sources of guidance, direction and expertise of these stakeholders and as such by their actions, they are engaged in distributed leadership. This leadership practice is the result of interactions between different members of the team or organization to contribute to the life of the school and maximize the human capacity and enhance self-worth of others by energizing others for tasks within the organization to contribute to broad and deep learning for all students. Distributed leadership is a way of thinking about leadership and being involved in a common task or clear goal improvement of instruction and common frame of values in executing the particular leadership task rather than another technique. Distributed leadership is linked to the notion of collaboration, shared, distributive, dispersed and democratic as shown in Figure 1 below. Figure 1: Terminologies associated with distributed leadership (Moyo, 2010) Thus, distributed leadership is effective as it is an open and democratic model equipped with both vertical and lateral communication. Distributed leadership among teachers The authorities to lead is no longer centered around one man theory as distribution is not monopolized by the headteachers initiative but is a collective leadership and dispersed within the school and among teachers through the cultivation of relationship and networks as classroom teachers are in direct contact with learners in the majority of cases and hence influence their learning. (Ameijde, et al., 2009). The school leadership adopts power equalization and inspires teachers to participate in leadership by developing a school culture which values the sorts of learning that enhance the capacity of individuals to lead and conducive to building norms of building trust to enhance openness, respect, appreciation and autonomy for the teachers to conduct their activities in collaboration, to procure and distribute resources, support teacher growth for both individual and collective development, to provide both summative and formative monitoring of instruction and innovation so that teachers could develop skills and expertise by working together and have a sense of ownership to influence the quality of teaching which subsequently affect student outcome. (Ameijde, et al., 2009). Distributed leadership which emphasizes collaboration of teachers with their colleagues in other schools facilitates teacher learning and enhances self-confidence as they engage in action research by trying new teaching approaches and disseminating their findings to colleagues, thereby minimizing teacher isolation but rather challenging teachers to promote personal and professional development so that they contribute to optimal student learning and achievement. The collective endeavour of efforts enables team based work and forms leadership community that share meaningful contexts and creates opportunities for learning as it integrates differing viewpoints and interests in approaching a highly complex and interdependent task. In this regard, teachers have clearly defined responsibilities which are linked to their area of expertise so that they could contribute effectively to leadership process. By doing so, teachers are not confined to the classroom but are rather transcended to contribute to the community of learners beyond the classroom to lead to improved practice and higher performance (Ameijde, et al., 2009). Distributed leadership is associated with a number of concepts and themes such as empowerment, teamwork, staff motivation, capacity building, teacher leadership and to a lesser extent professional development. (Ameijde, et al., 2009). Distributed cognition Distributed cognition views thinking as social rather than individual activity. Teachers are no longer passive and isolated but are connected through dialogue and reflection so that they are active and weaved in the fabric of the school for a common task and shared common values. They become more knowledgeable and take responsibility about the task of teaching as more of the pedagogical expertise and talent of teachers will be identified, developed and utilized than a more hierarchical pattern of leadership to impact on learning and student outcome. This creates unity and instructional innovations rather than micromanaging instruction. (Ameijde, et al., 2009). Teaching and Learning According to PricewaterhouseCoopers (2007), the behaviour of school leaders impact pupil performance. By distributing leadership to teachers that emphasise collaboration and distribution of power and authority which is central to learning, they exert their influence on pupil performance by empowering pupils and creating a favourable condition for learning by applying learner centred approach to teaching and learning in classrooms and across the school which has the potential to effect learner inclusion, engagement and improved achievement. With collaboration which is effective in widening student learning opportunities and raising expectations, teachers could also help to resolve immediate problems through dialogue and establishment of a shared sense of accountability. Pupils are not treated as passive recipients and as such, good communication is ensured so that the students know what is going on and has a hand in shaping this. high performing schools High performing schools (HPS) or cluster schools act as models for other institutions within the same cluster and becomes the premise for pioneering new approaches and innovations in the education system. Students of these excellent institutions excel in academic and co-curricular activities and possess outstanding personality, leadership skills, high team spirit, creative thinking skills, and are patriotic, globally oriented and competitive. These schools are acknowledged to have ethos, character and own identity and unique in all aspects of education. The high performing secondary schools in Klang Valley are either regular day schools or residential schools, premier schools and 100-year schools and the Ministry of Education Malaysia uses the HPS as markers to point towards excellence in education and as special model schools to other schools in Malaysia (MOE, 2008). Safe and orderly learning environments are created in these schools with clear instructional objectives in which the head teachers expect high performance from teachers and students through increased time on task and develop positive relations All students are required to show excellent performance comparable to benchmark standards such as the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), and the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) with proficiency in Math, Science and English.  Besides that, the students should also master higher-order thinking skills such as applications, problem-solving, participation in co-curriculum activities, and personal development or soft-skills (The Malaysian Insider, 2012). In order to maintain the schools high performance, leadership is distributed throughout the school and its community and when teachers are empowered in areas they believe are important (Jacobson, 2010). According to Muhyiddin, Malaysian Education Minister, the objective of HPS is to ensure that all students regardless of stream, medium, or urban or rural locations would attain continuous excellence  (The Malaysian Insider, 2012). The principal and teachers from these schools are expected to set examples and share their experiences with counterparts in other institutions. Their accountability is outlined by a set of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) relating to human resource development, physical development, financial management, professionalism among staff member, and school achievements (academic, co-curricular activities and aptitude) (MOE, 2008). According to MOE (2008), high performing schools are expected to bring about positive impact to the national education system through excellence in co-curricular activities programmes; exemplary career guidance programmes; outstanding all-rounded students that is 5.8% of 5.2 million students; acceptance of students from high performing schools at world renowned universities; government and private sector sponsorships; international acknowledgements; as benchmarks for other schools, both local and foreign; quality leadership; and excellent teachers. Theoretical and Conceptual underpinning Distributed leadership in which the leadership functions are shared, employs Theory Y as the leadership enables diverse individuals to contribute to the process of subtleties of leadership to shape collective action instead of the traditional vertical leadership process which separates leaders from followers as mutually exclusive categories. Conceptually, distributed leadership refers to democratic style of leadership to allow voices of influence beyond just one and increases participation of stakeholders. It de-monopolizes concentrated leadership and enhances delegation of authority, collective decision-making, power, influence and coordination to enable plurality of analyses and boundarylessness so that the organizational phenomena such as information systems, knowledge, cognition, learning systems and work can be distributed. As leadership expands to multiple players, it displays holistic framework and allows flexibility, open-endedness with overlapping expertise to complement and reinforce one another, and strengthened decision making commitment and quality, and further utilizes fully the resources of the schools to collaborate and collectively devise strategies to improve students progress. It eliminates the tightly drawn lines, borders, commands and control associated with a Weberian bureaucratic paradigm (Gronn, 2 008). Conceptually, distributed leadership is associated with notions of empowerment, teamwork, collegiality, staff motivation, capacity building, teacher leadership, professional autonomy and professional development (Muijs and Harris, 2007). According to Moyo (2010), collegiality results in strong professional culture in the school as it includes collaboration among teachers, mutual respect, shared work values, cooperation and specific conversation about teaching and learning. According to Ameijde et al. (2009), distributed leadership underpins is a shared influence process to which several individuals contribute; and leadership arises from the interactions of diverse individuals which together form a group of network in which essential expertise is a dispersed quality. Empowerment Empowerment of teachers is an essential component of distributed leadership. Distributed leadership disassociates from control and dominance but rather creates opportunity, support, space, capacity and growth among teachers by encouraging them to have the power to decide how to do the defined tasks and to get involved vigorously in school policies, curriculum and educational practices and voice their views openly without fear of retribution to experience a greater sense of efficacy. With empowerment, teachers are more motivated to take risks and committed to work with surprising ability as it cultivates teacher leadership which extends beyond their own classrooms to others within and across schools, and further enhances teacher involvement in collective and collaborative process of school decision-making that promote teacher learning to contribute widely to teaching and learning. The empowerment elevates teachers expertise, confidence and self-esteem as they have control over resources, methods and decision making and further to experiment with novel, cutting-edge teaching methods, and to evaluate their colleagues teaching performance through team work, selection of instructional materials and textbooks, curriculum development, school policies and plans, coordination of programmes, professional development, organizing visits to other schools, collaborating with colleagues, leading study groups and coaching and mentoring students which impacts positively on their effectiveness as teachers and to have a positive effect on students. Teamwork Teamwork which refers to setting up of teams by the headteachers with the need to work together on a common purpose is crucial for distributed leadership. This implies that the headteacher is willing to distribute leadership. The team must be equipped with clear goals and results driven, competency, unified commitment, collaboration climate based on trust to develop honest openness and respect, clear standards of excellence, and external support and recognition to achieve an optimum degree of synergy. With these characteristics, the team will have comprehensive knowledge and responsibility of student learning and outcomes. They further become role models for students to emulate. Capacity building Capacity building through collaboration and trusting relationship for mutual learning can be achieved with distributed leadership in order for teachers to become professional communities and to focus on teaching and learning as they participate in decision-making and have a shared sense of purpose so as to have a joint responsibility for the outcomes of their work. The capacity may be built by reviewing the performance of teachers, adding more resources, materials or technology and by restructuring the tasks so that teachers can work together, experiment, reflect and explore with colleagues to acquire new skills and practice of the profession. Capacity building enables continuous learning of teachers to enhance pupil learning. According to Harris (2002), the conditions for capacity building to create a learning culture may include commitment to teachers development, inclusion of teachers and students in school policies and decisions and collaborative planning with effective coordinat ion strategies. Teacher leadership research methodology

Bus Rapid Transit: A Sustainable Approach to Mass Transit Essay

Bus Rapid Transit: A Sustainable Approach to Mass Transit Transportation accounts for about 25% of fossil fuel consumption. One way to decrease the negative environmental effects of burning fossil fuels (e.g. smog and global warming) is to improve mass transit. An efficient mass transit system speeds travel time, cuts travel costs, and makes service more reliable. Consequently, it discourages the use of private vehicles, reducing fossil fuel consumption and emissions. A type of mass transit that has proven to be environmentally and socially successful in many cities across the world is Bus Rapid Transit. BRT uses a variety of a variety of innovative system designs and technologies to achieve to the aforementioned qualities of an efficient mass transit system. The innovative system designs and technologies include: lane priority, signal priority, vehicle design, stop location, fare collection, rider appeal, and land use policy. Lane priority gives buses exclusive use of lanes to increase travel time. There are three types of priority lanes: curbside, median, and contraflow. Curbside bus lanes are usually effective during peak hours in peak directions; otherwise the lane is reserved for parking and deliveries. Since bus stops are in this lane, buses do not waste time remerging with traffic. Double curbside bus lanes allow them to pass one another, such as Madison Avenue in New York City. Median lanes are those located in the middle two lanes of traffic, usually separated from all other traffic by a raised curb. Median lanes are only appropriate for wide boulevards because space is needed to build the passenger platforms. Even though median lanes are less likely to be congested than curbside lanes, some di... ...a2.html; provides a case study of the transit system in Curitiba, Brazil. 2. http://www.solutions-site.org/default.htm; provides a case study of the transit system in Curitiba, Brazil including a history and schematic maps of the city. 3. http://www.atlanticplanners.org/whatnew/conf99/curitiba.htm; an overview of the success of the BRT system in Curitiba, Brazil, provides links for more information on the city’s BRT system. 4. http://www.fta.dot.gov/brt/index.html; an overview of the elements that comprise a BRT system, case studies of Curitiba, Miami, Orlando, and Vancouver are included. 5. http://www.lightrailnow.org/facts/fa_cur02.htm; offers criticisms of implementing a BRT system in Detroit, MI. 6. http://www.iea.org/public/studies/bus.htm#tables; offers a .PDF to a table (2.4) comparing a traditional bus transit system to a BRT one.

Steps in building a shed :: essays papers

Steps in building a shed What ever the look or shape of your property it can probably be improved in some way by building a shed. Wether its purely for decoration or a specific function there are many reasons for building a shed. If you construct the shed yourself it can save you money because you don’t have to pay for labor. Another benefit is that you get to add your own character to it and have it just the way you want it. You don’t have to settle for a prefabricated average shed. you get the chance to tailor it to your needs and preferences. Not only can you save money by building it your self, you get the satisfaction of knowing that you made it . The first step in building a shed is deciding its intended purpose. Its purpose will probably determine the size, shape and cost of the shed. If its for improving the image of your landscape it will probably be a medium size shed but with lots of detail, which will increase the cost of construction. You might want to add windows to make the shed more appealing. A nice paint finished exterior gives you an opportunity to make the color match its surroundings such as the color of your house. If the shed is for tool storage and working area its going to need to be large enough to accommodate both you and you’re equipment. The increase in size means an increase in cost. Since it’s a storage, or work shed there is no real need to make it all that elaborate. Which will save a lot of money. If you will be spending a lot of time out in the shed it would be a good idea to make it a comfortable environment to work in. Adding insulation in the walls will keep out the cold and maint ain cool in the heat. Since there will probably be power tools that need electricity to run the shed should have some sort of electric source. You can simply run an extension cord from your house to the shed as a cheap alternative. If you are looking for something more professional and permanent, electric outlets can be installed inside the shed. most people are not electricians this should not be attempted by any novice do-it your selfer. Shelves are a good idea to increase interior storage space and incorporate the whole shed into usable space.

Life :: essays research papers

Until recently, scientists believed that the sole source of energy responsible for life on earth was the sun. In 1977, a group of scientists researching the theory of plate tectonics, traveled to the floor of the equatorial Pacific Ocean and discovered something that could possibly explain how life began on this planet. From the Galapagos Rift's thermal springs, scientists discovered densely populated communities of several species never before observed. Since that time the Federal Government has devoted more than 10 million dollars to research these communities and their evolutionary history. This figure, to many scientist's dismay, is dramatically less than that of the space exploration program's budget. For example, in 1992, the government budget for oceanography research was $600 million while NASA spent 8.5 billion. We know more about the space around us than we do about our own home. Only 1 percent of the sea floor has been mapped. The sea is the largest, most inaccessible, and least understood ecosystem on this planet. Since studies of these communities began, previous notions that cold darkness, and extreme pressure are inimical to life have been disproved. We now know that an ecosystem can be sustained by unusual energy sources. The animals that have been discovered in hydrothermal vents are fascinating as well as extremely important. The structure of these creatures is such that a new kingdom has been discovered/created. Previously scientists divided the living world into two kingdoms: bacteria, also known as prokaryote and eukaryotes (plants and animals). The difference between the two kingdoms was their genetics. The DNA of these newly discovered animals was distinct from the two other kingdoms. They have been called archaea. Research on these animals is limited since they do not grow and culture well in a laboratory. These animals live in extremely hot temperatures of 160 degrees Fahrenheit and higher, while microbes have been found living in boiling water. This revelation surely must change all of the "rules" we have for health standards. These newly discovered facts must dramatically change the way we think of life on earth. Living in these vents are entire communities of invertebrates: tube worms, mussels, clams, and even shrimp. In the absence of light and without the photosynthesizing plankton that provide most sea life with food, these animals have an alternate way to live. These invertebrates have formed symbiotic relationships with the bacteria living with them. The mechanics of this relationship are incredibly interesting. Bacteria thrive on sulfide which is found in vent water (hydrogen sulfide). They use the sulfide's chemical energy to produce organic carbon compounds similar to how plants use solar energy in photosynthesis. The bacteria employ chemical rather than light energy to transform inorganic

Why Relationships Fail

Why Relationships Fail Why is it that when we think we have the perfect person we lose them? It’s something that everyone has to experience in their lives, and it’s one of the hardest concepts to understand why this happens to us. When I look at relationships I think about Stephen R. Covey who once said, â€Å"Trust is the glue of life. It’s the most essential ingredient in effective communication. It’s the foundational principle that holds all relationships. † I believe the three keys to why relationships do or don’t always work are excepting others differences, trust and jealousy, and lack of communication. When you meet someone and have the certain click you do not always see the real them at first. In relationships you have to take time to learn about each other. When one is in a relationship they are forced to accept each other’s differences. This is only a small part of why some perfect relationships fail. It is sometimes hard for us to takes these differences and just accept them instead of trying to change them. We always want the other person to just change for us, and majority of the time that isn’t what they want to do. We need to look past each other’s faults and just accept them for who they are. After acceptance you have to be able trust the person you are with. I always remember that trust is the easiest to gain, but the hardest to gain back. If we are always honest in our relationship there is less tension. Having a confident attitude in one another has a great deal to do with successful relationships. If we are only worrying about what they could be doing wrong we will never be content. Jealousy is largest part of what we are experiencing when we don’t trust. Trust, honesty, and confidence; these all tie together to make a happy couple. Communication; it is a part of life that many struggle with today. It is something we do every day but can also be one of the hardest things to express at the same time. Communication in a relationship is what I believe the most important key to a working relationship. If we cannot communicate with someone that we should be close to with then it is going to be a ifficult struggle understanding what they are thinking. When you were little and your mom or dad asked you what was wrong you were always open to tell them, well this works the same way. We cannot make everyone happy but we are always trying to. If they are the right one for you they will be able to listen to you and understand the best of their ability. The feeling of not knowing what is running through the other person’s head is confusing to us. To work throug h problems together, communication is the only way to conquer this. Relationships are not always as simple as they seem. They are hard work and are something that we cannot try and fix on our own. Each person in a relationship is an equal part. Working together to accept each other for who we are, this is just one key to happiness. Also having confidence in one another can make or break a relationship. We need to remember that we should not be afraid to tell each other what we are thinking. We should act as an open book; showing the torn pages even if they are too mangled to read.