Stanislavskis method of acting

Stanislavskis method of acting Konstantin Stanislavski, (born Konstantin Alekseyev, and sometimes spelt Constantin Stanislavsky), was 14 years old when he first set foot on the stage that his parents owned in 1877. His love of the theatre blossomed throughout his life, leading him to become one of the worlds most influential theatre practitioners to date. His work in the field of theatrical rehearsal techniques made him a household name for drama students worldwide. He published many books and guides designed to give drama students an insight into realism, including An Actor Prepares and Building a Character, which outline various famous rehearsal methods designed to allow an actor to fully relate to their character, to the point that they are not just pretending to be them, but actually living their lives. He argued that the actor should Love the art in yourself, not yourself in the art [1], looking for the emotion within themselves as opposed to the words in the script. Stanislavskis pioneering vision for the theatre was that characters should be believable, and the storyline should focus on the emotion portrayed, engaging the audience through means such as empathy. He argued that anything put forward on the stage should be an accurate account of real life, a thought which derived from his distaste for the melodramatic theatre he had grown up with. However, Stanislavski is one of several famous theatre practitioners, all with a completely different concept of what theatre should be. For example, Bertolt Brecht put forward the theory of Epic Theatre, which taught that the audience should always be alienated from the action onstage, unable to identify with the characters, but rather being left with questions to ask themselves. He believed the audience couldnt possibly empathise with the characters onstage because there were so many individual differences in society itself- society cannot share a common communication system so long as it is split into warring factions (Brecht, 1949, paragraph 55[2]). Brecht wanted the audience to leave the theatre debating their morals. Another prestigious theatrical practitioner is Antonin Artaud, who argued that any performance should deeply affect the audience. In order to achieve this, he used non-naturalistic lighting and sound to create a disturbing atmosphere. Artaud wished his audience to leave the theatre having changed within themselves. With three such different aims from each practitioner, it is difficult to be sure whether any of them had a particularly valid point. All three theories are widely respected, but each contrasts and challenges the next, meaning that, in order to believe in one of them, you must rule out the others as valid. These conflicting theories became the beginning of the main ideas behind this project. I wanted to know whether there was a solid way to prove whether Stanislavskis theories are affective to the audience in terms of creating a more realistic performance than one with normal rehearsal, or indeed rehearsal methods devised by other practitioners. To be able to determine this, I needed to conduct deeper research into Stanislavskis system. The system itself is deep and intricately detailed, with many different aspects as to what Stanislavski considered a good performance. However, some points are evidently more significant to him than others. According to the online Encyclopaedia Britannia [3], the main features are Given Circumstances and the Magic If, and Emotional Memory. Units and Objectives is also a major feature of the system, so these are the three aspects I chose to refine my research to in order to establish a better understanding of Stanislavskis method of acting. Given Circumstances and the Magic If Stanislavski said that what is important to me is not the truth outside myself, but the truth within myself [4], meaning that anything put forward on the stage must be true. He recognised this idea was a potential issue because all acting is, essentially, a lie. He therefore said that all actors should be as true to themselves as they can while playing a part. The idea behind Given Circumstances is that actors accept that, with the script of a play, they are given a set of circumstances which they must adhere to in order to create the storyline. Given circumstances can relate to either the character or the play itself, and they include things like characters age, gender, social class, and the plays time period, setting and social/historical/political implications. In order for an actor to give a true performance, Stanislavski put a massive emphasis on the importance of research into the given time period or situation so that the performer would truly understand their role. He taught that the research needs to be completed until an actor can fully flesh out his character, and answer any questions given to them about their characters parentage, childhood, and life events, even if these arent mentioned in the script. Once the Given Circumstances had been realised, Stanislavski suggested that the actors utilised a linked aspect of his theory, called the Magic If, in order to deal with them. The Magic If is a technique where the actor asks himself given the circumstances already decided by the playwright, if I was this character, and I was in this situation, how would I react?. In his book An Actor Prepares, Stanislavski talked about the professor using the example of pretending to be a tree. Say to yourself: I am I; but if I were an old oak tree, set in certain surrounding conditions, what would I do? and decide where you are in whatever place affects you most (Stanislavski, 1937, p65[5]). Stanislavski asked that his students allow their imaginations to flourish th rough techniques such as Given Circumstances and the Magic If, to construct deeper, more realistic performances. Emotional Memory Another technique which was born from Stanislavskis belief that acting must be real is Emotional Memory, sometimes known as Affective Memory. Shelley Winters, an example of a famous actress with ultimate belief in the Stanislavski System, said that as an actor you must be willing to act with your scars [6], or in laymans terms, be willing to allow your inner emotions and past experiences to show through. This is essentially the main terms of Emotional Memory, which requires the actor to draw on previous personal experiences which resulted in a similar emotion to which their character is experiencing. Once the actor has identified the experience, they are encouraged to allow the emotion they felt once again take over their mind and body, reinstating the context and mind-set until the emotion is real. The emotion must then seamlessly be applied to the script or character, as Stanislavski felt this would make the performance more believable because the emotion is true to the actor. Pete r Oyston, founding Dean of Drama at the Victorian College of the Arts and regular teacher/director at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, created a rehearsal method specifically designed to enhance the feelings from memories. He published this, and other methods referring to Stanislavskian techniques, in a DVD documentary called How to use the Stanislavski System (2004). The Emotional Memory section can be viewed on YouTube [7], and teaches the student to remember a time when they personally felt an emotion which shadows or parallels that required from the text. They are encouraged to talk about the situation they are remembering out loud, until the emotion takes over their minds and bodies. Then, they must seamlessly transfer their speech from their own recollections to the script given to them, transferring the emotions at the same time. Units and Objectives One of the most prominent aspects of Stanislavskis method is his idea that any character in any play has a Super-Objective throughout the action; an aim or driving force which sustains throughout the play. Stanislavski taught that this Super-Objective must stay in each actors mind throughout their rehearsal and performance, and that even though it may not be stated, or even obvious, they must take it upon themselves to research and discover it. Once this has been accomplished, he felt that the script could then be broken down into smaller Objectives, which would change several times throughout the piece as the plot deepened. Each Objective must be a verb, in order to be an active objective. He asked actors to split their script into Units and Objectives. Most pieces of drama are split by the playwright into a series of scenes and acts, allowing the action to move in time or setting, but Stanislavski found that an objective could run through and overlap into different scenes, or chang e very suddenly in the middle of an act. He therefore introduced the concept of Units, which are another way of dividing up a play- each unit should contain one objective. The diagram above outlines the intricate detail of the aspects of Units, Objectives, and Super-Objectives. The Throughline of Action is the aim in a characters mind throughout the entirety of the play, which culminates in the Super-Objective. Meanwhile, each character has several different Objectives which are split between the Units the actors devised for the script. These Objectives can take the character to many different places, but their Super-Objective will always remain the same. Furthermore, the Objectives themselves are equally as detailed. Stanislavski said that each Objective could be broken down into the Aim, the Obstacle and the Action. The aim is what the character is trying to achieve in that particular unit. The obstacle is something which stops or restricts them from fulfilling their aim, and the action is the steps the character takes in order to avoid or overcome the obstacle. Stanislavski accepted that it is impossible for a play to achieve a smooth finish where objectives are concerned because often, the action takes place off stage. The characters come and go, and the time changes, so we as an audience cannot witness the whole story. Stanislavski said that in order to overcome this, actors must always be consciously aware of their Super-Objective. A familiar example of this aspect of the Stanislavskian Theory is Shakespeares story of Romeo and Juliet. Romeos Super-Objective is to experience true love. He begins the play with the objective of marrying Rosaline, and this continues to be his objective until the Unit shifts at the Capulet party. Here, Romeos objective becomes to find out more about Juliet, and later becomes to marry her. Towards the end of the party, however, Romeo speaks with Juliets nurse, who tells him that her mother is the Lady of the house -that Juliet is a Capulet(Shakespeare, 1973, p. 910 [8]). This provides the obstacle, since Romeos family, the Montagues, have an ancient feud with the Capulets. Romeo then takes on a new action, which is to overcome the feud between the families, even if it means the couple have to lie about it. Romeo doesnt manage to fully achieve his Super-Objective, because he never experiences the simplicity of love he was looking for- both he and Juliet have to die in order to truly be together. Of all the aspects of Stanislavskis method, these three prove to be the most popular among modern day performers. Having researched the key aspects of Stanislavskis system, I devised a way to be able to assess the effectiveness of them on a live performance by young actors, as this would allow me to establish whether the method does in fact help to produce a more believable performance. I decided to conduct an experiment into the effectiveness of Stanislavskis system. I decided to utilise my contacts at a local youth drama group, which is made up of young actors and actresses aged between 11 and 17 years old. In order for the experiment to be a fair test, I determined to split them equally into two groups, and give each group the same scenario to work with. I planned to leave group one, the control group, to rehearse to their own methods, while conducting group twos rehearsal processes myself, giving them tasks similar to those set by Stanislavski to his own pupils. After the groups had had the same period of time to rehearse, I wanted to invite an audience to watch their performances. The audie nce were to be given a questionnaire after the performances, asking which groups interpretation of the scenario they found more convincing and realistic. I intended to film both sets of rehearsal processes in order to put together a short documentary. The results of the audience questionnaire were intended to ascertain whether Stanislavskis rehearsal methods have a real influence on making modern day performance more realistic. In order for this experiment to work, I firstly had to create an idea. Originally, I devised a script which revolved around the issue of teenage pregnancy, which is a growing concern in todays society. The script included four gender specific characters, and I intended to have both groups perform the same piece; one using Stanislavskis techniques, and the others using generic rehearsal processes. Having written the short play, and talked briefly to the children at the theatre, it became apparent that there was more interest in the workshop than I had expected. Another problem with using a script would have been that the audience would have watched the same piece twice, and would be comparing the actors individual performances as opposed to the believability of the pieces. Since it would have been unfair of me to cast the roles, I instead decided to take a different approach in order to include everyone. I devised a scenario, again based around a teenage pregnancy, that each group wou ld be able to use as the core of their piece of drama. They would then devise the rest of their plays alone. This meant that each group could incorporate a flexible amount of participants, and ensured two unique, original performances. With my idea in mind, I next needed to devise some Stanislavski-based rehearsal techniques for my group to use during their preparation for the production. Keeping the themes of Given Circumstances and the Magic If, Emotional Memory, and Units and Objectives in mind, I devised three rehearsal techniques specifically tailored to Stanislavskis ideals. With these techniques devised, I had to actually carry out the rehearsal and performances. In order to do this, I would need a space, two groups of actors, a party of responsible adults with CRB checks and an audience. I contacted the chairman of the theatre and booked myself a studio performance room for Saturday the 3rd of April. I then sent out letters to the actors involved with the Nonentities Youth Theatre. The letters outlined the project and the experimental side of the day, offered the chance to look at the technical side of theatre, and asked for a response. I received 18 positive responses back, which was many more than the ori ginal 12 participants I had in mind, making the scenario idea far more usable. I then had to split the actors into two different groups, a control group, who would direct themselves, and the experimental group, who I would direct using Stanislavskis methods. The groups needed to be equally weighted with talent, as it was important to make this experiment as fair as possible by not allowing acting ability to throw it. I therefore split the actors into groups myself, aiming to balance the ages in each group while placing responsible actors I could trust to work independently in the control group, and actors open to co-operation and willing to listen in the Stanislavski group. The Independent Variable of this study was whether Stanislavskis methods were applied to rehearsals, and the Dependant Variable was whether the performance was more believable based on the rehearsal method used. My hypothesis was: The techniques used in rehearsal will have an affect on the performance given. I experienced my first problem of the day when the actors arrived in the morning. Shortly before the workshop was to take place, a letter had been sent to all members of the youth theatre outlining the need for a new leader and the cancellation of sessions until another letter was sent out. It became apparent that many of the actors who had wished to be a part of the workshop had assumed that it, too, was cancelled, so the final number of actors I had to work with was just 10. Although I had to adjust the group list, the smaller number of participants made the day as a whole more intimate, and the group sizes more manageable, so I feel it was a beneficial circumstance. Once everybody had signed in, I conducted a brief warm-up, asking all members to think of the way different characters moved and spoke in real life, asking them to act believably, not just as caricatures. I then split up the actors into groups, and chose the two girls who I felt would be most capable of acting the par t of the pregnant teenager. I asked both groups to create a piece of drama focussing around the pregnancy that would last between 10 and 15 minutes, and I gave each group a list of criteria that they must adhere to, including aspects such as using the younger members in the younger roles, including a number of monologues from different characters, and that they must write down the decisions made in early rehearsal. I told the control group that they were allowed to use music, and dramatic techniques such as physical theatre and freeze frames, while the Stanislavski group had to endeavour to make their characters and circumstances applicable to real life, and were told not to use out-of-place techniques like freeze framing. The video was set to record as the groups split up into two different rooms, and I allowed the control group to keep to themselves for the majority of the day, while I worked with the Stanislavski group, asking them to use my previously-prepared rehearsal techniqu es. The first technique I gave them was designed to support Given Circumstances and the Magic If. I asked each group to use the first stages of rehearsal to create mind-maps around the pieces of drama. Whilst the control groups map outlined the storyline, the Stanislavski group were asked to spend an hour and a half fleshing out their characters, and the relationships and links between them. They gave each character a name and an age, they wrote about their beliefs and opinions, and decided upon how their characters met. Each actor developed a detailed history for their character, pulling from personal experience and their imaginations to create steady backgrounds. These are aspects relating to Given Circumstances and the Magic If because they invite the participants to firstly realise the Circumstances the script gives them, and secondly to flesh out their characterisation by putting their characters in different situations through use of the Magic If. The second technique I devised related to Emotion Memory. I used this technique when working with the actress playing the pregnant girl. We applied it to the scene in which she is told that the test is positive. I asked her to think about a time when she felt lost, and perhaps didnt have anybody she could talk to about it because nobody had been in that position before her. She talked of a time when her parents were going through a messy divorce, and she felt cut of from the both of them. She spoke openly and freely, and answered my questions honestly. As time went by, she was drawn further and further into her memory and the emotions that were present at that time, so that when I finally asked her to begin talking from her characters perspective, her acting became real. She didnt need to fake the tears, because she was filled with the emotion her character was filled with. The third technique was designed to compliment Units and Objectives. Once the actors had created their storyline, I asked them to divide it up into scenes, so that it was as close to a normal scripted piece of drama as possible. We talked about each of their characters, and what their Super-Objectives would be. The actors decided upon everyones objectives as a group, which brought a deeper level of understanding to the piece. They decided that the fathers Super-Objective would be to protect his children, while Rosie, the pregnant daughter, aimed to face her future head on. I then asked each actor to divide up the play into their own Units, focussing on the shifts in emotion. This process proved difficult for the younger members of the group, so the group as a whole helped them to identify their Units. There proved a great variety in the amount of Units in the piece for each character; while the pregnant girl had almost one per scene, the father had only two. Furthermore, the switch b etween Units for him came suddenly in the middle of his monologue, which was right at the end of the piece- before then his character had wanted the same thing throughout. I asked the group to physically improvise the scenes they had written about, and to stop the action when they encountered their obstacles. Once they had all found their obstacles, they were asked to continue acting while finding a way to overcome this obstacle- their action. I then asked them if they had noticed the other actors actions in the scene, so that everybody was aware of the decisions their group was making.This in-depth workshop class on Units and Super-Objectives made the young actors aware and knowledgeable in the field, while also allowing them to know their characters inside out by knowing what they want, and how they might go about achieving it. A couple of hours before the performances were scheduled to begin, I took notes on the rehearsal processes of both groups. The control group had included an omniscient narrator who could stop the action and introduce new characters. The narrator sat in the middle of the piece throughout the majority of the action, until the final scene where he became an involved character. A narrator is generally used to create a sense of dramatic irony, where the audience gain knowledge that the characters dont yet know. However, this type of narration is rarely set within the piece itself, more often a voice over or such like. It is also unrealistic that the narrator, who is generally removed from and neutral to the action, suddenly become real life and jump into the scene. The group also used a split-screen technique to enable them to show two different apartments at the same time, which is effective to the audience but unrealistic, as while action is playing out in one space, the characters in t he other must be frozen. This creation of freeze-framing is difficult to hold for long periods of time, and does not occur in a genuine situation. Another technique they used was audience-participation, where one member of their cast sat in the audience until the final moments of the play, where she rose, walked across the stage, took out her mobile and called the police. I concluded that the control group had included various aspects of performance which were designed to make the action more interesting to the audience, and add the element of surprise, but were not designed to look or feel realistic. They had spent only half an hour mind-mapping their decisions, and talked about their other decisions while physically rehearsing. The Stanislavski group spent an hour and a half developing their characters, and another hour developing their storyline, so they ended up with four A3 sheets of paper detailing their entire performance. They used only one location, the teenagers bedroom, so that there was never a set change needed, because it would interrupt the storyline and distract the audience. The groups monologues were delivered to a person, as opposed to the audience, so that the barrier between the audience and the characters stayed strong. Had the actors been talking to the audience, their speeches would have seemed less realistic. After five hours of rehearsal, it was time for the final performances. Each actor had been asked to invite some family members or friends, and members of the theatre came along to participate too. Each audience also included the actors from the other group, making the final audience figure 19 members. I watched the performances, but didnt participate in the questionnaire, as I would have been biased toward the Stanislavski group. I introduced the pieces, and talked about the work the actors had undertaken over the day. The audience werent told which group was the control group, and which group was the Stanislavski group, until both performances had finished, meaning that they couldnt be biased in favour of Stanislavski either. I also asked them to be open minded, and not answer the questionnaire in favour of the production their child was associated with, telling them they were judging my direction, not the individual actors talent. The audience watched the control group first, and w ere given time to fill out their questionnaires while we set up the stage for the Stanislavski group. After both performances had finished, I thanked everybody for taking part and collected in the questionnaires. Having extrapolated my results, it became apparent that there was a general feeling that the Stanislavski production was more believable. When asked was the main storyline believable, 66% of the audience thought that the control groups piece was a dramatised and exaggerated version of real life, while 95% thought that the Stanislavski groups piece could credibly happen in real life. Having worked extensively with the pregnant character from the Stanislavski group, I was pleased that 42% of the audience thought that she portrayed the pregnancy flawlessly, while a further 42% felt that she portrayed it very well, while in the control group, these percentages combined only reached 44%. I asked the audience to rate how believable they felt the overall performances were, and 56% rated the control groups performance at an 8/10 or higher, while 94% rated the Stanislavski performance at an 8/10 or higher. Overall, it is evident that the Stanislavski groups performance was more widely believe d. It is important to note that the effectiveness of the performances given may not be entirely down to the methods of rehearsal used. Although I tried to make the experiment as fair as possible by attempting to make the rehearsal methods the only variable, other extraneous variables may have had an affect on the final results. For example, since there were fewer participants than planned, I had to shuffle the groups a little. This meant that the control group had two of the younger members in their piece, while the Stanislavski group had four older members. The younger members of the theatre are less experienced and therefore dont have as many creative ideas to bring to the mix. It is also apparent that almost half of the audience were family members of the younger actors, meaning that they are liable to vote in favour of their childs piece as they are proud to see them on stage. Although I asked the audience to keep an open mind, they may have been bias towards their family or friends , and this is a factor which could have affected the final results. At the beginning of my project, I asked myself What is Stanislavskis Method of acting, and how far has it influenced modern day performance? Having undertaken a considerable amout of research on Stanislavski and his methods, it became easier for me to define them, and to easily distinguish the difference between his teachings, and those of other practitioners. I found that Stanislavskis method of acting is largely based around the actors own interpretation of the character, aiming to keep the emotion real. I found that Stanislavski wanted the audience to connect with both the storyline and the characters, and he achieved this connection by keeping th acting real, thus allowing the audience to connect empathetically. Having created an experiment to see whether Stanislavski did indeed influence modern day performance, I found that the audience were effected by the group that used the Stanislavskian rehearsal techniques, so much so that one person wrote on the bottom of their questionna ire that their performance actually brought tears to my eyes. While researching, I came across a website [9] where Jeni Whittaker (1999) argues that Stanislavski is rightly called the father of modern theatre, his System of acting became the backbone of twentieth century theatre craft. Nearly all other practitioners use him as a starting point, either to build from or to react against. This substantiates my initial hypothesis that Stanislavski has a major influence on modern day theatre. In conclusion, I feel that Stanislavski has an extended influence on modern day theatre. Audiences of today wish not to be challenged or alienated, but to see characters they can relate to on the stage, and the majority of theatre today follows this teaching, whether the director realises he is adhering to Stanislavskis theory or otherwise. Furthermore, when watching two similar pieces of drama, it became apparent that the audience are more drawn towards that which used Stanislavskis rehearsal techn iques because the characters and storyline were portrayed in a true to life manner. I found that Stanislavski is not only used in theatre, as many famous screen actors choose his methods when getting into character. I feel that the world is exposed to Stanislavskis teachings more than it realises, and therefore the influence of Stanislavski on modern day acting is significantly higher than I believed when I began the project. References: Source unknown, Stanislavski. Brecht (1949). A Short Organum for the Theatre, paragraph 55. Encyclopà ¦dia Britannica (2010). Stanislavsky method. Encyclopà ¦dia Britannica Online; Retrieved February 22, 2010, from: http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/563178/Stanislavsky-method Source unknown, Stanislavski. Stanislavski (1937). An Actor Prepares, (reprinted 1988) United Kingdom: Methuen Drama LTD. Harry Governick for TheatrGROUP. (1992). An Interview with Shelly Winters; Retrieved February 22, 2010, from http://www.theatrgroup.com/Shelley Peter Oyston, How to use the Stanislavski System DVD(2004). Retrieved (via YouTube) April 12, 2010, from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmhggaEuJj8 Shakespeare (1973). Romeo and Juliet, from The Complete Works of Shakespeare- The Alexander Text. London and Glasgow: Collins. Jeni Whittaker for DramaWorks. Stanislavski through Practice (1999) Retrieved April 13, 2010, from http://www.dramaworks.co.uk/stanislavski.html

Childcare Essay

Birth-12 months- Babies will begin to smile at adults especially at their careers. Will gaze at faces and will copy facial movements. They respond to faces and voices of familiar people around them, they are still shy around strangers but enjoy affection from their careers. They enjoy being held, cuddled and tickled by adults. They will start to talk using babble noises. â€Å"Temper tantrums† may have started. They start to become more demanding and assertive and can express rage at being told ‘no’, they have no idea of sharing and a strong sense of ‘mine’. 1-2years- Are becoming aware of others around them, they may begin to start to display attachment and anxiety separation from carers and adults they are close to. They will begin to start exploring their environment knowing there is a familiar adult nearby for reassurance. As they develop they can start showing signs of emotions e. g. when another child cries they may start crying as well, when another child smiles at them they will smile back. Are very possessive of toys they may have and find it hard to share. Play becomes more fun with other children, and they will mostly be cooperative. They may start to display temper tantrums. 2-3 years-Children will begin to learn about relationships and will start to seek others to share in their experiences and for reassurance. They tend to find it hard to control their feelings especially when they are excited and frustrated. They tend to still look for adults for comfort if they are upset. They are starting to become more independent in things they do. 3-4years- children will begin to social with in a group of children and began to play cooper actively some of the time. They began to take control of their toilet needs and become more independent in the in self-help. They are starting to develop own feelings and start to show empathy towards others. Most children will have started school at the age 4 and will be enjoying their independence. 5-7years-Children will become independent by dressing and undressing themselves. Begin to choose own friends. They start to understand rules and boundaries and like to have structure and routines. They will seek out adults for approval and praise. They have good sense of when other children are upset or sad. Their social skills will be growing as play becomes more cooperative with other children as they enjoy turn taking. They will have a developed a good sense of self-awareness both positive and negative. They now know the difference between right and wrong. Progression towards teenage years- They are a lot more independent in what they do and become less reliant on others. They begin to form good relationships with others and are more aware of their gender. They begin to understand what behaviour is acceptable and what is unacceptable and have a strong sense of what is right and wrong. They are beginning to what their own privacy. They become more concerned of what other people think of them and can often become unsure about new changes. 13-19 years- Become more self-motivated within themselves. Need a lot more reassurance as they start to approach adolescence/puberty, do not appreciate that parent’s get involved in how independent they become as they get older. Mood swings and confrontation become more apparent. Will start to engage in new friendships especially as they progress to further education in a new environment. Becomes more self-conscious about their appearance and social status. Will begin to engage in more adventures activities but may be aware of the forth coming actions due to their involvement. Will begin to think things through before undertaking the action and are more independent in their decisions and intellectual interests. They begin to set goals for their future in education/employment but still worry about failure. Language Birth-12 months-Will communicate with others in different ways such as crying, babbling and squealing and will use their vocal voice and enjoy vocal play alongside adults , will use gestures such as putting arms up to be picked up, when talked to from a familiar person will make own sounds in response. 1-2 years- Speech is starting to develop as they start to respond and understand more words. They are starting to acquire new words on a regularly basis. May start to use one-two word questions and is able to put two words together. 2 years-3years- Will start to become more able to express what they want to adults and start to understand a little more of what adults are saying to them through words and gestures. They will start to extend their vocabulary rapidly up to about 70 words between 1-2 years old; will tend to have conversations with themselves about what they are doing and uses personal words which as they begin to develop their vocabulary and is able to follow one instruction when given by an adult. 3-4 years- Children begin to develop their language skills further by beginning able to say their own name and how they old they are. They begin to have a vocabulary of between 250 words to 500 words and starting to use more complex sentences. Can begin to describe things they are doing and explain why things are happening. 5-7years-Children are becoming to have good communication skills as their conversations and questions they ask become more complex. They are beginning understand the meaning of text and are starting to recognise letters, sounds and words as well as their own written name. They start to understand that one word can mean two things for example orange for fruit and orange as a colour. They are still building on their language in spoken and written form. Progression towards teenage years- They will still be developing their language skills but in a more complex way. Are starting to talk problems through to be able to solve them as their ability to think logically begins to mature. 13-19years- Their language skills are still developing but in a more complex way. Physical Birth-12months- A baby will grow rapidly during their first year of development within weeks a child will begin smiling and will turn the head to respond to different sounds in their environment. They will begin to have a pattern in their own routine for example feeding time and sleep time. On the approach to six months they will begin to roll over from their front to their back and start grasping objects which they will tend to put in their mouth. By 8 months they begin to crawl and by 9 months they begin to start walking. 1-2 years- Most babies will be crawling or possibly still shuffling; they start to pull themselves up on furniture to the standing position to support them to move along from one end to the other. They may start to take a few steps independently or with adult support, they start to become curious about different objects passing toys from one hand to the other , hand eye coordination is developing as they start holding an object in each hand and bringing them together in the middle. They will start to attempt to self-feed themselves with their hands or a spoon and use a cup with two hands. Fine motor skills are developing as they begin to use crayons/pencils in the palmer grasp when mark making. 2-3years- Begins to climb on equipment with confidence, and is able to walk up and down stairs holding onto the rail using two feet at a time. Fine motor skills when mark marking is developing from palmer grasp to tripod grasp as they begin to scribble/draw lines. They have developed the skills to kick a ball and throw a ball, increasingly able to manipulate small objects with hands. They become more independent in their feeding skills as they begin to easily use a spoon and possibly a fork. Potty training will start being introduced as a child begins to control their bowel movements. Bricks will be built into larger towers than before usually with six or seven bricks. 3-4 years- Children are becoming more independent in their choices. Gross motor skills are developing quickly as they begin to run, jump, climb up climbing frames and start to try and ride a tricycles, when mark making will hold pencil between thumb and finger and begins to draw lines and circles and may start to copy some letters from their name. Independence in dressing and undressing has developed and toilet training is more independent. Has more confidence in Self-feeding using a knife and fork. 5-7 years- Children begin to have rapid muscle growth in these years. Pencil control is developing as they start to draw circles, peoples and copying words. Preference for dominant hand is starting to show. Is able to care for own toilet needs independently. Begin to have preferences for likes and dislikes. Dressing becomes more independent as they start to learn how to do buttons laces etc. 7-12 years- They have well established hand eye coordination as mark making skills develop in drawing and printing. They are very active as they start to enjoy team games with other children/adults e. g. hitting balls and chasing each other. Boys begin to engage in a lot of rough and tumble games. The development of girl’s physical development is developing quicker than the boys. 13-19years- These years are classed as the transition from child hood to adult hood (adolescence) as they will start to experience changes in their bodies. The physical development in each child is different at this age as some may just start to mature physically and some may have fully physically matured. Intellectual Birth-12months- babies start to learn through their senses especially by putting things in and out of their mouths. 1-2years- They are still learning through their senses. They start to be curious about things and like to explore objects by using their fingers especially poking their fingers into things and taking things apart. They will start to say the names of familiar objects, people and familiar body parts. Start to use one word sentences â€Å"no† â€Å"bye bye† and starts to enjoy simple songs and rhymes. 2-3years-Are still learning through all their senses, they are still very curious about things in their environment. They are starting to use three to four word senses and start singing simple songs and rhymes. 3-4years- At this age they are still learning through using their senses. Are beginning to use their imagination in play using one object to represent another object and are starting to enjoy role play situations. Begin to start to become more curious and inquisitive about their environment. Has large vocabulary, 1500 to 2000 words as they start to approach the age of 5. 5-7years- children will start to follow instructions by adults and will accept help, although they are still unsure about trying new things if they are unfamiliar with them. Some children may begin to stutter when they get excited to tell someone something or if they are nervous. Colour and number recognition is apparent and may start to write a few letters they recognise. At this age most children are learning to read and write. 7-12years- Children start to have a good attention span and are able to solve more complex problems. Enjoys working hard to complete tasks they are set and enjoys challenging experiences. Are curious about how things work and why things happen. Reasoning and thinking becomes more abstract. They may start to enjoy reading, writing and using books. 13-19years- They start to begin to think logically about concepts. They become more argue mental with others Moral. Birth-12months- Babies do not have moral development at this age. 1-2 years- Are sensitive to adult approval/disapproval, despite tantrums and bursts of anger. No understanding of right from wrong, but starting to understand yes or no. 2-3 years- appears to be independent and self-reliant and wants to be good, but is not yet mature enough to be able to carry out most promises. They are starting to understand the word â€Å"no†, they still do not understand right from wrong. 3-4 years- Is starting to understand right from wrong. They are becoming more self-controlled and less aggressive, and may use extreme verbally threats such as â€Å"I will kill you† without realising the full consciousness. 5-7 years- Is becoming aware of right and wrong; is wanting to be good and please adults but may tell lies to blame others for own wrongdoing because of intense desire to please and do right . 7-12 years- Is very concerned with personal behaviour, particularly as it affects family and friends; May experience guilt and shame. Has difficulty in admitting to mistakes but are becoming more capable of accepting failure and mistakes and are aware of consequences of their behaviour. Is aware of right and wrong; wants to do right. 13-19 years- Understands right from wrong and consciences of their actions. They try to weigh alternatives and arrive at a decision of their own. They are very unlikely to lie and are concerned about how other people are treated. They will experience numerous feelings of anger, sorrow and frustration. They may even be interested in sex as response to physical-emotional urges. 1. 2 Analyse the difference between sequences of development and rate of development and why the distinction is important. Identifying the difference between the sequence of rate and the rate of development of children is important as it helps to identify a child’s ability and helps to meet the needs of individual children. It also enables you to be able to identify any special educational needs and helps you to plan effectively to make sure they are getting the help and support they may need in areas they may have gaps in. Sequencing- means a pattern of development in children but this can vary in each child. The sequence is a definite order of developmental milestones that children meet and accomplish over time as they need to finish one area of development before moving to another developmental stage. e. g. rolling over and sitting up occur before learning to walk, a toddler being able to walk before they can run Rate- Is the speed of which children develop but this may vary greatly in each individual child e. g. a child’s will start to babble before they begin to use words. 1. 3 Analyse the reasons why children and young people’s development may not follow the pattern normally expected There are many factors which contribute to a child not following the pattern of development disability either physical or mental will make them find it harder to learn the same as another child the same age, resources, facilities, possibly restrictions due to a disability, environment (poverty) due to lack of essential resources needed, emotional problems may cause a child to have lack of concentration or interacting skills, culture how people bring up their children. There are reasons why development may not follow expected patterns they are: †¢ Disability can affect development because if children can’t use certain parts of their body for example they may not be able to use their legs they won’t be able use a climbing frame their physical development won’t be able to develop in the expected way. The nursery or school they attend may not have the equipment needed for the child to achieve their desire to use the climbing frame. †¢ Emotional difficulties can affect expected patterns of development because a child who is not settled into a nursery and does not have solid relationships with the adults in their life are more likely to have low self-esteem and are less likely to try new activities that would help their development. †¢ Environmental factors such as poverty and family could affect a child’s development because if they do not have much money some opportunities such as nursery will not be available. Family could also affect a child because single parents may not have the time and energy to engage and challenge their child to try new things that would help their development. Food may not be as nourishing and nutritious. †¢ Cultural reasons for example girls in many cultures are not given the same opportunities as boys this will limit their development because they are not expected to go to school. †¢ Social factors such as transport could result in development not following expected patterns because parents who don’t drive may have difficulties in getting their children to school regularly which could result in poor attendance so the child could miss out on key factors of their education. Home schooling could also affect children’s social development as they won’t have had many opportunities for social interaction with children their own age which could result in a social delay. †¢ Particular learning needs may affect development because a child having difficulties with reading and writing and they are not receiving the extra help they need is likely to fall behind in school work. †¢ Communication difficulties could result in development not happening in the expected way because children who have a hearing impairment can cause a delay as we learn to speak by listening this could lead on to a speech impairment which may result in children only expressing what they can and not what they really mean. Parents who don’t talk or read to their children will also affect the child’s development. 2. 1 Analyse how children and young people’s development is influenced by a range of personal factors Family Environment- Family life has the most important impact on children‘s development due to the various family structures and stability each individual child has. Cramped Housing – May share a room with several other children, this can lead to cramped spaces for children, not enough room to play, no personal space. Single parents – where children may have lack of male/female role models which may cause social stigma. Parents divorcing/separating- This is very stressful on everyone involved, children can become emotionally withdrawn, suffer lack of confidence and can create lack of self-esteem. Working Parents- When parents have to work all week this will leave little room for direct social, emotional and intellectual support. Step families- When children become part of a new step family it may cause friction, hatred and jealousy between the children from each family and children towards their new step parent. This could lead to the child/teenager to become socially and emotionally withdrawn. Health Problems – health problems can be a genetic problem or due to the poor living environment they grow up in. If a child is raised in poor quality housing this may lead to health problems e. g. damp can trigger asthma and other breathing problems, if a child is not getting a good variety of healthy food/nutrition this could lead to health problems. Children who suffer from health problems may miss out on a lot of their education, which could be departmental in the future learning. Learning difficulties – A child with learning difficulties will need extra support in certain areas of development and may develop a low self-esteem because they get annoyed with themselves for not being able to do something, such as a simple numeracy problem, or read a book. A child with language/communication difficulties may find it hard to socialise with other people/children. Disability A child in a wheelchair or with a serious physical impairment would find it hard to do many activities, particularly those that are physically demanding. Gross motor skills would be at a less developed rate than peers and fine motor skills may be affected if the child had little or no control over their limbs. Genetic A baby’s genes are determined at conception. If something is faulty at this stage, this can have a huge impact on the child’s development. This may be physical or intellectual. If a mother takes drugs, drinks alcohol or smokes when pregnant, there is an increased chance of delivering an underweight baby at birth. It can also lead to cognitive problems for the child as they get older . Visual impairment Children who have visual impairment usually have some vision; this can vary from each child. Some children may be able to see outlines of objects while others may only be able to tell the difference between light and dark. If a child has vision problems this nearly always initially delays their physical development. Their gross and fine motor skills would be affected because they would be unable to be as adventurous as children with good vision. Fine motor skills may not be in line with other children as the child would find it hard to do tasks that require precision such as threading beads or colouring. Hearing impairment Hearing is a very important part of learning language and being able to communicate effectively with others. Children will need to learn to speak and listen. Their language and cognitive development would almost certainly be affected, but their social development might be hindered as well. They may speak in a monotone voice and not respond when spoken to. People may start to treat them differently and this might make them feel isolated and secluded from daily experiences 2. 2 Analyse how children and young people’s development is influenced by a range of external factors Education- Children deserve the best start in life in education as it will help them become very academic and achieve their full potential. If they are unable to access the resources they need for their education e. g. books, stationary and internet this will hinder their learning and they may not develop as well as those who have the opportunities. Poverty- Poverty effects children’s development in various ways; if they have a poor diet it may cause them to be unfit, lack of energy to be able to concentrate which will affect their progression of development. Children who come from low income families may have fewer opportunities to participate in out of school activities, and have limited access to equipment they may need for their education which will cause lack of motivation. Poor hygiene will lead to low self-esteem in a child as they become paranoid about their appearance and in some cases can lead to bullying. Foster Care- can cause long term effects on children due to lack of stability in their life. They have fewer opportunities to make positive relationships with others. They may be confused about why they are in foster care due to un answered questions. They are more venerable, as they have already had experience of the negative experience of being separated from family. Their self-esteem will be low which will make it harder for them to relate and socialise with others and to form attachments Personal choices- As children begin to develop they start to make personal choices for themselves, the choices they make can have a major effect on their development e. g. starting to smoke, using drugs, drinking, food choices, exercise choices. †¢ Family environment and background. In some homes education is not at the front of their things to do list. We can often see this where the parents/ carers are of a lower educational development. This could also show that there is no support at home as the parents do not understand the required educational elements needed to complete the work. †¢ Personal choices. If a child or young person as decided for what ever reason they do not want to be educated or leave school before they finish their education, this is their choice and we cannot always show them alternative choices for staying at school. †¢ Looked after/ care status. This again could have a huge influence as a lot of looked after children are moved around regularly. This will affect their education enormously. Separation and attachment issues are quite often the cause of many reasons not to want to be in school. This is constantly worked on by schools to find the best way to include these children in school and to be able to give them a good standard of education. †¢ Education. If for example a child has not attended a nursery or play group in their early years this can often set them back from what development stage they should be at when attending school. This could be the lack of nursery places, not good enough teachers to the child having a learning disability that has not been identified yet. †¢ Boyfriends/girlfriends. This is more apparent in young people more than children, but starting and finishing a relationship can be a huge influence on learning. Distracted and even heartbroken pupils will not learn to the same degree as others who are not at that stage. 2. 3 Explain how theories of development and frameworks to support development influence current practice Maslow- Believes everyone has fundamental needs that must be met in order for people to reach their full potential. The needs include warmth, food and shelter, love, security and self-esteem. His hierarchy needs has five stages which was expanded to include cognitive aesthetic needs. In our setting we ensure the children are well cared for, environment is clean and tidy, and temperature of nursery is at a comfortable level, we provide a healthy balanced diet. Children are allocated a key worker on entry in nursery key worker is responsible for ensuring each child’s needs are meet under the EYFP. Maslows theories of development include Humanist. Bandura – Created a theory that children learn by observing others, they do not need to be taught directly as they will imitate and observe what those around them are doing. This is a natural process and does not require the force of an adult. This learning is known as observational learning. In our setting we have a calm approach to all situations modelling good behaviour. We create an environment where observational learning can take place on a daily basis. Banduras theories including Social Learning. Skinner – Believes that children learn language through principles of conditioning and that they learn words by associating sounds with objects, actions and events. They also learn words by imitating other people. We support this in our setting by having a language rich environment, asking open ended questions, lots of interaction. Skinners theories including Operant Conditioning, Behaviourist and Attachment. Bowlby – Believes that attachment behaviours are instinctive and that early relationships and early experiences with care givers have a major role on development and behaviour and influence how children will react to social interactions with other people. Early attachment were children are secure to main carer will allow the child to have high self-esteem and will enjoy intimate relationships; they will start to have the ability to share their feeling and seek out others for support. We support this in my setting for new starters by introducing them gradually into the setting through visits which will start off with main carer staying with them and then progressing to the child having visits on their own to ensure they feel comfortable in their new environment. Lev Vygotsky- His theory is that children’s development depends on interaction with people and the tools that the culture provides. . He had three different ways cultural tools could be passed from one individual to another. Imitative learning where one person tries to imitate or copy another e. g. when a parent sings an action song and the child tries to copy, Instructed learning which involves remembering the instruction of an adult and then using these instructions, collaborative learning involves a group of peers who strive to understand each other and work together. He believes every new interaction is a learning experience to for children that they must be guided through until they know how to react properly. In our setting staff support this by supporting children who are having difficulty in managing certain tasks. We encourage turn taking and sharing, and provide plenty of opportunities for social interaction with adults and children. Piaget- Believes that children’s cognitive development moves through four different stages of mental development: – Sensorimotor birth-2 years were a child recognises self as agent of actions and begins to act intentionally, preoperational 2-7years were they learn to use language and represent objects by images and words. , concrete operational 7-11 years were children can begin to think logically about objects and events and classify objects according to several features, Formal operational 11-adult hood were they can think logically about abstract propositions. He believed all children pass through these phases to advance to the next level of cognitive development. In our setting we encourage a more hands on approach and more relevant tasks for age/stage of development of child. We emphasise strongly on â€Å"child- Imitated† activities and observations to be able to plan for children’s needs. Freud- Believed that our personalities are made up with three parts; the â€Å"id†-is the instinctive part of our personality, the â€Å"ego†- is the planning part of our personality, and the â€Å"superego†- develops later in childhood it is known as the control part of our personality ,which are not all present at birth but will develop as the child develops. Freud theories of develop include Psychoanalytic. 3. 1 Analyse the importance of early identification of development delay Early identification and intervention is the best thing for a child’s long term benefits. Early intervention has a dual effect it helps children develop skills that are expected at their age but it also prevents the child from developing negative behaviours. Being able to identify signs of delay in a child’s development allows practitioner to make swift assessments and to involve outside agencies to make their own observations of the child. It is an important role for a practitioner to know and understand children’s learning and development in order for them to able to identify any early signs. 3. 2 Explain the potential risks of late recognition of development delay Late recognition of development, can lead to problems later on in life for young person understanding or a child being able to express their own feelings, leaving them feeling angry or frustrated and causing them to act out and maybe develop behaviour problems. It can also affect their confidence and self-esteem causing problems building relationships with peers and becoming. 3. 3 Evaluate how multi agency teams work together to support all aspects of development in children and young people Professionals from multi agency bring together all practitioners from different sectors that may need to be involved in working to support children, young people and families. Working with multi agency is a way of ensuring that children and young people who need additional support have exactly the right professionals supporting them. When a child needs additional support the SENCO of a setting will fill in a CAF form with relevant information and concerns about a child which will then be referred to relevant sector to enable team members to share information and support one another so the child’s needs are addressed efficiently and effectively. Regularly meetings are set to discuss the needs of the child or young people to plan for child’s development for example action plans. IEPs and to discuss child’s progress. The involvement of multi-agencies will vary as the needs of children and young people will be very different. What is important is that each person brings with them their own specialist skills, expertise and insight so that the child or young person gets the best support possible. Multi-agency working is a varied number l of services that have the collective aim to provide the best for children and their carers who are in need. The people involved to support a child’s needs could be a social worker, play specialist, early year’s practitioners, educational psychologists, health workers and any person with the ability to step in and help a child when their development is being hindered. Early years settings are more of an integrated working because they offer a cocktail of services within the setting, rather than external services which is multi-agency. England’s government framework, Every Child Matters, lists five outcomes that reinforce the importance of working together to achieve the best outcomes for children. The Early Years Framework also states that when professionals work together the results are better essentially, if all the people involved in a child’s life are aware of what that child needs, then development c

aging Essay - 6944 Words

COGNITIVE AND PERCEPTUAL FACTORS IN AGING AND DRIVING PERFORMANCE* Edward J. Rinalducci, Mustapha Mouloua, and Janan Smither Department of Psychology University of Central Florida Final Technical Report No. VPL-03-01 Visual Performance Laboratory Department Of Psychology University of Central Florida Orlando, Fl. 32816-1390 Technical Report submitted to the Florida Department of Transportation, Tallahassee under grant number 16-21-713 to the University of Central Florida and CATSS: Drs. Edward J. Rinalducci, Mustapha Mouloua, and Janan Al-Awar Smither were the Principal Investigators. The views presented in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of UCF, CATSS, or FDOT. Mr. Jack†¦show more content†¦There is a constant interaction between the physiological system in terms of visual information processing and cognitive performance. It is conceivable that older drivers who suffer from poor vision would ultimately have worse cognitive performance irrespective of the degree of age related cognitive declines. In other words, declines in physiological performance exacerbate the effects of aging on cognitive functioning. Brouwer (1993) contends that impairments that lie both on the level of receptor-effector organs and on the level of cognitive functioning, particularly 4 attention, contribute to the problems older drivers encounter with the driving task. For example, perceptual, cognitive, and motor declines affect an older driver’s ability to merge with traffic. On the perceptual level, older adults have difficulty seeing and determining the speed and distance of the traffic they need to merge with. On the motor level, they have difficulty turning their necks and looking back far enough to see that traffic. 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The Population Situation in China Essay - 1840 Words

The Population Situation in China Introduction A country is said to be overpopulated when the number of people in an area exceeds that areas resource capacity to sustain human activities at a decent standard of living.(1) When the population cannot be maintained without rapidly depleting nonrenewable resources or converting renewable resources into nonrenewable resources quickly enough, measures must be taken either to control the population or increase the areas resources. The Peoples Republic of China experienced a population explosion after World War II that sent its population doubling to 550 million in 1950. The countrys growth of 14 million per year is equal to a new Australia every year.(2) With the rapidly developing†¦show more content†¦Much of the population is clustered along the Pacific coast and in several fertile river valleys that extend inland, such as the Huang and the Yangtze. 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Today, China is focusing on a more sustainable growth pattern and implementing changes to industry and economic structure. II. Population: A. Population Pyramid In 1979, in order to control the alarming increase of China’s population the â€Å"one-child† policy was introduced. When it was first introduce China’s population was about 972 million people, today is about 1.367 billion people, a 40.6% growth in the span of thirty-six years. 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The Night - Original Writing - 1128 Words

Everything was grey wonderful grey. Grey cloudy skies. Life felt still, empty, and quiet outside. So quiet. Then something clicked in my mind and noise filled my head getting rid of the empty feeling and filling it up with life. †¨White windowless houses all side by side for miles. If not for the door a house would be blank. Some house didn t even have doors. They were the new models of houses. I walked on the street because there are no roads to walk on. †¨The sight of ever lasting green trees came into my view. And I knew I had reached the park. The park full of plants that never died. And there he was. It was the first time I saw him like this. †¨The first time I could see him in real life. I could just barely see his dark almost black eyes under his dark brown bangs. His skin was pale white just like mine. I noticed how his face changed from a distant gaze into a bright lit up smile when he saw me. †¨You came! I felt shocked to hear his voice. †¨It sounde d familar like as if I had forgotten it. I had forgotten what a voice could sound like. I opened my mouth to try and speak but nothing came out. He looked at me puzzled by how mute I was. †¨Come on it s not that hard. Don t tell me you ve forgotten how to talk as well. His voice full of disappointment made me want to speak to him and tell him I could talk. †¨I... †¨His face perked up. Go on. He encouraged me. †¨I... I can talk. I was surprised by my own voice. It had been a long time since I needed to speak. †¨IShow MoreRelatedNight Nights - Original Writing845 Words   |  4 Pagesuntil night time. We all would camp out in the living, our parents would tuck us in and then it was off to bed. Sleeping peacefully until one of my cousins woke us all up screaming while she was sleeping. Night after night we had to deal with this. The following year I as well as all of my cousins anticipated the same thing. Peacefully sleeping only to be awaken in the middle of the night by shears of horror. But to all of our surprise my cousin sleep peacefully all the way through the night everyRead MoreThe Night - Original Writing1183 Words   |  5 Pagesfell to the floor convulsing in pain. She was turning and realised that no one could save her. She took her last breath realising she was going to become like him. A vampire. Experiencing the final stages of her turning her back arched. That was the night of her transformation. Read MoreThe Night - Original Writing792 Words   |  4 Pagesenlightning. My parents died. I was six years old. They died, because of me. We got in a reasonable argument about Clifford the Big Red Dog, of all things. I stormed out of the house at 8:00 pm. I remember how glistening the stars were that night, how the colors of purple and dark blue collided in the sky and how the moon was full and shined with what seemed like a never-ending light. I just kept running, laughing like the obnoxious six year I was. They ran after me calling my name, I justRead MoreThe Night - Original Writing1528 Words   |  7 PagesAfter a long restless night, Allie had a servant draw a hot bath for her just after daybreak. She stepped in, sat down, and then let her entire body slip beneath the water. She held her nose as she wet her copper locks and soaped her head. She intended to bring the shine back- she did not like the dull creature that stared back at her from the mirror the night before. The hot water was soothing; it felt good on her tired body. After washing, s he lay there and let the warm water soak the tirednessRead MoreThe Night - Original Writing1580 Words   |  7 PagesEverything was beautiful that night. The sky was as clear as the spring water. The weather was so beautiful that we thought that we were not in the summer. I was sitting outside the house in our garden with my parents. We were having a nice chat after a delicious homemade crispy chicken with fries that my mom usually do. Everything was just perfect until my father received the unexpected call. The call that I wished my father didn’t receive. â€Å"Hello†¦what! What are you saying! Calm down I’m comingRead MoreThe Night - Original Writing906 Words   |  4 PagesEvelyn peeked down the hall from her bedroom making sure the light to her parents’ room was off, indicating that they had gone to sleep. When she saw the darkened hallway she knew that her parents had gone down for the night. Her younger sisters, ages 10 and 8, had been put to sleep a couple hours before. There was no one watching. Evelyn tiptoed down the stairs—thank God they were carpeted, which helped shield the noise of her steps—and she grabbed her mom’s car keys carefully exiting the houseRead MoreThe Night - Original Writing1004 Words   |  5 PagesThe crowd filled out of the arena, the buzz and excitement leaving with them. Dark walls echoed the heavy sounds of the metal equipment as it was scraped across the floor by the road crew. In the absence of the band, the crowd and the music, the atmosphere seemed as ble ak and empty as the crowd floor itself. Suddenly, echoes of past joyous screams were replaced by a single, blood curdling scream coming from the direction of the cloakroom. The sound, filled with fear, tore through the arena and bouncedRead MoreThe Night - Original Writing1332 Words   |  6 Pages Waking up to the smell of strawberry jam and toast coming from the kitchen, Dan looks over at his clock to see that it is 7:30. Forcing himself up, he throws on a set of clothes and tiptoed down the stairs to be sure not to wake up Lisa. When he got to the bottom of the stairs, Dan sees both his parents, father at the kitchen table drinking coffee and reading the newspaper, and mother at the counter spreading the jam on the mountain of toast beside her. The quiet morning is comfortable and pleasantRead MoreThe Night - Original Writing723 Words   |  3 PagesDuring the summer you can find the same scene on any Saturday night. I see an elderly man near the entrance setting behind a table covered with stacks of booklets. I can tell he is employed by the park by the dark green polo shirt and tan ball cap he is wearing. Even from a distance I can hear him shout, â€Å"Programs! Get your programs. Three dollars!† As a middle aged man wearing a dark t-shirt and baggy blue jeans wal ks through the door. It becomes obvious that he is experienced with the process.Read MoreThe Night - Original Writing859 Words   |  4 Pagesfriends ran out to see what all the laughing was about. They watched the video and began cracking up too. After, we all went back inside due to the amount of bugs outside. We spent the rest of the night talking and laughing until we all fell asleep at around two in the morning. This was the last night we all spent together before heading off to college. Even though it was in the middle of the summer, life took over and we were all busy on different days. The one way that we were able to keep in contact

Child Play Free Essays

Play and early childhood education is not just a way to fill time for children who are too young to go to school. Some people think of play as the â€Å"work† of children (Berger, 2000). Through play and early childhood education, children build the foundation for later learning as they solve problems and increase their understanding of themselves, other people, and the world around them. We will write a custom essay sample on Child Play or any similar topic only for you Order Now Being in a stimulating environment, such as an early childhood center, provides a child with the much needed support to develop skills for dealing with emotions, expanding language and vocabulary, and an array of other skills. Putting children in environments where they are not stimulated can be harmful to their development during the play years. For young children, â€Å"play† includes a variety of activities that are fun and interesting. These activities include quiet play, creative play, active play, dramatic play, games, and manipulative play. Play may be structured or unstructured. Structured play has rules or a specific way of doing things. Games such as active games, card games, and board games are examples of structured play. Unstructured play includes activities such as dress-up play, doll play, building blocks, running and climbing, and riding tricycles. These activities are sociodramatic and rough-and-tumble play (Berger, 2000). A child may play alone or engage in social play by including other children or adults. Social play has a critical role in helping children learn to interact with others. Some research has identified stages of social play. Children pass through these stages as they grow, becoming capable of more interactive play as they develop. According to Berger, Onlooker play occurs when a child seems to be playing alone while watching others’ play activities. Solitary play occurs when a child plays alone or near another child with no interaction between them. Berger states that Parallel play refers to children’s play when they are near each other and using similar materials but with little or no social interaction. Associative play is similar to parallel play but involves some social interaction. Cooperative play includes common goals and collaboration, and may involve complex negotiation, collaborative decision making, and rule setting (Berger, 2000). While we were at the VCU child development center, I witnessed children playing outdoors. I saw some cooperative play in games such as hide-n-seek and duck-duck-goose, where the children played the games by rules that were taught to them. Most of the play witnessed was unstructured play in which the children decided what the wanted to do and how they wanted to do it. One little boy sat in solitary play building mini castles out of sand, while another large group of children just ran in circles around the playground screaming. Many kids just sat back and watched as others played games, while they sat in the sand box occasionally scooping sand which demonstrated onlooker play. Lastly, a group of children sat in a corner observing flowers or bushes having conversation about them, which demonstrated associative play Children’s play sometimes has less to do with other people than with finding out about the world. Young children naturally explore their environments in playful ways that help them understand the physical environment and their own bodies. This type of play is sometimes called sensorimotor play. As they vary their actions and interact with toys and other objects, children discover what their own muscles can do, and they gain practice of the movements that they need for everyday life. They also have affordances to learn about gravity and other principles of the physical world. What children learn through play is also very much affected by the quality of the early education care program that they are in. When searching for child care, every parent wants to leave their child knowing that they are handled by a warm, nurturing adult, who has knowledge of how children grow and develop. The adult should also have an understanding of the needs and interests of individual children because this is essential for a child’s growth. Children should be valued for themselves and not for what they do or how they look. Good caregivers tend to view children positively and help them learn what to do rather than focusing on what not to do. They help children learn to take responsibility for their own actions and eventually develop self-discipline. Rules should be reasonable, consistent, and well explained. Children are treated with respect. When caregivers view themselves positively and feel good about their work, they model a good self-image for the children. It is essential for caregivers and teachers to help parents feel a part of the program. The parents and school teachers should share information in order to understand more fully a child’s needs and provide the best coordinated twenty-four-hour schedules for the child. Parents can share important family values, goals for their child, methods of discipline, and changes in the child’s home environment while teachers can share the program goals, special activities for the child, weekly plans, and how they believe children learn (Azria-Evans). Teachers also can utilize appropriate community resources for the school and help parents find needed resources. Good relationships among staff members are important. If the children see adults working together cooperatively and solving problems successfully, they will learn to use some of these skills. All staff members must maintain professional ethics, which includes protecting the privacy of the children and families in their program. Centers also are required to go through a process to make sure they are meeting state standards. Licensing of child-care centers and family child-care homes gives parents some protection. States vary in their requirements for the facilities and the staff, criminal clearance of caregivers, health and safely regulations, and child-adult ratios (Azria-Evans). The adult-to-child ratio affects the individual attention given to each child and the group size affects the interactions of children. Ages of children are followed by adult-to-child ratio and group size (Azria-Evans). Multi-age grouping is permissible and often encouraged. The adult-to-child ratio and group size requirements are based on the age of the majority of children, but when infants are included, ratios and group size for the infants must be maintained. Child care center may also choose to attain an additional certification through The National Association for Education of Young Children (Azria-Evans). By getting this certification a child care center shows that they have gone above and beyond state standards to provide the best care and learning environment for children. Along with that the center should be a good fit for the parent and child (Azria-Evans). It is essential that parents visit a center and talk with the director, teachers, and children before enrolling their child there. The child should also visit the program before being enrolled. The school should welcome unannounced visits. The parents must check for safety in the total environment. Is the equipment appropriate and in good condition? Are gates latched so children cannot get out? Are activities well supervised? There should be a variety of developmentally and culturally appropriate activities as well as equipment and materials so that each child can develop in all areas such as: physical, social, intellectual, emotional, and creative. Physical development includes large and small motor skills and health issues. Particular attention should be paid to routines such as eating, toileting, and resting. Intellectual development involves the cquisition of language skills as well as general knowledge about one’s â€Å"world† and how to function in daily tasks. Children need opportunities to play and work with other children as well as to play and work alone. Activities should be balanced between active and quiet play both indoors and outdoors. Some activities should be teacher-directed while others should be selected by the child. The transition times betwe en activities should be relaxed and provide pleasant learning experiences. Learning centers should reflect children’s families, cultures, and interests. Learning centers should include table-top activities with manipulative materials, activities with housekeeping props, dramatic play, books and quiet corner, music and movement, art and creative activities, cooking and science areas, and a block area. Look for outdoor climbing equipment, space to run, wheel toys, sensory motor activities such as obstacle courses, balls, beanbags, and hoops. Children need carpentry, gardening, and ample sand, water, and mud play. There should be nature walks and trips away from the center. At the VCU child development center the children had built a replica of New York City, with demonstrated a table-top activity. Outdoors the play area had two wooden playhouses, and the entire play area had little garden throughout. There was also a sand pit in the middle of the playground. The arrangements families make for their children can vary dramatically, including care by relatives; center-based care, including preschool early education programs; family child care provided in the caregiver’s home; and care provided in the child’s home by nannies or babysitters. How a family chooses this care is influenced by family values, affordability, and availability. For many families, high-quality child care is not affordable, which results in compromises. The benefits of high quality care are that when care is consistent, developmentally sound, and emotionally supportive, there is a positive effect on the child and the family. The children that are in a poor quality environment are less likely to be prepared for school demands and more likely to have some development problems, which sometimes can not be fixed. These include reading and language problems, because the children have not been in a nurturing environment to develop these skills. These students are more likely to fall behind in school. All in all, the play years are essential to a child’s development. The type of play that they do and the child care center that they attend is very important in determining how a child develops. A lot of thought should go into choosing a child care center, because we all want our children to get the proper amount of play for their age group to make sure the develop the skills needed later on in life. How to cite Child Play, Papers

Reforms in Tourism Industries in Australia

Question: Discuss aabout theReforms in Tourism Industries in Australia. Answer: Introduction The tourism industry in Australia contributes significantly to economic development in Australia as well as offering employment opportunities to many. The tourism industry in Australia has grown strongly over the recent years. The number of visitors has increased from 2.5 million in the year 1992 to about 6.7 million in 2014 (Productivity Commission, 2015). The greatest international visitors come from New Zeeland, China, Asia and India. However, the source countries which supported the Australian tourism industry for many years such as United Sates, Japan and United Kingdom, has declined over the years. This has affected expenditure proportion as well as the overall number of visitors travelling to various regional parts of Australia. This has shown a 5% decrease over the period between 2006-2014 (Dobson Hooper, 2015). Specifically, in the Tropical North Queensland during this period, there was a decline from international travelers of about 20% and 40% decrease in real expenditure . Therefore, due to unexpected changes and to ensure successful tourism industry in Australia, various reforms need to be adopted and implemented. The government of Australia has a greater role to play in the implementation of the reforms especially based on the economic concepts so as to broaden the industry and the whole economy at large. Economic Analysis Tourism industry in Australia has a huge impact on the economy. In the year 2014, tourism industry contributed to about 3% of the total Australians GDP of which one-third was from international visitors. Demand for the tourism industry has been increasing and it has been estimated that over the next decade, the industry will have more strong growth (Dwyer et al., 2004). The reforms that show the demand increase include; cost of travel, foreign household incomes and relative price of tourism as compared to other destinations. For instance, they have reduced air fares which has shown an increase in demand for Australian air services internationally. The economic concept of supply and demand therefore comes in. The theory behind this concept indicates that every industry or organization should have a price point where the providers of a certain service meets or matches with the consumers. In tourism industry its important for the country to be prepared to meet the growing demand for the international visitors. A consumer preferences and tastes is key in relation to governmental reforms. The Australian government should be able to come up with regulations and policies that does not impede the visitors choice of where they want to travel. Australia has numerous tourist spots and therefore, the visitors should be free to visit any place they want. It should be able to come up with enough tourism-related businesses such as theme parks, casinos, resorts and restaurants accommodation (Prideaux, 2000). Policies to facilitate faster and convenience travel policies such as visa processing and favorable exchange rates should also be considered. Tourism sector is usually affected by increasing competition from different countries. To overcome the competition, a country should implement accommodative policies that are attractive to the visitors. Technological Reforms The concepts of opportunity costs and time value for money plays a pivotal role in consumers choice. No one wants to spend his or her money in something that does not pay off or does not give value of the money spent. The theory of tradeoff states that you have to give up something in order to receive something else. However, when you give up your money you expect to get something worth your money. Due to technology advancements, the travelers now days are doing their research so well before deciding to visit a certain place. Between the year 2006 to 2014, international visitors who booked their travel online increased from 22% to 50%. Therefore, it is important for the Australian tourism industry to invest more in improving their online services and other technological infrastructure (Stamboulis Skayannis, 2003) so as to meet the expectations of the visitors. Cooperation Rather than Competition There are various tourism agencies in Australia and cooperation between these agencies (territory and state agencies) is key in promoting tourism services. Maximum cooperation between these agencies from the Victoria, South Australia, Queensland, New South Wales, Western Australia and Northern territory ensures they speak one voice to the outside world. If the agencies compete against each other, there will be inefficiency in the destination marketing of the whole Australia as a whole (Whitford Ruhanen, 2010). Coordination however, ensures increase in net benefits due to coordinated marketing campaigns which improves the Australians international destination marketing. Recommendations to the Australian Tourism Imdustry Key Players Most of the national parks in Australia have poor infrastructure as well as persistent funding shortfalls. Undeveloped infrastructure can have a major negative impact on the tourism industry. Therefore, the government should encourage private investment in the tourism related infrastructure so as to increase the number of tourists in the country (Sakai, 2006) and also have added advantage over other countries. Approval processes for various investment in the tourism industry should be enhanced. The government should speed the approval processes and continually review them so as to make them more flexible and appealing to the investors. The government should also make the travel services more accommodative to the international visitors. Due to the ever increasing competition, proper reforms and strategic decisions on travel services should be implemented (Wray, 2015). Otherwise, the country will lose market or have limited number of visitors as compared to the resources they have to offer. If this happens, it would go against the economic concept of scarcity, where in many instances resources are scare as compared to the number of customers or what they are willing to spend on. Conclusion Tourism industry has impacted positively to the economy of Australia as well improving the living standards of the people by creating job opportunities. However, to maintain and expand the industry, the government and other stakeholders need to implement the major reforms discussed above. They also need to enhance provision of international destination markets and support other major activities. Once these reforms are implemented, the Australian tourism industry will stabilize its global tourism market and thereby increase its contribution to the Australian economic growth. References Dobson, C., Hooper, K. (2015). Insights from the Australian Tourism Industry. RBA Bulletin, March, 21-31. Dwyer, L., Forsyth, P., Spurr, R., Ho, T. (2004). The Economic Impacts and Benefits of Tourism in Australia. Technical Report Series, Sustainable Tourism Cooperative Research Centre, Gold Coast, Queensland. Prideaux, B. (2000). The resort development spectruma new approach to modeling resort development. Tourism Management, 21(3), 225-240. Productivity Commission. (2015). Australias International Tourism Industry. Australian Government. Sakai, M. (2006). 12 Public sector investment in tourism infrastructure. International handbook on the economics of tourism, 266. Stamboulis, Y., Skayannis, P. (2003). Innovation strategies and technology for experience-based tourism. Tourism management, 24(1), 35-43. Whitford, M. M., Ruhanen, L. M. (2010). Australian indigenous tourism policy: practical and sustainable policies? Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 18(4), 475-496. Wray, M. (2015). Drivers of change in regional tourism governance: a case analysis of the influence of the New South Wales Government, Australia, 20072013. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 23(7), 990-1010. Reforms in Tourism Industries in Australia Question: Discuss about the Reforms in Tourism Industries in Australia. Answer: Introduction: The Daily Telegraph of Australia published a report on October 16, 2015 on the Australian Tourism Industry, by Ann Sherry. It stated that this industry needed innovation and big ideas to keep up the momentum of growth. The report discussed that, at the end of the resource boom era, the Australian tourism industry emerged as the new sector with immense possibility of growth. Earlier, mining was the biggest industry of growth in Australia in terms of employment and revenue, but, in the past few years, the tourism industry has been creating more jobs than the mining sector. The report showed that in 2013-14, more than 530,000 people were employed in the tourism industry than 270,000 in mining. This is the powerhouse sector, which has the potential to contribute around $250 billion to the economy in the next 20 years. The tourism and visitor economy added more than $11 billion to the States gross state product in 2013-14 (Sherry 2015). The government aims to double the visitor spending by 2020, and make Sydney a city where people would both live and visit. To do this NSW government is pushing the idea of improving the infrastructure in Sydney. Sydney is already a global city; however, it needs more innovation and big ideas to increase the number of tourists. The report states that the scope for improvement is huge, while it needs proper direction and proper strategies to take the right reform actions. Not only the tourists, but, the government as well as the tourism industry are interested to make it a tourist hub in the next few years (Austrade.gov.au 2017). Economic analysis of the tourism industry: Australia is worlds 6th largest country with a population of more than 20 million. Cultural tourism plays a significant role in the total tourism growth. International visitors are attracted by the cultural diversity of the country. All the economic sectors of Australia adopt a broad framework for reform policies. Tourism sector contributed 10.9% of GDP in 2016, which is around 183.2 billion AUD. The gross value added of NSW was $27.6 billion, with direct GVA $13.9 billion and indirect was $13.6 billion in 2014-15. The travel and tourism sector comprises of cultural services, accommodation, mode of transports such as air, water and on road, other retail trades such as cafes, restaurants. Exports of all goods and services include visitor exports also. Internal and leisure travel and tourism are all parts of the total tourism (Austrade.gov.au 2017). In the last 10 years, the contribution to GDP has increased significantly, as shown in the following diagram. (Source: knoema.com 2016) Overview of the travel and tourism business 2015 (Source: Tourism Businesses in Australia 2016) Tourism is an industry, which is demand driven. The type of products that the visitors consume during travelling defines it. However, the citizens also consume the same tourism products. Hence, location is an important factor in this industry as visitors as well the local citizens contribute equally for the growth of a particular tourist destination. In Australia, the regional tourism developments are more prominent in this industry. As per the government websites, in the past few years, there was a boost in employment, regional growth along with imports of foreign currency, improvement of transportation services and these all led to a growth in the travel and tourism industry (Pc.gov.au 2015). In a report published in ABC News, it has been stated that in the Tasmanian Island, national parks should be reformed for growth of the tourism industry (Aird 2017). Over the last 5 years, the increment of visitors grew at the rate of 2.2% on an average annually, visitor nights increased by 3. 8%. Tourism product consumption increased to $121 billion from $103 billion. This industry is dominated by small and medium businesses, which account for 66% of the total revenue (Tourism Businesses in Australia 2016). (Source: Tourism Businesses in Australia 2016) Reform policy: Tourism 2020: this is the policy introduced by the Australian tourism industry for handling the challenges and growing opportunities. It has a framework for growth; and will help the businesses to stay competitive in the future in a dynamic international market. The key policy priorities are to encourage the high quality tourism, reduce the regulations and rigidities of the industry, create innovative campaign strategies for driving the demand and support tourism infrastructural development. The target of doubling the local and global overnight tourist spending up to $140 billion, the industry requires the development of international standard rooms of 6,000 to 20,000 by 2020. Increase in the international flying capacity from 40% to 50%, and 23% - 30% in the domestic capacity, leading to addition of around 1.9 million inbound seats by 2020, employment of additional 152,000 persons and more efficient campaigning (Economic Contribution of Tourism to NSW 2014-15 2016). Recommendation: The government of Australia could adopt the following reform policies: Reforms in the visa policies should be done in a priority basis to make it more quicker and competitive. Especially the applications that come from a potential markets such as China, should be processed without much regulations and at a lower prices. The restrictions on the primary airports are also a discouraging factor for this industry. They should keep the restrictions on the secondary airports and not at the gateways. The nature of jobs should be made more permanent rather than part time or contractual. The cities should be made more easier to access. The tourism department can issue an Opal card to the visitors for easier sightseeing and city tours, which could attract more tourists. The amenities should be renovated and developed as per international standard in all tourist spots. When a city is made more livable for the citizens, then more tourists are also attracted. Skilled tourism workforce should be developed for better tourist service. Identifying opportunities and partnerships for enhancing the marketing scopes is important to attract more international visitors. The state and national tourism plans should be integrated for regional infrastructural development and better customer services. Finally, the collaboration of cross portfolio should be done by the Australian government for driving the reforms of the visitor economy (Hooper and Zyl 2012). Conclusion: It can be concluded from the report that, the travel and tourism industry of Australia has emerged as economic powerhouse in the last five years. The contribution of this industry in the total GDP, GSP and GVA has increased significantly. However, there are still some scopes to be reformed and improved. The government of Australia has formulated the plan Tourism 2020, which revolves around the reforms of this industry and increment of visitor footfalls. It also proposes plans for innovative and big ideas to make the cities more livable and attractive. Hence, to achieve the goals, the government and tourism department should work together and implement the plan formulations. References: Aird, H., 2017. Tasmanian tourism industry pushes for reform of 'outdated' parks and reserve legislation. ABC News. [online] Available at: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-01-28/tasmanian-tourism-wants-national-parks-act-updated/8219790. Austrade.gov.au., 2017. About Tourism 2020 - Austrade. [online] Available at: https://www.austrade.gov.au/Australian/Tourism/Policy-and-Strategy/tourism-2020. Economic Contribution of Tourism to NSW 2014-15., 2016. [pdf] Destination NSW. Available at: https://www.destinationnsw.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/economic-contribution-of-tourism-to-nsw.pdf. Hooper, K. and Zyl, M., 2012. Australias Tourism Industry. [online] Available at: https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/d1d0/3bb8dc6d3dd0995eea9c3b2b0893e894b3b9.pdf. knoema.com, 2016. Australia Travel Tourism Total Contribution to GDP, 1995-2016. [online] Available at: https://knoema.com/atlas/australia/topics/tourism/travel-and-tourism-total-contribution-to-gdp/total-contribution-to-gdp-percent-share. Pc.gov.au., 2015. PC News, May 2015. [online] Available at: https://www.pc.gov.au/news-media/pc-news/pc-news-may-2015/australia-international-tourism-industry. Sherry, A., 2015. Australias tourism industry needs innovation and big ideas to continue to grow. The Daily Telegraph. [online] Available at: https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/australias-tourism-industry-needs-innovation-and-big-ideas-to-continue-to-grow/news-story/53078ef6405ad0c433612722c6fdbde7. Tourism Businesses in Australia - June 2011 to June 2015, 2016. [pdf] Australian Government. Available at: https://www.tra.gov.au/documents/Economic-Industry/Tourism_businesses_2016.pdf.