Tuesday, October 23, 2012

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Monday, October 22, 2012

Two kinds of life insurance policy

Many people believe that getting as many life insurance as possible is the easiest thing that people need to do when they are looking for the best life insurance for their life. I do agree with that idea. However, looking for some insurance quotes is not the first thing that you have to do if you want to get the best life insurance deal that is suitable for you. The very first thing that you have to do when hunting for a life insurance deal is to know what kind of life insurance you need to have.

When we are talking about the kinds of life insurance, we will usually have two kinds of common programs; the whole life insurance and the term life insurance. These two insurance programs are different in the way of how they protect you. The whole life insurance, as has been described by the name, will protect you for the rest of your life. Meanwhile, the term insurance will only protect you for a limited time, usually for more at least five year. Those two programs have their own advantages and disadvantages. Thus, before you pick any of them, you need to read the detail information about the program.

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Monday, October 1, 2012

Online Education and the Challenge of Motivation

Getting an online education is both a very thrilling proposition and a challenging one as well. It is quite exciting to learn through a very new and non-traditional form of education and it offers a set of new challenges that would compel individuals to really immerse themselves in what they are doing.
Unfortunately, even with an educational format as new as online education, the same old problems that plague students would usually crop up. The most common difficulty a student encounters is losing the motivation to continue studying. This feeling is further exacerbated by the unique environment that a student must contend with in an online education course. Being alone with no real classmates to act as real-time sounding boards and given the free rein to handle your time it becomes a challenge to really get into the groove of studying. Since online education classes are a new education format, it also does not possess many of the known support systems that we can find inside a traditional school structure. These support systems are what helps keep students motivated. The lack of social interaction can also be a significant contributing factor for online education students easily losing the motivation to study.
Losing motivation is quite difficult because it could become difficult to stay focused on what needs to be done. Losing the impetus to study will make it very difficult to prepare for exams or tests, complete assignments and finish projects. Motivation is what drives a person to study through the boredom, the tedium and the difficulties. Without motivation, the whole purpose of taking online education classes loses meaning. It would be just so easy to quit and stop taking the classes at the risk of losing the tuition paid for the online classes.
For those who may be worried that they may lose their motivation, the good news is that it can be restored or reinforced. Below are some tips given by many education experts as a way of keeping motivated.
* One way to stay motivated is to identify a goal and work towards its attainment. Try to focus on small goals that can be easily fulfilled. You can mark off a calendar with daily and weekly goals that you are required to accomplish. As you fulfill each goal cross it out with a pen. This process helps you build up your pride in your accomplishments.
* Try to talk to other people about what you are learning in your online classes. This process is usually done with your classmates in a traditional school system but because of the nature of online education, you really do not have classmates in the traditional sense. What you can do is talk to family members and friends about what you have learned in your online classes. One other thing you can do is to try to arrange a chat with your instructor so that you can have some time to discuss the subjects and/or curriculum with him.
* Try to be active in forums related to your course or classes. Even though there are no real physical ways of meeting fellow students in an online course most educational institutions that offer online education provide chatrooms or forums where you can chat with other people taking the same courses. These chatrooms or forums provide ample opportunity for different kinds of interactions with fellow students. You can use it to get to know other students personally and if you find one that lives near you, then you can probably arrange to meet with them regularly to discuss your subjects. You can set up online study groups that other students who taking the same course can use.

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Education: The Crises Of The Next Decade

It's common knowledge by now; the Hispanic population is rapidly increasing in the Southwest region of the United States. Within in the next decade many states will join the state of New Mexico, the first state to boast a majority Hispanic population. We are beyond counting numbers, what's emerging before us is evident to all. The Latino population is quickly overtaking many school districts, which are inept to deal with specific issues plaguing Hispanics, especially among the children of immigrants.
An example is taken from California's Monterey County whose Hispanic student population is listed at 73%, while Soledad Union School District Hispanic population lists at 94%. Most school districts similar to Monterey's are quickly making changes to their educational delivery systems to meet this growing trend by adapting their curriculum and hiring more bi-lingual teachers to talk to and orient parents to how their child's educational system works. Another example is Texas, the Lone Star State, which now has a majority Hispanic population attending their schools statewide.
Facing the facts is not easy, especially for many school districts where the student population is shifting to reflect more of a diverse demographic, more so than a decade ago. What educators design and deliver within the next decade will decide America's future for the next fifty years. So what quality of life and culture will our children inhabit? Will Latinos be an undereducated and dependent class or an enlightened and competitive community adding to the wisdom in the ever-changing global market?
The educational system cries out for more money to improve education. This has been the cry for the past 30 years plus, and we've seen no national measurable results to justify more. We don't need more money, rather, we need innovative leaders who happen to teach; teachers who are empowered to innovate and introduce change to transform current systems of learning. We can no longer wait for problems to arise then counter them with ineffective measures. We must take a proactive, and at times an unpopular stance, to affect change and correct the current system. Therefore, we don't need managers of old systems, what we desperately need is more innovative leaders to advocate, experiment and introduce new systems of learning.
This is why we need more courageous leaders like Dwight Jones, our new Clark County School District Superintendent; a visionary leader with innovative ideas, who ruffles the feathers of the status quo establishment. He is currently on circuit sharing his vision with many local and influential groups, more recently with the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce, for the purpose of mobilizing support for his vision to change and transform our educational system in one of the largest school districts in the nation. There are other advocates like Giselle Fernandez who are striking at years of establishment thought by hard-hitting research and advocacy.
In her recent Huffington Post article dubbed The Latino Education Imperative, she notes, "The stats say it all and cast the same frightening projection: By 2020, Latinos are expected to represent close to 25 percent of the country's 18-to-29-year-old population. In ten years, nearly ten million Latinos will be 15 to 24 years of age, accounting for nearly a quarter of the total US college-age population. But only 19% of Latino kids are graduating with an Associate of Arts degree, and only 12% with a Bachelor of Arts degree. This compared to 39% of whites, 29% of Blacks and 59% of Asians." These facts are cause for great concern among us. So what are Latino community leaders doing about it?
What role should Latinos play in our educational system? At this point a desperate one! We need to summon not just the educational leaders together but leaders from the various genres of culture. We need the faith and business communities to step up, and collaborate to create innovative strategies for new educational systems. I've always been an advocate for creating learning centers in faith-based organizations who employ educated staff with a minimum of a bachelor's degree. Many immigrants and their children attend church faithfully each week.
Why not create learning and tutoring centers at these locations? Immigrants have tremendous respect and trust in their faith leaders, and would follow their vision of education. A connection and dialogue with the faith community wouldn't hurt education but add wisdom to the current strategy. In addition business establishments can also add to learning by inspiring their best employees to give their time and talent to local educational centers to mentor, inspire and tutor marginal students.
The business community can also create learning centers with an internship program to teach workforce principles. In my experience, Hispanics are more prone to "hands-on" learning; therefore, an interactive approach to learning could enhance their learning experience. Education in the future must seek community oriented solutions rather than the centralized-status-quo mindset that exists in today's mediocre structure.
Latino Townhall exists to empower Latinos through education, leadership development and civic engagement to permeate, influence and transform the 7 Communities of Culture. The 7 Communities of Culture include Arts & Entertainment, Business & Commerce, Education, the Faith Community, the Family, Government & Law and the Media. Those occupying positions of leadership in these 7 Communities of Culture tend to influence, impact and shape our culture in positive or negative ways. It is our desire to develop all around leaders with the upmost character, integrity and leadership competencies capable of permeating and transforming culture.

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

How To Find Responsive Education Leads

Seeking New Education Leads
The job market has become competitive. How does someone seeking employment stand out from all the other applicants? One such way is through obtaining a degree in that field. Education has become increasingly important and much more available to everyone. With the "for profit" sector of education growing, the opportunities are available to any person who has earned a high school diploma or GED. Students no longer need to meet certain admission requirements to be accepted to universities, and the class schedules are flexible for the working student, with many even offering online programs.
With the competitiveness of the "for profit" universities, the more traditional campuses are following suite offering online programs including exclusive ones such as John Hopkins University. Creating new education leads for prospective students is a must. Some schools offer specialized degree programs in fields like Veterinarian Technician or Dental Hygienist: those schools do not have to work as hard generating new education leads because most student seek the schools out for those specific degree programs.
Other schools offer the most popular degree programs such as business or criminal justice. When a larger group of schools are offering the same degree program, each school must be proactive with recruiting new students. One way to help promote and recruit new students is by placing the institution on a mailing list, or an Internet search engine.
The mailing lists are compiled using the information of people who previously have researched degree programs online. The information is stored and the universities or educational institutions can then reach out and contact each prospective student personally. Search engines will also create new educational leads. When a person is researching schools, he or she must enter the degree that they are looking for. This helps each individual school know if the person is a good fit for that school, which also helps cut down on wasted time attempting to contact a person when the degree wanted isn't even offered.
It is important for all schools to be constantly generating new educational leads. Schools are constantly turning over students whether it is that they have dropped out, or because they have completed the degree program. By using a mailing list each school can create an ever-growing database of contacts to create those leads.
Don Drapers is a human researching machine and being part of the internet by writing useful articles about Education Leads is just one of many "must read before you buy" articles he has written in the sales lead industry. Before you spend marketing dollars on leads of any kind, make certain you visit iMarketingData.com now, and learn what you must to say to a Education Leads provider so they'll WANT to give you the very best leads they have. Alternatively, say these wrong things to any lead provider and you are highly likely to get burned. Visit iMarketingData.com and quickly learn how to be in control of your lead providers. Knowledge is power. How smart are you?

Thursday, September 13, 2012

Major Benefits of Investing in an Education Franchise Business

Education is a growing sector in India and offers potential business opportunities for those who wish to enter the business world. India has the world's largest youth population which wants to receive quality education with world class training systems. This allows new educational concept to enter the Indian market and become popular through franchising. Just see how KidsZee, Arihant Institute, British Academy For English School, NIIT are doing good business in the education sector and there branches can seen in different parts of the country. This has been possible only due to the concept of franchising.
Starting an education & training franchises business has become quite common nowadays as here the success rate is very high. There are many advantages of starting an education franchise business in India, such as:
High Success Rate: The best thing about investing in an education franchise is that you would be working on an already established business format that has a brand value in the market. This way investors and entrepreneurs don't have to struggle much to market their product to attract customers. As people are aware of the education firm and know about the brand, they won't be hesitating to buy your services. Moreover, it has been found that opening an education franchise business have at least 70% chances of surviving.
Full Support from the Franchisor: Whenever you plan to invest in an education franchise concept, remember that full support will be offered by the franchisor. As a franchisee, an investor will get all the equipments, training materials, instruction manuals, supplies and all the required assistance from the franchisor. This will surely help in starting a business in the education sector.
Marketing Benefits: Along with this, education franchise owners get benefitted from the different types of marketing campaigns started by the parent company or the franchisor. At times, franchisors also offer training to their franchises to help them manage their new business effectively and develop effective marketing strategies. Remember that the franchisors have adequate knowledge on how to operate and manage business successfully and are ready to help investors and entrepreneurs who are willing to take the franchise of their business.
Easy To Target Customers: The biggest advantage of any education and training franchises that a franchisee doesn't have to make many efforts to attract customers. The brand is already well name in the market with a good reputation. For instance a popular education franchise is KidsZee where 250 business partners join them in a year. The reason behind this is that this child education franchise has a brand name and is well renowned for imparting high quality education to small kids.
Financial assistance: It is comparatively much easier to obtain loan in order start a franchisee business. Quite often franchisors finance new franchise owners either directly or by arranging loan through lending institutions.
All these benefits make an education franchise business a great option for anyone interested in starting their own business. Opening an education franchise ensures great chances of success at a minimum of risk.

Friday, September 7, 2012

The "McDonald's-ization" of Education

McDonald's is astoundingly successful at purveying inexpensive fast food of consistently high quality.  They have achieved this primarily through standardization and quality control. If you purchase an "Egg McMuffin," or a "Big Mac" at an outlet in Seattle, or Milwaukee, Chicago or Miami, it will be almost exactly the same.
Standardization is increasingly making in-roads into education.  Once the realm of diversity (of opinion, thought, approach, teaching technique, classroom styles, etc.) and independence (academic freedom), the higher education classroom is being transformed into a "product" type delivery system.  The "products" in this case are the concepts, lesson plans, group exercises, assignments, etc. - indeed, the education itself.
The intent of this transformation is to provide a "standard" high quality student classroom experience  within disciplines, and across institutions.  With the student being the customer (consumer) of the educational delivery system, we want to make sure he or she is getting the highest possible quality product, and the key to this is "quality control" and standardization.
Instead of the after-the-fact quality control offered through instructor "evaluations," " classroom observations," and the like, the approach introduces a far more intrusive and directive model.  Lesson Plans, indeed, entire courses and curricula are loaded into pre-packaged modules, on thumb drives (USB) or onto computers, or servers.
As in the fast food business, manufacturing, or other product producing sectors, the product creation and delivery process is developed to gain the efficiency and effectiveness obtained in industry.
JUST LIKE McDONALD's
Just like McDonald's where the customer can expect to enjoy a standard, high quality product, served in a clean, well-designed environment, the student consumer can expect convenient delivery of the educational product, for his consumption, and enjoyment - "satisfaction guaranteed."
THE PROCESS
First, a product team is assembled.  In this case it consists of academic experts, curriculum designers, course writers, technology experts, product representatives, trainers, content specialists, etc.  The product development process is based on outcome objectives, i.e., "what do we want the student to know?," "what should he learn during this course?" and "how do we measure that?"  This "beginning at the end" philosophy is crucial.  It keeps the spotlight on the product, promotes quality, and ultimately, "customer satisfaction."
THE ENTERTAINMET COMPONENT
Gen Y students have different expectations from their predecessors, and are less likely to indulge obsolete or dated instructional methods and techniques.  They demand to be engaged.
Instructors are partially selected on their ability to "entertain" as well as "inform."  They are expected to be animated, humorous, engaging, and entertaining.  They are expected to convey knowledge in convenient, enjoyable, and satisfying, bites.
STEAMLINING THE EDUCATIONAL PROCESS
The more standardized the process becomes, the less latitude for the educator, the more prescribed the content, exercises and learning activities are, the more the business managers of the career and "for profit" colleges like it. This concept may, however, benefit the student as it concentrates on a quality, standardized, classroom experience.
IT'S EASIER
Once the instructor has mastered the technology, the whole instructional process is easier under this model.  Everything is pre-packaged.  No messy development of lesson plans - they're already done - and done well.  No thinking about creative learning activities and approaches -  they're already there.  You could almost do it in your sleep!  (if it wasn't for the requirement to be animated and entertaining.)
STUDENT NEEDS
Students in this new education model will be immersed in technology throughout their degree program.  This is the world of today, and the future.  They will participate and interact with SMARTboards, laptops, WiFi, simulations, business games, remote "clickers," interactive learning, real-world relevant projects, presentations, etc.  It's designed to match their learning styles and attention spans  It is preeminently designed to prepare them for their careers. Although many students are "comfortable" with technology, fewer are proficient, and fewer yet have an in-depth understanding. The curriculum should help them become more proficient and better prepared for the technology demands of the future business environment. The intensely technological nature of the classroom experience also addresses the various learning styles.  The auditory learner will have voice, music, and noise.  The visual learner will enjoy the videos, powerpoints, and other visuals.  The kinesthetic learner will appreciate the hands on components, especially the SMARTboard.
Student satisfaction is, of course, a primary objective.  Education, especially for-profit education, exists to serve the student, while running a business.  And, through serving and satisfying the student, ultimately the student will stay in school, graduate, and learn valuable knowledge and skills in the process.  These graduates will benefit the business community, and society at large.  An advanced society like ours is critically dependent on an educated and productive populous.
EMPLOYER NEEDS
What do employers want and need?  The link to employer requirements is a vital one.  Businesses need educated workers.  They require technologically adroit employees who can meet the demands of a rapidly changing technological environment and a highly competitive situation.
Ours is a productive society.  Businesses spend billions of dollars training and re-training their employees.  "Business Ready" graduates will be more productive from day one and employers will appreciate this.
HAS EDUCATION COME TO THIS?
Purists would argue that the more traditional approaches are preferable, and that academic freedom is being infringed upon.  They would say that instructors should be hired based on their knowledge, quality of education, expertise, research history and contributions to their field.  They would undoubtedly prefer to see pure "academicians" and "scholars" in the classroom.  However, there is room for an interesting debate here.  Is it about the instructor or the student?  Obviously, we understand that it's about both, but whose needs take precedence?  The answer has to be - THE STUDENT!  After all, the whole educational system is in place to meet the needs of the student, and ultimately, society.
Instructors with real-world, practical experience and without techno-phobia will be more adaptable to this new format, and perhaps better equipped to relate to the student.
THE BOTTOM LINE
In education there is always room for a broad range of opinions and approaches. Let's try this new one.  It works in business - why not education?  This is probably why Career Colleges are embracing the approach much more readily than their mainstream counterparts. The "for-profit" Career Colleges are definitely  the forefront of this initiative, and "early adopters."
We all know that "quality " is an issue in education.  Graduates with virtually identical credentials can have vastly different skills, knowledge, and abilities.  This is, and always has been a concern. This standardized, quality-assured model addresses that issue.
Sure, this educational model is controversial, as it should be!  But the end result may very well be that students have a reasonably similar experience, learn comparable skills, and become better "fits" within the business world.  Employers can be better assured and confident that graduates have the knowledge and skill base they require to be successful contributors.  They will probably, at some point, wish to be full participants in the curriculum development process.  In the globally competitive market, this might just be what is needed.
When we're teaching Business we must be business-minded.  Let's transfer those "best practices" from the business world to academia, keep our students involved, and better prepare them for their future careers.  And, the lessons to be learned from places like McDonald's may be more applicable to education than we might have ever imagined.
Copyright ©, 2009, Dr. Ben A. Carlsen, MBA. All Rights Reserved Worldwide for all Media. You may reprint this article in your ezine, newsletter, newspaper, magazine, website, etc. as long as you leave all of the links active, do not edit the article in any way, leave my name and bio box intact, and you follow all of the EzineArticles Terms of Service for Publishers.

Saturday, September 1, 2012

The Effects of An International Education in Emerging Countries

The 21st Century has signified one great change in the way the people are Educated, especially in Emerging Countries. One example has been implementing International Education, into the local Educational system.
A good example of this is in Indonesia.
In the space of ten years, Indonesia has de-regulated the once rigid State Education system, and allowed localized private Schools to offer International Education to its own citizens, as well as expatriate children.
This has allowed Indonesian-based students to study locally Cambridge, International IB, and UK IGCSE programs in private Schools in the Cities, and Towns across the Islands of Indonesia. And produced some amazing results with Indonesian children often ranking alongside their British and American counterparts, equally.
Some critics of this policy have stated whilst the State provided Education system sometimes lacks the basic facilities, a new "elite" of Western Educated Indonesians are being created, who can afford the higher school fees to enter these Internationalized Schools.
But studies have showed that in the 1990's, this new educated "elite" were often sent to study in Singapore, Australia and the USA, and now their Western-educated Parents prefer them to study closer to home. It also allows more Indonesians to allow their children to get an International Education, when they previously could not afford to send them overseas.
Many Indonesians have always looked Westwards towards getting a better Education, with many Indonesians today working in the nations urban centers holding Degrees mainly  from American , and Australian-based Universities.
Local Critics cite the recent Economic meltdown in Countries outside Indonesia, claiming that perhaps as Economies failed - so has the Education system wstem that created the Leaders who presided over the economic decline of many of these Countries, and Indonesia imitates these Countries too much.
The "westernized" Education system these Schools offer ,are Internationalized- but also in the long term may teach values of Countries some say are alien to the local culture. Values that are based on "pop" culture, and Western ideas, rather than Indonesian "family values."
Some Academics see this trend as disturbing, when a new generation of "western" Educated Indonesians may run Indonesia, at a time when some economists do predict that China, and India could be the main influence on Indonesian society.
Other Critics state that students lose their cultural identity, and become less of a National Citizen, but more of a global Citizen. Identifying with the United States more than their own culture, and often migrating there, once they have finished studying.
Those that agree the changes are beneficial, claim that Indonesia will have a new generation of citizens both ready and able to cooperate, and compete in business with their Western counterparts. Bringing wealth to Indonesia.
However to most Indonesians, an International Education offers opportunities in Indonesian society and beyond, that a State system can only provide from certain Schools. And until that changes, hundreds of thousands of Indonesian children, will attend local Schools studying IB programs, and IGCSES, and in some cases gain higher examination results than their counterparts in the USA and Europe.

Saturday, August 25, 2012

CLIP - Colegio Luso Internacional Do Porto - An Educational Project

In an interview with Time magazine, Peter Drucker, one of America's foremost management theorists, when asked "What kind of a century are we in, then?" responded: "In this 21st century world of dynamic political change, the significant thing is that we are in a post-business society. Business is still very important, and greed is as universal as ever; but the values of people are no longer business values, they are professional values. Most people are no longer part of the business society; they are part of the knowledge society.
The greatest changes in our society are going to be in education." When the journalist later suggested whether the world of the 21st century would be characterized by the competition among the three great trading blocks --Europe, North America, and Asia --Drucker answered: "Yes, and the activities of three big trading blocks will have political consequences. I think we are already in the midst of this, and the pattern is not going to be fair trade or protectionism but reciprocity." When asked: "Do you think we and our institutions are ready to cope with what you call "new realities"? Drucker affirmed: "Many are still stuck in the world of 1960. What we face now is totally new and dynamic -and we are quite unprepared for it."
These statements from a man calloused in the world of business reveal a reality of the present characterized by dynamic change on all fronts, by the power conferred by the possession of information and knowledge, by the primacy of education in that context of profound alterations, by relationships among persons, institutions, and peoples based on the concept of reciprocity. with determination Europe searches for the attenuation of centuries old divisions; the nations of the Pacific, led by Japan, try to find a common understanding which may grant them a more condign place in the international forum; the Sultanates of Islam search desperately for a more cohesive and forceful expression of their influence in today's world.
The progress attained in the technology of communications has made the international system of borders almost irrelevant. The quest for new markets has given birth to supra-national economic colossuses, capable of exerting a deep influence in the lives of peoples and nations. The rending of the iron curtain seems to have stolen the last visible and palpable barrier from a world forced to accept more and more, with less and less understanding. This vertigo of political and technological change has fostered a constant movement not only of people, but mostly of ideas and of information.
Knowledge of things and events has been made instantaneous, the volume of information has been suffocating, our capacity for absorption tested to its limits. Peoples and cultures, which some years ago could have been known only through the power of the imagination, visit us daily in our living rooms, so that, what was foreign, exotic, adventurous, has become common place. The need for a new private international school in the Oporto area is self evident. At the end of the twentieth century we are witnesses to an accelerating trend towards cultural globalization and a growing need for unhindered mobility for professionals and their families. In particular, the internationalization of northern Portugal due to the country's present EU membership status has created new educational needs for both local foreign children.
This need could be adequately answered by a high quality school, from the primary through university entry level, with English as the base language and the British educational system as the model. The educational program of this school would permit full equivalency throughout all forms with the Portuguese educational system and other international schools and universities. CLIP - Cologio Luso-Internacional do Porto is designed to achieve the following goals:
1 - To offer a student - centered, thoroughly modern, academically challenging, and internationally focused program of studies;
2 - To offer Portuguese students the opportunity to acquire an international education that will prepare them for attendance of both local and foreign universities;
3 - To provide foreign students with the opportunity to continue their education in a sequential, comfortable fashion;
4 - To offer students of Portuguese parents, who have attended schools in other countries, a proper process of school reintegration;
These objectives could be implemented by the following instruments: - A curriculum based on current British secondary programs, allowing pupils to s it for G.C.E. (General Certificate of Education), G.C.S.E. (General Certificate of Secondary Education), I. G .C.S. E. (International General Certificate of Secondary Education) at O - Level, but complemented with studies of Portuguese language, history and social studies, granting equivalence to the Portuguese secondary education forms 9 and 10; - A higher education access curriculum based on and in accordance with the LB. (International Baccalaureate, Geneve, Switzerland) curriculum, which is currently accepted by most universities across the world, and is also equivalent to form 12 of the Portuguese secondary educational system.
CLIP will furthermore develop its activities around seven basic educational principles:
* Academic Excellence: The attainment or the highest academic standards through a stringent and fully integrated curriculum that stresses individual excellence and group achievement;
* Learning how to learn; the content or the various disciplines is developing at such a rate that makes an encyclopedic approach to education quite unviable. By focalizing on how to learn, our aim is to prepare students for a lifetime of learning and personal development;
* Cooperative Learning: The instructional program of CLIP is based on the premise that students can and should learn from each other, and that they must shoulder the greatest responsibility for their education;
* Diversity and Cross-Cultural Education: The underlying concept of International Education is a learning process that positions the study of the diverse expressions of human life at the core of its program of studies;
* Individual Needs and Concerns: The program focuses on the needs and differences of each individual student. The central programmatic focus in this regard is a Teacher Advisor Program coordinated by a Guidance Counselor;
* Participatory Decision-making: The governance of CLIP is based on a democratic model for decision making as articulated in its Charter. CLIP recognizes the preeminent role of parents teacher and students in the educational process;
* The Arts: The arts are essential to a complete understanding of our nature as human beings and as members of cultural groups. In this regard the arts must be taught as independent cl discipline and integrated on the entire program of studies.

Saturday, August 18, 2012

Careers for Education School Graduates

Some people, from the time they are in first grade, know they want to be teachers. For others, the idea can be a sudden insight, or a feeling that grows and develops over time. Regardless of how the knowledge comes, becoming a teacher means becoming an educator; and that means studying education. So, what is education? Education encompasses teaching and learning specific skills, and also something less tangible but more profound: the imparting of knowledge, and well-developed wisdom. Education means 'to draw out', facilitating the realization of self-potential and the latent talents of an individual student.
Educators are always in high demand. The call for new teachers continues to grow as education changes rapidly and the number of school-age children increases. Also, education reform is taking place across the country, so the rules keep changing. New federal and state initiatives are encouraging all American schools, teachers and students to strive to be the best in the world. These changes are creating new challenges as well as new opportunities for prospective teachers.
There is widespread recognition of America's need to build a highly skilled, diverse teacher workforce. States are now raising their standards for teacher licensing and increasing salaries to attract well-educated people who otherwise would be inclined to work in other areas. Generally, teacher salaries have improved considerably in recent years, but salaries vary greatly from state to state and even by school district.
Besides a degree of job security, teaching offers a uniform salary schedule in which earnings are based on years of experience and training, and fringe benefits usually including health insurance, paid sick leave and retirement.
Most large colleges and universities offer degrees in education leading to teacher certification. Some colleges specialize in teacher training. The choice of which kind to attend is up to you. Good teachers come from all types of institutions.
If you are interested in this exciting, ever changing field, there are many career opportunities available. Traditionally, you will need a bachelor's degree, and possibly additional certification-requirements vary from state to state and school district to school district.
Besides teaching, with advanced degrees there are many additional opportunities available in administration and management. Employment opportunities are as diverse as the various support organizations in the world of education. Career opportunities ranging from consultants that work with school operators, to software and textbook publishers, are rapidly growing and expanding. The industry is developing quickly. Numerous new education organizations will join those currently in the industry to revolutionize the way people learn, research, collaborate, and teach.
Today's students will become the leaders of tomorrow's education industry. Using a diverse skill set, ranging from business expertise to a deep understanding of education, visionaries have an opportunity to reshape the industry to better serve students of all ages.
Individuals seeking a career in the education industry should be passionate advocates of
change based on an understanding of the education market today.

Saturday, August 11, 2012

Whither Education - An Apathy

Even after half-a-century of Indian Independence, the fate of education, educators and students has hardly improved. The apathy of the power that be, including a large section of society, has not changed when it comes to human resource development and education. Even now there are more than four crore educated unemployed youths in India.
India boasts of being world's third knowledge power but effectively this is the lowest when judged against per thousand-population base. Societal degradation, inflicted by political might, is reflected in educational institutions across India. Aberrations have become the rule on campuses that are infested with self-seekers and politicians.
Democratization of higher educational institutions, though a noble concept, has in the past 20 years turned campuses into a cauldron of stinking filth. These are managed by affiliations charged with little regard for excellence, honesty and intellectual probity. Unethical and politically-motivated decisions serve a few and are reflections of societal catharsis.
Geographic India consolidated into a polity by the British has muted into conglomerations of politically charged, disjointed entities and facsimiles of democratic degradation. The classic conservative yearning for an ordered polity and commensurate pursuit of knowledge on the campuses are missing. Whichever brand rules the country, this section of society commands no respect now. May it be students or teachers they don't have a voice, they don't constitute an essential service and education is not a national necessity. Being a state subject, educational policies suffer from innumerable deformities.
Though it is a constitutional obligation, the non-availability of funds and vested administrative setup have led to the mushrooming of universities, fake campuses, private enterprises and numerous makeshift centers of education as also fly-by-air foreign campuses. It has proved to be a great financial endeavor with hardly any risk involved because it does not come under VAT or any other financial constraints. India has by now more institutions of such type than colleges, an excellent opportunity to rope in knowledge seeking youth and those who desire to fly off to greener pastures.
When it comes to the formulation of policies about higher education, structuring the system, financial assistance, grants and salary, the statutory body-University Grants Commission-is mentioned like a sacred cow worshipped as well as butchered in the streets. How far the UGC is autonomous is a common knowledge. It has become a post office, a government organization, disbursing petty grants, sanctioned by the Central Government, among universities or institutions with a number of tags attached to them depending upon the status of the recipient institutions, state, Central, autonomous or deemed universities. There is a perpetual complaint about the non-availability of funds. The administration should appreciate that the jumbo cabinet and expenditure on legislatures could be cut down to feed and educate a few villages. The teacher wants to be a ladder upon which students could climb and scale new heights.
The Central and state governments invoke ESMA to curb the voice of agitating people, but it takes no time to give benefits to politicians and bureaucrats. It is essential to please them so that a symbiotic balance is maintained as also to oblige a few of them. The government has failed to take effective steps to curb industrialization of education. Within hours the doles given in Parliament and honorarium were doubled but the 6 per cent expenditure of the GDP on education has proved to be dogma persisting right from the Kothari Commission recommendations for over four decades now.
Students of various educational institutes go on strike, almost yearly, demanding withdrawal of excessive fee hike. The tuition fees make up only about 13 per cent of annual expenditure in the present university education. It is now a formidable industry and the aim is to make money. Poor students, however, intelligent they may be, cannot afford to join colleges, professional institutions or courses. They may join such courses by putting their families under heavy debt of banks or financial institutions. Even in the USA, tuition fees contribute to about 15 per cent of the total annual expenditure on higher education. Nehru said: "If all is well with universities, it will be well with the nation." Whereas Rabindranath Tagore once compared educated classes in India to "A second storey in an old building that was added in, but unfortunately the architect forgot to build a staircase between them."
Teaching profession is devalued in the country because the teachers can't compete in our society, have no muscle power, are educated and hence behave differently. Neither do they have guts of creamy bureaucrats nor institutional support of any kind. A teacher can entertain you with a pale smile on hearing that this is the profession of nation builders, the cream of society and a noble profession. The next moment teacher will be branded as cancers in societal marrow, getting salary for no work, craving for power, equality in salary and status with the Class A government servants. The teacher was the consultant and conscience keeper of society till mid-century. One could identify him by his tattered clothes, emaciated pale face, soft voice and meek behavior. He was the guru. That guru, comparatively having a better outfit now, has metamorphosed to a present teacher.
Newspaper reports are replete with his shortcomings; his misconduct in preaching indiscipline, enough is paid to him for no work, as he has to teach only for 181 days in a year. How could he dream of the parity with his bosses in the secretariat, his class dropouts in Parliament and the government. In order to save our hard-earned "democracy" which is being strengthened by a few hooligans, politicians and administrators, the government has to suppress the genuine demands so that education does not progress to the detriment of "illiterate democrats". A handful of teachers adopts unethical means to become rich just like any other segments that are designated scamsters today. Exceptions, however, do not make the rule.
Most of our Presidents, many of our bureaucrats, including ministers, parliamentarians and others, had been in this profession. Did they not do any good work for the betterment of society before their elevation to these posts of governance and reverence? Can't the authorities assess the strength of the demand vis-à-vis the qualification, age at the time of being recruited as a teacher, lack of promotional avenues, stagnation and competency in terms of hiatus in the inflated societal values, urge and necessity to improve qualification and experience to remain in the fray. Education for teachers is a continuous process unlike "one-time-degree-obtaining-education" for others. Evaluation is paramount in this profession for every promotion. Classroom education has become drudgery afflicted by societal unrest, absolute lack of infrastructure, fear psychosis gripping the powerless parents and absences of administration.
My perception is that politicians take less interest in improving the standard of education and living because they know that once the poor comes to know about their corrupt practice they would neither listen nor elect them. Political parties make promises in their election manifestos to reduce employment, poverty and corruption. But this can't be achieved without education. To me, education comes as a discipline, which is all-pervasive. Enshrined in our directive principles and ensuring our countrymen, "right-to-education" makes me feel that we possess the right to educate".
Even when we have ushered in the new millennium, education remains a password to of those who make an arrogant assertion that they know best and are serving the public interest-an interest, which of course, is determined by them. By the perception entrenched with the British subjugation of our people elitist education occupied the center stage to produce Macaulay's clones who were Indians muted to be "English in taste, in opinion, in morals and in intellect". "Educated slaves became strong props to sustain the British rule." Lord Curzon favored bureaucratization of education since he opined that educational institutions have become factors for the production of political revolutionaries. By the Act of 1919 education was transferred to the province.
When we educate we are involved in politics. Educators often think of education being disjointed from politics. In fact, education is perhaps the most political activity in the community. The state has always influenced what is taught in educational institutions. The socio-political (and in some cases religious) ideology colors the content of learning and the emphasis on various aspects. In fact, based on where the child was educated within India-whether it was a large city or a village, whether the school used English or a regional language as a medium of education, among other factors- the child will have a different world view. However, education, based on the syllabus, in India has largely strived towards imparting a temperament of religious, political and social tolerance. The social mores and hierarchies often seep into the arena of learning and color education.
Given the political potential of education, there have been numerous attempts to use education as a way of indoctrination. Sometimes it is covert, at other times it is overt. Sometimes it is subliminal, other times it is deliberate. However, political forces have always used education to further certain world views. Today, numerous educationists and political thinkers in India are afraid that a deliberate attempt to use education as a way of social-religious indoctrination might be the agenda of the new education policy.
Ralph Waldo Emerson said: "Not gold, but only teachers can make people great and strong-the persons who for truth and honor; sake stand fast and suffers long. It is they who build a nation's pillar deep and lift them to the sky". Teaching profession is a bed of roses. A good teacher is always his/her student's guide, friend and philosopher. A boy looked at the sticker on a car, which said, "Trees are friends". He challenged this statement, started cutting trees, saying that, "Trees are not our friends, but our enemies". When asked why he thought so. He said in his science textbooks it was stated "trees bring rain". Since his village gets flooded in every rainy season, so he thought that "all trees must be cut down". Confucius wrote, "If you plan for a year, plant a seed. If for 10 years, plant a tree. If 100 years, teach the people." Literacy is not enough. It is good to have a population, which is able to read, but infinitely better to have people able to distinguish what is worth reading. With overcrowded classrooms and ill-paid teachers,coaching classes are the commercial fallout of a system bursting out of the seams. How can idealism be expected from someone as concerned about the quality of life as you and me?
We have grown up with cherished memories of special teachers who made us love a subject we could actually have been frightened of and who we respected unconditionally. I have come across many persons whose mediocrity is reflected when they project themselves as the best whereas the fact speaks otherwise and those who criticize their alma mater forgetting that they passed out from the same from which they graduated. Education can have a great role to play in decreasing social disparities between groups and in promoting social mobility. For instance, the tremendous expansion of the middle class in India can confidently be attributed to the investment in education, especially in higher education.
Universities are struggling to survive on shrinking governmental grants. In the wake of this it takes shortsighted decisions to cut expenses and increase revenue by increasing fees, which may not be in the long-term interest of the universities. Thus universities end up being run as business enterprises. Education cess is now on considered to partially meet funds for primary education and Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan. Open our universities to foreign students. Foreign campuses may prove to be of hardly any use in generating funds for Indian education. Trading in education may be another jeopardy.
Collaborations could be in specialized fields with foreign campuses like in the past. Even in the USA, private and government ratio in higher educational system does not exceed 80/20. China is experiencing two-way international student traffic with a large number of them from the USA in preference to India. This could be reversed if we build proper infrastructure and achieve proficiency in imparting education of world standard. A realistic education cannot be separated from the realities of the students' environment, which surrounds him, his aspirations, society, the local cultural factors, conditions varying in his own country and global effects. Education, therefore, should be in consonance with the day-to-day living. Till date education does not define our resurgent polity and democracy.