Capital Punishment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 7

Capital Punishment - Essay Example However, it should be noted that crime rates in countries where capital punishment prevail, are almost similar to that other countries where capital punishment is illegal. â€Å"Capital punishment never allows a criminal to change his behaviour as in the case of other forms of punishments†(10 Pros and Cons of Capital Punishment, 2010). Correction is the ultimate objective of every punishment. Capital punishment provides no opportunity to the criminal for correcting his antisocial behaviour. In other words, capital punishment cannot be considered a punishment, but it is an act of killing. By providing capital punishment to a killer, criminal justice system is also doing the same mistake as committed by the criminal. In other words, the activities of the criminal justices system and that of the criminal may not be different while providing capital punishment. Both are doing the same act; taking the life of another person. American criminal justice system believes that â€Å"partisan advocacy of both sides on a case will promote the ultimate objective that the guilty be convicted and the innocent go free† (Ferdic et al, 2008, p.37). There are chances of wrongly punishing an innocent person because of the circumstantial evidences or the fabricated evidences. The ultimate aim of every criminal justice system is that no innocent should be punished even if thousands of criminals escaped. Capital punishment is an irreversible act and nobody can return the life of a person if that person found innocent later. â€Å"One of the studies has shown that capital punishment is around 70% expensive compared to non death penalty cases or life imprisonment cases† (Pros and Cons of the Death Penalty (Capital  Punishment), 2009). Compared to other types of punishment, capital punishment is an expensive act. Life terms are cheaper than capital punishment. Capital punishment

Enzymes Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Enzymes - Essay Example Then we will utilize acquired information to examine a given experiment. type of organic molecule that contained gene makeup in biological existence (pg. 50, Barrick, Scientific American). DNA seemed to be an evolved trend later down the centuries. DNA now possesses all information concerning the constructs of the human body, including the structure of enzymes. Enzymes In comparison to DNA, RNA differs in nucleic acid component such as To understand the process of creating enzyme RNA proliferation, we have to explore how they are produced and pinpoint theirpurpose in modern cells. The process commences when RNA polymerase, an enzyme, attaches to DNA strands and copies portions of it. RNA polymerase unwinds and opens the double stranded DNA and reads the nucleotides and matched them up with composite nucleotides that fit. After transcription is done, the messenger RNA (mRNA) is released and capped on each side of the strand to prevent the enzymes outside the nucleus from disintegrating it. These mRNA are photocopies of the DNA. Now when the strand reaches outside, it is quickly read by ribosomes. Ribosomes are composed of ribosomal RNA (rRNA) that essentially deals with the synthesis of proteins. The ribosomes read the nucleotides assembled in sets of three called codons. Each codon sequence has a specific amino acid it pairs up with. Each amino acid is distributed tRNA or transfer RNA. After each codon is translated, the appropriated amino acid are assembled in the order of the codons on the mRNA and fused to together through the process of dehydration synthesis. Then that protein will leave the ribosome while the mRNA disintegrates for its extended exposure to the catalytic enzymes outside the nucleus. The components of the disintegrated mRNA are recycled. That protein can be an enzyme fit for meta bolic activity. For a catalytic activity, the molecules at the beginning of the process are called substrates, and the enzyme breaks them down into different molecules, the products. Almost all processes in the cell need enzymes in order to occur at significant rates. Since enzymes are extremely selective for their substrates and speed up only a few reactions from among many possibilities, the set of enzymes made in a cell determines which metabolic pathways occur in that cell. Enzymes work by lowering the activation energy for a reaction, thus dramatically increasing the

Living As If God Does Not Exist Essay Example for Free

Living As If God Does Not Exist Essay Since ancient times, alongside society’s development is the widespread proliferation of the religious consciousness of mankind. Although primitive small-scale societies had always been depicted as animists and polytheists, the concept of the High God is a common theme that has already been discovered. Studies of ancient societies have revealed in the belief of a Supreme Being, although this was also coupled with worship of lesser spiritual entities since the Supreme God seems distant and uninvolved in daily concerns of men. Compared with modern men, people of the ancient past were mainly agricultural communities. They are basically more aware of their natural surroundings and the different forces which affect his sustenance and survival. Many of these forces are beyond his control and understanding. Early man was therefore more inclined to acknowledge the existence of a Great Being who is responsible for the existence of the world and the one who is in complete control over all. Worship, whether to God or lesser spirits, has often been closely associated with receiving favour and positive results, or to ward off negative conditions like sickness. But current mode of attitudes and perspectives that pervade modern men has increasingly being held under the spell of beliefs that exclude God and the invisible world from the realm of reality and day to day living. Such an approach to life however, is not entirely exclusive in modern times. This was already present in the distant past where there were critics of religious beliefs for instance among some of the ancient Greek philosophers and the Roman Lucretius; in India, where most see it as a rich place of religious practices, materialism has already flourished at the time of the Buddha and for many centuries afterward which basically rejected all belief in a transcendent world; and in China, rationalist Confucianism often involved a rejection of religious doctrine. But these protests against the existence of and reliance of a Supreme Being or of spirituality in general, are only sporadic and never gained majority allegiance during its time. But this is now greatly pronounced in the modern period than ever before, since the powerful restatements of atheism and agnosticism have found a wide success in acceptance and following. The rise of the scientific discoveries and inventions, as well as the increase of intellectuals has made it more ideal to reject the existence of God and other religious values. Man sees himself as the ultimate controller of his destiny, as he experiences more control of the things that affect him. As greater understanding of the world around him is achieved, man sees a greater lack of importance in relying on an unseen and somewhat ‘distant’ God. Modern man is also pressed with many concerns. The large masses of manual workers that were born of out of industrialization in the big cities of northern Europe have caused them to become largely alienated from the faith of their fathers. It is both the social and intellectual forces which have thus combined to promote a widespread practical atheism. There are mainly anti-religious ideologies of modern man which has come to influence modern day thinking. First, was the growth of liberal humanism that principally influenced the western world. This philosophy is rooted in the scepticism of the eighteenth century; it received a greater momentum from the religious controversies of the nineteenth century. Second, was the spread of German type of atheism which were popularized by the writings of Feuerbach, Marx, and Nietzsche. Nietzsche even pronounced the death of God in one of his writings. He announced the death of God, as man is ‘awakened’ to the ‘reality’ that God is only a creation of the human mind. Today’s society is very much influenced, although mostly indirectly, by the banner of humanism that fiercely denounces the existence of God and His requirements. Humanism passionately proclaims that the acknowledgement of God is a declaration of war against life, against nature, against the will to live; and that Christianity is the formula for every slander against this present world and guilty of proliferation of ‘lies’ of a world beyond or afterlife. Out of this, came the atheistic Communist ideologies, which for some time in the past, has pronouncedly divided the world. Then, there were also the philosophical movement known as Existentialism, which ironically had Christian origins through the work of Kierkegaard, has nurtured within it a newer type of atheism, popular since the Second World War. Such a deluge of assault on the Christian faith would seem overwhelming and puzzling to those who profess faith in it. God and Christianity seem to have often called down upon strong denunciations. But it is not entirely out of reason. There has been the spectacle of inter-denominational strife, the growing cynicism towards the authenticity of those who were key figures of the Christian faith as against their extravagant lifestyles, memory of persecutions, and the political conservatism of many Christians all these must be taken into consideration. However, what could be considered a more major reason for rejection is because of the more common association of Christianity with Puritanism. There have, indeed, always been pronounced ascetic elements in the Christian experience, although they are considerably less than in most other of the world religions. It can be said though, that Puritanism and ascetism obviously have important place in certain kinds and phases of different religions. Puritanism demands the population at large to conform to it. Central to the Christian belief is the submission to the Supreme Being, and His instructions. The world, as symbolized by Nietzsche, continuous to express a strong reaction against such beliefs. God and his laws are often received as restrictive, since man’s experience show that he possess desires and instincts which often goes in conflict to what God approves, and must therefore contend with it for most of his time. For most men, this seems to constitute a kind of conspiracy to confine human self-expression and freedom. It is not surprising then, to see an abundance of decay in wide areas of society, since unwillingness to submit to God’s authority is more appealing in order to gratify the self. God is therefore seen as an enemy against the fulfilment of the desires and plans of the self. In addition to this, many simply suspect that those â€Å"kill-joy† Christians, do make those impositions on others condemning jollification and gaiety, as an unconscious repressions and anxieties which stems from Freudian influence. The rejection of the divine and supernatural is not just a mere intellectual scepticism about the truth of God and Christian beliefs; it has also been an emotional rebellion as well. Social factors have contributed. As we have seen, the dislocations caused by industrialism in many Western countries, have produced the alienation of much of the working masses from Christianity. In addition, social forces have brought a distrust of the older forms of authoritarianism. This was already demonstrated between the World Wars, the rejection of being ruled by a higher force. Moreover, this has been heightened after the war where many younger folks have opportunities of work and spending that often creates a sense of being relatively independent. This new found independence rewards man’s desire to be the sole controller of his own life. Such an attitude was already displayed since man’s creation. Self-rule, the rebellion against God’s authority has become the norm. With this development, the traditional forms of Christian teaching and preaching and the presentation of the ethical side of Christianity as something fixed and God-given have not had a widespread effectiveness. What is more popular in many folks of today’s generation is the adherence to anti-authoritarianism and which continuous to stimulate anti-Church feeling, even to the political level. Various advocacies that are being presented with much militancy and following today (i. e. same sex-marriage) run in complete opposition to God- declared laws. It is therefore not an unexpected condition that those who support such advocacies will reject God’s authority and existence. God’s ‘in-existence’ would mean that man can do whatever seems right in his own eyes. Truth and right is therefore relative. Also, aside from the agnostics and anti-religious atheism, are those within the so-called Christian societies, are a large number of people who simply do not attend church or religious ceremonies (Smart, pp. 558-573). They are not necessarily lacking in religious belief, but nevertheless they do not feel themselves called upon to belong to any religious organization. They are people who live in a large, gentle twilight zone between religiousness and agnosticism. They have inherited much of the humanist movement, but they do not share the intellectual presuppositions. They include many, therefore, who, when asked, profess belief in God or more vaguely in a Power which controls the cosmos. But they are not convinced of actively participating in worship of such a Being as something essential of one’s existence. They are not inclined to pray, seek God, read the Bible, though they might possibly do so in times of stress or great danger. They are, for the most part, alienated from the fellowship with God and the fellow believers. They are aware of the differences of teachings in different denominations, and are thus mistrustful of dogma. They have no wish to deny God’s existence outwardly, but they do not desire to seek and know Him. They have reverence for a Creator; but they feel that God is distant and detached. They respect Christian moral values, but they reject Puritanism. They do not have much sense of sin, but they admire saintliness. They are worried by death, and they hope to live for a better afterlife. But the division between heaven and hell they do not feel. Such people far outnumber the committed atheists and the explicit agnostics. For many members of society today, science possess greater prestige derived from the practical benefits of technology and the awesome mumbo-jumbo surrounding the expert, has superseded that of religion. The current civilization can be depicted in such a state. Although the blatant atheists and agnostics have been relatively few, the influence of their thinking has been formidable. Despite the ‘advancement’ in knowledge, man has generally been ignorant of God and His ways. What is generally esteemed as ‘wise’, those who reject God, does not see the pointlessness of their argument. Creation itself speaks as a witness to His superiority and existence. What is evident in creation is the presupposition of a Creator. If the world and the universe came out of chaos, scientific discoveries show that everything in it has a purpose and held with much order, which could not basically flow in congruence with the ‘accident’ theory. Also, the amazing functions of the human body, also defy such a premise that man was created by chance. For man to reject his Creator and His authority is one of the most miserable and worse thing that has occurred to man. Man indeed is very much in need of redemption from the futility of his own way of thinking. Reference: Smart, Ninian. (1984). Contemporary Religious Experience. The Religious Experience of Mankind. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons

Organization Culture In Multinational Companies Management Essay

Organization Culture In Multinational Companies Management Essay Multinational companies are facing more challenges when they try to develop a cohesive organizational culture than domestic companies. In this study, several cases experienced from real life examples will be presented. They will be discussed with theoretical framework which allows reader to understand each situation through comparative analysis. The theory of Cultural Management, Cross Cultural Communication Negotiation, Leadership, Motivating people is selected for cross referencing in accordance to the topic of the study. The study focus on two main parts; Part 1: Describe the challenges faced by MNCs on developing a global management, moving forward to identify the key challenges; Part 2: Focus on managing people across borders and cultures implementing Cultural Management concepts and theories (Hofstedes Cultural Dimensions 1980), leadership Motivating theories. The intention of this part is to give a critically discussion on real business situations while being aware of the application of these selected theories. The findings of useful methods for global leaders developing organizational culture will be explained in the conclusion. I will give my personal reflections on how the application of these theories will benefit leaders working in the similar situations in the international business. Part 1 Challenges on developing a global management Organizations are always facing challenges when they are doing business globally. These challenges include the assessment of the environment, managing social responsibility and ethics, communication negotiation across cultures, etc. In the following paragraphs, I will give journal articles related to a real life example that has faced several critical challenges when developing a global management. On 5th March 2012, China Labour bulletin reported a string of press release that there are a total of 27 logged reports of strike and protest from workers across China with the majority group of workers from the industrial/manufacturing and transport sector. The strikes and protests are mainly concerned on low wages, reduction of annual bonus, unreasonable employee layoff, management takeovers and relocations. A related such case is workers at Putzmeister Machinery in Shanghai stages a strike over the unsatisfactory compensation package being offered after the company takeover by SANY Group. Putzmeister Machinery being one of the largest German Manufacturer of concrete pumps has been acquired by Sany Group (one of the largest manufacturer of heavy machinery in China). Workers who are benefitting from the existing European management system and packages cannot accept the sudden implementation changes adapted from the Chinese company. It is believed that SANY has amended the package not in favour to the workers. After acquisition took place, employees who are not from SANY Group are affected by several changed factors both internal and external of the SANYs company policy. The culture which forms the organizational environment requires managers improve their cross-border learning capabilities. Managers from parent-country nationals or host-country nationals cannot ignore local employees needs. Successful leader manager advocate to earn peoples loyalty and trust by learning their different cultures, they also try to help employees to understand what their future and opportunities may have in place. Besides, exercising effective Change Management is necessary for leaders to understand the culture changes. This is because culture does not simply mean understanding who talks with whom, about what, and how the communication proceeds, it means how people encode messages, the meanings they have for messages, and the conditions and circumstances under which various messages may or may not be sent, noticed or interpreted. (Samovar and Porter, 1997) In this regards, the needs to understand the cultural variables are also necessary for Managers of SANY Group to enquire the skill to avoid miscommunication. According to the study from Cameron and Green (2004), the role of a leader in acquisitions is providing situations to the individuals in organization as follows  [1]  : 1. Ensure that the team knows that a change will happen and things will not be the same way they used to. 2. Ensure that the people understand the things that will change, what will stay the same and when will all this happen. 3. Encourage people try to do things in a new way and provide the right environment. Part 2 Managing and motivating people across cultures People from the same culture usually share a common general understanding of right and wrong, acceptable behavior and inappropriate behavior. In multinational companies, staffs are from a variety of national cultures, they have variety cultural backgrounds, this requires managers who are operating in global interdependent market operating in a series of hugely diverse landscapes (Tom Keen, Jim: Leadership Landscapes, palgrave, 2007). Serious misunderstandings may happen when managers cannot understand staffs real needs, values and self-actualization. Managing and motivating people across culture are not only a challenge to large companies but also something applicable to small-scale companies while multinational people are collected together. A reference of a real life example of China Wealth Middle East Machinery which is doing heavy machinery leasing business located in Dubai. China Wealth Machinery Co Ltd is a subsidiary of SANY Group which was founded in 1999. The main core of business is leasing heavy equipment to civil and building contractors. Based in Hong Kong, China Wealth set up a subsidiary branch in Dubai on 2008, which is China Wealth Middle East Machinery (L.L.C) . In China Wealth Middle East Machinery, there are workers from four different countries, China, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan. These workers are employed in various operating position like operators, maintenance engineers, foreman and P.R.O. The company has faced challenge in managing, motivating people from different culture. In a general perspective, there is a similar culture with very few differences among the employees from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan. However, the difference can be substantial when they are compared with the Chinese culture. Hofstedes study gives comparison between Chinese and Bangladeshi cultures, the results are illustrated as follows, Key PDI: Power Distance IDV: Individualism vs. Collectivism MAS: Masculinity vs. Femininity UAI: Uncertainty Avoidance LTO: Long term orientation LOT LTO: Long term/Short term orientation Figure Comparing China and Bangladesh The chart in Figure 1 shows the comparison of PDI, IDV, MAS, UAI between Chinese and Bangladeshi culture. There is significant similarity between the two cultures in PDI, IDV and MAS where PDI and IDV are exactly the same. In contrast, the great differences between the two cultures come at UAI and LTO. There is distinctive evidence in the relationship among Chinese and Bangladeshi. They have both displayed high power distance in their workplace. Chinese have given more respect for the elderly; it is believed their behavior assembled from the Chinese Confucianism when taught in the younger days during their upbringing. Whereas, even the junior will to embrace with outstanding achievement, they are not able to gain the same respect as the elders. In China Wealth company, all the Bangladeshi operators are younger than the Chinese operators, therefore, they will only take the role as helpers at the beginning even the Bangladeshi has accumulated enough or already have experience. In addition, the Chinese will always command a longer term orientation and a better salary package which is almost double when they are both put on the same position. It can be seen as unfair but is widely accepted in the company. Furthermore, Bangladeshi workers show their high uncertainty avoidance which can be explained that they do not mind the status and acceptance of lower responsibility in exchange for a secured salary. They are easily contented people who do not desire a long term orientation. They can generally accept Salary which is sufficient to cover the basis expenses and support the family back home. On the contrary, Chinese workers need high salary and seek for long term orientation which allow them to spend freely and opportunity for promotion in future. They are risk taker and are ready for any unforeseen event that may or may not occur, they can also take challenges at work. Thus, managers who work as multicultural role on motivation and management blend in different ways. They must consider the entire national and cultural context on a situation-by-situation basis, settle reward system not only rely on money but also search for their interest and satisfaction, means of keeping occupied, status and prestige. It is difficult to judge which type of workers behavior in China Wealth company is right or wrong. Managers should make different job motivation between Bangladeshi workers and Chinese workers according to their different cultures. Part 3 Conclusions In globalization competitive environment, leaders can be expatriates. They need to have multiple competencies to deal with challenges like cross border transaction. I think it is important for them to create new culture initiatives by allowing employees to extent their thinking and actions. Creativity can be one of the useful methods when dealing with multiple challenges. Creativity means doing things from a different way, leaders must learn different culture from people outside the system. Leaders should consider the cultural differences when creating a new culture for the merger or acquisition.( Kuada, 2008), they can enable reward systems, planning and performance management, motivating systems working together to support the objective and preferred behaviour. The leaders job comprises cultural adaptability, leadership experience and technical knowledge, level of authority and autonomy etc. No single leadership style works well in all situations.( Helen Deresky, 2012) Global leaders should broaden their horizons strategically and cross-culturally. Besides, leaders should also try to develop a flexible model what can adapt to local situations then apply around the world.

family as a product of the Environment :: essays research papers

What is family? Family can be described in several ways, a group of persons of common ancestry, or by a person’s perceived view of what a family actually is. Everyone has their own beliefs on what actually makes and defines a family. We will compare the views on family based on Karl Marx’s â€Å"Communist manifesto† and Jose Saramago’s â€Å"The Cave† to see the differences and similarities that take place, and then we will come to a general conclusion that family is a product of our environment Marx felt that history of man is the history of class struggles; these class struggles generally exist between the oppressed and the oppressors. As for the modern class struggle, the authors of the Manifesto blame industrialization, the discovery of the New World and other foreign markets, and the amount of capital available to the businessmen and the bourgeoisie as reasons for the abuse of the working class. The working class is described as being nearly impossible to make better; they have only the bare minimum to survive and the growth of capitalism is making the proletarian class even bigger. This is why they are fit to rise up, together, in open revolution to change the current social structure, to overthrow the rule of the bourgeoisie. Because of the drive to make money, Marx felt the ties between men had been reduced to â€Å"naked self-interest† and â€Å"cash payment†. (Marx 11) To Marx families were seen as nothing more than a business relationship. For this reason, Marx advocated for the abolishment of families and supported free love to end the exploitation of wives. Instead of having many family units, the plan was to break these down to give way for the eventual birth of one large family of proletarians.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In â€Å"The Cave† the view of family is represented by Cipriano Algor, his daughter Marta, her husband Marcal and even the family dog Found. Family is very important to the Algor‘s as it can be found in the constant crying and discussions by the family. There are many arguments that end up with one or more of the people in the discussion crying. For instance when Marta finally tells he father that they are having a child, Cipriano is upset that they didn’t tell him sooner, Marta begins to cry and it all ends up ok. Crying is a key way to show someone that you care for them.

MacBeth :: essays research papers

MacBeth   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The play, MacBeth, is enriched with many characters; each categorized in different stages of Kollberg’s theory. Kollberg’s theory was about characters and their moral development through out the story. There were only seven stages in his theory, 0-6, zero meaning no morals, and six is being like Jesus. It is a short play without a major sub- plot, and it is considered by many to be Shakespeare's darkest work. In the play MacBeth, Duncan is a stage four through out the play.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   A stage four, according to Kollberg, is a character orientated toward authority and maintenance of social order. A good example would be a police officer or a president. Up until his demise Duncan was orderly king. He kept peace between the lords and other countries as best as he could. Duncan was a beloved father and king to the Scottish people.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  After the brutal battle between Duncan’s servants and the Thane of Cawdor’s rebels, Duncan hears news that MacBeth fought with courage like no other. Duncan is so pleased he makes MacBeth the new Thane of Cawdor.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Duncan: No more that Thane of Cawdor shall deceive Our bosom interest:--go pronounce his present death, And with his former title greet Macbeth. (Act I scene ii) What a great guy Duncan is, he is like this threw the whole play. Because of MacBeth’s great skill in battle, Duncan grants MacBeth to be the new Thane of Cawdor. Duncan kept order by killing those who a-pose him, such as the late Thane of Cawdor.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  At Duncan's castle, the king, Malcolm and another of the king's sons, Donalbain, greet Macbeth and Banquo. Duncan announces that he will visit Macbeth at the new Thane's castle near Inverness, and then names his oldest son Malcolm as successor to the throne. Macbeth says that he will go to Inverness in to prepare for the king's arrival. But in a stage aside, Macbeth speculates that Malcolm is an additional obstacle of the throne as prophesied by the witches.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Duncan: O worthiest cousin! The sin of my ingratitude even now Was heavy on me: thou art so far before, That swiftest wing of recompense is slow To overtake thee. Would thou hadst less deserv'd; That the proportion both of thanks and payment

Evaluate and Reflect Upon Practice in Early Years Settings in Supporting Children’s Social Development

This rationale will discuss the issues around gender and whether or not as parents, teachers or practitioners we influence children into their gender identity or whether it is inherent within our genetic makeup. I will be evaluating the complexities of my role as a practitioner in supporting children’s social development and reflecting upon how I could improve and modify my practice. There are differing views when it comes to defining gender. Some use gender to focus on biological differences such as sex, physical differences or hormones (Guarian 2002: 20).Others refer to ‘gender’ as the social constructions of masculinity and femininity (ATL 2004: 9 and Francis et al 2005: 73) meaning boys’ and girls’ behaviours and attitudes, which are not necessarily fixed by their biological make up. There is therefore a need to realise that ‘gender’ can be and often is regularly an interchangeable term that can be suited to both of these definitions . Kohlberg (1966) in (Harris and Butterworth 2002) suggests that there are three stages of gender identity beginning around the age of two to three years.The first stage is Gender Identity, where children become aware of sex. A child will say ‘I am a boy’ for example but not necessarily know what being a boy means. The second stage is Gender Stability which happens around the ages of three and a half to four and a half years old. In this stage children will develop awareness and understanding of the durability of their own gender and of others, this is generally focused on the physical appearance and a child may think that a person who dresses in typically opposite gender clothing has also changed sex (Emmerich et al 1977 in Harris and Butterworth 2002).The third of Kohlberg’s stages is Gender Consistency. This usually happens around the age of four and a half and upwards and this is when children begin to realise that regardless of their appearance people remain male or female. When looking at gender within education, there is a need to consider what effect it has on a child’s achievement. The DfES (2007: 1) states that there is a gender gap within English, Maths and Science from Foundation Stage through to Key Stage Three, where girls are outperforming boys.The attention on gender and children’s achievement has been present both within the media and schools for many years. Recently this emphasis has been geared towards the underachievement of boys. Siraj-Blactchford (2001: 72) in (Sharp et al 2006) states: Recently we have heard a good deal in education debates about (working class) boys’ underachievement. The results from the school league- tables suggest some boys do underachieve in basic literacy. This is portrayed by the media as ‘failing’ and suggests that girls are outperforming boys in education.It may not necessarily be that boys have a low achievement rate, rather it could be that they are simply not yet reaching their full potential (Warrington et al 2006: 39). I feel therefore the media has over inflated the idea that boys are underachieving. Instead of focusing on the failure, the emphasis on underachievement here should be looking at which boys (or girls) are not reaching their full potential. From my experience I have seen that teachers and practitioners also act in ways that maintain and maybe even extend the gender roles that are taught at home.It seems they often emphasise gender distinction with labelling that promotes gender stereotyping. It seems that boys do get more attention than girls, whether it is good or bad, as teachers generally seem to think that because a girl is quiet they do not need their attention. Francis et al (2005: 92) reiterates the idea that boys’ underachievement is due to feminisation and female teachers however within my setting there are five male teachers and two male teaching assistants.I feel that this has a good impact on some of the children. In today’s society there is not always a mother and father within the family environment. There is an increase of fathers being absent within the child’s life. Having so many male teachers within my setting has encouraged children to see that it is acceptable to participate in what children perceive as stereotypical activities and even enjoy them without being teased by their peers.Stetsenko et al (2000) states that male and female brains differ from each other suggesting that boys generally excel in spatial tasks such as sport and girls are generally better academically. According to Blum et al, (1989: 16) boys’ brains have more cortical areas dedicated to the spatial mechanical functioning and they use on average only half the brain that females use for verbal – emotive functioning which essentially means that females are predominately seen as better talkers and listeners and males are doers.Having worked for nearly ten years in childca re and education and being a parent myself I have also realised that boys and girls do behave in different ways Mothers and Fathers are responsible for the initial gender socialisation of their children. As suggested by Bowlby (1969) in (Johnston and Nahmad- Williams 2009) family is the first and most important influence on a child’s social development. Many of a child’s early family experiences shape their initial motivations, values and beliefs.Bandura’s social learning theory (1963) suggests that boys learn how to behave from observing and imitating masculine behaviours especially from their fathers and girls learn from imitating their mothers. When children imitate same sex behaviours they are rewarded but imitating the opposite sex may result in threat or even punishment (Bandura 1963). This behaviour is mainly displayed by fathers when they come to pick up their sons and find them playing dress up or pushing a pram.This is a barrier that is still on-going within my setting but only with the fathers. Mothers do not seem to have a problem with this type of behaviour. I explain that the boys are only expressing themselves and generally not acting in a stereotypical way but having fun with the situation whereas when a girl dresses up she tends to pretend to be a mother figure. What the fathers do not tend to see is that although the boy is playing with the pram he is using it in a way that would not usually be displayed by a female.Even before a child is born and when parents know the sex of their child there is a tendency to buy and receive toys and clothes in either pink for a girl or blue for a boy. This is reinforced when the child is born and the hospital attaches either a blue or a pink wristband depending on the sex of the child. Research shows differences in the ways that boys and girls are treated by caregivers from the moment of birth. According to Archer and Lloyd (1982) baby boys are handled less gently by their caregivers be ing bounced and roughhoused, whereas baby girls are generally talked and sung to.It is suggested by Gervai et al (1995) and Woods et al (2001) that fathers more than mothers encourage â€Å"gender-appropriate† behaviour, and they place more pressure to achieve on sons than on daughters. In the early years parents are more likely to undertake activities such as drawing, reading books and singing with girls than boys (Siraj-Blatchford and Sammons 2004). I feel that only having a son I cannot make a fully informed judgement on this statement however I do feel that within my setting I allow girls to engage in rough and tumble play as much as the boys do.I feel that this is an important part of their social development. I also encourage all children to participate in more creative activities such as painting, cooking and making things. Through the growing process of a child, the toys that are given to them begin to define whether or not they are going to be typically and strongly masculine or feminine. Girls will generally play with dolls while boys choose cars and trucks (Kanazawa 2008) which suggests that maybe boys’ and girls’ toy preferences may have a biological origin.Studies with Vervet monkeys in 2002 showed the same sex typical preference as humans yet there was no influence from humans and they had not seen the toys before. What was even more remarkable was that the monkeys knew how to play with the toys in the same way a child would. Kanazawa (2008) states: It is becoming less and less likely that â€Å"gender socialisation† is the reason why boys and girls prefer different toys, and more and more likely that there are some genetic, hormonal, and other biological reasons for the observed sex differences in toy preference.The media also plays a role in gender socialisation and impacts on children’s play from an early age (Burke 2006). Parents of a girl would be more likely to put on programmes such as â€Å"My Little Po ny† and ‘Dora the Explorer’, whereas parents of a boy might show their child ‘Bob the Builder’ or ‘Postman Pat’. When a child is sitting in front of the television, they often see commercials with ladies either cooking or shopping and men working, driving or lifting. I feel that this portrays a universal image of what society thinks is right for males and females to do.Discussions with children have led me to believe that within their family environment it seems to be that mothers are now working longer hours than was the norm and fathers are spending more and more time taking care of their children and also carrying out tasks typically known as female roles by preparing food and going shopping. Through observation in my setting this seems to be the case. Sweden is unique in the value it places on gender equality (Berk 2006).They state that both genders are equal in the workforce, childcare and the home environment and men and women have the same rights including paternity leave and pay. According to several indicators the Swedish family model is very successful (Berk 2006). I feel that the United Kingdom is working towards the same model but because of all the old traditions that man has continued over the decades in the U. K. I feel that as a society we are less likely to let go and that it is up to the individual to form their own gender identity.Experience with children, wider reading and lectures in college have led me to develop the opinion that there are numerous influences on children regarding their gender identity and that there is a need for staff to be appropriately trained to enable them to meet the needs of both boys and girls. I feel that practitioners can be gender biased and may be likely to make general assumptions regarding gender issues. These assumptions would be stereotypes in themselves even though they are required to treat each child as an individual (Bignold 2006).Having this knowledge has helped me to develop my setting by having exciting resources which engage and motivate both individuals and gender groups. I feel this can have a positive impact on what children choose to take part in and help children step away from what they have been told is right for boys and girls. The design and layout of my setting is very important. It creates an environment where children can decide what and who they wish to play with by offering complete freedom of choice as far as toys and activities are concerned.This encourages a non-stereotypical environment in which boys and girls can interact comfortably and self-assuredly. It seems that nurseries, schools and the media are putting one gender against the other when it comes to academic levels. This has only highlighted an equality issue with regards to the differing achievement between genders. I feel that this emphasis needs to move away from comparing achievements according to gender but to focus on which children are underachievi ng in terms of both attainment and reaching their full potential.I feel that in order for me as a practitioner to achieve gender equality within my setting I need to make myself and my colleagues aware of any preconceptions I or they may hold. It is also vital that I create an environment and ethos where gender is not an issue. Children regardless of their gender are to be viewed and treated as individuals and given equal opportunities and experiences. Where the opportunities to access all areas of the curriculum are the same and gender stereotypes are challenged and deconstructed, it will become possible to move away from comparing gender gaps and focus on individual achievements instead. .