The role of gold and the gold commander

The role of gold and the gold commander This chapter will examine the role of Gold, attempt to identify what makes an effective Gold Commander, and seek to establish the extent to which the interaction between Gold and Silver requires technical knowledge and understanding. The chapter will also explore the cultural component of Gold Command, and whether organisational culture places informal barriers in the path of direct entrants being accepted to undertake the role within the Fire Rescue Service. The author intends to define and explain the research question in the context of contemporary ideas and thinking, and to develop a good understanding and insight into relevant previous research and the trends that have emerged (Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, 2003) The Gold Commander is expected to exercise leadership, which traditionally would have been developed whilst operating at the operational and tactical level (following the normal career progression path). However, the recent appointment of senior managers within the Fire and Rescue Service (FRS) who have joined as direct entrants since the introduction of new appointment and promotion regulations, which has allowed multi-tier entry (ODPM, 2004) will have evidenced leadership skills, which will generally have been developed as a result of working in other occupations. As has been mentioned in a previous chapter, Adam Crozier is an example of a businessman who has demonstrated an ability to adapt and excel in different occupations, and exercise effective leadership with support from subject matter experts. With jobs as diverse as the Football Association and Royal Mail, is it possible that given an appropriate level of support, and a nominal amount of training, Crozier could also demonstrate effective leadership as a Gold Commander? A business leader may lead a team and make difficult decisions through an economic crisis, in the same way that the Gold Commander is responsible for leading their team, albeit remotely from the personnel who will be working at Bronze and Silver level. As it is recognised that effective leadership processes represent a critical factor in the success of teams in organisations (Zaccharo et al., 2001, quoted in Flin et al., 2008: 132), it is clear that the role of the Gold Commander in leading the team is vitally important to a successful outcome. The leader needs to be effective in order to play a positive role in the resolution of an incident, and it is therefore necessary to define what effective actually means, Oxford Dictionaries online simply states its meaning as successful in producing a desired or intended result (http://oxforddictionaries.com accessed 24/11/10). However the measure of that success, and therefore effectiveness, is very subjective, indeed in the case of a tragi c incident involving loss of life, the quality of the leadership may be subject to scrutiny by judicial review or public enquiry. The Role of the Gold Commander During an emergency it may be appropriate to implement strategic or Gold command, however the FRS will rarely instigate a Gold Commander solely for an FRS operation, which has minimal impact on other organisations. However, whilst a Principal Officer1 may be the Incident Commander at a large, complex, or high profile incident, they will be operating at the tactical level when in command. In this situation Gold command is not applicable, although some co-ordination at Silver level is likely to be required. If the same incident required a higher degree of interoperability and a Strategic Coordinating Group (SCG) were formed (HMG, 2009), it will require the attendance of a commander, who may be a lower ranking officer, but who nevertheless should have an appropriate level of experience and authority to act. This individual, formally known as the Fire Gold Commander, will set tactical parameters for Silver to operate within, and will not be expected to direct or take charge of operations on the actual incident ground. As soon as circumstances permit the Principal Officer should assume command, indicating that the positions are role related (ICS, 2008, p.21-24). However, the Police will routinely designate Gold Commanders, who will assume overall command and have ultimate responsibility and accountability for the response to an incident. The Police Gold will have a secondary role to establish and chair the SCG in order to coordinate the emergency or major incident (ACPO, 2009 p.26). This would suggest a different expectation of the role of the respective Gold Commanders, with the levels of culpability/accountability appearing to contrast somewhat. If the Police Gold Commander is required to ratify and review the progress of Silver Commanders tactical plans (ACPO, 2009 p.25) and the Fire Gold Commander is required to set tactical parameters for Silver to operate within, and prioritise the personnel and resource demands (ICS, 2008), the latter suggests a more hands-off approach. This may explain why Police Gold Commanders appear to be more reluctant to accept direct entrants at the senior level. 1 Chief, Deputy or Assistant Officer 2 Gold Silver Bronze Experiential Decision Making The definition of an appropriate level of experience as stated above is subjective, and clearly open to debate. It raises the question of whether the skills required for effective command at the operational and tactical level, are identical to those required for strategic command? Since 1985, researchers have been trying to establish how decisions are made during stressful non-routine situations, with Fire Commanders being of particular interest (Klein et al, 1993). The study of Naturalistic Decision Making (NDM) is concerned with how experienced people, working as individuals or groups in dynamic, uncertain and often fast paced environments, identify and assess their situation, make decisions and take actions whose consequences are meaningful to them and to the larger organisation in which they operate Zsambok and Klein (1997) (cited in Flin and Arbuthnot, 2002. p. 207). It has been stated that decisions made under stress do not follow traditional decision-making processes, and inst ead fireground commanders rely on their well developed sense of intuition (Gasaway, 2007). The amount of information required to make a decision will depend on the experience and intuition of the commander, and this has been referred to as thin slicing by Gladwell (2005) which means making very quick decisions with small amounts of information, or the concept of thinking without thinking, or the ability of our unconscious to find patterns in situations and behaviour based on very narrow slices of experience. Gladwell contends that thin-slicing can have its uses or can be a mistake. If one takes a small amount of information to generalise or make decisions in whole then decisions may be made that really are incorrect. However, sometimes a small amount of relevant information is all that is required to make decisions and act. Gladwell hints that ultimately we should only rely on thin-slicing when our intuition has been honed by experience and training as truly successful decision making relies on a balance between deliberate and instinctive thinking. Clearly, the ability to thin slice derives from experience of the situation or similar environment, where the commander has successfully or unsuccessfully dealt with an incident and can anticipate the next problem that may arise, which links to recognition primed decision making (RPD). The question of whether thin slicing has its place in the SCG environment is debatable, as RPD is not usually associated with Gold level decision making, for strategic commanders may need to be discouraged from making decisions based on intuition, if a more analytical approach is more appropriate (Fredholm 1997, cited HMG 2008). Flin and Arbuthnot (2002, p. 214) considered the fields of aviation, military and the police, and suggested that Incident Commanders (IC) may adopt one of four decision strategies, depending on their assessment of the available time and level of risk: Recognition primed (intuition, gut feel) (If X then Y- little conscious effort need to retrieve Y) Procedures (written or memorised) (If X then Y conscious search) Analytical comparison of the different courses of action available (If X, which Y?) Creative (designing a novel course of action) (If X, have no Y, design new Y). The decision strategies are based on increasing levels of mental concentration, not just to retrieve information from the memory stores (long term memory), but to consciously operate on or think about the information retrieved (working memory) (Flin and Arbuthnot, 2002). Most of the studies involving NDM have related to decision making in dynamic environments where there is little time for the luxury of creative or analytical problem solving (HMG 2008). So how are prior operational and tactical experiences of a Gold Commander utilised, when faced with never before experienced occurrences such as the Buncefield Fire, the largest fire in Europe since 1945 which relied on creativity rather than prior experience to resolve successfully? (Wilsher, 2006) If decision making is dependent on the experiences of the decision maker, it must also rely on the ability of the Gold Commander to be self reflective. If an individual is unable to effectively reflect and learn from their experiences, they will be unable to apply the learning to future events. Considering Kolbs experiential learning cycle (as shown in figure 1), it could be that they have twenty years experience, or one years experience, twenty times. So time alone is not a pre-cursor to being an effective Gold Commander, its what has been learnt from the experiences during that time. Figure 1 Kolbs Learning Cycle (University of Leeds 2010) Leadership One of the key responsibilities of the Gold Commander is to work with partner agencies (ICS, 2008 p24). This will require a positive working relationship both before an incident occurs, as true interoperability is built on mutual understanding, familiarity and trust (ACPO, 2009). According to Goleman (2002: 51-52) relationship management relies on the most visible tools of leadership including persuasion, conflict management and collaboration. More recently, this was confirmed by Bradberry and Greaves (2005), and of course collaboration, and to a lesser extent persuasion, are components of leadership which will often be tested in the Integrated Emergency Management (IEM) environment. Much research has been conducted to quantify the desirable attributes required for effective leadership (Kets de Vries 1993; Higgs 2002, Parry and Meindl 2002). Although there are many different types of leaders, people will often prefer to work with a leader who has outstanding soft skills. Evidence in creasingly shows that the higher one goes in an organization, the more important EI can be (Kemper, 1999, p. 16). The Gold Commander should have developed self awareness, as the leadership of an organisation or team, can influence the work environment and affect everything from morale, to effective performance. The selection and development of leaders is amongst the oldest of personnel functions (Fiedler 2001), but much of early leadership selection was conducted by birthright (Northouse 2007). Throughout the past century considerable research has been conducted into leadership which can largely be placed into three primary categories; leadership traits, leadership behaviours and the situational context of leadership (Sashkin and Sashkin 2003). Northouse (2007) states that Leadership is a process whereby an individual influences a group of individuals to achieve a common goal (Northouse. 2007: 3). Flin et al (2008: 129) suggest that leadership relates to the personal qualities, behaviours, styles and strategies adopted by the team leader. They further suggest that leaders come in various forms, with some being task specialists, and others good with people. Trait theories of leadership were popular during the early to mid 1900s, and worked on the assumption that great leaders are born great (Sashkin and Sashkin 2003) and that by defining the necessary traits of effective leaders the secrets of leadership could be unlocked (Densten 2003). If leadership was a result of definable traits then it would be reasonable to expect that a defined list of those traits would have been found after over 100 years of research. This has not been found. The main criticisms of the trait theories are that they fail to take account of the situational and contextual aspects of leadership, and many of the definitions of various traits are highly subjective (Northouse 2007). The debate continues as to whether an individual must possess a definite set of characteristics in order to be a leader in any given situation. Some authors have suggested that the traits necessary for battlefield leadership would be effective in a school environment, dismissing the impact of the situation (Sadler 1997). Research indicates that there are varying opinions on the level of requirement of these very different qualities. Annotating these qualities into a list form results in a comprehensive summation but does the Gold Commander have to possess all, or just some of them? Conversely, if the list is not exhaustive and it is possible that someone might have other leadership qualities. How does that equate? Emotional Intelligence Commanding an emergency clearly requires effective leadership, and by its very nature a dynamic incident will sometimes require an autocratic style, but is this always necessary? Is it the case that in the Gold environment, the application of softer skills is more advantageous, with Emotional Intelligence (EI) becoming a more important component? EI was first mentioned in an unpublished thesis in 1986, and was the subject of a US article published in 1990, where it is described as the ability to monitor ones own and others feelings and emotions, to discriminate among them and to use this information to guide ones thinking and actions (Mayer and Salovey, 1990). Since that time there has been a vast amount of research and published information on the subject of EI, evidenced when the author searched for books titled Emotional Intelligence on the website of an online bookseller, returning a total of 9507 results (Amazon UK November 2010). Golemans original work is open to some debate as he seems to contradict his theory by suggesting that emotion is a biological reaction on the one hand, whereas EI can be learnt and developed. Whatever the case, it is clearly more art than science, as the interpretation of EI is subjective. It would appear that the wide interest in the subject is due to the emerging recognition of the power of EI, both in terms of personal development, with the suggested opportunity to transform an individuals life experience, health and happiness, and for transforming the effectiveness of work organisations. The developing argument is that levels of emotional intelligence are inextricably linked to levels of performance, particularly in senior positions within an organisation, a viewpoint which is often repeated (Sparrow and Knight 2006). Some organisations have embraced the principles of EI, including the Royal Air Force, which in 2002 completed a comprehensive review of leadership development, leading to the establishment of the RAF Leadership Centre. The centres website informs that the RAF seeks a particular contribution from its leaders and lists nine attributes required for effective leadership. The second attribute listed, is concerned with the possession of EI, described thus; Emotionally Intelligent Self-awareness is one of the key foundations of effective leadership. Leaders who know themselves will be able to develop self-control and subsequently understand the needs of others. This will enable them to manage relationships at all levels better and remain calm under pressure. Thus individuals will be able to function as part of a wider team, invariably multidisciplinary, increasingly joint and often multinational, in the delivery of military capability http://www.raf.mod.uk/pmdair/rafcms/mediafiles/1E8488F4_5056_A318_A8AB0AC2CFC4589A.doc. (accessed 29/11/10). In 2006 the Centre for Leadership was established at the Fire Service College. The strategy for the development of tomorrows FRS leaders is enshrined within the leadership model Aspire (HMG 2008) which has been developed in response to the identification of the importance of excellence in leadership. The model is underpinned by the FRS core values, linking transformational models of leadership, and guiding behaviours to influence leadership actions and results. The Aspire model contains some elements which can be linked to EI, including; Openness to Change Situational Awareness Confidence Resilience Effective Communication The author finds it somewhat surprising that, whilst it is obvious that the RAF has recognised the connection between emotional intelligence and effective leadership, there is no direct mention of EI within the Aspire Leadership Model and Framework for the FRS. This is somewhat disappointing Notwithstanding the above, the FRS has recognised the value of people management competences, in addition to task competencies, and that both competency sets need to be included in assessing, training and evaluating effective incident commanders. The non-technical skills of an organisations emergency response personnel are as important as their technical expertise and knowledge and application of emergency operating procedures (Crichton and Flin, 2001). Competence A dictionary definition (www.dictionary.reference.com) of competence is: the quality of being competent; adequacy; possession of required skill, knowledge, qualification or capacity. Whereas Harvey (2004) describes it as the acquisition of knowledge, skills and abilities at a level of expertise sufficient to be able to perform in an appropriate work setting However acquiring skills are only part of the equation, for it is necessary to effectively perform a role as defined by Boyatzis: Effective performance of a job is the attainment of specific results (i.e. outcomes) required by the job through specific actions while maintaining or being consistent with policies, procedures conditions of the organisational environment. (Boyatzis, 1982:12) He further contends that maximum performance occurs when an individuals capability is consistent with the job demands and the organisational environment. (Boyatzis, 2007:2). Figure 2 Boyatziss model for competencies and effective performance Boyatzis model illustrates how an individuals personal values, knowledge, competencies and abilities contribute to performance in terms of the overlap with the job demands and the organisational environment. In simple terms this means that the bigger the overlap the better the performance. For the purpose of this research paper, Flins (1996) definition will be followed, which is the ability to perform consistently within an occupation to the standards expected in employment. The National Occupational Standard for a Fire Gold Commander working at the Strategic Level is EFSM 1 (www.skillsforjustice-ipds.com/nos/en/EFSM1.doc accessed 7/12/12). This standard details the technical skills and understanding which are required at this level. However, there is no mention of non-technical skills, as these are contained within the National Strategic Manager Personal Qualities and Attributes (CLG, 2009). In the emergency services, competency requirements for key decision makers are still very much based on rank rather than proven skill or ability though there is a move to change this. In the FRS, there is a shift from rank to role, where there is a role map of competences under the Integrated Personal Development System (IPDS) designed to be relevant to each level in the service. However, as with any cultural shift, it will take some time for this reality to assert itself through all ranks within the FRS (Devitt, 2009). The author finds it interesting to note that whilst there is a role map for Brigade Manager, strategic uniformed mangers within the FRS still prefer to title themselves, Chief Fire Officer. Does this perhaps suggest that the senior leadership of the FRS are not culturally ready to embrace modernisation in its truest sense? Culture Organisational culture is a system of shared values, and beliefs about what is important, what behaviours are appropriate and about feelings and relationships internally and externally. Values and cultures need to be unique to the organisation, widely shared and reflected in daily practice and relevant to the company purpose and strategy. (CIPD, 2011). In simple terms it can be referred as the way we do things around here. The leader will be affected by the culture in which they operate, and its values, structure, hierarchy and rules will dictate how they are likely to command an incident, and ultimately whether they will be judged to be effective or ineffective (Devitt, 2009 p.37). Devitt refers to the work of Reiner (1991) who studied senior police officers and identified four different types of Chief Constable, the barons, bobbies, bosses and bureaucrats. Reiner contended that their different leadership styles will be reflected in the culture of the organisation which may influence the Chair of an SCG, and thus the style and approach with which a strategic multi-agency response is operated. If the Chair of an SCG adopts the style of a boss, who controls mainly through authority not power, dont suffer criticism gladly, and see community policing as idealistic in the face of an overwhelming tide of crime, this will clearly affect the dynamics of the group Devitt (2009). Chan (1996) undertook a study of police culture, and refers to Bourdieus relational theory, which explains cultural practice as the result of interaction between cultural dispositions (habitus) and structural positions (field), situating culture in the social and political context of police work. Sackmann goes on to describe the essence of culture as the collective construction of social reality. Her cognitive model encompasses all forms of shared organised knowledge: the form of things that people have in their minds; their models for perceiving, integrating, and interpreting them; the ideas or theories that they use collectively to make sense of their social and physical reality (Sackmann 1991: 21). She classifies cultural knowledge within an organisation into four dimensions: dictionary knowledge, which provides definitions and labels of things and events within an organization; directory knowledge, which contains descriptions about how things are done generally in the organization; recipe knowledge, which prescribes what should or should not be done in specific situations; and axiomatic knowledge, which represents the fundamental assumptions about why things are done the way they are in an organisation. Axiomatic knowledge, often held by top management, constitutes the foundation for the shape and future of the organisation. These may be adjusted or revised from time to time as a result of critical evaluations or growing experience. Sackmann sees cultural cognitions as being held by groups rather than individuals. These cognitions are socially constructed, and may be changed or perpetuated by organisational processes through repeated applications. In time, these cognitions are imbued with emotions and acquire degrees of importance; they also become habits of thoughts that translate into habitual actions. With the FRS implementation of the modernisation agenda under the National Framework (although this has recently changed with the election of the coalition government), some senior fire officers are reluctant to readily accept that direct entrants or non-operational staff may be effective at undertaking a Gold Command role, whilst a number of Police Gold Commanders have expressed th eir opposition to the idea, as evidenced by the authors research..

International Relations Essays Global Culture

International Relations Essays Global Culture What is meant by a global culture and how and why do transnational corporations seek to promote such a culture? A global culture can be seen in one of two ways. One suggests that today’s communications and technologies allow a more open spread of culture around the world – people in far corners of the globe are able to be aware of and share each others culture. It is a view that sees global culture as generally positive – something that encourages diversity and a mixing of culture and has enabled people around the world to overcome national boundaries to embrace common causes. The more common perception of global culture is that of a Western, predominantly American culture gradually imposing itself around the world, often to the detriment of long established local cultures. For analysts opposed to globalisation this type of global culture is slowly killing diversity and devastating traditional ways of life. Scholte suggests that this viewpoint is that: â€Å"Globalisation introduces a single world culture centred on consumerism, mass media, Americana and the English language† (p23 Scholte 2000). It is this type of global culture in particular that transnational companies are linked to and are generally happy to promote. Transnational companies have become economic superpowers as globalisation has spread and the development of a global culture is seen to benefit them economically. Certainly the potential wealth that the transnationals can offer to indigenous populations can take precedence over the upholding of local tradition and culture. The basic human desire to accumulate wealth can often override cultural, ethnic and religious factors when transnational companies set their sights on economic expansion in a particular area. A global culture involves the spread of popular cultural icons around the globe, often diluting and overriding local cultures with the threat that the vast cultural diversity that the world offers will one day be submerged beneath a dull uniformity. Advances in technology and communications have helped propagate cultural globalisation. Digital communication, satellite television and the Internet are methods of communication that can overcome any national boundaries or government control – as Held and McGrew write: â€Å"Many national controls over information have become ineffective. People everywhere are exposed to the values of other cultures as never before† (p17, Held and McGrew 2003). Deregulation of media ownership along with technological advances combined in the latter decades of the twentieth century to allow the largest media companies to establish networks in many countries. This media influence gives companies the opportunity to promote their own cultural preferences and it is notable that the global media is dominated by the same eight transnational media companies that dominate the US media: General Electric, ATT Media, Disney, Time Warner, Sony, News Corporation, Viacom Seagram and Bertelsmann (p261 Held and McGrew 2003). These companies aggressively seek to become global players – the US market is largely developed and the global markets provide better opportunities for expansion and getting ahead of the competition – Time Warner predict that non-US sales will yield the majority of their revenue within the next decade. With the global expansion of US media companies comes the global expansion of US culture. The power of Hollywood is one of the prime examples of cultural globalisation with an American agenda. A seemingly endless line of films promoting an American cultural and political agenda emanate from Hollywood and have driven independent film making in many regions either out of business or underground. Some countries such as Norway, Mexico and South Africa have seen government subsidies try to support domestic film production companies, whilst the success of the Indian ‘Bollywood’ film industry is one of few examples of cinema audiences resisting the spread of a global culture. The economic benefits to the transnationals can be huge. Cable and digital television channels across the globe are owned by the major transnational companies and are hugely important parts of their revenue streams. Major Hollywood studios were expecting revenue from global TV rights to their film librarie s to have exceeded $11 billion by the end of 2002 (p261 Held and McGrew 2003). The marketing power of the transnational companies ensures that the values, brands and culture of the US are spread globally. Some of the largest brands generate money that outstrips many national economies – Coca Cola’s brand for example was estimates by a brand consultancy to be worth $68.9 billion. (p119 Legrain 2002) The continuing expansion of such brands through the development of a global culture is something certain to boost the profits of the transnationals. Writers on globalisation such as Naomi Klein in particular link brands to global culture and the influence of the transnationals. She writes: â€Å"Power, for a brand-driven company, is not attained by collecting assets per se, but by projecting one’s brand idea onto as many surfaces of the culture as possible†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (New Statesman 24 Jan 2000). This view of those opposed to globalisations suggests that propelling popular cultural icons into established cultures and forcing homogenous culture to take a back seat to Western culture is very much the aim of transnational companies.   Certainly, the marginalisation and dilution of local cultures through the efforts of Western media and brand marketing is a concern. Lloyd Fernando writes ominously: â€Å"The world is truly eclectic and simultaneous these days and Marshal Macluhan’s deterministic vision of us all being plugged into one vast electrical organism like domestic animals at a a trough is far too close for us to laugh at† (P111 Mittelman and Othman 2001). The spread of the English language is another aspect of a global culture that transnational companies promote. In addition to Western films, music and media being promoted across the globe in an attempt to dominate popular culture, the ability to speak English is becoming seen as practically a necessity to get on in many of the world’s poorer nation – financial and economic institutions worldwide are adopting English and it is increasingly difficult to operate in the world’s markets without the language. Mandal states: â€Å"Globalizers actively promote English as a purely functional and even neutral language that is synonymous with economic growth, technological advancement and modernity as a whole† (p120 Mittelman and Othman 2001) and it is clear that non-governmental organisations such as the IMF and World Bank largely support the transnational companies in their promotion of English as a global language. Much of their analysis of the economic crisis in South East Asia in the 1990s suggests that the countries in the region that recovered best were those that had made the most progress in introducing the English language into the culture.   Across the globe, governments are accepting this aspect of global culture – in South Korea large scale English villages are being developed for locals to immerse themselves into the language, whilst the Mongolian government, in a country landlocked by Russia and China has announced long term plans to make English its primary second language. One of the greatest fears of those opposed to cultural globalisation is that it offers English speaking and western culture as something to aspire to whilst abandoning traditional culture. Hirst and Thompson write that: â€Å"National cultures that aim to be dominant over the individual that belong to them are increasingly projects of resistance to and retreat from the world† (p266 Hirst and Thompson 2000) – in effect, people and cultures that do not embrace the Western led global culture are seen as conservative, suspicious and most probably less likely to see investment from transnational companies. Globalisation is not going to go away, neither are the huge transnational companies. Some see the growth of a global culture and the wealth and opportunity that these huge organisations can bring as something for which diversity of culture can be sacrificed. They also argue, correctly, that people wherever they live do have a choice. Whatever the power of western marketing, if people across the globe choose to maintain their own culture and reject global or western culture, they have the power to do so. Others continue to argue that cultural globalisation in itself promotes diversity and a respect for other cultures. Those opposed to globalisation remain strongly opposed to the spread of the stereotypical McDonalds and Coke culture that personifies Western and particularly American culture. For transnational companies, profits are the bottom line and continual expansion across the globe is one of the best ways to ensure that they continue to make a profit. Transnational companies, ri ghtly or wrongly, have little concern for the protection of local culture – if a global culture will ensure that more of their products are sold, they will continue to promote it.   Bibliography Jan Aart Scholte, Globalization – A Critical Introduction, Macmillan Press Limited, London 2002 Philippe Legrain, Open World: The Truth About Globalisation, Abacus, Great Britain, 2002 Robert McChesney, The New Global Media in Held and McGrew The Global Transformations Reader, Polity Press, Cambridge 2002 Naomi Klein, Tyranny of the Brands, article New Statesman, 24 January 2000 James H Mittelman and Norani Othman, Capturing Globalisation, Routledge, London 2001 Paul Hirst and Grahame Thompson, Globalisation in Question, Polity Press, Cambridge 2000 Christopher Cook, Human Dignity Needs Protection, article at www.populist.com/00.2.cook.html

Don’t Get Burned Out Essay -- essays research papers

Don’t Get Burned   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Burnout. It happens to everyone, everywhere, everyday. Athletes -young, old, professional, amateur, male and female- all experience burnout in different forms and degrees. Burnout is defined as the physical, emotional, and psychological reaction to intense pressure to fulfill obligations, whether they be sports or otherwise. Simply put, people get tired and worn out because they often take on the responsibility of doing too much. Burnout is most common among professional and Olympic athletes that train hard and work hard for long periods of time. However, others can also experience burnout in athletics. Burnout leads to reduced interest in the sport, quality of performance, and then withdrawal.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Burnout is often associated with overtraining, overreaching, and staleness. Overtraining is the point where training is no longer beneficial but harmful. Overreaching is similar to overtraining however the length of time makes the difference. Overreaching for long periods of time leads to overtraining. Staleness is the effect of reaching a performance plateau. Together with overtraining, staleness eventually leads to athlete burnout. In sports psychology, several models exist to help explain, prevent, and treat burnout in athletes.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Stress models of burnout point to stress as the key factor in burnout. Silva’s training stress model is based on the notion that some training s...

Oakland, CA :: essays research papers

The Forgotten City This paper will discuss the many unique aspects of Oakland, California. Divided into five major parts, Oakland is a very diverse city. The five major parts include: Downtown Oakland which is located in the heart of the city, East Oakland which consists of the majority of the city, West Oakland, North Oakland, and the Oakland hills where the terrain is quite different from other parts of the city. While many may perceive the population to mainly consist of African Americans and Whites, there is a significant growing population of Latinos, and Asians. The topics covered in this paper will shed light on the city of Oakland itself, and discuss the unique city that it is. I will also give my personal experience and perception on the city, after living there for 16 years of my life. History In historical terms the city of Oakland was named after the many Oak trees that inhabited the land when the city was established. Oakland was first founded in 1852 and is located on the East side of the Bay Area in Northern California.(Oakland History) Native Americans had previously lived in the area for over 5 thousand years before many arrived for the Gold Rush, and put down their roots. The famous author Jack London also spent many of his earlier years in Oakland, and his works have said to have been influenced by the city. My personal perception of Oakland is that it has always been the forgotten city in the Bay Area. Almost no one would notice that famous actors Clint Eastwood, and Tom Hanks spent many of their childhood days in the city. Basketball future hall of famers Gary Payton and Jason Kidd also spent their childhood days there. Baseball hall of famers Reggie Jackson and Ricky Henderson still own homes in the city. In modern times Oakland is known as the main metropolitan city in the East Bay. The city possesses 3 professional sports teams, which have a population of just below 400,000. Oakland is also the 3rd largest metropolitan city in the Bay Area behind San Jose, and San Francisco.( Encyclopedia Britannica ) The city mayor is the ex Governor of California Jerry Brown. Located in Alameda County Oakland’s area consists of a total square mileage of 78.2 miles, of which 56.1 miles is land, and the latter consisting of water.( Encyclopedia Britannica ) Oakland also possesses the 3rd largest seaport on the west coast.

Indigenous Art History and the Education System Essay -- Indigenous Ar

â€Å"His Buffalo and horses are always in motion--they're running for their lives. They can't be caught. That's real freedom†(Lee). In the American educational system the curriculum is supposedly designed to enrich the hearts and minds of all the students who wish to become enriched. Professional educators throughout western civilization compose their contributions as to what is considered to be in the best interests of the students. However, some oversights have been made apparent. The history of Indigenous American Art has been ignored, for too long, at the expense of the students who happen to be the descendants of the first peoples of this continent. Furthermore these students also happen to be the majority within the Los Angeles Unified School District; whether these students are of American, Canadian, Mexican, or Central American ethnicity they almost always have one thing in common, the indigenous blood that runs through their veins. Science has established that environment greatly influences behavior, whether that environment is a classroom, a home, or the American Continent. Subsequently, this continent is reflected within the hearts and minds of its people, and inevitably in our artistic expression. We the first people of this continent have existed here for thousands of years before the western civilization stumbled its way to this side of the planet. Indigenous American Art and its history play a vital part in our facet of the human experience. What's more, it is fundamental for fulfilling our potential and responsibilities as human beings. In addition to the contribution to our collective psyche, indigenous art is a historical and anthropological timeline of natural and supernatural phenomena. It is apparent that ... ...de as we all account for each other and ourselves with clear wisdom and responsibility before creation. Works Cited Gangel-Vasquez, Janice. â€Å"Re: Native Art History II†. Email to the author. 17 August. 2003. Lee, Jeff and Donna Hand. â€Å"2 dimensional Art-Ed Defender†. Trophies of Honor. 9 Aug. 2003. www.msstate.edu/Fineart_O...troph1.htm Martà ­n del Campo, Edgar. â€Å"Mesoamerican Deities†. Edgar†s Mesoamerican art page. 7 Oct. 1996. 9 Aug. 2003. members.aol.com/emdelcamp/edgar2.htm McMaster, Gerald R. â€Å"Towards an Aboriginal Art History†. Native American Art in the Twentieth Century. Ed. W. Jackson Rushing III. New York. Routledge. 1999. 81-96. Moreno, Lisa M. â€Å"RudyResponse†. E-mail to author. 15 Aug. 2003. Surrounded by beauty: History and Culture. 9 Aug. 2003. The Minneapolis Institute of Arts. www. Artsmia.org/surrounded-bybeauty/history_culture.html

A Terrible Accident

On Christmas day in the year of 2006, I got a gas scooter. I was so happy when I got it, because all the kids in my neighborhood had one. After, I ate dinner on Christmas I got dress and put some warm clothes on so I could go ride my scooter. It was a cold and windy day, but the sun was shinning really bright. So, when I got finished getting dress I went outside and got on my scooter. I was riding down the street, when this boy name Trevor started chasing me. I was going so fast it felt like I was going 90mph. When I finally got to my driveway, I was going so fast that I couldn’t stop. When I turned into my driveway I went over a hump so fast that it made the scooter turn over. When I realized it had turn over, I was on ground with the scooter laying on top of me. I was screaming for help, but nobody couldn’t hear me. About 5 minutes later, Trevor was standing over me laughing, and all I could say can you please help me because I was in so much pain. I was laying on the ground about 30 minutes until I seen a car pull up. I was so happy, because I really needed so help, so when I thought they was out the car I started screaming help again and when I looked it was my cousin Tashia trying to get the scooter off of me. When she finally got the scooter off of me she helped me into the house, because I could barely walk. When I got in the house my family was looking like what happen, and I said I felled off my scooter. My leg was so burnt that some of my skin was peeling off. I had numerous of scars on my leg and my face. My mother said I think you need to go the emergency room for your leg, but I didn’t want to be in the hospital on Christmas day. When we got to the hospital the doctor examine my leg and if he touch it hurt so bad. But the doctor said I was going to be okay, he gave me some ointment to put on it and wrapped my leg some cloth. I’m so thankful until this day that Tashia came the time she did.

Studying in Group at High School in Beijing: a Survey

Studying in group at high school in Beijing: A survey LV YUJIA Louisa Student Number: 09010022 Name of the Lecturer: Edwin Baak Date: 12/26/2011 Renda B 09 Acknowledgements Thanks for my friends Zhao Shanshan and Hu Surui helping finish the research questionnaire to students. I am very grateful to teacher Mr. Baak to his useful guidance to write this paper. Table of Contents Abstract†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 3 1. Introduction†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. †¦. 5 1. Background†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. â € ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 5 2. Statement of the problem†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦7 1. Review of the literature†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 2. Design and measurement used†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 10 3. Results†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 11 4. Discussions†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. †¦.. 12 5. Conclusions †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 13 6. Recommendations†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 14 1. Research recommendations†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. †¦.. †¦14 2. Issued-related recommendations†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 14 References†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ †¦15 Appendix A†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 17 The Abstract: Nowadays, with the speeding up of world economy, the world is becoming smaller and smaller, so that the competition among people from different ountries is becoming fierce, which is the motivation to promote people to study hard so as to survive in the competitive world. People always try to find the suitable study methods to upgrade the effectiveness. Either studying in a group or studying alone is the better way has caused public debate. Some people hold that there is no denying that studying in a group exerts positive impact on many aspects. First and foremost, studying in a group, the principal methods in many schools, is beneficial to mutual understanding, which will enhance students’ communication abilities.Besides, the efficiency of solving problems will definitely be improved, for they can get he lp from partners. Last but not least, Student can study well when he is studying with a group of students because he can get good ideas from others which he don't know and more over he will not feel bore while he is studying. If he got any doubts while studying, he can clarify the doubts immediately. Other people strongly claim that there are many students who have got great achievements by studying alone insisting that independent study is feasible and more effective. To put it another way, one can study without any disturbance.While studying alone he can't get good ideas. If he got any doubt, it cannot be clarify by his own. Then it will be time waste for him. For example, while he is studying alone if the subject is not interest to him, his mind may get divert from the subject and concentration will be lost. First, I will go to the school to do a survey about study in the class. Second, the questionnaire topic is probably about do you think study in group? And, which way is bette r for you? Is studying in group or studying alone? Third, I would ask some questions to some parents and teachers.Key word: good way to study, group study, study alone, high school, distance education, one-on-one tutoring 1. Introduction 1. Background In the 21st century, most of the family has an only child out of the police in china. Such a child is an apple in the eyes in a family. It is every parent's desire to give their children the best start in life, they would like to search a best way to their children and get a great education. Almost all students were tutored by one-on-one. And some students have an experience of distance learning. At the same time, the traditional educational means confronts a huge challenge.Some parents support their child study alone because of they believe that it is a good way to concentrate on his or her study. Currently there has been a fierce debate over whether students should go to school study in group or study alone at home. Views on the hot issue vary greatly. Advocates of studying alone hold the benefits of students are well documented. Students who study at home by themselves are often described as more confident, independent and worldly wise than schools’ student counterpart. Because of they need to independently read more books and webpage to look for more information.Moreover, there are many ways to acquire knowledge, such as distance learning, one-on-one class and soon on. Students can choose a good way to study according to different situation. Worst of all, reports are often heard that some students committed suicide or murdered their roommates. So that, some people choose to study alone and even gave up the opportunity of go to school due to severe pressure from the student will be compare with others. On the other hand, innovative as distance-learning technology may be, it can supersede classrooms altogether. True education should not be confined to the delivery of information.It should involve the cul tivation of effective learning habits, the development of group discussion skills and the encouragement of collaboration as well, which we cannot find in online course. More importantly, campus-based education tend to foster a mentoring partnership between educators and learners while in reality, distance education rarely helps to establish a mentoring relationship between the faculty members and the students, due to the long physical distance. Amid these people who have argued in study ways the high students take up quite large proportion.According to a net of education, at least half of high schools’ students go through tutoring alone. And most students’ parents willing to spent money on study alone. Thus if you want to research the good way to study, you must focus on high school students. There are many reasons to choose the students of high school as respondents. Firstly, students have more experience than other school of basic education. Secondly, there is bitter competition for student. As is well know the college entrance exam is a real challenge to students, students want to do their best to meet the challenge.Thus they will choose a good way to study at any cost. Finally, and above all, the competition is fierce and the nine-hour test is offered just once a year and is the sole determinant for admission to virtually all Chinese colleges and universities. Moreover, the college entrance examination is seen as potentially life-changing. If you enter a university through the exam, your life career and future life will be decide. Everyone attaches great importance to this exam. In recent years, the field of education becomes a hot industry. Meanwhile, more and more problems appear in education.For school study, they always make a ranking and everyone can see the results of other students to see all the students of all grade rankings. This measure will undoubtedly bring them great pressure to study, even affect health and life. We often read the news student suicides of form the news paper. However, student is more confidence who study alone at home. They can get the tutoring which is face-to-face. It is a very good and effective way of learning. But it is not a good way to good communication skills and has team work spirit. 2. Statement of the problem Each one has its own superiority.During the researching course, I try to analyze and study to this problem from different point of view. I research many different questions, such as which ways of study of you like, do you think some problem exist in study in a group, how long you will study at home everyday and soon on. I survey this question due to we need know whether students more efficient who study alone, whether more and more student don’t like study at school, whether there are some problems exist in tradition education, whether study alone is better than studying in a group, whether parent sand teachers of students support to study alone and so on. . Review of literature According to this literature, there are other factors affect students. Its action cannot small inspect. Firstly, it’s important to spend your time productively. Students need to make a clearly plans and schedule, meanwhile, they should to learn the top student has no intrusions on study time. Secondly, every student should seek out a method of learning which is suit to him/her. They cannot copy other people’s ways due to the different level of different students.Finally, if you don’t have any interesting in study and even don’t know why you need to study, you cannot get a high score even if you stand in a good group or have a good tutor. They need improve their skill and have fun. Indeed, study skills are not the most important things. But there are the bases of study. When you finish it, the environment will become more important. To be sure, people are different. Everyone should to choose a way which is adapt to him or her to study. For t his literature, we know that there are main ways to study. One of this is belong to studying in a group and others are belonging to study alone.They are group study, one-on-one tutoring and distance education. Group study is benefit to establish the confidence of students. It can easily build team spirit among classmate. If you are one member of a group, you will be watching by other members in the group. You will have to try harder due to you wanting to more successful and getting the credit for. Moreover, a group likes a piece. Everyone will do their best to help you when your stand in the same group. Solving problem will become easier, because you're not alone, and there is strength in numbers! At the same time, a problem exists in the group.A member of group in charge of a part so that they cannot understand the whole of one topic which is his or her group researched. If you study alone, you need do anything by yourself. It is a better way to acquire new knowledge and research q uestions. The tutoring of one-on-one is benefit to everyone due to the pertinence of student. When you distract to some things, you will not worry didn't hear what the teacher was saying. If you could not compass the simplest problems, you could ask your tutor and do not worries to be laughed by other classmate. And teacher will follow you and choose the best way and important course to you.However, we cannot overlook the disadvantage of this way. First, if you choose tutoring of one-on-one, you will lose the power of activities with other classmates. I maybe feel tired and boring for study alone. Second, it is not easy to find out a textbook to adapt you. Third, you do not know the level of tutoring teacher. You maybe cannot meet a teacher which tutor is suit to you. Distance education has the advantage of low-cost and easy to save time. Students can study on anywhere and any time. Compare with one-on-one tutor is a good way to save money and get pointed comments on study.But it st ill has some problems. First, there are a lot of tutor from 3rd world due to they want to save money. They do not know the system of your country and cannot give you a good idea of study. Moreover, sometimes we cannot meet the on-line tutor to know about teaching level. Lastly, teaching on-line is not a good way to communication with teacher. Because the internet is not very stability, the speed is very slow. Sometimes we will loss some information due to the latency. If you can learning of face-to-face, you can use the body language explain your mind. 3. Design and Measurements usedThere are three kinds of people are relative to this survey. They are parents, teachers and students. Thus, the questionnaire includes three aspect questions to different people. However, the high school students who will accept more in-depth questions as the main respondents. The questionnaire consists mainly of three parts. In the first place, the question is about the basic information of all particip ants. And, the participants will be arranging to different groups according to the basic information. For example, girls and boys will have different choice when they face to some things.If students can choose the school, girls maybe focus on school uniform which school’s is more beautiful and boys will be attracts to excellent sporting facilities. In the second place, the question is about the extant problems and advantage. Such as, what problem you face in study in a group or study alone. This part will be conducive to we find out the problem in the two ways and help us solve current problems more correctly to choose a good way to study. Finally, the investigations are focus on the expectantly things. Such as, which ways you want to add in your study process.We need know which ways of study of people like in further and therefore further research. 4. Result The survey shows that there are seventy percent students choose studying in a group is a good way to study. There are two reasons: Two-thirds of this people gave reason is that they cannot make a good plan and control themselves. One-thirds of this people gave the reason is that they can make new friend and have activities with others. But sixty percent of these persons have experience to study alone by one-on-one tutoring. And nearly ninety people would like to try to study alone in future.Students who support study alone are a good way to study about thirty percent. Most people think that it is a great help for my quick improving the score. However, nine out of ten people claim that it is a method to help study but it is the main way to study. One ninth of the students choose to get the tutor by one-on-on due to they need to be target. A tenth of the students choose the on-line tutoring. They believe that it can save money and easy to control the teaching time. The last part is about the parents and teachers of students. Almost all parents and teachers support study in a group.But they always bel ieve that if their children and students would like to improve the level of student they will to encourage these students. 5. Conclusion My question is that what is better way to study? It can be found there are many ways to study. Firstly, study skills are important whatever you studying in a group or study alone. Secondly, the research show that most people think group study is better to study. Lastly, studying alone only as the assistant study method. However, some students are favor to study alone who are an average student or a poor student.They believe that they can get the effective guidance from the one-on-one tutoring. Other students are support studying in a group who are top student. They claim that it is unnecessary spent to a private teacher. For teachers and parents, they have the same viewpoint. Study alone is a way to help student to improve themselves, but it is not the best way to study. If the student can understand the knowledge in the class, study alone is not n ecessary. 6. Discussion The survey only includes the high school student, and only search the answer form my brother’s class.The class only have 60 members is not enough to a prefect research. For the party of teacher and parents, the research is more imperfection due to small group in search. So the study is no authoritative answer to these questions. And there also have some problem in this research. For example, there have many ways to study, such as, study in a teaching center, study by yourself and soon on. But I only search the study in group. And the way of study alone also has many ways. This paper only aim to a small group who study in high school. Actually, there has a small group study alone now.All in all, the survey has its limitation. [pic] 7. Recommendations 1. Research recommendation Firstly, you need to read a lot of articles what you want to research. Because this can help you gain a main idea of the field. Meanwhile, you will get the different perspectives from different authors. Moreover, making notes is also important to search a problem. Due to we need to understand what the articles say. It is not only to copy it. Next, most information is coming from the Internet which is not regular compare with other academic books. We should go to the library to find information.Lastly but not least, the investigator needs to search from different groups in a particular community and different level. One fields people is different to other fields. 2. Issue-related recommendations First of all, the people should focus on a variety of ways to ask questions. For example, Likert scale guarantees a survey to including the overall aspects of the problem which is very useful. We can ensure that the length of the questionnaire, which respond may a few time. And, there has a easy way to ask questions of the model. Another example is APA style, it is also a good way to sure where the literature.It not only useful to writer to found out more point, but a lso telling the reader where the point from. It is a good way to make you researcher more regular and have authority. References * Brain Stocker: How To Study Alone, August 26, 2008 from http://www. test-preparation. ca/study-center/how-to-study-alone/ * Francois Betim, Reference and Education †¢ Published: December 9, 2008 How to Study Alone and Pass Exams, from * Dr. Bob Kizlik,(1997) Effective Study Skills. How to Study and Make the Most of Your Time September 19, 1997,from http://www. adprima. com/studyout. htm * Wikipedia contributor(2011) Distance education, from http://en. ikipedia. org/wiki/Distance_education * Tutorfi(2009), Benefits of One on One Online Tutoring: Specialized Teaching Methodology. From http://www. tutorfi. com/OnlineTutoringDefined/oneononeonlinetutoring * Merryjazz(2006),The Advantages and Disadvantages of Study Groups, From http://www. studyskillsblog. com/the-advantages-and-disadvantages-of-study-groups/ * Grace Fleming(2009), Would Group Study Impr ove Your Grades? About. com Guide, from http://homeworktips. about. com/od/homeworkhelp/a/study. htm * Bruno Linhares(2005), Distance education or distance learning, from http://en. wikipedia. rg/wiki/Distance_education * Anton Lebedev(2011), The Disadvantages of Online Tutoring, from http://ezinearticles. com/? The-Disadvantages-of-Online-TutoringHYPERLINK â€Å"http://ezinearticles. com/? The-Disadvantages-of-Online-Tutoring&id=4781285† â€Å"http://ezinearticles. com/? The-Disadvantages-of-Online-Tutoring&id=4781285†³id=4781285 * Guestbook(2001), Group Tutoring vs. One-on-One Tutoring, from http://www. squidoo. com/group-tutoring-vs-one-on-one-tutoring Appendix A Questionnaires What is the better way to study? 1. Tick your gender group. Please choose only one of the following: ?Male ? Female 2. Tick an age group. Please choose only one of the following: ? 16-19 ? 20-23 ? 24-27 ? 28+ If none of these, please state what you think here__________ 3. Please take your grad e in school or your child(or students) in? ?G1-G6 ? G7-G9 ? G10-G11 ? G12 or over 4. Tick where do you study now: ?School ? Home ? Others 5. Tick you get good grades in school: ?Great ? General ? Lower-middle ? Bad If you like you can write you score__________ 6. Do you think the academic environment is important? ?Yes ? No ? Doesn’t matter . Which is better way for you or child? ?Studying in a group ? Studying alone 8. Do you please a tutor of one-on-one? ?Yes ? No ? Never 9. Could you listen attentively and carefully in class? ?Yes ? No ? Most ? less 10. Do you want to study alone? ?Yes ? No 11. Are you always discussed the problem with your classmate? ?Yes ? No ? Sometimes ? Never 12. What would you like to do at home? ?Study ? Play ? Housework ? others 13. Do you think the distance education is a good way to study? ?Yes ? No 14.How many hours did you have for learning everyday? ?1-4hours 4-8hours ? 8hours or over 15. Are you always reviewing your lessons carefully after g oing back home? ?yes ? no ? sometimes 16. Do you have the initiative for learning? ?Active learning ? Can finish ? Can not finish 17. Do you have confident in your ability? ?Yes ? No 18. Do you always attend the discussion in the group? ?Always ? Sometimes ? Never 19. For study, do you to send from your classmate? ?Always ? electric toys ? camera ? other 20. Do you have a good plan for study?