Recent orders
the impact of the Good Behavior Game
Introduction
The study evaluates the impact of the Good Behavior Game adopted to help deal with disruptive behaviors experienced in urban elementary schools. To help conduct the study, the Good Behavior Game was applied on an urban class with a population of students with high poverty levels and the results noted down to help come up with a good conclusion. The study was also used to help evaluate the collateraleffects faced by teachers following some of their behaviors while in class.
Summary
According to the article, an achievement gap exists between urban and non-urban schools. Some of the things that contribute to this gap revolve around the high percentage rate of non-English, poor, minority and students with special needs in the urban schools. Researchers point out the main reason for the poor achievements by the urban schools as the deterioration state which the schools are in. This deterioration is caused by the mobility of urban schooling students, difficulties in recruiting teachers and the major cause being the discipline problems of the students.
The student’s disciplinary problems result from the academic diversity and behavioral needs required by them. To deal with these problems, teachers need to possess behavior management and pedagogy skills. Urban school going children’s’ ability to adjusting to the school environment has been negatively impacted by the early exposure to risk factors such as being raised by a single parent, being born by a teenage mother and child maltreatment. Poorly prepared unprofessional teachers with little knowledge of the city contribute further to the indiscipline of the students. Teacher’s preparation on how to deal with these behaviors is the key of bringing the perceived changes. Teachers should formulate strategies that would help in dealing with these intolerable behaviors.
The intolerable behaviors have taken a toll on teachers and this has led to some of them tendering their resignation letters or walking out of the school informally. To help deal with slow destruction that forces the teachers to quit from their work places, a researcher suggested that a training in learning theory massively helps reduce the attrition. Teachers have tried developing functional relationships using performance feedback that includes an observer trained to access the appraisal rate and the behavior-specific praise. The results revealed that the praising students by teachers put them in a risk of more aggression in their behavior.
Urban teachers have ill prepared strategies which often require following up, intended to help them manage their classes. The negative thing about these strategies is that with time they have been proven in effective. These failed strategies have resulted to the need of adopting an easily implementable intervention that has over the time demonstrated its effectiveness in dealing with problem behavior. The best strategy would be the Good Behavior Game that can be class wide applied and is user friendly. The reason for considering it as the best strategy is that there has been conducting of several studies intended to demonstrate its effectiveness in dealing with disruptive behavior. Its first successful application was conducted on fourth grade students who had high rates of out-of-seat and talk-outs behaviors. The proven success of the method has led to an increase of its application in school settings which include special and regular education classroom.
Type of design
This type of design is similar to the one indicated as it deals with the students who have the bad behaviors. This would help understand their problems and come up with suitable solutions.
Research hypotheses
The study was intended to show the impact of the Good Behavior Game in dealing with disruptive behaviors by students of an urban elementary school class. The research hypothesis was that increase of on-task behavior during the implementation of the game would help reduce the disruptive behavior. Concerning the evaluation of the effects led by the application of the game on the teacher’s praise strategies, they shared the hypotheses that an improvement on the behavior of students which characterized by the student’s frequent opportunities to respond led to higher teacher’s praise rates.
Methodology: description of the participants
The venue of the study was a first-grade classroom in an elementary school located in an urban area. The school was situated in the North Eastern region of the country and it offered general education. The participants were in grades raging from K to 5 with 92% of them benefiting from free lunch while some bought lunch at a reduced price. 16% of the students knew how to read and were proficient in mathematics. The class used for the study had 11 females and 11 males which totaled to 22 the number of students used in the study.
Description of the used variables
The study used variables such as disruptive behaviors, statements based on teacher’s responses and student-on-task. Student’s attendance to the assigned tasks by their teachers was the definition of student-on-task behavior. They were passive and active forms of students-on-task-behavior which included things such as writing answerson mathematics worksheet or maintaining an eye contact with the teacher during a lecture. Students’ disruptive behaviors were made up of academically unrelated things like talking amongst themselves, throwing objects and moving from one sitting position to another during a class session. These were the behaviors chosen to represent a host of other behaviors noted by the teachers during a class session.A teacher’s response was categorized either as a positive, neutral and negative response. A positive statement was a praise statement to a student in relation to his or her behavior. A neutral statement consisted neither of a positive or negative remark regarding a student’s behavior while a negative was a warning to a student in relation to his or her behavior.
Description of the used instruments
One of the materials approved by the teacher for use in the study was the reinforce preference assessment created on aneight and a half by 11 paper. The training material used to train the students and teachers was a script, which outlined and explained the rules and procedures of the game. There was the use of a recording sheet containing the names of the participating namesmade on a 17 by 11 paper. The sheet had a space where the recording of the team’s tally took place and entry spaces for the starting and stoppage time. Kitchen timers were also used to ensure that the game took place for 30mins. The experimenter used an audio cuing tape, recording sheet and earphones. The audio cueing tape had cues set at 10-secs under fixed time intervals. The recording had 60 divisions set at 10-sec intervals. Students used erasers, pencils and candy to help them fill the di-rections.
Description of the study procedures
Conduction of a preliminary assessment was the first procedure and this was done through the distribution of a reinforce survey to students. For the purposes of order ranking the students’ choices made in relation to the rewards given out, all students were given di-rections. A 30 minute math session with the teacher instructing the students in math was used to collect data on disruptive behaviors, students-on-task and teacher’s response statements. After the baseline setting, the experimenter trained the teacher in the procedures that help in the implementation of the Game. The procedures included reviewing of the Game’s rules with the class, accurate recording of occurrences of disruptive behavior and identifying the victor teams.
The implementation of the game happened daily during a 30-minute long math class which a 10-minute observation period. The 10-min observation varied throughout the 30-min math period to sample the experimental session. Prior to the Game implementation, the teacher had placed a recording sheet next to the blackboard. There was also the placement of a large envelop which contained numerical criterion coinciding with the Game’s period. This criterion was to remain a mystery to the participating students. The timer was set at the start of the Game and in the event of an occurrence of a disruptive behavior the teacher recorded this by marking the recording sheet under the team, which the student belonged. The teacher tallied the marks for each team and in the process revealing the criterion, which would be used, in the rewarding process. Finally, the teacher announced the results got by the all the teams announcing the winner in the process.
The person who collected all data and served as the experimenter was referred to as the primary observer while 2 graduate-level students blind to the study purpose served as observers. The observer had to be trained first on the observation treatment hence achieving proficiency. Scripted protocols were developed by the primary investigator to help evaluate observance of the Game’s procedures. The primary was to record during the 29% of each game play the whether the teacher was following the game procedures. The teacher’s behavior was also observed on a four minute interval.
Findings
The initial stages of the Game provided stable student’s on-task behavior at 53.25% while the disruptive behavior gradually increased to 36.5%. As the Game implementation went on, the trend for task-on-behavior increased to 68% except for activities during the 7th session while the disruptive behavior decreased to 22.33%. On the teacher behavior changes, they found out little change in relation to positive statements which they made.
Major conclusion
The results reveal that conducted study proved that the Game helped increase student’s on-task behavior and reduce disruptive behavior. There is also a link between first grade classrooms, which are poorly managed, and the continued academic problems among boys who have been aggressive from first grade. This link becomes stronger to boys who are from impoverished families.The study reveals that the proper management of classrooms is one of the important components of teaching.
Logic of the conclusions
The conclusions are logical as the results are got from practical implementation of the game. From the game, an individual can conclude that the increase in on-task students’ behavior activities reduces the rate of disruptive behaviors by students.
Educational implications
The researchers found out that the Good Behavior Game is instrumental in the establishment of on-task behavior which leads to more coverage of the syllabus. This is achieved by the extra work covered by the students in the different groups. Students become more involved in the learning process and thus they get clearer the concepts taught. The Game however requires high-quality institutional practices for the maintenance of the practice. This institutional improvement leads to better management of the schools improving the level of education in the schools.
Strengths and limitations
The study helped come up with ways of effectively manage indiscipline in classes. Teacher easily controls distraction behavior during class time and this lead to good coverage of the syllabus. This also helps reduce the resignation rate of teachers brought about by the high cases of indiscipline. Teachers who arenot from the urban areas can succeed teaching in urban schools if they apply the Game method in dealing with disruptive behavior.
One limitation of the study fails to provide for the control of the institutional activities. Institutional activities are partially responsible for student’s behavior and failure to include them in the study may lead o wrong conclusions. The timing aspect of the data is a limitation of the study. The observation time is short and this may not provide the correct results. Use of a long time observation period provides results different to the ones provide by a 10 min observation period.
Personal perceptions
The authors’ failure to conduct the study on an extended time makes the study results unreliable. The 30min observation frame is a short period as time goes by, things such as fatigue leads to increase is disruptive behavior. The conduction of the study was done only once a day and this makes the results not be very correct. Students’ behavior in classes change during the course of the day, which has not been covered in the study.
I learnt that engaging students during teaching helps reduce distractions in classes. The group work make is easier for the coverage of the curriculum in time. This enables for smooth learning as the teacher can control the students easily.
As a teacher, I can relate with the topic when it comes to ways of using effective and easy to apply methods of controlling bad behavior in classes.
The Impact Of The Eurozone Crisis To Non-Member Economies The Case Of The UK
The Impact Of The Eurozone Crisis To Non-Member Economies: The Case Of The UK
Table of Contents TOC o “1-3” h z u
HYPERLINK l “_Toc329133480” Abstract PAGEREF _Toc329133480 h 2
HYPERLINK l “_Toc329133481” Table of Contents PAGEREF _Toc329133481 h 3
HYPERLINK l “_Toc329133482” 1. Introduction PAGEREF _Toc329133482 h 4
HYPERLINK l “_Toc329133483” 1.1 Background PAGEREF _Toc329133483 h 4
HYPERLINK l “_Toc329133484” 1.2 Thesis Statement PAGEREF _Toc329133484 h 4
HYPERLINK l “_Toc329133485” 1.3 Aims and Objectives PAGEREF _Toc329133485 h 4
HYPERLINK l “_Toc329133486” 1.4 Research Rationale PAGEREF _Toc329133486 h 5
HYPERLINK l “_Toc329133487” 1.5 Hypothesis PAGEREF _Toc329133487 h 6
HYPERLINK l “_Toc329133488” 1.6 Justification PAGEREF _Toc329133488 h 6
HYPERLINK l “_Toc329133489” 2. Literature Review PAGEREF _Toc329133489 h 6
HYPERLINK l “_Toc329133490” 3. Methodology PAGEREF _Toc329133490 h 9
HYPERLINK l “_Toc329133491” 3.1 Research Action Plan PAGEREF _Toc329133491 h 9
HYPERLINK l “_Toc329133492” 3.2 Procedure for Why Eurozone Crisis Is a Threat to Global Economy PAGEREF _Toc329133492 h 10
HYPERLINK l “_Toc329133493” 3.3 Data Collection Tools PAGEREF _Toc329133493 h 10
HYPERLINK l “_Toc329133494” 3.4 Results PAGEREF _Toc329133494 h 11
HYPERLINK l “_Toc329133495” 3.5 Analysis and Interpretation of the Data PAGEREF _Toc329133495 h 13
HYPERLINK l “_Toc329133496” 4. Conclusions and Recommendations PAGEREF _Toc329133496 h 15
HYPERLINK l “_Toc329133497” 4.1 Conclusions PAGEREF _Toc329133497 h 15
HYPERLINK l “_Toc329133498” 4.2 Recommendations PAGEREF _Toc329133498 h 16
HYPERLINK l “_Toc329133499” 4.3 Areas Future Consideration PAGEREF _Toc329133499 h 17
HYPERLINK l “_Toc329133500” References PAGEREF _Toc329133500 h 18
HYPERLINK l “_Toc329133501” Appendix PAGEREF _Toc329133501 h 19
AbstractThe European Union faces one of the most difficult challenges since its increased financial arrangement under the EU, which apparently has some members left out due to their national interests. The UK is an example of the EU nations outside the Eurozone, but the impact of the Eurozone crisis currently witnessed does not appear to be selective. Contagion impact fast catches up with the UK and as the recessionary impacts continue to threaten smaller economies in the Eurozone, bigger economies outside the Eurozone cannot feel safe anymore. This project interrogates the impact of UK’s policy towards the Eurozone and the potential risks faced by the rest of the world. The unofficial interviews conducted on the UK’s delegation to the recent European summit in Brussels finds out how the opinion of the policy makers favours direct involvement of the UK into the Euro crisis. From the findings, a conclusion to the effect that the UK must improve its Eurozone policy is formulated.
1. Introduction
1.1 Background
Opinion has emerged that the United Kingdom limited terms of involvement of the European Union in the Eurozone when compared to other economic powerhouses does the economic crisis in Europe more harm than good. On the other hand, proponents of the peripheral role that the UK has taken in resolving the economic challenges in the Eurozone claim that it is the best approach available for the domestic economy. Various perspectives taken on the debate however fail to quantify the magnitude of the costs and benefits that the UK policy presents to its domestic economy and development. In a comprehensive deliberation on the various risks involved in determining the most sustainable approach for the Eurozone and the UK, this research project embarks on a consultative interrogation of cues to make a conclusion as proposed by the thesis.
1.2 Thesis StatementThe hands-off approach adopted in the UK’s Eurozone crisis policy affects the recovery progress of the domestic economy as well as reduces the value of confidence shown towards stability of the Eurozone monetary and fiscal ambitions.
1.3 Aims and ObjectivesThe project aims to enumerate the significance of a unified and homogenous contribution of the European economic powerhouses to achieve the real benefits of the Eurozone. Specific aims and objectives of the project therefore involve:
Aims
Highlighting the importance of full economic cooperation and contribution by Eurozone members and other European economic powers
Establishing the volatility of a disjointed contribution by the EU and of the economic body
Objectives
To demonstrate the risks faced by the Eurozone by virtue of UK’s peripheral presence in its economic matters
To support UK’s direct involvement in the Eurozone using cost-benefit analysis
To attribute Eurozone’s current poor recovery from debt crisis to disharmony in membership contribution
1.4 Research Rationale
The dominant debate in Europe currently revolves on how the political governance and leadership have failed to deliver sustainable development to overcome the economic volatility occasioned by recent economic crisis. Governments continually find it difficult to overcome their liability in public debt fueling the Eurozone debt crisis yet the measures implemented today seem as volatile as the entire crisis. Cooperation of German and French governments in the resolution of the economic crisis facing the Eurozone appear as the only positive indication that the powerhouses of the European Union can turn around the volatility of the economy. The bail-out plans proposed to rescue national governments’ ability to meet their expenditure cannot continue without the appropriate support from all the great economies of Europe.
1.5 HypothesisLack of homogenous cooperation from across the UE and Eurozone will bring down Eurozone economic framework.
Null Hypothesis
Integration of more EU nations such as the UK into the direct resolution of Eurozone crisis will slow down economic development in Europe due to the risks involved.
1.6 Justification
The UK plays an integral role in the EU and despite the fact that it is not a part of the Eurozone economic arrangement, a majority of the nations in the Eurozone constitute virtually half of its export market. Under the considerations of the blow that economic crisis to the largest single market destination, closer cooperation with eth Eurozone cooperation from the UK than currently underway would protect vital economic interests. Such involvement would support the UK to mitigate the impact of the crisis better than a hands-off approach due to contagion influence currently experienced.
2. Literature Review
The debt crisis in the Eurozone emerged when the debt potential of nations across the Eurozone expanded within the platform of unified monetary and central bank systems. Inability of the Eurozone to set borrowing regulations due to lack of proper policy systems regulating tax and revenue regimes across the jurisdiction opened loopholes in the GDP to debt balance. According to Williams (2012, para.8) smaller economies borrowed more than they could raise leading to the debt crisis, with countries such as Greece and Italy borrowing above their GDP (160 percent and 120 percent respectively). Bigger economies in the Eurozone such as Germany and France found themselves overwhelmed by bail-out calls and reluctance of the EU nations outside the Eurozone to support them went increasingly futile. However, the negative impact of such a crisis poses a threat to the whole of Europe and potentially the entire world and action of European economies, together, cannot be underestimated. If Germany’s direct involvement is anything to rely on, the UK needs to hinge its recovery from supporting ailing economies to recover too (Fhbrussels 2012, para.6). Exclusion of the UK from a direct role as Germany and France sends mixed reactions on the stability of the foundations of European economy. Perhaps a tighter cooperation between the European nations as led by the big economies would send the desired optimism among the Eurozone members. In view of the importance of the stability of the Eurozone to the economy of the UK, all considerations to secure the resolution of the crisis outweigh any conservative ideology that defies such integration debates.
Since the beginning of the Eurozone crisis, the United Kingdom has distanced herself from what is happening. In the late 2011, 26 European leaders out of the 27 European Union member states supported budget and tax pact to address the Eurozone debt crisis. The United Kingdom refused to join others. This is because the Prime Minister David Cameron argued that he had to protect the key interests (financial markets included) of the British. All the 17nations using the euro accepted the deal while nine nations indicated that they would sign up. The 26 member states have suggests that the euro is very stable and its use is for the common good of the Eurozone. Though Britain agreed that the euro was for the interest of the country, Cameron (Prime Minister of the United Kingdom) did not sign the treaty because it did not offer proper safeguards for the United Kingdom (Morris 2011, p1).
Since the occurrence of the euro crisis, appeals for the European Union referendum have become gradually important. A recent survey suggests that approximately 80% of the Britons want the vote. The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom cannot ignore the developing pressure coming from the Conservative ranks. The crisis has developed a new political momentum in the euro zone and Britain must respond to it. If Britain fails to respond, it will be at a risk of becoming disregarded as a non-member of the European community. Cameron promised his critics a tough stance in Brussels. Cameron argued that the short-term concern for Britain is to offer support to euro zone in resolving its crisis. The interest of Britain is a fiscal union, a banking union, and euro bonds. However, he was quick to note that he would not assent to the necessary changes made in the European Union treating without getting concessions in return (Evers and Volkery 2012, p1).
Possible risk to the financial and legislation support needed to keep Europe united is the series of legal challenges by the defenders of constitutional rights and Eurosceptic politicians. For instance, the constitutional court of Germany has had to deliberate contribution in the primary Greek financial rescue programmer and the validity of various financial stability measures. The rulings suggest that such challenges are not likely to disrupt the process. Nations such as Estonia and Ireland are also making challenges. Despite the efforts made to restore market confidence, most of the people contemplate the probability of a nation (nations) leaving the Eurozone. It seems that contingency plans for different possibilities are being made behind closed doors. However, it is important to note that there are no provisions that permit a nation to depart from the Eurozone, however, the provisions can be added through amendments. However, this process cannot happen overnight, it will take a considerable amount of time (Noked 2012, p1).
3. Methodology
3.1 Research Action Plan
Activity Action
Task dates The task was done in a period three months. In the first month, a personal interview with David Cameron (The Prime Minister of United Kingdom) was done. Other activities included include random distribution of questionnaires to various government officials and finance officials concerning the issue of Eurozone crisis.
In the second month, analysis of the personal interviews and questionnaires was done and the results compiled.
Review dates The tasks were reviewed in the third month. The tasks reviewed included the interview done, questionnaires filled and the results of the whole process.
Monitoring process The participants were monitored on a weekly basis. The method for monitoring was the participant monitoring. The participants were required to fill out weekly monitoring forms during the research period.
Research strategy The research strategy used was personal interviews and the use of questionnaires. The data collected was analysed using SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences).
3.2 Procedure for Why Eurozone Crisis Is a Threat to Global Economy
The resources for the research came from donations and grants offered by the university, organizations and interest groups. The results of the research were analyzed using statistical tools such as SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences). The reliability of the research procedures were measured by the extent to which they yielded similar results on repeated trials. In this case, a number of trials were made to test the reliability of the research procedures. The validity of the research was measured by the extent to which they answered the research questions, for instance, if the respondents were capable of answering questions concerning Eurozone crisis. The variable’s (Britain) approach was negatively affecting the Eurozone.
3.3 Data Collection Tools
The data collection tools used in this research included personal interviews and the use of questionnaires. These tools assisted in answering the research questions. However, there are important things to note about these data collection tools. The data generated from these tools was qualitative in nature, that is, it was in the form of words. In designing the questionnaire, the following things were taken into consideration; theme and cover letter, instructions for completion, appearance, length, order, coding, and the type of questions (Thames Valley University 2012, p1). The theme and cover letter of the questionnaire was based on the research questions. The theme was “why the United Kingdom was a threat to the stability of Eurozone.” A cover letter was written to explain all things concerning the questionnaire and how it was to be conducted, and how the information was to be used. The length of the questionnaire was moderate since not many questions were asked.
Coding was important since the data collected was to be analysed using a statistical package. The questions used were simple, short, and to the point. It is worth noting that open-ended questions were used. This is because they permitted further elaboration of the matter or issue by the respondent. Questions used and answered in this case included; how safe was the United Kingdom from the Eurozone crisis, how the crisis affected nations like the United States. As stated before, the questions used were based on the hypothesis and the research questions. The questionnaires were distributed to the randomly selected government officials and finance officials who attended the recent forum at Brussels and were collected in a period of one week.
In personal interview, unstructured form of interview was used. This form of personal interview was very important since it resulted in thorough elaboration of the question or the issue. When planning for the interview, some things were taken into consideration. All areas that required information were listed. The type of interview used was unstructured personal interview. The areas had to be transformed into real questions (for instance, was the United Kingdom safe from the Eurozone crisis?). The last things taken care of included making an appointment with the respondent. In this case, the respondent was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, David Cameron. Thus, unstructured personal interview was used to collect information from the Prime Minister.
3.4 ResultsFindings relied on the data collection techniques employed in the research, mainly the Eurostar statistics provided for the various European nations’ economies and the interview responses collected from the UK delegation to the just concluded European summit in Brussels on 29th June 2012. The timing of the venue was appropriate since it was possible to find the government officials in a single sitting as opposed to making several appointments in an ordinary setting. The British prime minister and three other treasury officials from the delegation were interviewed on an open ended questionnaire to find out their opinion on UK’s policy to the Eurozone. Coding the data for appropriate qualitative procedures gave the following interpretation on need to change Eurozone policy.
Respondent Support of current policy Support of further cooperation
1. 6 4
2. 4 6
3. 7 3
4. 2 8
5. 5 5
Total Score 24 36
EMBED Excel.Chart.8 s
Despite the official opinion of the UK government that the EU direct involvement into monetary and fiscal policies was a risky engagement for the European nations, support for the Eurozone nations provided a beneficial position for the nation a majority of the respondents. It was apparent that the general reluctance of the UK to engage in a more direct financial role in the EU was a political motivation as opposed to an economic development decision. The political debate generated across the UK points at a possibility of a long battle between the supporters of the Euro debate. According to the British Prime Minister in his interview, it is not entirely a lost battle for the Eurosceptics to continue holding a position against further involvement of the UK into the Eurozone debt turmoil since there are benefits of protecting UK as it stands (personal communication). However, the score of this opinion from the rest of the delegation indicates that there are sympathizers opting for a more direct involvement than currently practiced.
3.5 Analysis and Interpretation of the Data
The analysis resulting to the coded classification of qualitative data was based on using logistic regression. Logistic regression is a method of analysis in SPSS. Logistic regression can be used to assess the relation of multiple independent variables and a dependent variable. In this situation, the dependent variable was the United Kingdom (Britain) approach and the multiple independent variables were nations from the Eurozone. In logistic regression, binary dependent variables are required. The variables are usually coded 0/1 and they suggest if a condition is present or not, or if the event happened or did not happen. For instance, if the variable is coded zero, the event probably did not happen and if it is coded one, the event probably happened. It is important to note that there are two values of dependent variable (non-occurrence or occurrence) and they are important in the prediction of the possibility of something occurring. In other words, logistic regression finds the association between the independent variables and the possibility of occurrence. It is worth noting that logistic regression is effective at approximating the possibility that an event will happen. As stated before, logistic regression develops estimated for the probability that an event will happen under given set of conditions. Logistic regression has the capability of constructing multivariate models and takes in control variables (Grace-Martin and Sweet 2008, p158).
From the data collected it was evident that the lack of homogenous cooperation for the European Union will bring down Eurozone. Thus, the hypothesis was supported by the data collected. Most of the respondents were of the opinion that the hard stance by Britain not to involve herself in the affairs of the Eurozone was not beneficial to the stability of the Eurozone. They also suggested that Britain was too cautious that its interests would be threatened if it was to agree to the treaty. Although Britain had admitted that euro would bring stability to Eurozone, the nation was still adamant that it would not jeopardise her interests. Personal interview with the Prime Minister of Britain generated some information of the unwillingness of the United Kingdom to indulge herself into the affairs of the Eurozone. The Prime Minister noted that the interests of Britain were not considered when the treaty was formulated, and thus, it will not take part despite the fact that it was beneficial to the nations in the Eurozone. He also stated that the referendum vote was not important at that moment because it would change Britain’s association with the European Union.
The Prime Minister was quick to state that even if Britain was to be removed from the European Union membership, it will not affect the stability of the Eurozone. However, these sentiments differed from what finance officials stated. The finance officials indicated that the stance held by Britain would affect the stability of the Eurozone. They also stated that Britain was slowly being affected by the Eurozone crisis. The sentiments were supported by the increasing pressure by the Conservatives to have the referendum vote. Thus, from the results gathered, it was evident that Britain’s stance was going to affect the stability of the Eurozone. Other than affecting the stability of Eurozone, the stance was also going to affect the stability of Britain, politically and economically. Based on logistic regression, Britain (a dependent variable) was going to influence the stability of the Eurozone. The variable Britain was coded one, thus, the probability of the event occurring was very high.
4. Conclusions and Recommendations
4.1 Conclusions
Despite the fact that the UK government faces a divided house a home on the foreign economic policy with special attention to the Eurozone, a coordinated approach backed by national interests in the rich market must take centre stage and precedence over political arguments. Indeed, the entire continent as well as the entire global economy faces a difficult and trying economic period of recent history that can only find a solution in the type of cooperation that puts every European’s interest at heart. A segregated approach as practiced by those states that want to protect their local currency must face appropriate condemnation if the economic gains provided by the Eurozone to such nations do not facilitate the formulation of a desirable economic decision.
As illustrated from the outcomes of the interviews conducted to the respondents as given in the data section above, the mixed opinion from a government delegation ought to provide a homogenous portrayal of the interests of the British people. However, the misinterpretation of the underlying issues for Britain’s involvement in Eurozone acts as the major hindrance towards mitigation of negative impact emerging from the ailing economies. To support the opinion of the delegation, as divided as it is, a lot of work needs to be done to convince the UK leadership that the conservative interests of the nations should not continue to pose threats to national development as well as that of the rest of the EU.
4.2 Recommendations
The most advisable route to be taken by the European nations, led by the UK should involve a more powerful involvement in financial affairs of Europe, with a cost benefit analysis forming the main decision anchor. Nations in the EU, both members and non-members of the Eurozone must integrate their development contributions towards stability of the EU and Eurozone. Supporting the main market where most of the EU nations conduct international business will not only be a show of goodwill and confidence in the EU but also a responsibility of every nation to the rest of the world. In terms of the debate going on in the UK on whether to have a more direct role in the EU, political interests must not hijack national interests in terms of the gains that the nation stands to lose if the Eurozone comes down collapsing. It will increasingly appear tenable and logical for stronger economic ties to be established for better cooperation inside the EU as opposed to individual segregation of nations that would be occasioned by a collapse of the Eurozone. Withdrawal of the small economies from the Eurozone must be discouraged as their isolated recovery projector would be worse than when in the assistance of other nations within the Eurozone. Firmer actions such as austerity plans to reduce excesses will increasingly form part of recovery paths in Europe as opposed to risky borrowing, which forms a huge part of the fear possessed by the UK. In view of the recent developments in the Eurozone management, bail-outs delivered to nations worst hit by the impacts of the debt crisis have stringent compliance regulations to alleviate risks of default, which captures the fears of potential supporters such as the UK.
4.3 Areas Future ConsiderationThe conversion of the EU into a better monetary bloc will eventually be a tricky path for the UK to isolate herself and time will be ripe for the appropriate preparations to be made in case the unconceivable came knocking. Despite the fact that the idea of entry into the Eurozone seems unpleasant by nearly all of the population in the UK, testing times still lie ahead for possible complications in case the bloc continually isolates Eurozone non-members. The UK can only work towards a better cooperation with the rest of the Eurozone in a setting likely to favour an isolated capacity as opposed to moves that seem to undermine the integrity of the Euro.
ReferencesEvers, M., & Volkery, C. (2012) Euro crisis fuels debate on British EU referendum [online], Spiegel Online. Available from: <http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/euro-crisis-fuels-calls-for-british-eu-referendum-a-842304.html> [accessed 3 July 2012].
Fhbrussels, (2012) Eurozone crisis challenges UK role in Europe, [online] Available from <http://publicaffairs2point0.eu/2012/06/10/eurozone-crisis-a-game-changer-for-uk-in-europe/> [Accessed 3 July, 2012].
Grace-Martin, K., & Sweet, S. A. (2008) Data analysis with SPSS: A first course in applied statistics, Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.
Morris, C. (2011) Euro crisis: UK alone as Europe agrees fiscal impact [online], BBC. Available from: <http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-16115373> [accessed 3 July 2012].
Noked, N. (2012) The Eurozone crisis and its impact on the international financial markets [online]. Available from: <http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/corpgov/2012/06/19/the-eurozone-crisis-and-its-impact-on-the-international-financial-markets/> [accessed 3 July 2012].
Thames Valley University. (2012) Dissertation guide [online]. Available from: <http://brent.tvu.ac.uk/dissguide/hm1u1/hm1u1fra.htm> [accessed 3 July 2012].
Williams, Trevor. (2012) Decoding the Eurozone crisis: How does the Eurozone crisis affect UK markets? [online] Available from <http://www.guardian.co.uk/small-business-network-partner-zone-lloyds-tsb/decoding-the-eurozone-crisis> [Accessed 3 July, 2012].
Appendix
Questionnaire
1. What is the impact of the Eurozone to the UK’s economy with respect to considerations of improved interaction with the EU?
2. Is the current UK’s involvement in the EU responsible to the volatility of the economy in Europe?
3. Are there ways in which the UK could enhance its role in resolving the Eurozone crisis or is it beyond its economic scope and responsibility?
4. What are the indications that the UK will increasingly integrate into the Eurozone affairs?
5. Are there ways in which the Eurozone management would facilitate its own security and that of non-members such as the UK?
the impact of the Europeans on African culture
Topics in Cultural Studies
Abstract
The essay examines a number of publications both online and offline on cultural studies and more specifically, the history of the late 19th Century and early 20th Century. The principal goal is to analyze the impact of the Europeans on African culture and indeed suggest that, in the early twentieth century, the African culture had entirely been under threat of being destroyed.
In order to achieve this, the essay is segmented into three distinct portions. The first section defines the key terms used end to end in the essay. The second section outlines the impact of European cultures on Africans. In addition, the portion depicts the Africans’ culture prior to the late nineteenth century. Besides, it shows how the African culture was transformed as a result of European expansion in the early 20th Century. Further, it demonstrates how the change in African culture was representative of “Sayre’s loss of centeredness.”
The last bit restates the thesis statement earlier on outlined in the first paragraph as well as the main points used in the upper portion of the essay.
Keywords: European Culture, African culture, loss of centeredness
Topics in Cultural Studies
Before the writer proceeds with the lower portion of the essay, it is essential to define the keywords to be used later in the essay. Secondly to none, European culture, which is synonymous to Western culture, is difficult to interpret because it covers many countries of the world. However, culture refers to the shared patterns of behaviors and interactions learned through a process of socialization. The shared patterns are used to identify a member within the society and as a result of this, distinguish the member from other groups within the society (McGee, 2009). In this essay, European culture will refer to the shared behaviors by the Europeans or just, the whites. On the other hand, African culture refers to the shared behaviors in virtually all African countries.
Loss of centeredness refers to extinction of one’s way of doing things and in particular, leaving ones way of life and copying another person’s way of life. In cultural studies, loss of centeredness is viewed as the disappearance of cultural practices, political power as well as social systems among the Africans that was in place for centuries until the early 20th Century.
Impacts of Western Culture on Africans
It is extremely valuable to note that, the Europeans had both positive as well as negative effects to the Africans. As well known by almost everyone, the Europeans aimed at bringing about progress in Africa and more particularly, spreading Christianity to the Africans and also providing them with education among other essentials of life.
On the other hand, the Europeans played a negative role in the destruction of the African culture that had been used for centuries earlier on before the Europeans’ arrival in Africa. Before the arrival of the Europeans, the Africans enjoyed immense flexibility in practicing the diversified traditional practices ranging from social, political, cultural, economic and religious practices.
The Europeans dominated most of the African countries due to their scientific lead, technological advancement as well their strong military all over the world. This power enabled them to grasp the African countries and with no time they were all over African countries. As a result of this, they were able to extend their ideologies of imperialism at an alarming rate in most African countries.
With such western domination, the European style of civilization, as they called it, destroyed the African cultural heritage. In line with this, they were cultural relativists and viewed their culture as more superior than that of the Africans. As a result, the African cultural practices opened a window for a European way of doing things. This implied that then, due to the powerful Europeans, the Africans had to leave their ways of life and copy those of the Europeans. As a consequence, African cultural growth, came to a standstill.
In short, the Europeans did not only destroy the African cultural heritage but also hindered self development of the Africans that could have been achieved radically through self governance (Arowolo, 2010).
The African Culture prior to the Late 19th Century
Before the late nineteenth century, the Africans enjoyed freedom in conducting the different cultural practices. This was mostly done in large villages where they lived with their families. The main routine practices were art, music and dances. The former was traditionally used by nearly all African communities and was mainly used to praise God during birth as well as times of bumper harvests.
On the other hand, songs were used during ceremonies including during initiation and marriages. The songs were used to encourage the initiates as they passed to the other stage of adulthood. In almost all African communities, initiation was common to both male and females.
Besides, the African communities were majorly agricultural and depended on agriculture for their day to day lives. In line with this, they majorly practiced subsistence farming and not commercial in nature. However, they could exchange such produces with other communities so as to get what they lacked or did not produce (Giblin, 2009).
African Cultural change as a Result of European expansion
As a result of European influence, the African culture changed in a number of ways. Firstly, instead of bringing civilization, they transformed the Africans in virtually all walks of life. In line with this, they distorted the well organized African societies. As mentioned earlier on, their main goal was to westernize the African communities since they viewed this as civilization.
Politically, the Europeans changed the well demarcated natural boundaries by the Africans. These boundaries indicated the realm of the various clans. As if this is not enough, the Europeans introduced their western rules that were to be strictly followed by all the Africans. Consequently, the social institutions, used to preserve culture in the African societies disappeared when the Europeans arrived (Giblin, 2009).
Besides, Africa was economically transformed. In this regard, Africa was integrated into the world of capitalism which was unheard of before the Europeans’ arrival. The African countries acted as the producers of raw materials that would then be used for commercial production in the European countries (n.a, 2008).
In addition, the tax system was established on all Africans which forced them to work for the Europeans for substandard wages.
Further, there was a shift from subsistence farming to cash crop farming. As a result, Africa produced more cash crops for the western industrial production and less for her population, a situation that led to hunger and starvation among the Africans (Claret, 2009).
These changes were typical of what Sayre calls “loss of centeredness”. In line with this, the African cultural heritage was totally lost , and its continuity stagnated. As earlier on indicated, Africa’s self development was difficult since there was the lack of self governance at that period. In some countries like Kenya, the farming communities living in the Kenyan highlands were forced to plant cash crops like coffee and tea (Kwame, 2007).
In conclusion, it would be fair to suggest that, the Europeans did not merely civilize Africa but instead brought about felt impacts on the African culture. The Africans’ ways of life before the end of the 19th Century was totally changed after the arrival of Europeans.
In short, the African culture had completely been threatened if not in the process of being destroyed by the Europeans.
References
Arowolo, D. (2010). The Effects of Western Civilization and Culture. Journal of Social Sciences, 1-5.
Claret, O. (2009, 09 13). The Effects of European Colonization on African people. Retrieved from codewit.com: www.codewit.com/claretprobofpresentafrican.php.
Giblin, J. (2009). African History. African History Journal, 1-8.
Kwame, Y. (2007, 03 13). Impacts of Europeans on African Culture. Retrieved from csus.edu: www.csus.edu/org/capcr/documents/kwame.pdf.
McGee. (2009). Multicultural Education. Needham Heights Journal, 1-5.
n.a. (2008, 12 07). European Imperial Expansion in Africa. Retrieved from www.flowofhistory.com/history/units/eme/18/FC122.