Culture Influence proposal Essay Example for Free

Culture Influence proposal Essay Saudi Arabia has a well developed healthcare system incorporating private and private facilities. Largely, there are healthcare centers that offer universal healthcare services incorporating emergency, preventive as well as basic services to the culturally rich Saudi Arabian population (Marshall, 1999). Largely, the government is quite instrumental in the provision of healthcare to its citizens. The government has put in place a referral system that has over three hundred hospitals offering both general and specialized facilities. Thus, vetting and placement of the staff is undertaken by the government. The cultural influences are quite significant as they determine specific roles accorded to men and women medical professionals and practitioners (Mansour Al-Osaimi, 2003). This document presents an in depth study and research of the way the rich Saudi Arabian culture influences the human resource management as well as quality of service delivery of the healthcare facilities. Introduction to the problem The Saudi Arabian culture is based on the Islamic law and religious teachings, thus there is a disparity in the manner in which men and women are treated. Largely, women are discriminated against in regard to the employment opportunities a well as management of healthcare facilities. Saudi Arabia’s law is based upon such Islamic Shariah premises of equality, justice and consultation (Baldo, 1995). Nonetheless, women are not accorded similar equality as their male counterparts. Although, the cultural stipulations play a significant role in setting the gender roles and expectations, sometimes women prefer to work in segregated areas willingly. Through close guidance of the highlighted research questions, this study will explore the cultural influences that impact management styles and staff selection in the healthcare sector. Purpose of the study In any society, cultural practices are critical in determining and influencing personal thoughts, behaviors as well as emotions. More often than not, culture shapes the perceptions and socialization of individuals as both the sub cultural and socioeconomic differences determine the levels of interaction and the manner in which activities are carried out. Data and information obtained from this research will be used to explore the impact that culture has on the way human resources management as well as service delivery in the healthcare sector is undertaken. Literature review The Saudi Arabian Ministry of health is tasked with provision of comprehensive as well as integrative healthcare to its citizens which complies with the stipulated Islamic principles (Long, 2007). Largely, the government ensures that the health care sector is upgraded through provision of qualified employees who not only ensure health care awareness is achieved but also provide the best services to its citizens. The government boasts a wide range of healthcare facilities. According to Long, (2007) in such healthcare sectors as maternal healthcare and immunization, significant improvement in the quality and service delivery has been recorded. The government ensures that employees have appropriate training and good remuneration that ensures they are well motivated thereby able to undertake the specified tasks. Cultural and social complexities are quite prevalent in Saudi Arabia with extensive gender segregation being exhibited in the country. Women are expected to be fully veiled while in the presence of male counterparts and avoid any from of contact from unrelated males. According to Ali Mahmoud (2003), a complete veil popularly known as niqab and abaya is meant to ensure that women maintain moral behavior as well the honor of their family is upheld. Ambika, (1998) asserts that for convenience purposes it is common to have women working in separate offices so as to unveil their faces and hair without being subjected to any form of harassment. Women are not allowed to undertake outside assignment except while in the company of their male relatives popularly referred to as Maram (Littlewood Yousuf, 2001). Largely, women are employed in sectors where they will offer medical help to women clientele while male practitioners are restricted in areas where they will serve male clients. Nonetheless, in the even that a female patient requires specialized treatment which can only be effected by a male doctor, then the male doctor is allowed to offer the services under close watch of a female nurse. Research questions This research is intended to establish the correlation between cultural influences in Saudi Arabia and the management practices that are in existence. Primarily, the research question that this research will be pegged upon therefore is: †¢ Does Culture influence the gender roles and management practices of the Saudi Arabian health care system? In order to further widen the scope of this primary research question, other specific questions will also be incorporated. These specific questions are outlined below; †¢ What is the prevalence of male and female managers in public and private sector hospitals? †¢ Does culture have any influence on management roles of public hospitals in Saudi Arabia? †¢ Do religious beliefs have any impact on gender roles? †¢ Does personal behavior and legal procedures influence selection and placement of staff to manage of healthcare facilities? †¢ Has modernity had any influence on the management of healthcare facilities? Scope of the study This research will focus primarily on the public healthcare sector. The main reason why the study will be concentrated in the public sector is because in Saudi Arabia, most of the population relies on the public hospitals for provision of healthcare services. Largely treatment is provided free of charge in the public hospitals although patients maybe required to purchase prescribed drugs (Khoja Kabbash, 2007). In public healthcare facilities, Islamic rules and culture influences are adhered to strictly during staff placement process and are also the guiding principles in the daily running of the facilities (Khoja Kabbash, 2007). The public sector will essentially present an ideal backdrop upon which the research will be based. Research methodology This segment details the data collection modalities that will be used to analyze highlighted research questions. Largely, the research will incorporate live interviews and questionnaires to collect data which is not only reliable but also valid. Interviews are reliable as the interviewed medical professionals will provide original data obtained from their specific work stations. It will also put the researcher at a advantageous position as the researcher will not only collect the data but will also observe the respondents. Additionally, the questionnaire will be structured in such a way that the research questions will be met and will therefore make data interpretation process easy. Through the use of questionnaires, the researcher is assured of obtaining detailed data that is essentially useful in the analysis of the research questions. Interviews will essentially provide up to date data as the interviewed respondents are those currently operating in the public healthcare facilities. Additionally, interviews essentially enrich the data interpretation process especially because some respondents are likely to share in depth insights regarding the management of the healthcare facilities. Interviews will also work to collect conclusive data especially because questions that may be misinterpreted in the questionnaires can be easily addressed. Interview Schedule In order to have valid data collected on the research questions, it is essential that only reliable respondents are interviewed. Largely, the bulk of respondents will be the former and current public health care management officers as they are aware of the modalities that are put in place to ensure efficient management of the facilities (Marshall, 1999). In this regard, the interviewer has approached over twelve respondents namely; †¢ Two Saudi Arabia Ministry of health Human resources officers †¢ Two public hospitals Chief Executive officers. †¢ Four male Public health doctors †¢ Four female public health doctors Additionally, the researcher has developed a questionnaire with the specific research questions that the respondents will be expected to respond to. The targeted respondents have expressed outmost willingness to provide required data. Reflection on limitations The researcher is well aware of the limitations associated with collection of the required data. For instance, getting respondents who are willing to offer required information in the projected time span is a challenge. The targeted respondents are medical professionals who have tight and busy schedules and it’s possible that they will be handling patients. Nonetheless, in order to counter this setback, the researcher will incorporate technological advancements such as web teleconferencing thereby be able to undertake online interviews. Another challenge that maybe exhibited through the use of questionnaires is the misinterpretation of research questions. In this regard, the researcher will ensure that the research questions are terse and straightforward in order to avoid any irrelevant responses. Ethical concerns Any credible research must adhere to strict ethical standards. Thus, the researcher has put in place principles to ensure contemporary ethical standards are adhered to. Firstly, the researcher will ensure anonymity of all respondents through concealing all identities. Secondly, respondents will not be coerced to provide required data; rather they will provide all information willingly. Thirdly, respondents will be informed beforehand the data collection procedure as well as the risks associated with the research process. Lastly, respondents will have an opportunity to validate data collected as the researcher will avail copies of the research to the respondents. Conclusion This research will rely on primary data collection procedures namely interviews and questionnaires to collect valid data essential in making inferences regarding cultural influences in the management of healthcare facilities in Saudi Arabia. All the targeted respondents are involved in the management of the healthcare facilities in Saudi Arabia; hence there is no doubt that collected data and research analysis will be valid. Upon receipt of feedback on this proposal, the researcher will formulate interview schedules that will help investigate the culture impact on human resource management as well as quality of service delivery in Saudi Arabia healthcare facilities. Time schedule This Grant schedule will guide the time durations essential for accomplishment of the total research.

School Vouchers: A Harmful Choice Essay -- Argumentative Persuasive Ed

School Vouchers: A Harmful Choice Since entering office in January, President George W. Bush has given education reform high priority on his agenda. One element of his four-point initiative involves the implementation of school vouchers. A voucher, as defined in The American Heritage Dictionary, is a "certificate representing a credit against future expenditures." (The American Heritage) By diverting tax dollars from public schools to private institutions through the use of vouchers, America's public education system will become less effective, students from low income families will be set further behind, and the First Amendment will be directly violated. The conservative economist Milton Friedman first suggested the concept of school vouchers in 1955. He laid out a plan, "to return tax monies to parents of school-aged children for tuition use in a variety of authorized public and private educational settings." (Noll 193) Now, President Bush embraces Friedman's philosophy with his four-point education initiative. In his plan, Bush advocates (1) annual testing in reading and math in every primary grade; (2) empowering schools and school districts to implement reforms; and (3) federal government assistance in transition to higher standards. Most significantly, Bush says in his final point, (4) "If any school consistently fails to meet minimal standards for three consecutive years, vouchers will be offered so that children can go to the school of their selection, rather than the choice of the government." (Thomas 1) For the most part, liberal Democrats, such as Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts, agree with the first three elements of Bush' s proposal; but party lines are drawn over vouchers (Thomas 1). Under Bush's proposal, stu... ...homas, Cal. "Bush Won't Leave Kids in Bad Schools." The Grand Rapids Press. 26 Jan 2001: A13 pp. Bell and Howell Information and Learning-Proquest. 6 Mar 2001. "Vouchers." National Education Association. . 8 Mar 2001. "Vouchers Ignore Bush's Chance to 'Unite' Rather Than 'Divide.'" National Education Association. 23 Jan 2001. . 8 Mar 2001. "Voucher Talking Points." Rethinking Schools Online: An Urban Education Journal. Fall 1998. . 8 Mar 2001. Walthers, Kevin. "Saying Yes to Vouchers: Perception, Choice, and the Educational Response." Taking Sides: Clashing Views on Controversial Education Issues. Ed. James Wm. Noll. Vol. 11. Guilford: Dushkin/McGraw Hill, 2001. 194-201. The American Heritage Dictionary. 3rd ed. 1992.

How accurate is it to say that the causes of the demonstrations outside the Holy Cross Primary School in August 2001 date back to 1968?

On September 3rd 2001 the students of Holy Cross Primary School were due to return back to school for the new term, however this was made difficult due to the Protestant protesters who had gathered outside of the school and the surrounding area to show their objection to the Catholic children and their parents walking down what was regarded to be a Protestant street on their way to school. These riots made it extremely difficult for the young Catholic girls to get to and from school every morning and afternoon; their parents faced a choice, to either take their children through the barricades hastily erected by the police and army, therefore showing the Protestants that they would not back down, or to take their children to school via the back entrance, which avoided the riots, but meant that the children and their parents had to walk a much longer, and more difficult route. The Catholic parents also felt that this meant that the Protestants were getting their way, and so many of the parents chose to take their children through the police barricades, even though this meant subjecting the young girls to the violence and abuse that the Protestant rioters hurled at them. These riots were not unprovoked. Tension had been growing in the surrounding area for some time and the events outside of Holy Cross were a result of the growing hostility that was felt between the two sides. Both the Protestants and the Catholics felt threatened by each other, and neither wanted to show any weakness. There were a number of short term causes for what happened outside of Holy Cross. The first of these was the fact that there were the two separate religious communities, the Protestants and the Catholics, living in such close proximity to each other, both communities felt threatened by each other, believing that the other community was taking liberties and trying to drive their community out of the area. Another of these short term causes was the fact that there was a very high rate of unemployment in the area, this meant that there were a lot of unemployed adult men with nothing to do all day, therefore they had too much time on their hands to object to everything that the other community did, and also many of them would purposefully try and antagonise the other side so that they could release some of their pent up energy and anger. One of the main short term causes however was the way in which the younger generations of both faiths were being brought up. Both Protestant and Catholic communities kept their children separated from children of the other religion, both by sending them to single faith schools such as Holy Cross, where only Catholic children attended, and by living in small communities of predominantly one religion families. Therefore these children did not get to know each other or become friends and so there was nothing stopping them from taking on their parents prejudices and political beliefs. However, as I mentioned earlier the events outside of Holy Cross were not only caused by short term causes, but long term causes as well. In 1171 the king of England Henry II visited Ireland and decided to name himself the ‘Lord of Ireland', this change made very little difference to the ruling of Ireland, and by 1500 English kings had little or no power over any of Ireland except a small area surrounding Dublin known at The Pale. This all changed in the 16th century when the English rulers started to take more of an interest in Ireland. As Ireland was still inhabited mainly by Catholics the English monarchs feared that it could be used as a useful base for invasion from surrounding Catholic countries such as France and Spain because by 1560 England was an entirely Protestant country and this was disliked by Catholic European countries. To take more control of Ireland Henry VIII of England changed his title from ‘Lord of Ireland' to ‘King of Ireland' and told Irish nobles they were to be his subjects. The Irish did not take this well, and in Elizabeth I's rule the provinces of Ulster and Munster rebelled. Elizabeth sent in her army to deal with the rebellion. In the 17th century the English Monarchy realised that the best way to gain control over Ireland was not by force, but by land. The main source of power in Ireland was held by Irish landowners. The English monarchy set about taking land from the rich Catholic nobles in Ireland and giving their land to English Protestants, these were known as plantations, and the aim of them was to take control over Ireland by giving the land to people who were loyal to the king. The main plantations were in Ulster which is now where the main conflict between Catholics and Protestants takes place. This created both economic and social reasons for what would later become the troubles in Northern Ireland and so for what happened outside Holy Cross Primary School. The economic reason was that taking a great deal of land off of people left them homeless, without a means of income and also introduced a lot more people into the communities and so therefore the communities had to deal with more people to support. The social reason was that taking the land off of the Catholics and giving it to the Protestants caused a great deal of resentment towards the Protestants. However, even though the Protestants now held a large proportion of the land in Ireland they did not have complete control, and when Catholic king James II became king of England in 1685. King James II lost his throne in 1688 but soon returned to Ireland with French troops intending to invade England. He was not successful and Protestant King William of Orange defeated James in the battle of the Boyne on the 1st of July 1690. This is a social reason for the prolonged fighting in Northern Ireland because the Protestants still celebrate their victory at the Battle of the Boyne by organising Orange Marches, these only increase the tension between the two communities and often end in violence. The Protestant victory now meant that they had complete control over Ireland and the Catholics, and they intended to keep this control, the Irish parliament introduced penal laws, which were in place to keep the Catholics out of power. These laws stated that Catholics could not own large amounts of land, be properly educated, become a member of parliament or own weapons. This therefore made it extremely hard, if not impossible for a Catholic to gain any power whatsoever. I think that this is both a religious and a political reason for the troubles in Northern Ireland because the Catholics were being discriminated against simply because of their religion and they were not able to gain any political power to help themselves to gain equal rights. Towards the end of the 18th century many of the Catholics in Ireland decided that it was time to do something about the British rule over Ireland. They called themselves Nationalists because they wanted Ireland to become a separate nation from Britain. They fight between the Catholic nationalists and the Protestant unionists, who want to keep Ireland part of Britain, is the fight which still continues today in Northern Ireland and cause the events outside of Holy Cross Primary School. During the 18th and 19th centuries the Catholic nationalist attempted 3 revolutions, all of which failed. Ireland was still controlled by Protestants. In 1905 a nationalist political party was set up by Catholics, it was named Sinn Fein. With the start of nationalists having a voice in parliament changes slowly started to come around. The political nationalist were not demanding that Ireland became a separate state from Britain, only that it had its own government which would be fair to both Protestants and Catholics. In 1918 the Irish people, both Protestant and Catholic voted on the future of Ireland, the outcome was that Ireland would have Home rule but stay part of the British empire. However, this did not please the predominantly Protestant province of Ulster where the majority of inhabitants were unionists and wanted Ireland to be entirely ruled by Britain. In 1921 a partition treaty was signed, this excluded Ulster the home rule, meaning that it was still ruled by Britain. However, this created a social problem in Northern Ireland because although Northern Ireland was mainly inhabited by Protestant thousands of Catholics were now left stranded in a country where they were the minority and very unfairly treated and most were unable to move. The Stormont Parliament was set up, this was intended to look after both Catholics and Protestants but was not successful in this because it was entirely controlled by Protestants, who did not want to give equal rights to Catholics in fear of the Catholics taking control. This meant that they gave Catholics poor council housing, few jobs and unfair treatment towards all Catholics, causing political, economic, and social problems. These past events show how the rivalry between the Catholics and the Protestants developed and grew. These events were long term reasons for what happened outside of Holy Cross Primary School because if it were not for the tension between the two religions and the segregation of Northern Ireland from the Republic of Ireland the short term events, such as what happened in 1968, would not have happened. In 1968 Catholics in Northern Ireland started peaceful marches to try and gain themselves equal rights. These peaceful marches only ever ended in violence, because the Protestants felt very threatened by the Catholics trying to regain equality. The Protestants did not want to give Catholics equal rights because they did not want to relinquish their control over Northern Ireland. The fighting which was started by the 1968 Catholic demonstrations continued for many years, calling a halt to any prospect of peace talks between the two religious groups. The fighting caused the resignation of the Protestant Prime minister Terence O'Neill, who had been so keen to install peace and equality into Northern Ireland. By August 1969 the British army had been sent in to try and control the fighting. This was intended to be a temporary measure, but the army have never left, and are still there today. At last the British Government managed to get unionist leaders of Northern Ireland to make changes in their policies to attempt to make things fairer to the Catholic communities in Northern Ireland. The things that were changed were: Elections, elections at the time were extremely biased in the Protestants favour as gerrymandering took place very often. Housing, The council housing had been unfairly given out by local Protestant councils and this was an attempt to give Catholics decent housing. Unemployment, the government promised to reduce the levels of unemployment in Northern Ireland, these promises were never fulfilled. Police, the police force in Northern Ireland was an entirely Protestant armed force, which naturally was biased against the Catholics. By 1970 Northern Ireland was in crisis, The British government had decided to suspend the Stormont government and take direct rule, meaning that Northern Ireland affairs were controlled directly from Westminster. This had little effect however as paramilitary groups started to take hold over the country. A new strand of the IRA had emerged calling themselves the provisional IRA, they took control of many of the Catholic areas. They were determined to rid Northern Ireland of British control, and would do so by force. However the Protestant paramilitary units, the Ulster Freedom Fighters, Ulster Defence Army and the Ulster Volunteers Force were equally as determined to keep Northern Ireland linked directly to Britain. Northern Ireland was in chaos, the fighting between Catholics and Protestants continued. I believe that this fighting is directly linked to the riots outside Holy Cross in 2001, such recent fighting meant that both sides were still angry and threatened by one another. The long term causes of the events outside Holy Cross demonstrate how the two religious sides became rivals, the introducing of Protestant plantations and the Protestants slowly gaining control over Ireland and the Catholics are what fuelled the fighting between the two communities for hundreds of years. However, I do not believe that the fighting in Northern Ireland, and in particular the rioting that occurred outside Holy Cross Primary School in 2001 was entirely about religious beliefs, I feel that the fighting was caused by the political situation in Northern Ireland, the fact that the minority Catholic group want more control over what happens in Northern Ireland and that the Protestants do not want to give up their level of control, which is why they did not want to let the Catholic families walk freely down their streets to get to Holy Cross Primary School. I think that the riots outside of Holy Cross where not entirely just about children walking down a street inhabited by a different religious community to get to school but about the fear the two communities have installed in each other during the short term causes such as the fighting. Both sides are scared that they will be driven out by the other. In conclusion I think that it is not accurate to say that the causes of the demonstrations outside the Holy Cross Primary School in August 2001 date back to 1968 because the causes of the conflict in Northern Ireland dates back many centuries. I believe that It would be correct to say that the troubles from 1968 onwards are a major factor in causing the demonstrations outside Holy Cross Primary School in August 2001 but that the actual cause dates back a lot further than 1968.

What is Testing Week - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 3 Words: 803 Downloads: 2 Date added: 2019/06/24 Category Management Essay Level High school Tags: Standardized Testing Essay Did you like this example? One of the most feared weeks by both students and parents is usually testing week. Testing week is the week one must present what theyve learned throughout their whole school life. Yes, you guessed it, Standardized testing. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "What is Testing Week?" essay for you Create order According to edglossary.org, a standardized test is any form of a test that one, required all students to answer the same question or series of questions from a common bank of questions and answers; two, is scored in a standard or consistent manner, which makes it possible to compare the answers provided by each student or in other words detect cheating. When it comes to the terms and processed of standardized testing there are many pros and cons determining the aspect of which its seen from. From a student prospective they seem to love the ideal of standardized testing. According to an article found on why.ord a student stated that they like standardized testing because they are a good measurement of the students achievement, example given was if we did not have standardized tests, policy makes would have to go back to relying on tests that have been made and scored by the teacher and individual schools, which allows students to slide through the cracks. Another student stated that the increased testing along with stricter standards better prepared students for college. Seeing the student is prepping the whole school year for this test and this test alone, its understandable as to why students love this learning theory ad if you look at it who can it go wrong. From the prospective of a parent it could be a little on the indifferent side. Parents like to know that their kids are learning a verity of thing keeping them wise and hungry to learn more. Yes, standardized testing may defuse the stress levels of the students, but it may a lot torment their self-esteem seeing that theyve been learning the material all year and still dont understand it enough to graduate. So, parents also fear the thought of their children just studying and going over the test material most of their school time, which could mentally drain a kid. In the article parent perspective: How my view have evolved on standardized tests it stated that these test are causing anxiety issues at a very young age for these students. As an administrator the whole no child left behind theory is like the modern age bible for learning. The no child left behind act (NCLB) authorizes several educational programs that are administered by the state. This law subject states to administer required test in certain subjects, with the expectation of the students to either meet or exceed the states standards. According to the ESEA this act is supposed to help achievement gaps by providing accountability, flexibility, research- based education instead of a homemade curriculum, and parent options. Administrators see standardized testing as a way of being cost effective no wasting money on unnecessary books and programs, also it does not put as much pressure and stress on the teachers and or the students. Yes, all these things may be true but what about the range in learning, and the different subjects that there is to learn about. Yes, the core subjects i.e. math, science, English, and social studies are essential abut to learn about music and sports and life health are also important fundamentals in education as well because it give student to opportunity to find out what else their good at and like. As so parents playing their role, the no child left behind act kind of reinforce them to be more involved. A lot of parent are overheard complaining about the things their child doesnt know or the things their child should have been taught in school, but they really dont have to time to make efforts of teaching them. A lot of parents have become very complacent with not having to teach their kids, and now that this act has come about it forces parents to step up more. With everything in left theres good and theres bad. When it comes to standardized testing it was seen to do more good then bad. No, its not seen as being mentally stabilizing for the children of our future, but as to higher testing scored and graduating rates yes, it was a very good theory. Growing up in the 90s the standardized testing was around but wasnt as mandated as it is today. School was about learning from all prospective of life, not just enough to get one by. Stop mentally disabling making this easier that arent supposed to be. School is meant to be challenging and for one to learn. Its like a preamble to life, and life is nowhere near easy with or without a degree, because its different aspects to it.