Conceptualization of Culture and Language in Post Colonial Literature Essay Example for Free

Conceptualization of Culture and Language in Post Colonial Literature Essay Culture and Language are the major issues in the post colonial theory. My assignment will deal with these three factors in terms of colonial perspectives. The post colonialism mainly explores the ideas such as cultural diversity, geographical dimensions, Diasporas, race, ethnicity, marginality, hybridity, national identities, cultural transformation, changes and politics in language etc†¦ Considerations of hybridity run the range from existential to material, political to economic, yet this discussion will not be able to tease out the extensive implications of each consideration. Rather, this discussion aims to explore the notion of hybridity theoretically, synthesizing the vast body of literature to critique essentialist notions of identity as fixed and constant. According to my understanding of Hybridity, there are three ways in which hybridity might serve as a tool for deconstructing the rigid labels that maintain social inequities through exclusion in race, language and nation. By exploring how the hybrid rejects claims of bonds within race, language, and nation, I understood that cultural studies like these are imperative in considering the politics of representation. For the purposes of this discussion, the cultural hybridity refers to the integration of cultural bodies, signs, and practices from the colonizing and the colonized cultures. The contemporary cultural landscape is an amalgam of cross-cultural influences, blended, patch-worked, and layered upon one another. Unbound and fluid, culture is hybrid and interstitial, moving between spaces of meaning. The notion of cultural hybridity has existed far before it was popularized in postcolonial theory as culture arising out of interactions between â€Å"colonizers† and â€Å"the colonized†. However, in this time after imperialism, globalization has both expanded the reach of Western culture, as well as allowed a process by which the West constantly interacts with the East, appropriating cultures for its own means and continually shifting its own signifiers of dominant culture. This hybridity is woven into every corner of society, from trendy fusion cuisine to Caribbean rhythms in pop music to the hyphenated identities that signify ethnic Americans, illuminating the lived experience of ties to a dominant culture blending with the cultural codes of a Third World culture. Framing Cultural Hybridity in post colonial context; Among postcolonial theorists, there is a wide consensus that hybridity arose out of the culturally internalized interactions between â€Å"colonizers† and â€Å"the colonized† and the dichotomous formation of these identities. Considered by some the father of hybrid theory, Homi Bhabha argued that colonizers and the colonized are mutually dependent in constructing a shared culture. His text The Location of Culture (1994) suggested that there is a â€Å"Third Space of Enunciation† in which cultural systems are constructed. In this claim, he aimed to create a new language and mode of describing the identity of Selves and Others. Bhabha says: It becomes crucial to distinguish between the semblance and similitude of the symbols across diverse cultural experiences such as literature, art, music, Ritual, life, death and the social specificity of each of these productions of meaning as they circulate as signs within specific contextual locations and social systems of value. The transnational dimension of cultural transformation migration, diaspora, displacement, relocation makes the process of cultural translation a complex form of signification. The naturalized, unifying discourse of nation, peoples, or authentic folk tradition, those embedded myths of cultures particularity, cannot be readily referenced. The great, though unsettling, advantage of this position is that it makes you increasingly aware of the construction of culture and the invention of tradition. In using words like â€Å"diaspora, displacement, relocation,† Bhabha illustrates the dynamic nature of culture, and the flimsy consistency of the historical narratives that cultures rely upon to draw boundaries and define themselves. As a result, culture cannot be defined in and of it, but rather must be seen within the context of its construction. More significantly, Bhabha draws attention to the reliance of cultural narratives upon the other. In illuminating this mutual construction of culture, studies of hybridity can offer the opportunity for a counter-narrative, a means by which the dominated can reclaim shared ownership of a culture that relies upon them for meaning. This theoretical erspective will serve as the foundation for the considerations explored in this paper, employing hybridity as a powerful tool for liberation from the domination imposed by bounded definitions of race, language, and nation. RACE: Racial hybridity, or the integration of two races which are assumed to be distinct and separate entities, can be considered first in terms of the physical body. Historically, the corporeal hybrid was birthed from two symbolic poles, a bodily representation of colonizer and colonized. These mixed births, mestizo, mulatto, muwallad, were stigmatized as a physical representation of impure blood, and this racism long served as a tool of power that maintained that even in this blending of two bodies, just â€Å"one drop† of black blood would deem the body impure and alien, an abomination. Institutionalized racism created a perpetual state of ambiguity and placelessness for the hybrid body and prevented cultural inclusion via race. However, the expanse of immigration since colonialism and the spectrum of shades of visible difference point to an increasingly hybrid populace in which these classifications of black and white no longer carry the same power of representation, yet the old labels persist. This labeling is significant as it elucidates the continuing power of racial labels in a society set on fixing bodies in racial space by binding them to labels, which are understood to contain fixed truths. I argue that utilizing the conceptual tool of hybridity to deconstruct these labels allows a means by which hybrid individuals can come together in powerful solidarity, rather than allowing their ambiguous place in racial space to render them invisible. Harnessing racial hybridity to project the simultaneously unique but common experience of hybridity can be a means by which the individual subject can join to a marginal community through stories and partial memories. Furthermore, racial hybridity must harness the dualistic experience of passing, or being mistaken for a race other than one’s own. All identities involve passing to some extent, in that a subject’s self can never truly match its image, but racial passing implicitly deconstructs the boundaries of Black and White. In passing, hybridity might function not as a conflict or struggle between two racial identities, but instead as constant movement between spaces, passing through and between identity itself without origin or arrival. The freedom to move between identities carries its own power in defying the claims of essentialized racial identity. Furthermore, the bounded labels of race do not account for the historical and geographic narratives that lie behind each body and inform their identity. In â€Å"Black Africans and Native Americans†, Jack Forbes explores the disconnect between racial labels and the consciousness of the bodies behind them using Native Americans and Africans as examples by which â€Å"groups are forced into arbitrary categories render their ethnic heritage simple rather than complex†. As a result, hybridity calls into question the boundaries of racial consciousness as a hybrid consciousness defies the imposed limits of race. The management of these identities becomes its own sort of performance, as the body negotiates each consciousness in different spaces. Again, the ability to play multiple roles, to â€Å"pass† in different arenas, carries significant power. In embodying the inability to bind identities to race, racial hybridity both in the physical body and in consciousness offers a means of deconstructing the boundaries of dichotomous racial identities. In addition to race, language has long been bound in definitions as a symbol of nation and a mode of exclusion. As a means to connect with other social beings, communicating with language is a meaningful performance in that speaking requires two parties, one to perform language and an audience to observe and absorb language. During colonialism, as the colonizer’s language dominated national institutions, the sense of being outside and â€Å"othered† was instilled in the colonized as their language and means of communication was stripped away. Now in a time after colonialism, can the colonized ever reclaim a language long lost, or has the colonizer’s language become their own? Has ownership of the colonizer’s language expanded over time? Fanon’s theorizing addresses the power of language in the formation of identity as he says, â€Å"To speak . . . means above all to assume a culture, to support the weight of a civilization,†. He suggests that speaking the language of the colonizer stands in as acceptance or coercion into accepting a role in culture. Yet in accepting a role, whether by choice or force, the meaning of the culture shifts and evolves. No longer does it â€Å"belong† to the colonizer, as it relies upon the colonized to give it shape. Similarly, with the introduction of a new set of users performing a language, the language no longer exists as it was; it has shifted in meaning. Beyond the thematic implications of language, hybridity has inspired an immense movement in literary discourse and understandings of the very way language is managed and owned. Herskovits developed the notion of syncretism, a theory attempting to explain why certain cultural forms are carried and others lost. Similarly, Claude Levi-Strauss developed the term bricolage to describe mixed forms within narratives. Creolization describes the linguistic blending of dominant and subdominant cultures. These examples illustrate the broad realm of studies that have developed simply around the use of hybridized language. In an analysis of the rise of the â€Å"hybrid genre† in postmodern literature, Kapchan and Strong say, â€Å"Hybridization has become one such analytic allegory, defining lines of interest and affiliation among scholars of popular and literary culture, perhaps quite unintentionally. The extent to which these authors use the metaphor of hybridity consciously and concisely differs. That they use it, however, qualifies hybridity as one of several tropes, or forms of metaphoric predication, that most epitomize the scholarship of the last decade,† . Not only does this observation imply that the body of hybridized literature is growing, harkening to the rising voices and representations of the hybrid, but that hybridity is becoming normalized as an accepted form of literature and the purist notion of genre is diminishing. Furthermore, the use of a colonizer’s language by the colonized to speak of the crimes of colonialism is its own transgression and act of resistance. In taking ownership of the language, changing the way that it is used, the boundaries of language as belonging to a specific place or race are dissolved. Jahan Ramazani’s Hybrid Muse is an analytical review of the poetry that has arisen from the hybridization of the English muse with the long-resident muses of Africa, India, the Caribbean, and other decolonizing territories of the British Empire (2001). A hybrid himself, Ramazani suggests that the use of indigenous metaphors, rhythms, creoles, and genres has allowed a new form of poetry that not only speaks of the violence and displacement of colonialism, but embodies it in its very form. These hybrid poetries can be viewed as a gateway to understanding those once deemed unfamiliar, and hybridity of language becomes a way by which to deconstruct borders and relate to collectives across cultural boundaries. Further, hybridity must interrogate the notion that nationality is essential zed in a distinct culture that geographic borders somehow embody inherent knowledge or truth about the people they contain. Mamdani asks, â€Å"How do you tell who is indigenous to the country and who is not? Given a history of migration, what is the dividing line between the indigenous and the nonindigenous? . He addresses the nationalist concern over entitlement to nation, and the indigenous wish to lay claim to culture. I understood that theories of hybridity, in clarifying the shifting and indefinite nature of culture, can serve as a tool that complicate the nationalist exclusionary practice of determining who does and does not have claim to a nation. From health care to immigration, h is arguments resonate loudly with current events. Similarly, we must consider the ways in which the â€Å"things† that give culture meaning are unfixed and variable, negating essentialist arguments about inherent meanings of culture. In The Predicament of Culture, James Clifford (1988) analyzes sites including anthropology, museums, and travel writing to take a critical ethnography of the West and its shifting relationships with other societies. He demonstrates how â€Å"other† national cultures are in fact fictions and mythical narratives, and we must ask the question of representation and who has the authority to speak for a group’s identity. In his article â€Å"Diasporas†, he suggests that â€Å"The old localizing strategies by bounded community, by organic culture, by region, by center and periphery may obscure as much as they reveal†. Diaspora is defined as a history of dispersal, myths/memories of the homeland, alienation in the host country, desire for eventual return, ongoing support of the homeland, and a collective identity importantly defined by this relationship. In this consideration of culture, we understand the vast connotations of displacement, from asking which history the diasporic should identify with to asking if it is even possible to return to a homeland one never knew or left long ago. Second, in the representation of culture, be it by petrifying culture in a museum or nailing it to an anthropological account, the risk lies in taking these subjective moments as truths or knowledge. Furthermore, the far-reaching diasporic symbols and narratives that snowball into this thing we call national culture suggest that culture is itself a traveler collecting artifacts from various locations along the way, and its walls are too insubstantial to be used as a means of exclusion. Third and perhaps most significant, hybridity in a postcolonial world muddles the very definitions of culture by which nations define themselves. Given that nationalism is founded upon a collective consciousness from shared loyalty to a culture, one would assume this culture is well-defined. Yet the â€Å"solid† roots of historical and cultural narratives that nations rely upon are diasporic, with mottled points of entry at various points in time. An investigation of the roots of cultural symbols like folk stories, religion, and music would reveal sources varied and wide-ranging. Furthermore, culture is defined in relationship to other cultures. Edward Said’s Orientalism (1979) offers a strong description of the system by which nations appropriate from others to define themselves. He suggests Orientalism â€Å"has helped to define Europe as its contrasting image, idea, personality, experience†. Using a theoretical framework influenced by Gramsci’s notion of hegemonic culture and Foucault’s notion of discourse, Said draws significant attention to the intricate and complex process by which the West must use the East to construct itself, its culture, its meaning. In an illuminating excerpt describing the process of Orientalism, he writes: To formulate the Orient, to give it shape, identity, definition with full recognition of its place in memory, its importance to imperial strategy, and its ‘natural’ role as an appendage to Europe; to dignify all the knowledge collected during colonial occupation with the title ‘contribution to modern learning; when the natives had neither been consulted nor treated as anything except as pretexts for a text whose usefulness was not to the natives; to feel oneself as a European in command, almost at will, of Oriental history, time, and geography to make out of every observable detail a generalization and out of every generalization an immutable law about the Oriental nature, temperament, mentality, custom, or type; and, above all, to transmute living reality into the stuff of texts, to possess actuality mainly because nothing in the Orient seems to resist one’s powers. † In a st ream of fragments, Said shows the diverse processes by which dominant cultures are formed at the service of Others. Using words like â€Å"shape,† â€Å"definition,† and â€Å"transmute,† he describes the act of defining nation and the artificial nature of these boundaries. Said offers a theoretical means by which to reject nationalist divisions between an us and Them, a West and Other. This conceptualization of the ways in which nations determine not only their own national identities, but the identities of Other is powerful in revealing the inherently hybrid roots of national culture. Studies of national identity are thus essential in deconstructing xenophobic nationalist claims to nation and the resulting miscegenation of immigrant Others. CONCLUSION This discussion draws from the body of postcolonial literature to suggest that studies of cultural hybridity are powerful in probing the bounded labels of race, language, and nation that maintain social inequalities. By examining how the hybrid can deconstruct boundaries within race, language, and nation, I understood that hybridity has the ability to empower marginalized collectives and deconstruct bounded labels, which are used in the service of subordination. In essence, hybridity has the potential to allow once subjugated collectivities to reclaim a part of the cultural space in which they move. Hybridity can be seen not as a means of division or sorting out the various histories and diverse narratives to individualize identities, but rather a means of reimagining an interconnected collective. Like the skin on a living body, the collective body has a surface that also feels and â€Å"Borders materialize as an effect on intensifications of feeling and individual and collective bodies surface through the very orientations we take to objects and others,† In the description that Formations our orientations can be shifted, our feelings towards Others transformed, there is a possibility of redefining our exclusionary systems of labeling. Furthermore, breaking down immaterial borders through explorations of hybridity offers the possibility of more effective public policy, one that refers to the broad expanse of its diverse population. Frenkel and Shenhav did an illuminating study on the ways in which studies of hybridity have allowed management and organization studies to manage their longstanding western hegemonic practices and to incorporate postcolonial insights into the organizational literature revolving around the relationships between Orientalism and organizations. The willingness of institutions to reform their long held ideologies in light of a changing world, as well as to consider their work through alternative lenses, is an essential practice in deconstructing the bindings of narratives-as-knowledge. In the boundary-shifting process, there is power in the notion of deconstruction in the service of reconstruction, breaking down boundaries in order to form a more inclusive sense of the collectivity. Furthermore, hybridity asserts the notion that representations of collective identity must be analyzed contextually. When we examine a representation of culture, be it in a film, poem, or speech, we should ask: Who is doing the representing? What are the implications of the representation? Why are they engaging in the process of representation? What is the historical moment that informs the representation? How are they being represented? In addition to the questions explored in this paper, I would recommend applying theories of hybridity to a realm beyond race and nation, in order to consider alternative boundaries such as gender and sexuality. The work of hybrid theorists from Bhabha to Said suggests that there is a vast intellectual landscape for cultural inquiries like these. Our mission must be to continue this work and to delve deeper. Cultural studies have great potential to liberate us from the socially-given boundaries that so stubbornly limit our capacity for thought and discussion, but we must take time to join in a collective critique of the knowledge we ingest and disperse. After all, the greatest power lies in the heart of the collective.

Comparing Margaret Cavendish’s The Description of a New World, Called t

Comparing Margaret Cavendish’s The Description of a New World, Called the Blazing World and Sir Thomas More’s Utopia The so-called Utopia – the quasi-perfect society – flourishes in Margaret Cavendish’s â€Å"The Description of a New World, Called a Blazing World† and Sir Thomas More’s Utopia. While the former is a dreamlike account of fantasy rule and the latter a pseudo-realistic travelogue, both works paint a picture of worlds that are not so perfect after all. These imperfections glitter like false gemstones in the paths of these Utopians’ religious beliefs, political systems, and philosophical viewpoints. Religion and spirituality reach into the depths of the human psyche and strongly influence a nation’s way of life. In Margaret Cavendish’s â€Å"Blazing World†, the Emperor and the inhabitants of the Blazing World worship Margaret, who renamed herself Margaret the First. Highly revered as a deity by the people, Margaret is surprised to discover that females do not have a high place in the religious fabric of the Blazing World. Women are barred from religious assemblies, because it is â€Å"promiscuous† for men and women to be together during religious worship, so women must remain at home to worship in the privacy of their rooms (Cavendish 1767). Priests and governors are made eunuchs to safeguard them from women and children who, according to Margaret’s advisors, make too much disturbances in the church and in the state. In Sir Thomas More’s Utopia, women priests are highly regarded. However, churches here are also segregat ed – the men sit on one side and while the women sit on the other. Aside from thinking that the peoples of the Blazing World are segregated as Jews, Turks, or Christians because women are... ...r recognition should not exist, yet in More’s Utopia, these beliefs exist at the very heart of the citizen’s being. In both of the purported "Utopian" worlds, the imperfect religious traditions, rigid governing systems, and askew philosophical beliefs mar what are otherwise model worlds for all other nations to imitate. Margaret Cavendish and Sir Thomas More, in their differing styles, are able to convey that no world is perfect, but there is room for change, for everyone can fabricate their own imaginary worlds and travelogues. Works Cited Cavendish, Margaret. The Description of a New World, Called the Blazing World. 1666, 1668. Norton Anthology of English Literature. 7th ed. 2 vols. New York: Norton, 2000, 1: 1765-1771. More, Sir Thomas. Utopia. 1516. . Norton Anthology of English Literature. 7th ed. 2 vols. New York: Norton, 2000, 1: 1765-1771.

Constant changes or reforms

Education in Malaysia has gone through extended alterations throughout the old ages. These changeless alterations or ‘reforms ‘ are carried out with possibly merely one vision in head, and that is to better the current bing instruction and acquisition processs in schools and higher establishments of larning. Such action high spots the authorities ‘s endless attempts in seeking to better the quality of instruction for its people. After a decennary into the New Millennium, the instruction scenario is more pressed to set about even more betterments in seeking to get by with the demands and outlooks of instruction in the twenty-first century. We can no longer be satisfied with what we have, but alternatively there is a demand to constantly compare ourselves to that of more developed states, and this is particularly true with the field of instruction. This is to guarantee that our people will be able to vie internationally in this borderless universe. This is really much in-line with the vision of our longest-serving Prime Minister Tun Mahathir Mohammad. Tun, back in the 90 ‘s shared his vision and dreams for this state through â€Å" Wawasan 2020 † or Vision 2020. Harmonizing to his article â€Å" Malaysia on Track Vision 2020 † , as a physician he is attracted to the optometrist measuring of Vision 2020 which indicates 100 per centum perfect vision. He farther explains that Vision 2020 in relation to the hereafter of this state would be the quest for Malaya to hold clear vision of our hereafter as in where we want heading and what we want to be in the New Millennium. As Malaysia plans to transform into fully-developed state, instruction becomes the precedence of the authorities since it is one of the most powerful entities that would find the success or failure of the state. The hereafter of any state depends on its people. It is hence of import to guarantee that everyone is equipped with the necessary cognit ion, accomplishments and values to last in this extremely competitory and globalised universe which is impacted by rapid development in scientific discipline, engineering and information. The importance of instruction has become more overriding particularly in our State ‘s procedure of traveling from an economy-based on labour-intensive and lower-end manufactured merchandises to k-economy or knowledge economic system. The Ministry of Education ( MOE ) and The Ministry of Higher Education ( MOHE ) are two organic structures which are responsible in guaranting that state is traveling towards the specified mark. This is clearly outlined in the 2 cardinal pushs under the National mission ( â€Å" Mid-term Review of Ninth † , 2008 ) ; Thrust 2: to raise capacity for cognition and invention and raising foremost category outlook. Thrust 3: to turn to relentless socio-economic inequalities constructively and fruitfully. In line with the thrust towards developing the state ‘s K-Economy, the current economical tendency is to concentrate on the promotion and rise in accent on the country of scientific discipline and engineering. As a step to accomplish this vision, the authorities has adopted a holistic attack in Malayan instruction system by stressing on command cognition, rational capital and developing engineering and entrepreneurial accomplishments. Since scientific discipline and engineering play a major function in lending to a more developed state, the authorities seems to give more accent on instruction and larning procedure of scientific discipline in the primary, secondary and higher instruction. It is consistent with Malaysia ‘s purpose which to bring forth more experts in scientific discipline or in general to bring forth a future coevals of intellectuals. Therefore, as scientific discipline pedagogues, it is of import to be cognizant of the demand of the state. There is a demand to guarantee that the instruction and acquisition procedure is focused in bring forthing persons who fulfill the authorities ‘s aspiration. Hence, it requires instructors to hold passion, creativeness, intelligence and finding to do certain that the bringing of cognition is genuinely effectual. Among other things, methods in instruction, teacher ‘s cognition and public presentations are often being observed to guarantee that instructors remain first-class in their instruction. This is because ; instructors play a major function in guaranting the effectivity and the success of the existent bringing and execution of the Malayan course of study. Therefore, when be aftering a lesson, instructors need to be cognizant of the aims of the course of study by integrating good content values into the lesson, implement the course of study designed by the minis try and at the terminal of it all, assess the results of the course of study. But it is non plenty to concentrate merely on the instructor without looking at the relevance of the Malayan scientific discipline course of study, which really contributes to the success or failure of scientific discipline instruction. In fact, it is really a major issue that is invariably discussed among scientific discipline pedagogues and academicians in Malaysia. Is the Malayan scientific discipline course of study mensurable to that of the criterions of other states? This is pertinent inquiry that needs to be answered. Therefore it would be utile to compare Malayan scientific discipline course of study with other developed states in order to find the criterion of Malayan course of study.1.1 Background of StudyThis comparative survey between the Malaysian scientific discipline course of study and the Steiner Waldorf in scientific discipline course of study was conducted chiefly to derive penetrations on the much-researched and discussed about Steiner course of study. Having experienced the Malayan scientific discipline course of study and after prosecuting an awards ‘ grade in scientific discipline instruction, the research worker is really familiar with the state ‘s scientific discipline instruction course of study, particularly issues refering to its content and pedagogical attack. However, the research worker is with the sentiment that new cognition of new educational course of study can be utile in guaranting better quality of scientific discipline instruction. This is of import in position of supplying the best in scientific discipline in the context of Malayan schools. In position of seeking to better the bing course of study it would be interesting to happen out the criterion of Malayan scientific discipline course of study in comparing to other developed states. This is of import to guarantee that our pupils will be able to vie globally. Comparative survey of course of study across states provides background information about how to understand bing strengths and failings of the present course of study ( Moosa & A ; Che Azura Che An, n.d ) . Therefore, this research can propose ways to assist pupils to execute in the topic of scientific discipline and besides assist scientific discipline instructors in their instruction. This is important as over the past few old ages, there have been a batch of jobs discussed about the Malayan scientific discipline course of study and the major portion of the treatment revolves around the instruction and acquisition procedure. As a consequence, it raised the research worker ‘s involvement to look into the affair so that the research worker could detect ways to better the Malayan scientific discipline course of study in order to make effectual lessons yet in gratifying environment for the pupils to larn scientific discipline. In Malaysia, the thought associated with scientific discipline instruction is intended to be in-line with bing policies which is specifically to fix pupils for scrutiny. There are a few officially recommended patterns for scientific discipline instruction such as constructivist instruction, command acquisition, scientific discipline procedure accomplishments, believing accomplishments, and metacognition, autonomous, self-paced and self-assessed acquisition and others that, if carried out decently can guarantee the successful and effectual lessons. Current thought in scientific discipline is looking towards a paradigm that is more inclusive of the diverseness that exists in our life-worlds ( Revathi, R et Al, 2003 ) . Science is besides perceived as a procedure of meaning-making and states such as the United States, Canada, Australia and South Africa ( Aikenhead, 2000 ) are implementing scientific discipline learning attacks that incorporate scholars ‘ cultural and lingual beari ngs. For illustration the scientific discipline schoolroom needs to be one that is interesting and multi-discursive which permits the instructor and pupils to work together in making cognition. However, such an attack or a characteristic is non common in the Malayan scientific discipline course of study. The thought to bring forth a coevals that is ideally competent in scientific discipline seems hard and this seems to propose that there is demand for Malayan scientific discipline course of study to be reviewed. From the aims of the course of study to the issues of appraisal, everything becomes important and needs thorough reevaluation. The characteristics and map of scientific discipline discourse include explicating hypotheses, planing probes, roll uping informations, pulling decisions and pass oning consequences ( Chamot & A ; O'Malley, 1994 ) and these are the accomplishments which are fundamentally being emphasized by the instructor in the schoolroom. Sadly, the application is non obvious in the pupils ‘ day-to-day life particularly in the context of Malaysia. By carry oning this research, the research worker hopes to be able to acquire some penetrations into the Steiner Waldorf course of study and the Malayan scientific discipline course of study. Having done this, it is hoped that the research suggestions may foreground bing spreads in curricular, pedagogical or other facets through comparing between Malayan scientific discipline course of study with Steiner Waldorf instruction. From the suggestions made, hopefully the instruction and acquisition of scientific discipline will be more effectual and more gratifying for the pupils. By holding a good clip in larning scientific discipline through effectual methods employed by the instructor, the research worker believes that it will assist pupils to execute better in all the scientific discipline topics and at the same clip get scientific cognition in a wider position. Apart from that, it will besides assist to bring forth all rounded pupils as outlined in the National Education Philosophy.1. 2 Statement of the ProblemThe Integrated Curriculum for Secondary School ( Kurrikulum Bersepadu Sekolah Menengah, KBSM ) is the continuance of the New Primary School Curriculum ( Kurikulum Baru Sekolah Rendah, KBSR ) . This alteration in the course of study construction is the authorities ‘s scheme to switch the accent of instruction that existed in 1970s to a more modern-day holistic construct of larning that encompasses moral, spiritual, societal, physical, and rational development of a individual ( Rosnani.H, 2004 ) . In scientific discipline instruction, holistic instruction purposes to bring forth pupils who are able to associate the content that they learned in the schoolroom to their day-to-day life. It refers to their ability to utilize scientific thought and processes in a wider context so that it will foreground the effectivity of the KBSM which subscribes to the rules of womb-to-tomb acquisition. After holding informal interviews with a few seniors ‘ instructo rs and talks with scientific discipline instruction background, the research worker found out that Malayan scientific discipline course of study somehow does non back up the holistic instruction as being mentioned and fails to accomplish the intended results. The followers is the sentiment given by the senior lector who was interviewed by the research worker ; â€Å" My intuition is the general population of the pupils does non associate what they learn to everyday state of affairs because many surveies have shown that pupils do non like scientific discipline and they find scientific discipline isolated or make non tie in with them. So we can deduce from that the pupils do non related what they learned nor pattern their scientific attitudes. † ( personal communicating ) This is farther supported by the consequences of Trends in International Math & A ; Science, TIMMS appraisal in scientific discipline taken by Malayan pupils in 2003. The TIMMS appraisal is designed to assist to better pupils ‘ acquisition in math and scientific discipline where the appraisal by and large focuses on the pupils ‘ mathematics and scientific discipline accomplishments. In the appraisal, our pupils scored an norm of 504 which exceeds the international norm of 474 ( Martin et al, 2004 ) and placed Malaysia to be at 19th out of 44 take parting states. The public presentation really is non genuinely impressive if compared to the public presentation of pupils from other developing states in Asia Pacific such as Singapore Chinese-Taipei and Republic of Korea. The line of statement is what are the facets that missing in Malayan pupils since those states secured the top 3 placing and hence have clearly performed better than our pupils. Another interesting penetration which the research worker gathered through informal interviews with the senior instructors and talks, every bit good as his personal experience as a scientific discipline pupil and in-service instructor is the fact that Malayan instruction system gives excessively much focal point on scrutiny. In order to last in the Malayan instruction system, pupils need to stand out in public scrutinies ( UPSR, PMR, SPM ) . Somehow the state of affairs affects learning and larning procedure which is a portion of the course of study. Teachers admitted that the focal point is merely to complete the course of study within the clip allocated by the school disposal. Through informal interviews with the pupils, the research worker besides discovered that pupils think it is easier for them to concentrate and fix themselves for the scrutiny alternatively of prosecuting in meaningful acquisition. The research worker besides found out that because of the demand to complete up the course of study, the lessons were non conducted decently by instructors. Teachers seldom make contemplations on their instruction. Even though the achievement of the aim and acquisition results are the measuring to a successful lesson in Malayan instruction system ; most of the clip, instructors do non hold effort to happen out whether their pupils have really acquired the specified acquisition results. An effectual scientific discipline schoolroom should be able to do pupils believe and treat the cognition received in the schoolroom. Ironically, the scenario does non go on in most Malayan schoolrooms. Because of the scrutiny affair, the research worker believes that instructors tend to pretermit their method in learning scientific discipline. In true fact, a scientific discipline category should be filled with interesting and variable activities so that pupils will bask the category. However, in worl d most science lessons, more frequently than non, are non merely field and dull but besides could kill pupils ‘ exhilaration in larning the topic. This is another concern of the research worker since there is a inclination that the state of affairs mentioned supra could do the pupils to lose involvement in larning scientific discipline. The Steiner Waldorf instruction is similar to the Malayan instruction system in footings of its accent on the development of human existences and in the proviso of holistic instruction. What is different is in footings of the execution and the effectivity of the course of study. Scieffer and Busse ( 2001 ) in their research discovered that the pupils from Steiner school did better than pupils in province school in United States. Other research ( Easton, 1997 ; Oberman, 1997 ; Uhrmacher, 1993b ) besides suggested a positive relationship between Steiner school instruction, larning and pupils accomplishment. Furthermore, research on Steiner instruction besides mentioned about consistence of Steiner pupils public presentation in National trial from 2000 to 2004. Ogletree ( 2000 ) in look intoing the originative ability among the pupils in England, Scotland and Germany through the usage of Torrance Test of Creative Thinking Ability ; found that by and large Steiner school pupils obtained significantly higher creativeness tonss than their province school equals. It really reflects the effectivity of the accent on creativeness in Steiner course of study. Jalinek and Sun ( 2003 ) in research that they conducted which aimed to compare the instruction in Steiner and mainstream schools revealed that, the Steiner kids who tested in logical logical thinking and scientific discipline activity which developed by TIMMS international comparative survey performed better than pupils from other schools. The scientific logical thinking of Steiner school pupils was found to be outstanding. The research suggested that the consequence of the trial is really influenced by the civilization of the Steiner instruction which taught less content to the pupils and the Steiner instruction itself creates less examination force per unit area to the pupils. Indeed, the Steiner Waldorf scientific discipline course of study has its ain alone attack and method which proved to promote effectual larning. Such a state of affairs ceases to be in the Malayan scientific discipline course of study. It is with this job in head that the research worker has decided to ship on this comparative research survey with the hope to pull on some of the best patterns to be incorporated into Malayan schoolroom.1.3 Research AimsThe chief aim of the research is to compare the Malayan instruction and Steiner Waldorf instruction in scientific discipline course of study with regard to objective, content, execution or direction and the appraisal. In comparing both course of studies, the research worker want to happen out the features of Steiner instruction scientific discipline schoolroom and wish to look at their strengths and singularity which is present and seek to see how this is different from the Malayan scientific discipline course of study. From the information gathered, a thorough analysis will be made by the research worker, and the findings of the research could be the footing for the research worker to give suggestions for the improvement of Malayan scientific discipline course of study every bit good as to bridge the spread between these two course of studies.Research QuestionsTwo research inquiries are as follows: What are the features of Steiner Waldorf scientific discipline category? How does the Steiner Waldorf scientific discipline course of study differ from the Malayan Secondary Science Curriculum with regard to their aims, content, implementation/instruction, and evaluation/assessment?1.4 Significance of the StudyThis research aims to look at the Malayan scientific discipline course of study. By making this, it will assist us to hold a clear image of how a course of study maps and at the same clip, it allows us to mensurate the success of the course of study. Many instructors have expressed their discontentedness over current jobs faced by the instructors and pupils in scientific discipline instruction, and the incrimination is normally on the ineffectualness of the course of study. This is an dismaying job as it could impact the figure of pupils who are interested in scientific discipline topics and if this happens, Malaysia will really rock from its attempts to accomplish Vision 2020. This comparative survey of the Malayan scientific discipline course of study and the Steiner scientific discipline course of study is important in recognizing our dreams of bring forthing human existences who know their ability and self-potential. This is the nucleus value stressed in the Steiner Waldorf ‘s course of study which aims to supply scholars with meaningful acquisition and turn them into deep scholar. Steiner Waldorf pupils are encouraged to bring forth originative thoughts and this indirectly nurtures the pupils to be critical minds. Therefore it is really important for the research worker to happen out in what aspects that the Malayan scientific discipline course of study can be improved by accommodating the Steiner Waldorf instruction. Hopefully, the findings of the comparative research will assist to better scientific discipline instruction in Malayan schools.1.5 Research RestrictionsTime restraint is the major restrictions of this research. The research worker b elieves it is ideal to hold longer clip for the research worker to roll up informations sing Steiner Waldorf instruction in United Kingdom, UK. Longer period of survey will able the research worker to make observations in greater deepness and visit more schools to be included in survey. Alternatively of clip restraint, pecuniary is besides one of the restrictions in this research. Since the research was funded by the university, the research worker has to finish the procedure of informations aggregation within the stipulated clip. However, what is done by the research worker is sufficient to hold a general image of the difference between the two course of studies.1.6 Scope of StudyThe focal point of the research is merely to compare the Malayan instruction and Steiner Waldorf scientific discipline course of study. This survey involved informations collected from one school in Plymouth and a Steiner Waldorf Department in University of Plymouth. Since this is a preliminary comparative survey of these two course of studies, focal point will briefly highlight the four parts of the course of study which is the aims, contents, execution and the appraisal of both course of studies. However, excess accent will be given on the execution and assessment process as compared to the first two parts in the course of study. Though it would hold been ideal to be able to transport out observation and interviews in more schools across the UK, these two chose are sufficient to give a clear preliminary image of what Steiner Waldorf instruction involves.1.7 Operational DefinitionMalayan scientific discipline course of studyMalayan scientific discipline course of study refers to science course of study which developed and implemented in Malaysia for secondary degree. However, in order to demo the continuance and the development or patterned advance of this course of study the research worker wills erstwhile high spots the scientific discipline course of study at the primary degree.S teiner Waldorf EducationSteiner Waldorf Education refers to the instruction that founded by the Rudolf Steiner in 1919. This instruction is world-wide and does non refers or belong to a specific state. The portion of this instruction that being discourse in this research is its ‘ scientific discipline course of study.Science EducationScience can be defined as â€Å" cognition attained through survey or pattern, † or â€Å" cognition covering general truths of the operation of general Torahs, particularly as obtained and tested through scientific method and concerned with the physical universe. † It may besides mention as a system of geting cognition where the system uses observation and experimentation to depict and explicate about natural phenomena. Science besides term which can mention to the organized organic structure of cognition people has gained utilizing that system. Therefore, the term scientific discipline instruction that been utilizing in this resear ch refers to the procedure of educating scientific discipline to the pupils or may refers to the field of scientific discipline itself. Which the field of scientific discipline in instruction that being discussed in this research covers the major subdivisions in scientific discipline such as biological science, natural philosophies, chemical science, general scientific discipline and natural scientific discipline. Beginning: Webster ‘s New Collegiate Dictionary cited in hypertext transfer protocol: //www.sciencemadesimple.com1.8 DecisionAs a decision, ‘review ‘ and ‘reform ‘ in Malayan scientific discipline course of study is necessary or possibly a demand as we refer to the current instruction ‘s status in Malaysia. It has been 53 old ages that Malaysia achieved its independency, and throughout the 53 old ages, Malaysia had gone through tonss of transmutation and alterations. However, the research worker believes that, in order for Malaysia to make to the degree of developed state, instruction should be the foundation of the aspiration. Education in Malaysia requires more alterations every bit good as ideal and realistic policies and execution, so that it will be able to bring forth human capitals that are scientific, knowing and competent.

Educational Programs In Prisons Essay - 1242 Words

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Without the efforts of educational programs, a prison can become a â€Å"revolving door, with inmates having nowhere to go but back† to the prison with no future (Young 1). A majority of the states offer a GED program, but North Carolina profits from a Community College system that offers classes in academics, auto mechanics, masonry, wiring, plumbing, and computer literacy. The Community Colleges offer two-year degree programs in many areas. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill offers business association classes to inmates over twenty-five years of age. Because of the excellent programs they have to offer, more than five thousand of about thirty thousand inmates are in the education program and thes e numbers continue to grow. nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;â€Å"Educational programs are among the few activities individuals in federal prisons can pursue in order to bring meaning and hope to their lives† (Santos 1). 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