Introduction to Marketing Research

Introduction to Marketing Research As to its definition, Marketing Research is the process of gathering, analyzing and interpreting information about a market, about a product or service to be offered for sale in that market, and about the past, present and potential customers for the product or service; research into the characteristics, spending habits, location and needs of your business's target market, the industry as a whole, and the particular competitors you face. It serves marketing management by providing information which is relevant to decision making. The manager or other individual initiating the research must provide guidance to the researcher in the form of a research brief. This document should state the purpose of the research, its objectives, the time by which it must be completed, the budget to which the researcher must work in developing the research design and the timing and frequency of any interim reports which the researcher is expected to make. The Marketing research Process. Marketing research is gathered using a systematic approach. An example of one follows: 1. Define the problem. Never conduct research for things that you would ‘like' to know. Make sure that you really ‘need' to know something. The problem then becomes the focus of the research. The objective of the research should be defined clearly. To ensure that the true decision problem is addressed, it is useful for the researcher to outline possible scenarios of the research results and then for the decision maker to formulate plans of action under each scenario. The use of such scenarios can ensure that the purpose of the research is agreed upon before it commences. For example, why are sales falling in New Zealand? 2. How will you collect the data that you will analyze to solve your problem? Do we conduct a telephone survey, or do we arrange a focus group? Marketing research can classified in one of three categories: †¢Exploratory research †¢Descriptive research †¢Causal research These classifications are made according to the objective of the research. In some cases the research will fall into one of these categories, but in other cases different phases of the same research project will fall into different categories. †¢Exploratory research has the goal of formulating problems more precisely, clarifying concepts, gathering explanations, gaining insight, eliminating impractical ideas, and forming hypotheses. Exploratory research can be performed using a literature search, surveying certain people about their experiences, focus groups, and case studies. When surveying people, exploratory research studies would not try to acquire a representative sample, but rather, seek to interview those who are knowledgeable and who might be able to provide insight concerning the relationship among variables. Case studies can include contrasting situations or benchmarking against an organization known for its excellence. Exploratory research may develop hypotheses, but it does not seek to test them. Exploratory research is characterized by its flexibility. †¢Descriptive research is more rigid than exploratory research and seeks to describe users of a product, determine the proportion of the population that uses a product, or predict future demand for a product. As opposed to exploratory research, descriptive research should define questions, people surveyed, and the method of analysis prior to beginning data collection. In other words, the who, what, where, when, why, and how aspects of the research should be defined. Such preparation allows one the opportunity to make any required changes before the costly process of data collection has begun. There are two basic types of descriptive research: longitudinal studies and cross-sectional studies. Longitudinal studies are time series analyses that make repeated measurements of the same individuals, thus allowing one to monitor behavior such as brand-switching. However, longitudinal studies are not necessarily representative since many people may refuse to participate because of the commitment required. Cross-sectional studies sample the population to make measurements at a specific point in time. A special type of cross-sectional analysis is a cohort analysis, which tracks an aggregate of individuals who experience the same event within the same time interval over time. Cohort analyses are useful for long-term forecasting of product demand. †¢Causal research seeks to find cause and effect relationships between variables. It accomplishes this goal through laboratory and field experiments. 3. Select a sampling method. Do we us a random sample, stratified sample, or cluster sample? The sampling frame is the pool from which the interviewees are chosen. The telephone book often is used as a sampling frame, but have some shortcomings. Telephone books exclude those households that do not have telephones and those households with unlisted numbers. Since a certain percentage of the numbers listed in a phone book are out of service, there are many people who have just moved who are not sampled. Such sampling biases can be overcome by using random digit dialing. Mall intercepts represent another sampling frame, though there are many people who do not shop at malls and those who shop more often will be over-represented unless their answers are weighted in inverse proportion to their frequency of mall shopping. In designing the research study, one should consider the potential errors. Two sources of errors are random sampling error and non-sampling error. Sampling errors are those due to the fact that there is a non-zero confidence interval of the results because of the sample size being less than the population being studied. Non-sampling errors are those caused by faulty coding, untruthful responses, respondent fatigue, etc. There is a tradeoff between sample size and cost. The larger the sample size, the smaller the sampling error but the higher the cost. After a certain point the smaller sampling error cannot be justified by the additional cost. While a larger sample size may reduce sampling error, it actually may increase the total error. There are two reasons for this effect. First, a larger sample size may reduce the ability to follow up on non-responses. Second, even if there is a sufficient number of interviewers for follow-ups, a larger number of interviewers may result in a less uniform interview process. 4. How will we analyze any data collected? What software will we use? What degree of accuracy is required? Before analysis can be performed, raw data must be transformed into the right format. First, it must be edited so that errors can be corrected or omitted. The data must then be coded; this procedure converts the edited raw data into numbers or symbols. A codebook is created to document how the data was coded. Finally, the data is tabulated to count the number of samples falling into various categories. 5. Decide upon a budget and a timeframe. 6. Go back and speak to the managers or clients requesting the research. Make sure that you agree on the problem! If you gain approval, then move on to step seven. 7. Go ahead and collect the data. 8. Conduct the analysis of the data. 9. Check for errors. It is not uncommon to find errors in sampling, data collection method, or analytic mistakes. 10. Write your final report. This will contain charts, tables, and diagrams that will communicate the results of the research, and hopefully lead to a solution to your problem. Watch out for errors in interpretation. Sources of Data – Primary and Secondary There are two main sources of data – primary and secondary. Primary research is conducted from scratch. It is original and collected to solve the problem in hand. -Secondary research, also known as desk research, already exists since it has been collected for other purposes. Marketing research by itself does not arrive at marketing decisions, nor does it guarantee that the organization will be successful in marketing its products. However, when conducted in a systematic, analytical, and objective manner, marketing research can reduce the uncertainty in the decision-making process and increase the probability and magnitude of success.

Brand Extension – Furniture

In today’s fierce competition, organizations are driven to reach, strengthen their existences in particular markets, and become a multinational enterprise by taking a mixture of policies including finding new market, developing new features, or even performing a merger and acquisition (M&A). Concerning the developing market, this paper discuses and recommends corporate brand strategy for two companies that are proposed to merge; they are Habitat and Fabprefab. The discussion will first elaborate overviews of Habitat and Fabrefab including the elaboration of each strengths and weaknesses that will benefit the merger.In addition, this paper will also elaborate the benefits and perils of mergers and a concept of developing brand strategy. In the end, we provide recommendation for the merged companies, Habitat and Fabprefab, since it is potentially experiencing downfall. The recommendation should take into account considerations that ensure the delivery of best service and creativ e, strategic and economically sustainable ways to transfer the tangible and intangible values of a brand into new product (service) categories, new markets or new industries. Brand Extension – Furniture/Home furnishing Goes Prefab I. IntroductionIn order to broaden organization reaches, strengthen their existences in particular markets, and become a multinational enterprise, managements of the organization can take a mixture of policies including finding new market, developing new features, or even performing a merger and acquisition (M&A). Mergers and Acquisition (M&A) is one example that a business performs to keep their business growing and getting bigger. This makes sense since the number of M&A is getting bigger every year. According to the Securities Data Company, the dollar value of U. S. (M&A) in 1996 recorded a 27 percent increase to US$658.8 billion from US$518 billion in 1995. While an M&A becomes a corporate strategy, marketing strategy interprets the corporate st rategy to match the market characteristics and customers’ needs. Therefore, marketing department becomes the front liner of the company since marketers, people who work at marketing department, are those who made actual contact with customers within their daily operations. Their responsibilities are to generate constructive views of customers about their company. Therefore, it is their responsibilities to comprehend what customer really wants and how they want to be treated.This is important to ensure the products are saleable in the market. Under such circumstances, it is not a great surprise that term ‘marketing oriented management’ emerges in today’s management practice in order to help organizations to focus in serving customers. Concerning corporate and marketing strategies, this paper will discus and recommend corporate brand strategy for two companies that are proposed to merge; they are Habitat and Fabprefab. The discussion will first elaborate ove rviews of Habitat and Fabrefab including the elaboration of each strengths and weaknesses that will benefit the merger.In addition, this paper will also elaborate the benefits and perils of mergers and a concept of developing brand strategy. II. Proposed Mergers between Habitat and Fabprefab II. 1 Habitat Habitat is furnishing company that established in UK, especially London, in 1966. Within the over 40 years of operation, the company now serves in more than 76 stores worldwide in which 42 of them are in UK, 24 are in France, and the rests are in Spain (5), Germany (5), and other countries through franchise system. Like other furniture companies, Habitat also has wide range of products for living room, dining room to kitchen, and bathroom.In internet era, the company has also provided online catalogue although it has not enable the any online transactions. II. 1. 1 Habitat and Needs for Strategic Partnership By definition, alliance is an agreement between two or more individuals or companies that agree to perform particular action in order to achieve a common goal (Web Finance, 2005). Since the intention of a strategic alliance is to give strengths to each entity, therefore, each entity has to have particular strength that is beneficial for other allies. In this situation, the parties involved (allies) have harmonizing strengths.As explained above, strategic alliance in business situation has potential benefits and disadvantages. The intention of a strategic alliance is to grow a company’s revenue without the need to incur high expansion costs. Although Habitat is a large company, we see that the company is in need to perform strategic partnership so that they can quickly exist in target market and gain improved brand awareness. For that reason, we suggest that Habitat should perform strategic partnerships with other furniture companies or with supplier in order to gain one or more benefits as following:†¢ enable a company to enter a new market wi th new products and services without incurring costs of research and development for the products †¢ widening the market reach without the need to establish a new branch offices †¢ increase the volume of production output †¢ use new technology that simplify the process while enhancing the quality of products †¢ Speed up the research and development by sharing costs and resources (BDC, 2006). II. 1. 2 Habitat and Intention to be Real Estate Brokerage Service Real estate brokerage service has its own level of competition that Habitat may not comprehend yet.It means that Habitat should focus on developing core competences as furnishing retailers instead of extending services into real estate brokerage that Habitat does not have any experience in the industry (Habitat, 2006). We would rather suggest habitat to perform strategic partnership with multinational companies that have wide market penetration in locations that Habitat does not exist yet. This is in line with the one of the benefits of strategic partnership as mentioned above (Habitat, 2006). II. 1. 3 Habitat and construction serviceAlthough construction service is not Habitat core competence but construction service has relation with furnishing industry. It means that Habitat could enter the construction service but they had better to perform alliances with one company in the industry instead of by establishing its own company. The form of alliance could be the first options of using Habitat’ product in construction projects that require completed full furnished buildings or need an advisor to design furniture for building projects.

3 assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

3 assignment - Essay Example The background of this problem is extensive and involves process and change in the healthcare environment in general, and the nursing workplace in particular, for many years. The changes that occurred to make hospitals and other healthcare facilities such as clinics more competitive with each other has resulted in a situation where, in some places, the patient is getting served better and the client treated better, and in some other situations, where the nursing professional and the healthcare facility or hospital is served better from a cost perspective, perhaps at the expense of the patient. There are many reasons to support either 8 or 12 hour shifts. First of all, many nurses want 12 hour shifts because they have young children to take care of, and this allows them more time to do so. Also, nurses can pursue a higher education. After all, knowing the basics forms a basis on which all other educational measures can build, and education is and remains one of the key facets of nursing. Also, flex time allows nurses to take a second job. In a similar vein, 8 hour shifts also give nurses time off so that they can relax and unwind before going through another rigorous session of caring for patients and clients at the healthcare facility. In many cases, these facilities such as hospitals don’t want flex time because it costs more money, compromises sick leave, and requires more nurses. There are categorizations to be made between situational conflicts, which may differ under varying decisions and stressors that are unique to each situation, and relational conflicts. Relational conflicts might be more static in terms of how they can be #1 A mediator can come in and help the nurses reach a consensus. Mediators can plan in many different ways and can provide the disputants with many different opportunities for rapport, but overall the credibility of the mediator should be based on

EXEMPTION CLAUSES ( contract ) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

EXEMPTION CLAUSES ( contract ) - Essay Example It quickly became clear that the car is seriously defective and that it will cost at least  £1000 to deal with the problems. Thomas Co always offer to those who buy cars from them, the opportunity to purchase a service contract covering parts and labour on the car purchased for 2 years. Smith Co have always declined such offers from Thomas Co. The conclusion of this paper is meant to give advice to Smith Co., hence, the main issue here is whether or not Thomas Company could be held liable for the damage in excess of the  £100 on defective car purchased by Smith Co. considering the presence of the limitation of the liability as indicated in the contract. To settle this main issue I may use the three tests and they are incorporation, construction and UCTA. To determine whether the provision of the contract containing the clause: ‘Thomas Co limits its liability for any breach of the terms implied by ss13-15 of the Sale of Goods Act 1979 to  £100’ would be deemed incorporated or part of the contract; and therefore should bind the parties in the contract, there is a need to examine the facts if they are consistent on the present status of the law. Case facts tell us that Smith Co has made a number of similar purchases of cars from Thomas Co in the past. Although normally, Thomas Co asks its customers to sign its standard terms, containing the standard clause of limiting liability, the case at bar, the purchase by Smith Co was agreed over the telephone and Smith Co were never asked to sign the standard terms. Hence the logical issue is: Was the verbal agreement made orally a continuation of previous transactions of Smith Co with Thomas Co. where there was the limiting clause? Can we imply that Smith Co. should be covered by the standard clause of limited liability considering that it is the practice of Thomas to ask its customers to sign its standard terms? It is may be argued that the purchase made

Describe and discuss the concept of the various theories of strategic Essay

Describe and discuss the concept of the various theories of strategic management and how information systems can be utilised to - Essay Example In this scenario, information technology provides a lot of tools that can help organizations implement strategic management effectively. Information system is a very useful tool which is currently used by the organizations to implement business strategies. This paper will discuss the concept of strategic management in detail. This paper will discuss how information systems can be useful for the organizations in achieving strategic advantage. This paper will also outline some challenges which are faced by the organizations while using information systems. Strategic management: A detailed overview Strategic  management  refers to a business methodology that is useful for the utilization in order to make the most competent use of available assets and resources in the process of operating some organization. However, the basic idea behind any  strategic management process  is to assess the existing status of the operation and all of its individual components, we must identify whet her those components are being utilized in such a way to attain maximal outcome, and to expand and implement the required changes when and as necessary. In addition, if organizations successfully utilize this approach, it can help them improve the overall performance of the business; we have to move the business nearer towards reaching its declared goals. However, we should keep the expenditure of raw materials, supplies and other related resources in stability with the returns that are generated by the business efforts (Tatum, 2010). The idea of strategic  management  is not only used by the large companies. Even a small business that encompasses no more than one or two persons can use this decision-making technique to get advantage from the basics of this methodology. Whereas, the exact nature related to these processes and tasks necessary for the operations will be quite different between a mom-and-pop seller and a corporation which is considered as multi-national. However, t he common idea behind this  managing  process will still be uses and considered as valid. When we apply these principals to the real-life conditions of the business, it is often likely to maximize the use of existing resources, reduce waste in the place of work, and eventually have a positive outcome on the bottom line of some organization (Tatum, 2010; Pollard & Hotho, 2006). In simple words, the term strategic management refers to a process by which a group of people or organization can examine the fact where they are at present, and also in addition they can think about where they want to be in the near future perspective and how they can create the visual ability and reality as when to reach where they want to reach in the coming future (Sulaiman, 2010). How Organizations use Strategic Management For achieving a competitive benefit position and also enhancing the organizational performance as compared to their competitors are the

Business law Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 2

Business law - Assignment Example Such professionals prevent embezzlement of funds and ensure that the business operate effectively to meet its goals. At the same time, it is advantageous to have proper power legislation systems such as the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB). The board acts as an oversight commission that manages the activities of any firm. Even though such mechanism can be adopted in the system, there is no 100 percent assurance that the system will be effective. This is based on loopholes and cartels that operate in the corporate society. With the increase in the number of corruption cases in the prosecution system, it is hard to apprehend all aggressive violators of white collar-crimes. Constitutional protections apply to different persons charged with crimes. However, this statement does not imply that a person guilty of business crimes should be given a lighter sentences than those found in burglary cases. This is based on the fact that evaluations of the accused are done prior to the sentencing. In addition, most common law criminal penalties were created in order to exercise fair trial in a court of law. Therefore, individuals should be convicted in regard to the magnitude of their judicial cases (Twomey & Jennings,

DIVERSITY & INCLUSION Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

DIVERSITY & INCLUSION - Essay Example That is, the thought that customs, usages, traditions, and habits are all necessary and sufficient features of culture has been dominant throughout the history of sociology (Geertz, 2000, p. 25). Rather, it seems that the idea of computer programs is a more accurate picture of culture, which produces various rules, instructions, recipes, and plans that govern behavior. On this concept, culture is not merely an interesting intellectual consideration in understanding how people behave, but a necessary mechanism in determining what an individual person does and accomplishes (Geertz, 2000, p. 25). The idea of a â€Å"multicultural education†, like culture, engulfs many different perspectives and ideas; namely, it is not merely an idea, but also an educational reform movement and a process of distinct goals. The primary goal of the multicultural education movement is â€Å"to change the structure of educational institutions so that male and female students, exceptional students, a nd students who are members of diverse racial, ethnic, language, and cultural groups will have an equal chance to achieve academically in school† (Banks & Banks, 2009, p. 1). ... ystems, interactions are governed to varying extents by various kinds of prejudices, biases, discrimination, and norms that may restrict (or enhance) group cohesiveness or separation. In the four-step pyramid, the two more fundamental steps involve the educator’s awareness of what he or she is projecting into the society of the school. If, for instance, an educator exhibits a cultural bias against students, then the culture that bias creates will likely have an effect on other students, who tend to mirror adult behaviors. This result demonstrates the fundamentality of teacher attitudes toward students in the classroom, especially with younger children who are especially impressionable. The top steps in the pyramid reflect the need for the educator to recognize outside sources of cultural biases and the need to address those. In a multicultural education, the educator is responsible for managing the impressions of cultural bias and class prejudices in their students. Treating t he school as an ordered social society once again, it is important not to allow factors from the exterior environment to leave an impact on the participants (the students) that will lessen the potential for a welcome, helpful cooperation. Children in elementary schools, although impervious to various kinds of indicators of social class like homes and possessions, are likely to pick up on less concrete signs: such as the effects of economic disadvantage and their parents’ interactions with employers. These clues toward social class ultimately affect a child’s perceptions of the world (including the relationship between school and their future) and their interactions with others (Ramsey, 2004, p. 94). A multicultural education, as an education that seeks to equalize educational opportunity, is

The Service Encounter Diaries Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

The Service Encounter Diaries - Essay Example 7. In order to improve on the restaurant, the manager absolutely must ensure that his/her first impressions team is up to the task of being friendly, cordial, and engaging with clients. Without this, the restaurant is not able to stand out; regardless of how low priced or tasty the food might be. 2: I had performed some online review in order to find the best mobile phone repair service that I could in the local area. After reading several online reviews, I came to have a high expectation of service as most of the customers of the store had written glowing reviews. 3: Upon entering the establishment, I was immediately greeted and asked if I could be helped. What was most interesting to me was that I was not just passed off to someone else once I explained my problem; instead, the person who greeted me was actually one of the repairmen himself and was able to take a look at my phone and quickly give me a cost and time estimate for how long the repairs would be. 4. I was pleasantly surprised by this level of service and decided I would have my phone repaired at this establishment; instead of wasting any more time looking for a lower price elsewhere. As a direct result of the first impression that I had and the level of knowledge that was exhibited to me, my decision to do business with the firm in question was solidified. 7. Although the service was exceptional, the only thing that I might recommend to change was the overall level of technical terms that the service professionals and repair staff would frequently use. Many customers might not understand these terms; as such, toning them down and putting things in more simple terms could definitely help. 3: On entering the store, I did not see any employees; other than the ones that were working the cash registers. This was odd to me as generally an H&M

The economic crisis and Hospitality Industry in EU Essay Example for Free

The economic crisis and Hospitality Industry in EU Essay The report prepared on the Economic crisis and the hospitality industry in Europe, is an attempt to have an insight on the major reasons responsible for the economic crisis in the European Hospitality sector. It also takes the attentions towards the effective and strong measures taken by the Nation at the EU level and the national level to survive during the bad economy time. It was identified that the option of reducing their operating costs was one of major strategies followed by the enterprises in the tourism sector of Europe, along with this the economic crisis gave a strong reason for the small enterprises to review their business methodologies so as to be able to manage their business during the crisis period and also to increase the ratio of their profitability in the future times to come. The European Hospitality sector has survived in the year 2009 and it is pacing towards the recovery path in the current year. Studies reveal that the European hospitality industry will be able to stabilise itself by year 2011 and it is sure that Europe will definitely be able to bring back its economy as they all stand united at times of need. Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said â€Å"Yes, Europe has the unity, the confidence and determination to win this battle†. Introduction Global economy crisis has left no sector untouched but it can be argued and debated over that the most adversely affected sector in Europe is the entertainment and tourism sector. In other words, we can straight away state that Europe’s Hospitality industry is the most badly hit sector in the economic crisis. The prime reason related with this is that the leisure and tourism get immediately and easily affected with the economic fluctuations going on in any country or location. Almost all the travel activities require an optimal amount of expenditure to be made by an individual for the fun, entertainment and relaxation of his family or friends and people are comfortable spending money for fun only at the favourable economic times. At the time of recession or the economic crisis, they would rather prefer to save their money for the unforeseen hard times that they might have to face in their future time to come. Thus they might consider saving their extra money for their basic necessities like shelter, food and other family requirements. Although, this does not mean that people stop travelling completely but their frequency of travelling might get a bit down because of the economic fluctuation and the tourists and travellers might adapt the idea of spending bit less on travel than their planned expenditure. Experts state that the tourism and hospitality business that can adapt to the situation that they can provide the best quality of services and customer satisfaction on a tighter budget too can only survive at the time of economic crisis. There is a possibility that the customers/travellers do not expect luxurious kind of services but would be interested if they get the low cost services and this fundamental fits perfectly to the airline and the hospitality industry of Europe, too. Trevor J Ward, Managing Director, W Hospitality Group, told that there has been a loss of confidence in the whole banking system in Europe, which has reduced lending to businesses and individuals, and this reduction in credit is affecting businesses and consumers alike. The fall in the house prices has affected the other business activities and consumer spending too and it has in a way affected the European hotel industry. HOTREC (Confederation of the National Hotel and Restaurant Associations in the EC) HOTREC is the name for the trade association of hotels, restaurants and cafes in Europe. They have combined together 40 national hospitality associations in around 24 countries across Europe. European hospitality industry comprises of almost 9. 5 million workers having network of Around 1. 7 million enterprises. HOTREC works towards the objective to promote the hospitality industry in Europe. Their motive of execution is to create more number of jobs for the European people and thus boost the economy of Europe by enabling the hotels, restaurants and cafes to create more job opportunities. HOTREC works extensively towards achieving a competitive and stable tourism industry in Europe. All the policies are made and implemented by HOTREC with the vision to encourage the creation of environment positive for the development of the hospitality sector. The Economic crisis and the hospitality industry The economic crisis has left no sector untouched and so the European hospitality industry is no less affected with this economic crisis. There are various zones or segments of the tourism industry that has got badly hit with this crisis. It has directly affected the business travels which were quite frequent in Europe and was a key contributor in the profit earning of the European hotels and cafes but with this crisis the industry has seen tremendous fall down in the business travel of the people coming to Europe. Not only the business travels, but the business events like the conferences, the presentations and the seminars which were quite in trend in Europe also got severely affected with the economic crisis and this again has brought the profitability graph of the European Hotels and cafes. It is true that the although the industry has experienced a slowdown in the business travels and the business events, people are still trying to figure out the best deals in the lowest possible rates that fit to their budget and serve their purpose too as they are able to let their business function smoothly irrespective of this economic crisis. They also try to find out the hotels which can provide them with the basic services without asking them to pay a hefty amount for their stay in the hotel. In a survey conducted by DLA PIPER 2009, the respondents were asked the major reasons for their lack of confidence in the Europeans hospitality industry during this economic crisis and the survey consisted of a couple of questionnaires like the Struggling European economy, Lack of liquidity, Current operating performance of hotels, Time and cost restraints on consumer travel, Reduced business travel, Lack of confidence in Europe’s political leaders, Struggling US economy etc. Around 43% of the people considered lack of liquidity and almost 33% considered the struggling European economy to be the major contributors to the rapid downfall in the confidence level. A study stated that out of many other reasons required to cope up with the effect of economic crisis in the hospitality industry in Europe the low cost of credit can be considered to be an effective step fighting against the crisis of funds and it is believed that the European commercial banks will be the most active type of lender in the European hospitality industry in the coming year as they will work towards lowering their cost of credit and thus it will be beneficial to the hospitality sector which is struggling due to the economic crisis. Data about European Hospitality industry This question is of major concern that that how long will this economic crisis go and how will all the European sectors survive in this bad economy when the entire world is getting affected with this global economic crisis. Despite other sectors, the European hotel industry is getting severely hit with this crisis and this can be well understood by the data illustrated below. An analysis done by IMF, stated that Europe’s biggest economy, Germany will get severely affected during this crisis with a 5. 6-percent GDP decline in 2009 and a 1. 0-percent dip in 2010, while the GDP in the euro area, completely is expected to be going down to 4. 2 percent in 2009 and 0. 4 percent in 2010. The data reveals that the GDP rate will go down by 1. 5% in last quarter of the year as compared to the third quarter which is definitely a sign of concern and effective steps required to be taken to come out of this problem. Talking about the unemployment figures in the European hospitality sector in the year 2009, as compared to the numbers of year 2008, the statistics show that there will be a rise in the unemployment from 6,8% to 7,6% in EU27 and it will go up from 7,2% to 8,2% in Euro area. It is a matter of great concern and worry for the government of any country when they are experiencing a steady downfall in their GDP and their graph of unemployment is going high in any of its business sectors and that calls for the time when they all need to unite together to fight against this severe crisis as this is the indication of a very big crisis for that particular nation and the data clearly states that Europe is struggling badly with this situation and needs remedial measures which are effective enough to bring Europe’s hospitality industry to come out of this situation. The data also describes that there has been a visible drop in the European economic sentiment indicator which is also an important reason of the low confidence in the European hospitality industry. Figures state that the Economic Sentiment indicator, in short termed as ESI went down by 2. 2 points while it was earlier stable at 61. 0 points during Janaury-09 –February 09 in EU27. While it went down from 65. 4 points to 63. 6 points thus showing a downfall of 1,8 points in the Euro area. When the entire globe is suffering from this problem of recession and bad economy, Europe is also facing the hit back in the tourism industry. A study revealed that the tourism prospects in the year 2009, for European cities will be a stage of stagnation or it may even go down by around 3% than the earlier times and figures. A survey conducted by Deloitte and Touche on the European hotels revealed that the occupancy rate of rooms in the hotels of Europe went down from 69. 3% in the year 2007 to 66. 9% in the year 2008. Although all the major cities of Europe have suffered due to this crisis but the most badly affected cities are Rome, Dublin and Prague. According to the Eurobarometer survey conducted on the 27,000 tourists coming to 27 EU countries for their holidays with family and friends in the year 2009 , the study reflected that around 1/3 of the people stated that there has been a drastic change in the plans which they make for their travel and leisure by decreasing their accommodation cost budget, out of which around 38% belonged to the category of completely swiping out the option of going to Europe for their holidays, others stated that there will be no change in their cost of accommodation budget due to this economic crisis. The study also stated that to fight against this crisis and still not completely go away with their idea of going on holidays, they would rather do little bit of adjustments and comprises to fit the holiday budget to their pocket. 15% of the surveyors stated that they would save on accommodation, 23% mentioned that they would prefer to go on vacation in the low season when the prices will automatically come down and they do not need to cut down on their estimated budget, 23% mentioned that they would try to cut down on their restaurant expenses and 30% mentioned to cut down their shopping budget to manage their vacation and enjoy with their families and friends. Economic Crisis with low confidence The Economic crisis when followed with the lowering of confidence in any sector becomes a reason of great concern and worry for the government of any nation and the situations like this needs an immediate attention and plan of action as if it is not dealt in time it may lead to adverse consequences for the economy of any nation. Such thing was experienced by the European hospitality industry in the year 2009. The data gathered by DLA Piper 2009, Europe Hospitality Outlook survey on the reasons of low confidence on the European hospitality industry during the time of economic crisis were found to be Struggling European economy, current operating performance of hotels, time and cost restraints on consumer travel, Lack of liquidity (debt or equity), Struggling US economy, Reduced business travel and last but not the least Lack of confidence in Europe’s political leaders. A survey done by DLA Piper’s 2009 Europe Hospitality Outlook Survey stated that almost 84 % of participants consider the European hospitality market to be bearish. Majority of the participants of the survey did not expect the European hospitality industry to come back to its original state until year 2011. Almost 70% of the people have cut down on their business travel due to the economic crisis. The survey also tried to gather numbers regarding the investment options in the European hotel industry and it found that around 71% of respondents believe that investment in Sustainable hotel development is a long-term trend. And there is a widespread risk of bankruptcy for European hotel chains. The major concern of the participants was the clause passed by EU Parliament regarding the potential removal of an EU country’s right to opt-out from the Working Time Directive which limits to an employee’s working hours to forty eight hours only. They mentioned this to be a very strong reason to put a negative impact on the European hospitality industry. Recovery Plans of European Hospitality Industry It is a fact that the European hospitality industry, along with the other sectors has suffered major setbacks in the year 2009 due to the economic crisis and this can be well described and understood by the data gathered by DLA Piper 2009, Europe Hospitality Outlook survey. The survey revealed that almost 84% of the participants mentioned the European hospitality market to be the bearish one when queried regarding their confidence in the European economy they stated Expected rebound of European economy, Foreign investment in European market, Abundance of equity capital available for investment, Expected rebound of US economy, Investment opportunities created by financial crisis and Confidence in Europe’s political leaders as the factors that in any situation will let the European hospitality industry come out of any such crisis in the present time and in the future times to come. European hospitality industry along with the major tourism associations like WTTC, UNWTO, HOTREC and PASTA are quite optimistic towards the idea that European hospitality sector will be able to cope up with this economic crisis and will easily survive this hard economic time. European tourism sector has faced a lot of obstacles till the time it has reached the 21st Century and developed such face of tourism for the entire world. Although, it is a true fact that this sector will go through hard times in the next coming months but the enterprises which are flexible enough to adapt to the required business model and plan their strategies keeping in mind the existing scenario will easily be able to survive and develop a strong platform for their existence in the long run in the European Hospitality industry. The recovery plan to successfully face the problem of economic crisis has been divided into a few segments or divisions so as to leave no stone unturned to fight with this scenario and bring back the economy to its stable state. It was segmented as 1. Recovery at EU level 2. Recovery at National Level We will discuss in brief the steps and measures taken at both the levels to beat the Economic crisis. 1. Recovery at EU level The European government considered dealing with the economic crisis quite seriously and so they planned the various meetings of the EU heads of State. They all mutually agreed upon following three lines of actions so as to come out of this situation. First one was to promote the financial stability in such a way that the confidence level of the people gets a boost again on the government along with the European Economy which is badly affected with the economic crisis. Second plan of action was to get the real economy to the shape where it was earlier, and third one was the most important one. It was to stay tightly united to fight against the crisis and to work together at the global level. The third measure sounded bit simple to sate but it was the most effective plan of action to get out of such a critical situation. Several measures were taken by the Government at the EU level out of which one measure specifically taken by the EU state with regards to the hospitality industry was to change the existing VAT Rate system. The new provision stated that all the member states will be granted the permission to apply for a reduced VAT Rate for the restaurant services. The current provision had this option to only 11 members so now this will be applicable to all the member states in EU.

Ebt Classroom Management Essay Example for Free

Ebt Classroom Management Essay This is a free additional chapter for ‘Evidence Based Teaching’ by Geoff Petty (2006) Nelson Thornes. It can be downloaded from www. geoffpetty. com. The book as a whole combines and summarises research on which teaching methods and strategies work best, and explains these strategies with examples. See the notes at the end of this chapter for more detail. Can I get my students to behave better? The evidence is emphatic, yes you can! And we know how. There are of course very many strategies designed to improve classroom management and discipline, but which ones work? Robert Marzano (2003) summarised the findings of over 100 reports on classroom management, including 134 rigorous experiments designed to find out which classroom management techniques work best. These experiments were carried out with real teachers in real classrooms. This chapter draws heavily on this ‘meta-study’ of Marzano’s, and compares strategies to find out which is best. Such studies of studies are the best source of evidence on what works as they include and integrate all reliable evidence. For a full account see ‘Classroom Management that Works’ Robert Marzano et al (2003) for the detail, it is well worth reading. These experiments tell us what teachers have made work, rather than reporting hunches and wishful thinking. No special training is required to use these strategies. If you are a reasonably experienced teacher, just experiment with the following methods, and you should get positive results quite quickly. You will need to give them a fair try for a few lessons before you and your students get the hang of them. The investment will be well worth it as their improved behaviour and motivation will begin to show. Less experienced teachers may need more time to make the strategies work. Marzano’s meta-study describes four basic approaches that have been found to improve behaviour in classrooms. Their effectiveness is compared in the table below. Comparing the effectiveness of aspects of classroom management| Average effect-size| Number of students or pupils| Number of studies| Decrease in number of disruptions(Average for the studies)| Summary of experimental data from Marzano (2003)| | | | | Rules and proceduresStrategies to clearly and simply express rules and other expectations of student behaviour. Also to justify these persuasively from the teacher’s and students’ point of view. For greatest effect the rules are negotiated with students| 0. 76| 626| 10| 28%| Teacher-student relationshipsStrategies to improve the rapport, and mutual respect between teacher and student| 0. 87| 1110| 4| 31%| Disciplinary interventionsThe effective use of ‘sticks and carrots’ to enforce the rules described above| 0. 91| 3322| 68| 32%| Mental setStrategies to develop your awareness of what is going on in your classroom and why. A conscious control over your thoughts and feelings when you respond to a disruption. | 1. 3| 502| 5| 40%| Marzano grouped high quality research studies on classroom management into the four categories above, and then calculated an average effect size for each. â€Å"Effect size† is explained in chapter 4, they are a measure of how effective a strategy is. If you don’t know about effect sizes look instead at the last column in the tables: ‘percentage reduction in the number of disruptions’. For example, in experiments on strategies that involve teachers in devising rules and procedures the number of disruptions in the classroom was reduced by 28% on average. This is in comparison with not devising explicit rules and procedures. In experiments, only one strategy can be used at a time. (If two were used, we would not know which caused any positive effects. ) However, you can obviously use strategies in all these categories at once. This will have a greater effect than using strategies in one category alone. However, it is not statistically valid to add the effect sizes or the percentages in the table to find their combined effect. If you find this a bit bewildering, just remember that the strategies that teachers made work best are those with a large percentage in the last column in the tables. However you are unique! You might not get the same results as an average teacher. So the best results will probably come from concentrating on the category that you or your students have most difficulty with, or that you have considered least in your teaching. The final test is what works in your classroom, try the methods for a few weeks and see what happens! I will now look at the strategies that have been found to work best in each of Marzano’s four categories. I will only outline these, and if you want more detail please read the following chapters in my ‘Teaching Today’, which have more strategies and more detail. I am relieved to say these chapters are very much in line with the Marzano findings. Alternatively follow up one of the Chapters in ‘Teaching Today’ that might be helpful: 7 The teacher – learner relationship and equal opportunities page 77 8 Classroom management page 96 9 Discipline and problem solvingpage 108 references at the end of the chapter. Some teachers think a well-planned, interesting lesson will by itself prevent disruption. Or that if the teacher is entirely benign and respectful of students, conflict will simply melt away. This isn’t the case. We often start our teaching careers with these assumptions, but enlightenment usually doesn’t take long. All teachers experience problems with behaviour, it’s just that some are better at preventing it, and dealing with it. But how? The strategies that teachers have made work best in experiments are explained below, with the theory outlined. However, if you are only interested in the strategies themselves look for the strategy icon in the margin: Improving your use of rules and procedures You might be forgiven for believing that how students should behave in classrooms is blindingly obvious, and explanation is entirely unnecessary. However, experiments show that classrooms become much more orderly when rules are stated, or better still negotiated, discussed and fully justified. It seems the little blighters need persuading of the obvious! So: 1. Create rules: Decide for yourself what rules and procedures will maximise learning, and would create a good atmosphere in your class. Alternatively adapt the rules in the box on page 4. Express these rules positively rather than as a list of â€Å"don’ts†. There should be a maximum of about 8 rules at secondary level, some say less at the elementary level. 2. Justify rules. Work out to your own satisfaction a persuasive case for each of these rules, however obvious this is. I’m afraid ‘because I say so’ is not a persuasive justification! Very early on, perhaps in your first meeting with the class, explain that you want an effective, fair and happy classroom, and a set of rules and procedures to achieve this. There are two main ways to do this, set out in 3 and 4 below. 3. Discuss rules with the class. Discuss why we have laws, rules and procedures in football, families, and in society. Ask for examples. (Avoid the off-side rule even if you understand it! ) What would happen if we didn’t have rules? Explain that the purpose of class rules is not to pump your megalomania, but to improve learning, and to ensure people enjoy the class. 4. Negotiate to get commitment. Suggest your set of rules as a start, asking for deletions, additions and suggestions. Be prepared to justify and compromise. (Alternatively ask the class to devise their own set of rules as described in 5 below. ) * Consider asking students to work in small groups to make sticky note responses to your rules. Then display and discuss these as a class. * Consider asking each group to design a poster to illustrate one of the rules, and display these on the notice board. These can then be used as a reminder in subsequent lessons. * Students could literally ‘sign up’ to the rules as political leaders sign treaties. Refer to the rules as ‘our rules’ not as ‘mine’. 5. Get the class to devise their own rules. Especially with older or more responsible groups you could ask them to come up with their own class rules. It may help to start this process off if you give them issues such as ‘how can we make sure everyone gets the help they need? ’. Or you could ask them what has worked in other classrooms. * Students can work in groups to devise rules on different aspects of class management, e.g. bringing materials; talking; attendance and punctuality, etc * The class can then discuss and then vote on suggestions * Then you go away and finalise the set of rules. You have every right to the last say of course. If you reject a popular suggestion explain why. Here is a typical set of rules at secondary or college level. It is of course best to devise your own: 1. Treat others as you want to be treated yourself. Be positive and helpful. Try to help two other people every day. 2. Treat other people’s property at least as well as you would treat your own. 3. Hands up if you want to say something when the teacher, or another student is talking. 4. Don’t distract others from their work. Only talk to neighbours, and only about work. 5. If you are stuck ask neighbours for help first, then ask Mr Petty. 6. No unpleasantness, snatching or hitting. If you can’t resolve a disagreement yourself, or with your group, consult Mr Petty 7. Leave the room better than you found it. The aim here is to get students to ‘buy into’ the rules and to see them as their own, and as worth keeping and enforcing. Other uses of rules * Remind students of any relevant rules before a potentially disruptive activity. This is more positive than only responding to disruption and has been found to reduce disruption by about 25%. You could even gather students around the poster that illustrates the rule(s) and ask them for the justification for it. * If a rule is broken remind the student that, â€Å"we agreed†¦.. † and remind them that they are part of a team so must keep to team rules. Be a ‘team player’ could be a heading on the list of rules * Get students to self assess their own behaviour against the rules with a self-assessment form. Then use this to set themselves targets for improvement. See the example below Self-assessmentIs†¦((student name here))†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. a team player? | I kept to this rule:| | always| often| some-times| never| Treat others as you want to be treated yourself| | | | | Hands up if you want to say something when the teacher is talking| | | | | Don’t distract others from their work| | | | | Etc.. | | | | | | | | | | Improvement since my last self assessment:What I need to work on most is: | If you use self-assessment consider the following: * Asking students to remind themselves of their self-assessed targets at the beginning of a class (see the last row in the self assessment form above). Tell them you will ask them to self-assess any improvement at the end of the same class. * Allow students to reward themselves with a sticky blob against their name on your notice board if they have improved, say, twice running in these self-assessments. Yes I know this sounds toe-curlingly naff, but the less mature students often love this. Strategies to improve teacher-student relationships If you have read chapter 25 you will recognise the value driven management and leadership approach that was so successful in managing staff. The strategies below have reduced disruptions in classrooms by 31% on average. Good teacher-student relations ensure that students have a more positive attitude to the teacher and to learning, and make them more likely to accept rules and any disciplining. They turn the classroom into a cooperative team, and reduce antagonism. So even if you detest the little clutch of demons, its worth developing good relations with them, and if you do, you might find that you don’t detest them quite as much! What is the nature of good teacher-student relations? Marzano (2003) quotes internationally renowned research by Theo Wubbels, whose findings remind me of the old staffroom adage ‘be strict but fair’. Wubbels has found that the most effective teachers are both dominant (strong leaders) and cooperative (helpful, friendly and fair), but they are neither to extreme. This is shown diagrammatically below. The Ideal teacher-student relationship Dominant * Strong sense of purpose in pursuing clear goals for learning and for class management. * Leadership. Tends to guide and control * Prepared to discipline unapologetically Too dominant * Too controlling * Lack of concern for students * Teacher student relations damaged Ideal teacher- student relationship Opposition. * Treats students as the enemy * Expresses anger and irritation * Need to ‘win’ if there is a disagreement between teacher and students Cooperative * Great concern for the needs and opinions of students. * Helpful, friendly * Avoids strife and seeks consensus Too cooperative * Too understanding and accepting of apologies * Waits for students to be ready * Too desirous to be accepted by students Submission * Lack of clarity of purpose * Keeps a low profile * Tendency to submit to the will of the class * Entirely unassertive, rather glum and apologetic The diagram tries to show that the most effective teachers have found an optimal balance between cooperation and dominance. They are not so dominant that they fail to cooperate, nor so cooperative that they fail to lead. The precise approach will of course depend on the nature of the class; some need more dominance or more cooperation than others. Research has also shown that students prefer the dominant-cooperative mix about twice as much as the purely cooperative style, or indeed any other style. Wubbels has found that teachers new to the profession tend to start too cooperatively and with insufficient dominance. However after 6 to 10 years they often become too dominant. To improve student-teacher relations experiment with some or all of the following strategies which other teachers have made work well. Are you better at dominance or cooperation? Ideally you should strengthen your weakest style, even if you also work on your strongest. Many students are coping with stress, difficult home circumstances and worry about abuse, depression, eating disorders and so on. If your students experience such social and psychological strains you will need to attend to these as well trying the strategies that follow. This goes beyond the scope of this chapter. The ‘FATE’ approach in ‘Teaching Today’ may help, as will Marzano (2003). Strategies to increase your dominance (leadership) Don’t be put off by the word ‘dominance’. It means to become an effective leader, to pursue, vigorously and enthusiastically, a clear path towards both important learning goals, and good behaviour in the classroom. It does not mean to strut about in jackboots barking orders. We are doing this for the students, so we need not be shy about taking charge and accepting responsibility. 1. Ground Rules If you negotiate ground rules with students, and consequences for not keeping them as described on page , then you have already shown this attribute to some considerable extent. 2. Orientation Clarify the purpose and the key points in each topic before it is taught, including a persuasive reason for studying it. If you have read chapter 16 you will remember that these methods had very high effect sizes. (An effect size of 0. 5 for a strategy means that if it is done well students learn the topic about a grade better. An effect size of 1. 0 gives a two-grade improvement. By ‘grade’ I mean an improvement equivalent to a GCSE or ‘A’ level grade, but just for that topic of course. ) Strategy| Effect size from Marzano| Goal setting before introducing a new topic. E. g. ‘your goal is to use the information in this topic to solve this problem in the case study†¦. ’| 0. 97| Goals which the students are involved in designing| 1. 21| Advance organisers (summary in advance of what is about to be learned along with a persuasive case for studying it)| 0. 48 for easy topics0. 78 for more demanding topics| Highly specific behavioural objectives â€Å"At the end of this lesson you should be able to†¦Ã¢â‚¬ | 0. 12| Another way of setting goals is to discuss with students the assessment criteria for the task they will do, as long as they really understand these. 3. Authoritative body language Appear absolutely confident and in control, especially when you are not. When interacting with students, especially if dealing with misbehaviour, your dominance is conveyed by ‘body language’. This includes proximity, confident posture, and tone of voice (not shrill or angry, but authoritative. ) In Teaching Today I describe the ‘PEP’ approach, which stands for: * Proximity: dominance is increased by walking closer to the student. Walk around the classroom, if you notice students about to misbehave stand by their desk. When you talk to students stand a little ‘too close for comfort’ but don’t invade ‘personal space’. This is not an easy judgement. * Eye contact: Holding eye contact expresses dominance, especially if you hold it for some time. What you say will be taken more seriously if you hold eye contact first for a few seconds, then say it maintaining the eye contact, then maintain eye-contact for a few seconds more. * Posing questions. Rather than telling a student off for not working, ask questions such as ‘Why have you not started? ’ Do this with proximity and eye contact. This has much more effect than getting angry or raising your voice, and will make you appear much more in control. The combined effect of close proximity and sustained eye contact can be very powerful indeed, so don’t over do it. Strategies to increase Cooperation Being cooperative sounds easy, until you notice it means being cooperative with the worst behaved students in your class. This can try a saint. As so often in educational problems, we have a vicious cycle to deal with here, but with determination we can turn it into a virtuous cycle: Vicious cycle The student misbehaves more or works less well You are less positive, friendly and fair towards the student You dislike the student more and/or†¦ The student dislikes you and your classes more In your direct control Breaking this cycle is hard, but it can be done. If you succeed it ensures the student behaves better, learns better, but it also makes your life much easier. You will need to have negotiated clear rules with your students as described earlier, then you can start to break this cycle. This requires a great deal of emotional generosity and/or patience and restraint. If you cannot muster the generosity, try acting! Probably the only part of the cycle you can break is: ‘You are less positive, friendly and fair towards the student’ here are some strategies that break the cycle here: 1. Catch them doing something right. Keep an eye on them, and when you notice they are doing something right, even by accident, comment on this positively in private. ‘Well done, you’ve made a start’. Many students who misbehave are attention seekers, and if they earn attention for behaving well, they are less likely to steal attention by misbehaving. You can even bribe such students: â€Å"That’s an interesting start, when you’ve finished the question let me know and I will have a look at it† A promise of attention like this will often motivate students, but do keep your promise. See Madsen et al (1968) 2. Put the student into ‘intensive care’. There is a violent method to do this, which in your darkest moments often appeals! Here is a legal way. As well as ‘catching them doing something right’: Smile, use their name positively, ask for their opinion in class discussion, try to find something positive to say about their response. Make a point of looking at their work, and comment favourably about any genuine effort or achievement. Talk to them about it. ‘That’s an interesting point, what made you think of that? ’. Keep high expectations however: ‘I know you can do this’. Be patient and helpful. If you react like this it shows you are not ‘rattled’ by their misbehaviour. Warning! The above advice can be overdone. Don’t try too hard with ‘intensive care’ especially, as you will be disliked if you appear desperate to be liked. The trick is to make your behaviour seem very natural, and the way you teach everyone. So you must give this same attention to at least some well-behaved students nearby too. More general advice about increasing cooperation includes other ways of showing that you value students as individuals: 3. Learn and use their names 4. Communicate informally with students, Don’t just talk about learning issues. When they are coming into, or going out of the classroom ask their opinion: â€Å"Do you think your haircut would suit me? †Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. â€Å"What do you think of the new library? †Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. Ask about hobbies, attitudes and opinions, 5. Use eye contact and proximity to spread your influence about the whole room. 6. Negotiate difficulties with the class. â€Å"I am having problems with students not giving in work, what’s the problem? What can we do about this? † The strategies on page 17 and 18 also help with cooperation. Improving disciplinary interventions The strategies that follow reduced disruptions in classrooms by 31% on average. There has been a heated debate for some decades over whether teachers should use mild punishments, or should only give students praise and recognition for appropriate behaviour. You may not be surprised to find that Marzano’s meta-study, having statistically compared these approaches, shows that you are best doing both. However, while nearly all teachers will use mild punishments, few give enough recognition for good behaviour. If you only use punishments, such as telling students off in response to inappropriate behaviour, then you can create a negative, nagging image for yourself. Also, attention-seekers will begin to misbehave in order to get your attention, as it is the most effective way. Effect sizes are from Marzano (2003)| Average effect-size| Number of studies| Decrease in number of disruptions| Disciplinary Interventions| | | | RemindersReminding students of relevant rules just before they start an activity. E. g. reminding them of the ground-rules for working in groups before starting a group-work activity | 0. 64| 70| 24%| ‘Sticks’ Mild punishments| 0. 78| 40| 28%| ‘Carrots’ Strategies that reward students for appropriate behaviour including recognition, praise, symbols etc. | 0. 86| 101| 31%| ‘Carrots’ plus ‘sticks’Using both mild punishments, and strategies that reward students for appropriate behaviour with recognition symbols etc. | 0. 97| 12| 33%| Reminders. Many teachers are reactive, waiting for disruption and then responding to it, yet reminding students of the ground-rules for a forthcoming activity is a very positive and quite effective strategy. If you have agreed class rules, and students have designed posters to illustrate them, gather students round the posters to discuss the rules, and ask questions about why we have them. This need not take long, yet has reduced the number of disruptions in experiments by almost a quarter on average. Carrots: strategies to reinforce appropriate behaviour. This works better than just telling students off, and most of us don’t do it enough. Try these strategies: 1. Tokens or symbols Here is an example. A teacher asks each student to start off the lesson with five behaviour ‘points’. Or they might only do this with two or three problematical students. The students write five ‘1’s on a piece of paper on their desk. During the class the teacher places an extra ‘1’ if the student is working well, and crosses one off when they are not. Students often don’t need an explanation for the removal of a point if the class rules are clear. Simply praising good behaviour also works remarkably well, Madsen et al (1968). At the end of the class the student records how many behaviour points they have on a proforma. This might ask them to set targets for improvement. They might also be able to exchange these points for privileges such as sitting where they want, or giving out materials etc. It is important to explain the system you use and why: ‘to help you become better and more mature learners’. It should not be seen as a bribe even when privileges are given. These are often laughed off by teachers, but they really work and are greatly underused Tokens and symbols can include: * A ‘thumbs up’ sign, wink, smile, praise etc to a student working well. It works especially well with problematical students * ‘Official Pat On The Back’, this can be public or private. It is fun to ‘say this with capital letters’ and administer it with mock ceremony, but not sarcastically * Recognition in class notices, bulletins or notice-boards * Round of applause†¦ or even standing ovation! * Encouraging words * ‘Open microphone’. The student is asked to speak to the class to explain how they succeeded, or, if you are brave, to make any point they like. * Smiley faces, points, or stickers on a privately held record card, that you can ask to see and use as the basis for discussion on behaviour improvement. * Smiley faces, points or stickers on a publicly displayed class list * Badges: e. g. â€Å"I’m an improver† â€Å"The gal done good† * Displaying work * Letters home saying that behaviour is good or has improved. Most students regard this as very significant and it doesn’t cost that much. You could also use e-mail, text message, or phone message, but letters are permanent and you don’t even need to put a stamp on as students will be keen to take them home. They can be used to earn: * Privileges such as sitting where you choose, helping to give out materials, leading groups, being allowed to present to the class, etc * â€Å"Class pressure points† which the class can ‘spend’ to persuade you not to set homework one particular week, or to allow more time to prepare for a test etc. * The opportunity to choose the work they do or the way they work. E.g. be able to write up their work on a classroom computer. * Letters, e-mails or text messages home, after say three weekly improvements * College or school certificates for mature behaviour. These can be given in half-termly ‘award ceremonies’ presented by the head of department * Being chosen to present to another class, or at parent’s evening or open evening * A class trip or visit earned if the class all improve in behaviour * Home privileges such as being allowed to keep your TV or computer games in your bedroom, to rent a video or buy a computer game. This clearly requires parental involvement. See the case study in the box below. 2. Self-assessment Students can use the self-assessment process described on page 5 to award themselves points or stickers etc. 3. Contingent rewards: These makes use of peer pressure to improve behaviour: a. Class carrots if the whole class behaves or improves. E. g. If the whole class reduces calling out instead of putting their hands up, then the whole class earn pressure points (described in the above box), or are allowed to go and see the Art Department’s final show of work. Success needs to be defined carefully, for example no more than three people calling out in each class for at least one week. b. Class carrots if a specific individual or group of students behaves well or improves. This needs to be treated with caution. E. g. â€Å"We are all going to help to keep Philip in his seat. If you are next to him remind him if he moves. If he does move, don’t talk to him. If Philip doesn’t get out of his place inappropriately for a week, the whole class gets five Team Player Points and Philip gets ten. † ‘Sticks’: strategies that involve mild punishment. This works best in conjunction with the ‘carrots’ above. Marzano’s metastudy stresses that the effect of this strategy comes from consistency rather than severity. Case studies with the use of rewards and punishments. TES 16th June 2006 www. tes. co. uk/search/story/? story_id=2250510 Duncan Harper, Head of a Special school says many children are miss-labelled as ‘autistic’ or having ‘Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder’ (ADHD). He believes their poor attention span etc is due to being too tired to work after spending four to five hours a night watching TV or playing computer games. 20% of his 58 children are diagnosed autistic, and 50% ADHD. But Harper thinks non are autistic, and only 2 have ADHD! He develops excellent relationships with the parents, who are contacted by phone every two weeks. He arranges with them to remove TVs and computer games from bedrooms if the student’s behaviour/tiredness does not improve. Harper himself made seven such removals that year. A recent inspection graded the school as outstanding in all categories. Evidence is growing that poor sleep is affecting students’ behaviour, thinking and learning. Try Googling ‘sleep student attainment’. Consistency and assertiveness The punishment itself seems less important than your consistency in expecting a rule to be obeyed, and your assertiveness when talking to students or punishing them when you have to. Assertiveness is not the same as hostility. It is linked with ‘dominance’ mentioned earlier and means that when you deal with class management you are firm, unemotional, matter of fact, unapologetic, confident and business like. It often includes a reminder to the student that you are implementing agreed class rules, not personal dictats. Being hostile angry or very strict is less effective, and may suggest to students that you are losing control. Be assertive Imagine you are dealing with a student who has been persistently talking. You have warned her that if she talks inappropriately again, you will move her. Despite this, she continues to talk. You could get angry, sarcastic and over-strict at this point. But it is more effective to be assertive: 1. Proximity and eye contact. Walk up to the student (proximity), with a firm upright posture, and fix them with eye contact . There should be little emotion in your voice or face. Just a business like confidence. 2. Ask for what you want in a decisive manner, act as if you mean it, and expect to be obeyed. The pitch of your voice should not be shrill, only slightly raised. â€Å"I want you to move next to John now. † â€Å"But Pete started it† 3. Listen, but use the broken record. Listen to such legitimate objections. It sometimes helps to repeat the objection to show you have listened as below. However do not accept denials, blaming or other arguing unless a genuinely strong case is made. It is the student’s duty to keep the class rules despite difficulties. Repeat what you want. â€Å"Even if Pete did start it, you should not have talked again. Please move now. † â€Å"But that’s not fair† (This process of listening, perhaps acknowledging what was said, but then repeating what you want continues as long as necessary. This is sometimes called the ‘broken record’. ) You remain firm unruffled and business like. â€Å"We all agreed our class rules are fair. Please move. † 4. Defer discussion but require obedience. If the student persists tell them that they are wasting valuable class time, and must continue this conversation after the class. In the meantime they must move. Repeat this once if necessary very firmly. 5. Withdraw. If they still don’t move remind them that defiance is a very serious There is a list of responses to inappropriate behaviour in Teaching Today 3rd edition, pages 117-8 offence and that they must see you after the class. Walk away to signal the dialogue is now over. The student might now move. If not, seek guidance from tutors and class managers; defiance is a health and safety issue as they might not even stop doing something dangerous when you tell them to. 6. Use Discipline Plans. If a student does not respond to assertive behaviour like this and problems persist, consult tutors and managers. Sit down with the student in a private one to one situation, and draw up a ‘Discipline Plan’ Allen. T (1996) * State the relevant class rules and explain why they help everybody learn and help create a happy classroom * Ask the student why they have a problem keeping the rule(s) and what would help them keep it better. Stress that the rule must be kept despite the stated difficulties. Ask them to become a team player.

Early Learning Environment | Reflective Essay

Early Learning Environment | Reflective Essay Marie Grey Reflective Diary Introduction For this reflective diary portfolio I have chosen to talk about two completely different activities, one outdoor and one indoor. The outdoor activity promotes holistic development in many aspects which I will discuss within the reflection and the main factor which affects this activity is the environment. In the indoor activity it also promotes different areas of holistic development which I will also discuss in the portfolio below in more details. The main factor here is relationships, family life or community and also social factors. I feel I have learnt a lot throughout this module. In regards of the learning environment and how important it is for the overall learning or development of a child. The environment plays an important role within the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) setting. In my opinion the environment as a whole includes the centre, areas, indoors and out, materials, curriculum and everything that surrounds or affects the child. Practitioners have a duty to provide a warm, safe, encouraging, supporting, friendly environment for each child to help them develop holistically and to their full potential. Age appropriate activities, materials, equipment, books and games are very important. Why I mention these areas, if the children are doing activities or have materials that are for younger children than them. They will stay at the developmental stage they are currently at without progression. On the other hand if the materials/equipment is suitable for older children they will have difficulty. For example if a 3yr old is doing a puzzle suitable for a 6yr old, it may be too hard for the child. They may become frustrated and gain a dislike for puzzles or lose interest altogether missing out on learning opportunities. Daily routines are equally important in their own right I have learned through this module how routines affect children. Daily routines are in place for the benefit of both staff and children. It benefits staff so they have an overall goal for the day to work towards. Also it allows staff to get the work they need to do done within a certain time-frame. How I think it supports and helps children, is by giving the structure and a sense of time, as children do not fully understand the concept of time. This makes it easier for them to identify what time of day it is feel it helps the day feel less long for those who are there for a full day. Also routine is important for pre-schoolers to prepare them for school. A big one which I feel is very important in every setting and in life would be equality and diversity. I have learned ways of promoting this. By doing activities and discussing different cultures with the children. It is very important to promote these areas as there are lots of different family types and cultures attending our settings. Space is very important for children. They need space to run around, explore, play and do activities. If there is limited space children haven’t got the freedom to play comfortably and grow as individuals. Also I find some children do not like others in their personal space and get very upset when others are too close to them. To prevent unnecessary anxiety a spacious area where a group can play comfortably is ideal. I will discuss further about areas I have gained more understanding and knowledge about and also my personal, professional and working as part of a team. Activity 1: The first activity I am going to talk about is an outdoor activity. It is called the Parachute. This activity involves a big colourful parachute with a group of 2-4year olds and also adult involvement. The reason for this activity is to promote well-being, thinking and exploring, communication and identity and belonging. While also supporting the learning and holistic development of each child while having fun doing so. Before I started this activity I informed the other staff members about what I was going to be doing and I asked them if they had a parachute on the premises in case I needed to get one. They had one already, so I proceeded into the storage room and took it out the back. I shook it out and checked it for health and safety matters to make sure it was ready and safe for use with the children. When I came back in it was time to get the children ready to go outside. When their coats where on I told them I had planned a fun activity out the back garden for them to play. They were very excited. We proceeded out and I called the children down to where I had set up the activity in the most spacious part of the garden. All the staff and children joined in on the activity and we had lots of fun doing it. The children threw balls onto the parachute and we lifted it up and down to try get the balls back off again. Then the children ran under the parachute while the staff manoeuvred it up and dow n for them. When they were finished the activity their play didn’t stop there. Some of the children wanted to put the parachute on top of the play house. When they asked if they could I simply said â€Å"of course you can†. The children where then leading the activity themselves. I decided it best if I just stood back and let them enjoy and lead their own play. Impact on holistic development. P.I.L.E.S Physical- The activity helped strengthen muscles, Hand-eye co-ordination, Gross and fine motor skills. The children were using their hands to grip/hold the parachute. Using bigger muscles in their arms moving them up and down. Intellectual- Imagination, thinking of new games, ideas, leading their own activities. Language-Communicating with each other, discussing ideas for games, learning new words such as â€Å"Parachute†. For children who have not done the activity before. Emotional- I feel this activity had a calming effect as the children saw it move in the wind. Also being outside would impact their well-being and relationship building within the group. Social- As this was a group activity it impacted on the children socially, they needed to share the parachute and work together in order for it to move. Learning opportunities. The learning opportunities that occurred during this activity where the development of concepts such as moving the parachute. Learning what is high and low, fast and slow, up and down, under and over. How this affects the children’s overall holistic developmental, the activity is promoting all areas of P.I.L.E.S. The affect can differ depending on the development of each child. Where some may be advanced for example in their physical development such as their fine motor skills, others may be more advanced in their cognitive development or intellectual development, understanding the above concepts better. In my opinion the affects it has on the child’s holistic development are beneficial. The activity is also providing the children with time to be out in the fresh air and giving them some exercise. Which will benefit the whole child and their well-being. Factors Environment- The outdoor environment provided freedom and space, the weather was nice, sunny, dry and slightly windy so the parachute could take flight! If there had been no wind the activity wouldn’t have gone as well. Activity 2: The second activity was an indoor activity. A family tree/wall. This activity involved a group of four children at different times. This activity in my opinion supported each child’s identity and belonging, well-being, communication, and also thinking and exploring. It also supported each child’s holistic development such as language, social, emotional, physical and intellectual as well as other factors that affect the child such as family and peers or community. I started by informing staff what I was planning to do and see if they had the materials I required. I discussed with the supervisor a time to carry out this activity and we agreed to break up the groups into four. The children involved where between 2-4years.I started by drawing a big tree, cutting it out, sticking it to a cardboard background to stiffen it. Then I mixed up some brown paint and called groups of four children down to the back table to paint. Each child got a branch or part of the trunk to paint . I then got the groups to draw their hand for the leaves. I cut them out, the children coloured them and drew their family on each fingertip. I could not use photographs for this activity because of personal reasons regarding a particular child. Impact on holistic development P.I.L.E.S Physical-The children were using paintbrushes and crayons. These impacts on their fine motor skills, strengthening their hands and pincer grips. Intellectual- The children had to concentrate on the activity, think about their families, and count family members. Language- The children talked about their families, the colours they were using, their pets, and communicated which each other. Emotional- I feel this impacted the most as the children expressed how they felt through their creativity and speech talking about people in their lives that played a big role in their lives. Their family. Social- It was a small or intimate group and the children socialised very well together. Talking and discussing the activity. Sharing the materials. Learning opportunities. This activity provided the children in my opinion, the opportunity to learn and explore different ideas on families and cultures. It also allows them to discuss their families and cultures or traditions. They have been presented the opportunity to learn about types of family structures such as one parent, two parent, same sex, adoptive/foster or any other types of families the children may have. Even pets in their family. Siblings and grandparents. They can discuss their own backgrounds and learn more about cultures and beliefs from each other. In my opinion this affects the holistic development of the child in many ways such as, how they connect or socialise with others in groups. The child as a whole is not only just their P.I.L.E.S but also their personality, environment, values, culture and experiences. Factors Social/Culture- I feel a factor that affected this activity was social/culture and community/family. How this affects in my opinion, the children expressed their feelings about their families and home life. This has a big impact on children as the family/guardians/parents are the prime care givers they affect every aspect of the child’s overall development and well-being. My personal and professional needs. Personally I have learned to be more confident and trust my own judgement more. Also to observe more and stand back letting the children lead their own activities’ feel more confident to share my ideas and opinions. Professionally I have learned to use different ways and approaches with children when it comes to behaviour feel I have progressed professionally and I am more confident to lead activities and communicate my ideas with staff feel I can work more professionally within a team and I am able to work on my own intuition with confidence that I am doing a good job and using best practice. I also feel I have helped other staff members identify their learning needs by giving them advice and ideas on their own learning, as there are some staff doing their Fetac level 5.I try to help them in any way I can by recommending activities and books that may help them. Personally I feel I need to learn more about each child’s interests so I can create more activities that the will benefit the children. Also I need to do more research on areas of development and how the factors that affect children. Professionally I need to learn more about each family and their cultures or beliefs so I can help the children explore these areas within the crà ¨che. I feel it will benefit myself and other staff members involved. In a professional sense I feel I have learned a lot, but still have a lot more to learn. Working as part of a team and maintaining professional conduct. â€Å"Practising in a professional manner requires that individuals have skills, knowledge, values and attitudes appropriate to their role and responsibility within the setting. In addition, it requires regular reflection upon practice and engagement in supported, ongoing professional development.†(Siolta Standards 2014) In my opinion it is very important to work professionally .Towards parents and staff members working effectively and in a professional manner shows external people how you use best practice in your setting. How you as an individual represent yourself, the sitting and the standard your service provides. In order to maintain good professionalism you must be able to work and communicate efficiently and efficiently with your team, management, children and parents. Respect is very important, to be professional I feel you must have respect for your colleagues, management, parents and children. Being respectful of other people’s ideas/opinions, backgrounds, choices, even if you may not agree with them or have the same values. Treating people with respect and consideration of their personal beliefs and cultures is very important and shows good professionalism. Staying supportive within your team can resolve or even prevent conflict or clashes with co-workers. Being supportive of their ideas and views can reflect on how the job is done. Working in a team is vital in childcare and practitioners may need support emotionally as well in some cases where the job or stress of the job may overwhelm some team members. We may need support ourselves one day and it’s nice to know your team are behind you to encourage and support you no matter what the situation may be. Building a good strong working relationship with your team not only benefits you and the team it also benefits the little people you are caring for. Again respect comes up, we are role models for the children we care for and if they don’t see us being respectful and supportive towards each other, how can we expect them to respect us or each other. What you put out there you receive back. Confidentiality and trust are equally important in their own right. We must be professional and use confidentiality in all areas of working. Towards parents, staff and children this is vital in childcare. Equality is important in any profession especially childcare all involved should treated as equals whether you are only starting your career or are the leader/supervisor/manager or most experienced. In my opinion if trust is lost or you become known as untrustworthy your professional career and relationship with all involved will suffer. When trust is gone it can never be replaced. (Class notes Team Leadership: 6N1948). Trusting your teams judgement is also very important, it helps the team prosper and grow knowing you trust and have faith in their decisions. All the areas I have discussed will help the team become stronger as a unit, therefor making it easier to provide the best possible care you can for the children and the support the parents may need whether they ask for it or not they will know it’s there when they need it. â€Å"Effective team members promote self-expression of ideas and feelings about group problems and operations. The staff members are candid and seem to know how other staff members feel about topics or issues being discussed. Ineffective teams avoid discussion of personal feelings or ideas. The general attitude is that discussion of feelings is inappropriate or potentially dangerous.† (homesteadschools.com 2013) References Siolta the National Quality Framework for Early Childhood Education ‘Standard 11: Professional Practice’ cited on: http://www.siolta.ie/services_standard11.php Accessed online [12th of June 2014] Fisher, Kenneth. (2013)_ â€Å"Leading Self-Directed Work Teams: A Guide to Developing New Team Leadership Skills [Online], Available at:http://www.homesteadschools.com/lcsw/courses/TeamBuilding/Section10.htm [Accessed 11th November 2013] (Class notes Team Leadership: 6N1948) unpublished 2013 Advocacy: People With Intellectual Disabilities Advocacy: People With Intellectual Disabilities This essay will look at the role of advocacy in relation to representing the views and interests of people with intellectual disabilities attending a day service. It will briefly look at the historical evolution of advocacy in general and then look in particular at collective self-advocacy and citizen advocacy models and how these are employed for the social inclusion of people with intellectual disabilities. Day services for people with intellectual disabilities are considered to be one of the major service providers but traditionally have contributed little to the promotion of social inclusion and self-determination (Fyson and Ward, 2004:64). Advocacy has a role in changing these services by working in partnership with service users to increase social participation and opportunities for everyday experiences such as employment and further education (Fyson and Ward, 2004). From reviewing and reading literature on the topic it is clear that there is much debate as to what advocacy means. Bateman (2000) suggests that the different types of advocacy can all be interpreted differently and therefore there is no universal definition of advocacy. But all have a common theme; helping another person obtain something from someone with power (Bateman, 2000:16). The evolving of advocacy into the multi-model that it now is has come from citizen advocacy and the representation of citizens views (Henderson and Pochin, 2002). The key principles within advocacy are respect for the clients view, as much empowerment and as little dependency for the client as possible, facilitation of informed choices, the advocate to be independent and choice of advocacy for the client (Woods, 2003:49). A key factor of advocacy is that it allows for the expression of views and wishes of marginalised people who are often relying on advocacy as a means of creating awareness of social issues but also as a means to assess their rights and entitlements (Henderson and Pochin, 2002). The attainment of rights is a key part of advocacy and that advocacy has a role in creating awareness of injustices (Bateman, 2000). But in relation to people with disabilities the rights are limited and are not enforceable by law (Lawson, on the Web, nd). A right can be defined as any claim that is morally just or legally granted as allowable (Final Report, 1995, cited in Forum for People With Disabilities, 2004:57). Historically people with intellectual disabilities have been socially excluded from society by prejudice and discrimination (About Learning Disabilities, on the Web, nd). Social exclusion rather than social inclusion was the norm where people with intellectual disabilities were excluded from their communities by residing in institutions outside the community and were not granted the same opportunities as others in the general population. Social inclusion in relation to people with disabilities is to increase their participation within society and to support them to have independent lives (Office for Social Inclusion, 2003). In relation to social inclusion many organisations such as voluntary and community organisations have used the concept of advocating for their members to improve social inclusion and participation (Woods, 2003:21). Traditionally the perceptions regarding people with disabilities was to see the person based on their perceived limitations but that these were challenged by disability groups that rights held by other citizens to also be attributed to people with disabilities (Barnes and Mercer, 2003). The European Social Charter (1996) states that people with disabilities have a right to independence, social integration and participation in the life of the community (Lawson on the Web, nd:8). Advocacy in relation to people with intellectual disabilities allows that each person has value (Gray and Jackson, 2002:9), which is in direct contrast to the historical view held by society of devaluing people with intellectual disabilities. That people with learning disabilities are citizens with the same rights and responsibilities as other citizens (Gray and Jackson, 2002:10). The most effective model of advocacy is that which matches the service users needs but there is often the need to employ more than one type of advocacy where the general overall aim is to promote the attainment of skills for self-advocacy (Woods, 2003). In relation to the needs of people with intellectual disabilities they can be considered to be the most complex in that the disability may not just have cognitive repercussions but physical disabilities also. The ranges of the intellectual disability that they are experiencing can result in diminished ability to communicate and cognitive ability. The complexity of their disabilities can result in limited opportunities for self-determination and being excluded socially from society (Inclusion Ireland, on the Web, 2003). A key challenge for a person with intellectual disabilities is to be seen as an individual that has the same rights and needs even though they have a greater dependency on their care-givers because of their intellectual disability (Inclusion Ireland, on the Web, 2003). Self-advocacy Model Self-advocacy can be employed for people with intellectual disabilities and that organisations need to support opportunities for self-determination in relation to their lives (Inclusion Ireland, on the Web, 2003). Self-advocacy is defined as a process in which an individual, or group of people, speak or act on their own behalf in pursuit of their own needs and interests (Bateman, 2000:18). Key to self-advocacy is that the individual should have the skills that allow them to represent on their behalf (Woods, 2003). According to Bateman (2000:18) the most influential form of self-advocacy is that of collective advocacy where people with similar needs come together as a group to seek a particular outcome the sum of the whole is greater than the sum of the individual parts. The collective self-advocacy model has some of its roots in trade unionism where during the 1940s collective advocacy took place during the World War II to challenge the welfare system. Civil rights movements during the 1960s in America drove collective self-advocacy regarding the rights for marginalised people (Bateman, 2000). As societies have modernised the concept of community has been lost to the importance of the individual but collective self-advocacy is continually used by groups to bring change on a macro level (Bateman, 2000). Collective self-advocacy is often the most effective form for people with intellectual disabilities in that for many as an individual standing alone the choices that they have are to agree to the services on offer or have none (Whitehead and Hughey, 2004). Group self-advocacy is of importance to people with intellectual disabilities because it can provide the opportunities to gain skills in communication, increased confidence and to express their view in relation to their rights and wishes (Woods, 2003). Shoultz (1992, cited in Woods, 2003) states that group advocacy can benefit people who do not have verbal communication skills to gain the confidence and skills to advocate for the group and themselves. An example of collective self-advocacy is People First, in Canada, People First have as a collective self-advocacy model challenged that no person with an intellectual disability will be forcibly required to be sterilised (Bateman, 2000). Therefore in order to challenge discrimination that many people with disabilities have joined collective self-advocacy groups to fight social injustices (Whitehead and Hughey, 2004). The characteristics of collective self-advocacy are that the group share experiences and knowledge to work together to address injustices (Henderson and Pochin, 2002). Collective self-advocacy promotes action on a macro level so that the vast majority of the collective group will benefit from the collective action that is being advocated for (Bateman, 2000). Woods (2003:36) supports this by stating collective self-advocacy can directly change services within an organisation and can be a resource for dealing with the day-to-day issues of participants. An illustration of this in relation to the scenario of the day service could be that the individuals together agree that a change in service delivery is required to enhance their independent living skills such as learning to operate the phones and participate as receptionists at the centre as a means to gain employment. There are different types of collective self-advocacy but the most common are the groups based in services (Woods, 2003:35). This is where the group is within a centre or service and generally meet during a calendar month to discuss issues that are of concern to the group members. A key worker or staff member may be needed to act as facilitator (Woods, 2003). A key aspect of self-advocacy in general is that it is driven by the person and in this way collective self-advocacy groups often represent a particular issue or group (Henderson and Pochin, 2002). Organisations such as St. Michaels House and Enable Ireland have group self-advocacy within their organisations (Woods, 2003). Collective self-advocacy can often be the ground breaker in provision of advocacy services within an organisation (Woods, 2003). Collective self-advocacy could be viewed as a means to support inclusion and participation by encouraging person power to impact on service development in general and to promote changes in social policies (Whitehead and Hughey, 2004). In terms of participation levels group advocacy within an organisation would be higher than other forms of group self-advocacy (Woods, 2003). A criticism of collective or group self-advocacy in relation to people with intellectual disabilities could be that the term self-advocacy implies that the person is directly representing themselves. But that in reality this is often not the case as in order to self-advocate a person with intellectual disabilities often requires a professional person to act as a support (Bateman, 2000). Also in relation to group self-advocacy within a service a criticism has been as to what degree are the choices made and available to the group members free from influence from the service and staff that may be facilitating the group advocacy meeting. Independent group self-advocacy away from the service has been suggested as a means to remove any potential service influence but that this may reduce the participation as it is not based within the service that is being used. Another criticism is that within the group self-advocacy that the focus can be based on the views and opinions of the most verbally expressive service users and therefore may not reflect the group as a whole (Woods, 2003). Also collective or group self-advocacy although initially established to challenge for collective needs or rights sometimes the group then becomes a service provider which would challenge its objectivity in relation to representation of wishes (Bateman, 2000). Citizen Advocacy Model Another advocacy model that is considered to be effective for people with intellectual disabilities is citizen advocacy (Woods, 2003). Citizen advocacy relates to the persuasive and supportive activities of trained selected volunteers and co-ordinating staffà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. working on behalf of people with disabilities who are not in a good position to exercise or defend their rights as citizens (Woods, 2003:40). Citizen advocacy is considered to be supportive of people with intellectual disabilities who are often more dependent on the services that they are utilising and often more dependent on other people to advocate on their behalf (Walmsley, 2002). Citizen advocacy developed in the 1960s in America with the civil rights movement (Bateman, 2001). It was developed into the disability sector as a result of parents with children with disabilities observing that they received more relevant services when someone acted on their behalf as an advocate (Bateman, 2000). OBrien (1987, cited in Bateman, 2000:24) suggests that citizen advocacy has at its core the concept of the valued citizen who is not paid and is not a member of a service provider organisation. Woods (2003:40) also supports the concept of the valued citizen as being someone who does not have a problem getting heard, working with a person who is discriminated against. Another element of citizen advocacy is that through citizen participation actively advocating for the wishes and rights of the person that they are in turn challenging traditional perceptions of people marginalised within society to have full inclusion and participation as all citizens (Woods, 2003). The characteristics of citizen advocacy are that the advocate is independent from the organisation or service that the person is using or attending, that the advocate is not a relative and is not paid for advocating (Forum of People with Disabilities, 2001). The nature of the needs of a person with significant disabilities would suggest that citizen advocacy is best met when the advocate can support in the long term (Woods, 2003:41). People with intellectual disabilities have varying levels of needs and degrees of intellectual disability and citizen advocacy could be considered to be supportive of people with intellectual disabilities who could be considered to have greater needs (Woods, 2003). This model and has its foundation in normalisation and social role valorisation (Walmsley, 2002:26). Normalisation being that people with disabilities should have opportunities to experience everyday occurrences (Walmsley, 2002). Examples of citizen advocacy are Ealing and Harrow Citizen Advocacy and the Galway Citizen Advocacy Project as cited by Woods, (2003). The importance of citizen advocacy in relation to social inclusion is that by working in partnership with the person with intellectual disabilities to have every day opportunities as other members of the general population that it can reduce exclusion through its concept of giving value to the person (Fyson and Ward, 2004). This can result in challenging the societal view that with disabilities are a homogeneous group (Butler and Forrest, 1991, cited in Bateman, 2000:25). Citizen advocacy can be a means of identifying gaps in service provision and challenge discrimination and social exclusion (Bateman, 2000). The advocate rel ationship develops over a long period of time and that this creates opportunities to consistently support the person with intellectual disabilities to build their skills and their self-belief (Woods, 2003). The citizen advocate has two functions one of representing the person and secondly to act as a social medium by the personal relationship that is established between the advocate and the person (Woods, 2003). The actual volunteering of time to create a relationship is an important aspect within citizen advocacy in that for many people with intellectual disabilities the range of social opportunities available to them may be more limited than other people with disabilities (Woods, 2003). A criticism of citizen advocacy is that because of its voluntary nature that the advocate can be viewed by services to not have the knowledge or expertise to fully advocate on behalf of the person with intellectual disabilities (Forum of People with Disabilities, 2001). Another criticism is that conflict in terms of obtaining needs and rights can be an element of advocacy and that an inability to understand the function of conflict to create change can prevent citizen advocacy being effective (Bateman, 2000). Some self-advocacy groups have criticised citizen advocacy that it is maintaining the dependency bias that society assumes in relation to people with intellectual disabilities (Henderson and Pochin, 2002). Citizen advocacy which is often employed as a model for people with intellectual disabilities has in its application supported that people with learning difficulties need the intervention of able-bodied advocates if their wishes are to be taken seriously (Pochin, 2002:107). Bu t citizen advocacy could be considered to be supportive of social inclusion by its concept of valuing all people and promoting community participation (Whitehead and Hughey, 2004). Another criticism is that citizen advocacy requires time and commitment from the advocate and that a challenge is to find citizens that have the time available to give (Forum of People with Disabilities, 2001). Conclusion In conclusion advocacy should include that every individual should be listened to and to have an active part regarding the outcomes of their life (Woods, 2003). Advocacy has at its core the attainment of rights and needs (Bateman, 2000). Social inclusion could be considered to be supported by the principles of advocacy that promote empowerment and choice for people with intellectual disabilities (Woods, 2003). But for both advocacy models in relation to people with intellectual disabilities the greatest challenge seems to be that of asserting their right whether moral or legal to avail of the everyday opportunities that the general population can experience (Forum of People With Disabilities, 2001). That society generally questions the ability of a person with intellectual disabilities to self-determine and this has impacted on the development of advocacy models for people with intellectual disabilities (Gray and Jackson, 2002). The provision of advocacy services for people with inte llectual disabilities although attempting to challenge inequalities that unless people with disabilities have a legalised right to services that advocacy is meaningless without rights (Bateman, 2000:43). That by not enforcing rights regarding services and no proper recourse through the legal system because these services are not rights that advocacy cannot be truly effective in supporting social inclusion (Bateman, 2000). That enforcing rights to services would support the client becoming the consumer and could be an effective way of using advocacy to create social inclusion (Bateman, 2000). A challenge for both models is the funding required is often allocated to other supports and this can be contributed in some ways to the fact that advocacy is not universally defined and is not universally legislated for (Bateman, 2000).