Future of Educational Finance Essay Example for Free

Future of Educational Finance Essay Gary Marx stated â€Å"identifying, monitoring and considering the implications of trends is one of the most basic processes for creating the future† (Stevenson, 2010 p. 1). The world of education is forever changing at a pace that gets more rapid as the years go on. The decisions made in the past have laid the foundation of education today, as will recent changes affect the future. Programs such as choice schooling and No Child Left Behind will impact school funding. Rulings such as the Lemon Test and separation of church and state will impact decisions that can potentially result in litigation and court rulings dictating educational decisions. In his work regarding educational trends, Kenneth Stevenson (2010) stated, â€Å"a continuing recession, escalating political polarization, rising racial/ethnic tensions, a growing national debt, and a widening divide between the haves and the have nots portend a future fraught with unprecedented challenges to and clashes over the form and substance of public education in America† (p.1). Analysis of the Lemon Test The Lemon Test was created by Chief Justice Warren Berger as a result of the court case Lemon v. Kurtzman (1971) and is based on the principles stated in Everson v. Board of Education. The case of Lemon v. Kurtzman (1971) centered on Rhode Island’s Salary Supplement Act. This act approved a salary supplement of up to fifteen percent for teachers who taught secular subjects in private religious schools or non-public elementary schools. The courts determined that approximately twenty-five percent of Rhode Island’s students attended non-public schools. Furthermore, ninety-five percent of the parochial schools were Roman Catholic. Pennsylvania offered a similar program that reimbursed non-public schools for expenses related to secular education and required schools to account for the expenses separately. Approximately twenty percent of Pennsylvania’s children attended non-public schools and ninety-six percent of the schools had a religious affiliation. The high courts looked at its own precedents and determined that, in order  for a law to be in compliance with the Establishment clause it, â€Å"must have a secular legislative purpose; second, its principal or primary effect must be one that neither advances nor inhibits religion; finally, the statute must not foster an excessive government entanglement with religion (Barnes, 2010, p. 2-3). The Lemon test was created to, â€Å"determine when a law has the effect of establishing religion† (The Basics, 2014, p. 3). The court applied the Lemon test to the Pennsylvania and Rhode Island supplemental funding programs and deemed that the programs in both states were unconstitutional (The Lemon Test, 2009). Both programs met the first requirement of the Lemon test as they had a secular purpose. However, the court determined that it was unclear if the programs met the second set of criteria as â€Å"while the aid was intended for secular use, it was not entirely secular in effect† (The Lemon Test, 2009, p. 1). The court decided that it did not need to establish if the programs met the second part of the Lemon test as they failed to meet the third criterion as both programs â€Å"excessively entangling state administrators with the operations of parochial schools† (The Lemon Test, 2009, p. 1). The Lemon test has â€Å"become an extremely influential legal doctrine, governing not only cases involving government funding of religious institutions but also cases in which the government promoted religious messages. Over the years, however, many justices have criticized the test because the court has often applied it to require a strict separation between church and state† (The Lemon Test, 2009, p. 1). The test has been the foundation for many of the court’s ruling regarding the establishment clause since 1971. The choice  The idea of vouchers for education was first introduced in early 1950 in a move to privatize education. In that same year, as a result of Brown v. Board of Education, the southern states put the first voucher program into action as a way to â€Å"enable white students of all income levels to attend the segregation academies and continue receiving a publicly-funded, all white education† (Save our Schools NJ, 2014). In 1989, Wisconsin’s more modern voucher programs, focused on poor children of all races. (Save our Schools NJ, 2014). Regardless of the nature of the voucher program, the impact is the same- taxpayer funds being diverted from public school funding. In 2002, the Supreme Court ruling of the case of Zelman V. Simmons-Harris  stated that it was not a violation of the Establishment Clause to provide scholarships for some students to attend private or parochial schools. This ruling had a subsequent impact on the development of S1872, also known as the Opportunity Scholarship Act. This act allowed for vouchers to go to private or religious schools. Changes from S1872 resulted in an almost $1 billion dollar revenue loss for school funding by the end of its fifth year (NJEA, 2011). In addition to the government revenue lost, a 100% tax credit is given to companies who donate to these funds thus losing additional revenue. The children given these scholarship vouchers are children from targeted failing school areas, which then result in that already failing district to lose additional weighted funding for those children. â€Å"Shifting a handful of students from a public school into private schools will not decrease what the public school must pay for teachers and facilities, but funding for those costs will decrease as students leave† (NCSL, 2014). A study by the American Federation of Teachers in 2011 looked at the revenue lost in several states as a result of money being diverted to voucher programs. In most cases, these programs obtained funding by either increasing taxes or by reducing state aid to local school districts. Both the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program and the Cleveland Scholarship and Tutoring Program did just that. The Milwaukee program, in 2009, cost taxpayers roughly $130 million and the Cleveland program reduced Disadvantaged Pupil Impact Aid to the Cleveland public schools by $11,901,887 in 2007 (American Federation of Teachers, 2011). One of the most significant issues with voucher programs is the fact that they do not have the same monitoring and regulations as public schools in order to obtain funding. â€Å"Perhaps the biggest critique of market-based reforms, such as school choice and performance based accountability is that they will further exacerbate inequalities in education† (Fusarelli and Young, 2011, p. 92). Not all program funding is distributed in the programs based on poverty. Parents of special education students are not guaranteed special education services. In addition, many programs are not monitored for the way they appropriate money. When a review of the Arizona tax credit programs was conducted, it was discovered that â€Å"almost two-thirds of all voucher orga nizations kept more funds for overhead than allowed under state law† (AFT, 2011, p. 7). Per student revenue that local districts lose to  these programs is not guaranteed to be 100% applied to the students attending the private school. In 2011, the U.S. Department of Education had a budget cut of $5 billion (The Education Trust, n.d.). In 2013-2014, over 35 states are providing less funding per students, more than 10% in fourteen of them. (Leachman Mai, 2014). With decreasing numbers such as these, voucher programs only continue to threaten to take limited funding away from local districts. Continued funding cuts will have an impact on the economic future of our country. As stated by Brimley et al. the more education provided, the more wealth developed; the more wealth created, the more funds available for investment; the more investment undertaken, the more wealth available for investment in physical and human capital: (Brimley et al., 2012, p. 3). The Impact of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) is the largest federal funding program in the history of the United States. No Child Left Behind is a, â€Å"reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), which originated in 1965 as part of the War on Poverty† (Braden and Schroeder, n.d., p. 1). While NCLB provides additional funding from the federal government it also imposes mandates that states must follow. The supplementary funding provided under the No Child Left Behind Act is not necessarily enough for states to meet the standards required by the act. The main focus of NCLB is Title I funding which the federal government allocates to states to help provide an education to economically disadvantaged students. No Child Left Behind includes eight other forms of Title funding such as school safety, teacher quality, assessments, and American Indian education (Braden and Schroeder, n.d., p. 1). Title I funds are the most important part of No Child Left Behind as the majority of the funds are earmarked for Title I purposes and Title I funding holds states accountable for student achievement as evidenced on state assessments. The move towards holding states accountable for student achievement began prior to the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. Most states included accountability in their education reform acts during the 1990s (Ladd, 2001). By the year 2001, the same year as NCLB, more than forty states published a school report card, more than half had some type of school achievement rating, and numerous states offered assistance or sanctions to schools with low student  performance (Meyer, Orlofsky, Skinner, Spicer, 2002). In January of 2002, No Child Left Behind was signed into law and for the first time in history the federal government was involved in, â€Å"setting broad parameters, implementation timelines, and sanctions for state accountability systems† (Dun combe, Lukemeyer, Yinger, 2006, p. 1). States began to implement NCLB in 2002 during a time of financial difficulties. This created concerns based on the cost involved in funding a program of its magnitude as well as questions regarding the extent to which the NCLB program was funded. Most estimates concerning the cost of implementing the program were far from accurate. This prompted states, such as Connecticut and Utah, to pass legislation which allowed them to either ignore the parts of NCLB that required funding from the state or sue the federal government for a lack of funding (Duncombe et al., 2006). While NCLB involves many federal education programs, the act’s requirements in regards to school improvement, accountability, and testing are a priority. No Child Left Behind required states to test students in grades three through eight yearly in math and reading. Students in grades ten through twelve must be tested once. In addition students must be tested in science once in grades three through five, six through eight, and tenth-twelfth. In addition, states, school districts and individual schools are to â€Å"publicly report test results in the aggregate and for specific student subgroups, including low-income students, students with disabilities, Eng lish language learners, and major racial and ethnic groups† (New America Foundation, 2014). Another requirement of NCLB is that all teachers must be highly qualified. Teachers must pass a licensure exam and be certified by the state they teach in. Teachers who teach a specific subject area must demonstrate their subject knowledge by passing the subject knowledge portion of the licensure exam. NCLB specifies that states develop a plan â€Å"to ensure that low-income and minority students are not taught by teachers who are not highly qualified at higher rates than are non-minority and low-income students† (New America Foundation, 2014). In addition, NCLB give parents and guardians the right to know the qualification of their child’s teacher and if their child is receiving instruction from a paraprofessional and if so the qualifications of that individual. NCLB requires that school district’s notify parents in writing if their child will receive instruction from a teacher who is not highly  qualified for longer than four weeks (New America Foundation, 20 14). No Child Left Behind stated that all school districts in the United States were to guarantee that each child enrolled in their district would score proficient in the state’s reading and math assessments by 2014. Each state was given the freedom to define what grade level proficiency meant in regards to their state standards. NCLB required that schools make â€Å"adequate yearly progress† (AYP) towards achieving their goal. Proficiency rates increased yearly up to 2014 and individual states were allowed to choose their rate of increase. In order for a state to make AYP they must meet their goal for student achievement in reading and math every year (New America Foundation, 2014). Forty-three states, Washington D.C., Puerto Rico, a group of California school districts as well as the Bureau of Indian Education applied for waivers exempting them from being required to meet their targets and other requirements of NCLB from the Department of Education. In September of 2011, President Obama and Arne Duncan, Secretary of Education, announced that the Obama administration, â€Å"would allow states to request flexibility in meeting some of the requirements under NCLB in the absence of the law’s reauthorization† (New America Foundation, 2014). For a state to qualify to receive flexibility throu gh a waiver, the state needs to show they have adopted or will implement reforms to their, â€Å"academic standards, student assessments, and accountability systems for schools and educators† (New America Foundation, 2014). According to No Child Left Behind schools that do not make AYP for two consecutive years will be identified for school improvement, and will have to create a school improvement plan (SIP), and apply a minimum of ten percent of their federal Title I funds to professional development. Schools that do not make AYP for a third year will be under corrective action, and will be required to apply interventions to improve school performance, â€Å" from a list specified in the legislation† (New America Foundation, 2014). If a school fails to make AYP for a fourth year they will be, â€Å"identified for restructuring which requires more significant interventions† (New America Foundation, 2014). If a school fails to make AYP for a fifth year, â€Å"they must implement a restructuring plan that includes reconstituting school staff and/or leadership, changing the school’s governance arrangement, converting the school to a charter, turning it over to a private management company, or some other major change†Ã‚  (New America Foundation, 2014). Specific school districts that have a high percentage of schools that fail to make average yearly progress for multiple years could be, â€Å"identified for school improvement, corrective action, and restructuring† (New America Foundation, 2014). The Future of Church-State Relations As religion continues to hold influence on the American culture the U.S. judicial system remains the authority for interpreting the constitutionality of matters of religion. The separation of church and state comes as a result of America not having an established religion for all of the residents to follow; the people were given freedom of religion. According to Thomas Jefferson, God is acknowledged as the creator of mankind and government is not a divine organization therefore it is the responsibility of the citizens to oversee the institution of government. In 1791 the government discontinued support or promotion of any religion. The decisions made so long ago continue to greatly impact organizations such as schools today. In the classroom teachers are held accountable to the state that they will remain neutral on the subject of religion while on school grounds (The Boisi Center, n.d.). Cases such as Committee for Public Education and Religious Liberty v Nyquist (1973) and Mueller v Allen (1983) have kept the courts busy on the subject of funding religion in the educational system (Pew Research Center, 2008). The Free Exercise Clause permits students to practice their faith privately on campus as long as it does not cause disruptions to the academic day and students are not being persuaded to follow his/her beliefs. School vouchers and tax credits that were distributed from 1983-2002 were considered constitutional under the Establishment Clause as they approved a parent’s choice to have their child attend a religious school. The courts accepted these practices because they did not show intent to persuade on the side of religion (The Boisi Center, n.d.). During this time all over the country courts were hearing cases to oppose the allowance of vouchers to religious organizations as they felt it went against the separation of church-state. In some states courts ruled that vouchers could only be used for parents that wanted to move their child to a higher performing public school so that private religious schools did not receive state education funds. Now and in the future the United States  will continue to permit religious liberty to the people, the government will not be accountable nor will it dictate ones religious practices (The Boisi Center, n.d.). With the increased cases that continue to build against religion in schools and educational funding to religious private schools it is predicted that the future of church-state relations in educational funding will give more authority to the state education departments on the placement of funds. The state will seek more control of religious private schools, as the voucher program seems to be here to stay. The state is going to want more control of curriculum if they will be providing financial support (Pardini, 1999). Tax credit programs are also popular and seem to offer a compromise of church-state relations. Tax credits provide financial support to families that choose to place their child in private schools. As time progresses state government will advocate for an increase in charter schools, this will allow for state funds in the form of vouchers and tax credits to support schools that do not have a religious focus (Pardini, 1999). This battle will continue until a decision is m ade by the U.S. Supreme Court on the constitutionality of the Blaine Amendments. These amendments were established in 1875 to disallow states to financially support private schools that teach religion. At this time there are approximately thirty states that incorporate Blaine language in their constitution, which disrupts the success of vouchers being used by parents that wish to relocate their child to a higher performing and/or religious private school (DeForrest, 2003). Future Trends in Court Decisions and Power over Educational Financing The courts have had a hand in education dating back to the creation of the United States Constitution. Although there was no specific mention in the Constitution as to who was responsible, who carried the power in terms of financing education, education was valued in the early days, and many early settlers used the Bible to teach the young to read. As time went on people challenged the use of teaching the Bible in Public Schools. People used the First Amendment of the United States Constitution to argue about the intermingling of church and state and the use of direct government support for parochial, and private schools (Brimley, Verstegen, Garfield, 2012). The courts found themselves hearing cases of people challenging the use of government funds in schools other than public schools and, in the case of Pierce v. Society of Sisters  (268 U.S. 510-1925), the courts ruled for using public funds for church-related schools. Because of this ruling financing public schools has seen some great changes, and will continue to see changes. This court ruling could potentially change the makeup and the system of education in the United States. States will implement more stringent guidelines as to what they expect from schools in regards to performance standards since they are the ones providing the funds. These guidelines are the result of schools continuing to fail to meet state requirements, running low on funds due decreased income from property taxes, or the need for states take over more schools or shut them down, To date there has not been a proven method that will solve the problems of educational financing. Politics have a large influence in financing education. This was evident during the Bush administration, when money went into funding Laura Bush’s library after other school programs were cut. For nearly forty years the constitutionality of the way schools are financed has been scrutinized. There have been one hundred thirty-nine lawsuits in forty-five states promoting finance reform after the ruling of Serrano v. Priest (Education Next, 2010). The states are required by their individual state constitutions to provide an adequate education to all students. Currently there is no solution to the challenges of financing public schools so that all individuals feel like they are being treated equally. The debates and challenges have been going on for decades and will continue for years to come. Responsibility is placed on the states to ensure that their State Constitution requirements are being met and to provide funding for local schools. Conclusion As previously stated education as it is known today continues to change at a rapid rate and will continue to change forever as the world that we all reside in is ever changing. Technology has had a major influence on education, and the world in general. â€Å"If students are not being taught to use technology, and not being taught adequate math, science, and communication skills, the United States will continue to lose its superiority to other countries† (A Nation at Risk, 1983). In order for the United States to keep up with the competitive commerce, today’s students need to be pushed a little more to achieve more and not just be satisfied with mediocrity. There was a time when funding private and/or parochial  schools was not even an issue, as it was clearly understood that government monies was allocated for public schools. As time went on, needs changed, be it individual needs such as students with disabilities, or families of low income. With these needs came reasons to challenge the norm. Attorneys were contracted, and the status quo was challenged. Nobody could have predicted the changes that would happen nor is it possible to predict the future from today. It is impossible to guess the future of financing education because no one knows what the needs will be in fifteen to twenty-five years from now. It is crucial that past rulings be thoroughly examined to assist with preparing for future financial direction, although that is not the magic solution. References A Nation At Risk: The Imperative For Educational Reform (1983). American Federation of Teachers (2011). School vouchers: The research track record. Retrieved September 29, 2014 from: http://www.aft.org/pdfs/teachers/vouchertrackrecord0211.pdfBarnes, M. (2010, September 13). The Lemon Test and the Establishment Clause: A Proposal For Modification. Retrieved September 29, 2014. Barry, C., and Wysong, C. 2010. School-Finance Reform in Red and Blue. Where theMoney Goes Depends on Who’s Running the State. Retrieved Summer 2010 / Vol. 10, N0. 3 from: educationnext.org/school-finance-reform-in-red-and-blue/ Braden, J., Schroeder, J. (n.d.). High-Stakes Testing and No Child Left Behind: Information and strategies for Educators. Retrieved September 29, 2014, from http://www.nasponline.org/communications/spawareness/highstakes.pdfBrimley, Vera R., Verstegen, Deborah A., Garfield, Rulon R. (2012). Financing education in a climate of change (11th ed.). Boston: Allyn and Bacon DeForrest, M. (2003). An Overview and Evaluation of State Blaine Amendments: Origins, Scope, and First Amendment Concerns. Harvard Journal Of Law Public Policy, 26(2), 551.Duncombe, W., Lukemeyer, A., Yinger, J. (2006, September). The No Child Left Behind Act: Have Federal Funds Been Left Behind? Retrieved September 29, 2014, from http://cpr.maxwell.syr.edu/efap/Publications/costing_out.pdfFusarelli, Bonnie and Young, Tamara (2011). Preserving the â€Å"public† in public education for the sake of democracy. Journal of Thought. 46(1) p. 85-96 Ladd, H. 2001. â€Å"School-Based Educational Accountability Systems: The Promise and Pitfalls.† National Tax Journal 54 (2): 385-400. Leachman, Michael and Mai, Chris (2014). Most states funding school less than before the recession. Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. May 2014. Meyer, L., G. Orlofsky, R. Skinner, and S. Spicer. 2002. â€Å"The State of the States.† Quality Counts 2001. January 10.. National Conference of School Legislatures (2014). School Vouchers. Retrieved September 28, 2014 from: http://www.ncsl.org/research/education/school-choice-vouchers.aspxNew America Foundation. Background Analysis. (2014). Retrieved September 28, 2014, from http://febp.newamerica.net/background-analysis/no-child-left-behind-overviewPardini, P. 1999. Church/state complexities. Retrieved from www.rethinkingschools.orgSave our Schools NJ (2014) School Voucher Basics. Retrieved September 27, 2014 from: http://www.saveourschoolsnj.org/vouchers/The Basics of Separation. (2014). Retrieved September 29, 2014, from http://candst.tripod.com/tnppage/tnpidx.htmThe Boisi Center. Date Unknown. Separation of church and stat e. Religion and American Public Life. Retrieved from www.bc.eduThe Lemon Test. (2009, May 14). Retrieved September 28, 2014.

Analysis of Hannibal: Enemy of Rome by Leonard Cottrell Essay -- Hanni

Analysis of Hannibal: Enemy of Rome by Leonard Cottrell   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The author of Hannibal: Enemy of Rome, Mr. Leonard Cottrell, inspired by the book, The Histories of Polybius, translated by W. R. Paton. Mr. Cottrell, endeavored to recreate the journeys of Hannibal by traveling by car nearly the same route in 1959. Mr. Cottrell traveled by car the journey of Hannibal through northern Spain, the modern day Swiss Alps, and down into the Italian peninsula while constantly referring to Polybuis' writings. Mr. Cottrell describes Hannibal's motives, his journey, his battles to conquer the Roman Republic, his defeat, and his eventual withdrawal.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Mr. Cottrell describes Hannibal as an ambitious warrior from boyhood. He learned soldierly virtues and hatred for the Romans from his father at an early age. Hannibal was the son of Hamlicar, a distinguished leader and veteran of the first Punic War against Rome. Hannibal's motives derived from loyalty to his father, his lineage, and hate for the Roman Republic. Following the first Punic War, Sicily had been taken by Rome, Corsica and Sardina were lost, but Spain remained as a powerful Carthaginian settlement. By the efforts of his father, Hannibal was taken to an altar in Spain to witness the offerings; and laying his hands upon such, sweared an oath to prove himself to forever be an enemy of the Roman Empire.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Hannibal proved to be an excellent leader. He had the support of both his troops and of the government above him. This was ...

Business leadership: Skills that Take to be a Good Leader

People often refer to leadership as a skill that a certain person has.   It is a kind of skill in which a particular person can make other people follow him without skepticism.   However, if leadership is â€Å"properly† defined, it is a process of accomplishing things through a person who influences people to work and deliver what it is that is to be delivered.   In addition, since not all goals that are set will be successful, leadership is an adventure.   In reaching goals, the person leading must think of various ways to accomplish all the things that they want to accomplish for there are times that they will fail due to an erroneous decision, or an error on the method or approach that they used.   When they fail, they are back to the starting point and will work on again by analyzing what went wrong and by formulating a new plan minus all the points that caused their failure on their first trial.Nowadays, people should be fully aware of the definition of leaders hip since this is particularly crucial and very prominent in every setting – from school, workplace, government, among others.   However, there are still people who are not familiar about what leadership really is; as said before, it is regarded as a skill that one possess that is why a particular person can make other people follow him of her. Moreover, it is assumed to be a quality or characteristic of a person.   Only a lesser portion of the population knows that leadership is a process that requires several skills and specific qualities from a certain person in order for him to be able to influence the people who works under him towards the achievement of a goal.Anyone can become a leader just as long as they develop the skills that are needed; moreover, anyone can lead even though they are not the president of the country, a coach of the team or a captain of a ship.   In other words, anyone can be a leader when the situation calls for him or her to lead others.   You do not need any badge or a prestigious office in order to be a leader.   However, if you are a leader you are not similar to a boss in every sense.   Bosses are usually known to be the people who always boss others and push people around. In contrast, if you are a good leader, you are not doing these things to the people under you.   Then again, a leader and boss may be synonymous if the latter does things by influencing empowered and effectual people.Leadership can take place anywhere and one particular venue is in the business sector.   In order for a certain business to work and succeed, there should be a number of people who will exert effort and do all the needed actions and tasks.   However, these people will not be able to work in a proper manner without someone who will lead them; otherwise, each would just do everything in his own way.   Business leaders or owner leaders should lead them on the right track on the way to success; he should provide everything that his team or employees will need, and also offer responsibility. The leader’s view of his employees will affect the decisions to be made throughout the process of accomplishing the goals, they should be aware of the responsibilities that they need to fulfill – the kind of responsibilities that employees are expecting to be fulfilled by their leader.A leader in a business establishment, like any other leader, has to deal with two things: the job at hand and the group he should lead.   These two aspects are essential in the process of leading a business entity; if there is a group but there is no job, a leader is not needed. The case is the same if there is a job but there is no group to carry it out.   The leader can also only tell if he led in a right way if they got the job done and, at the same time, the group is still held together.   If the job was done but the group was dissolved, the accomplishment and success are both useless because the leader who to ok charge of the job was not a good leader.   Any person who wants to be a good leader should know that getting the job done is not the only thing that matters.When it comes in being an effective leader in the business sector, one should have the important leadership skills, namely: honesty and integrity, competence and credibility, forward looking and visionary, inspiring and motivating, and good communication skills.   These five sets of skills are very significant in succeeding in any organization, wether the team is within the business arena or not.Honesty – meaning to be true and trustworthy – and integrity – which connotes acting in a just and honorable manner – are very essential skills in being a leader.   Your team should be able to trust you because without trust nothing will be accomplished.   Trust is the key to any effective employer-employee relationship.   In addition, all your actions must be logical and rational, not based on im pulse and sudden outburst of emotion but on the principles that you believe in.   Though being honest, most of the times, cause trials to the person who practices it, it is better to be truthful all the way so that your team will trust and follow you for they will believe that all you will say are true whether those words are positive or not.   For an instance, if an employee delivers an unsatisfactory job, you should tell him in all honesty that you are expecting or needing something more that what he had presented. While the employee may feel bad the criticism may help him do things better, and will contribute to having a quality result in the end.The next set of skills are competence and credibility; competence talks about being appropriate to a certain job or task while credibility refers to being reliable and trustworthy.   If a person wants to be a leader, he or she should be competent to lead other people; he or should have the capacity to influence and convince the tea m about the things to do and the decisions to be made.   Being a leader demands a lot of responsibility and comes with a lot of pressure, a person in order to lead must be able to keep his composure whenever the situation gets out of hand and stressful, otherwise, he, along with the team, will go downhill.In addition, this person should have all the abilities, experience and expertise to lead, these factors will lead to being trustworthy for when the people he or she will lead see that he or she knows what he or she is talking about and he or she has the full grasp of the goal and all the situations then they can trust him to lead them.   Just like when reading a book about new innovations in the medical world, people will only buy and believe it if the person who wrote it is an expert. In as similar vein, a leader should have enough background about the task at hand so that the people will see if he or she definitely knows what he or she is talking about as a subject matter exp ert.Thirdly, a leader should be forward-looking which means he or she should has his or her eyes on the things that might take place in the future, this is a necessity in order for the leader and the team to be prepared and alert of what is to come whenever they make a decision.   The leader should be the first to see the consequences of each of their actions and consequences in order to avoid mistakes and failures; he should evaluate and study every situation and option presented to him or her carefully before choosing and making a final decision.   Additionally, being a visionary is also important, with this characteristic, a leader has a specific and precise vision of what he wants in the future, it is here that the goal is formulated and this vision is what will keep them on track.   If the leader has a vision to have his company the leading business firm in the country, all of his actions, decisions and moves will all be towards this vision, without any kind of vision, th en there is no goal at hand to be achieve; thus, there is no reason to work at all.Subsequently, a leader should be inspiring and motivating.   Inspiration and motivation are two important factors in order to have a drive to work, a leader should inspire and motivate his team to work for the goal they want to achieve.   An effective leader should not only give his or her team the things they have to do but also the reason why they should do them, he or she should provide them the purpose of their tasks and, of course, their goal.   Inspiration and motivation are very important each and every one of us; an athlete cannot get himself to perform his best when he lost his motivation and a writer would not be able to write a bestselling novel without any inspiration.   As a leader, you should remind your team to believe in themselves, this also means that you must have the drive, determination and spirit for these are what you need to motivate them.Last but not the least is that a leader must have good communication skills.   In order to lead, a leader must communicate to his team for that is the only way for him or her to deliver them the instructions, to give them inspiration and motivation, to be honest to them, to convince them that he is credible to lead, and to share to them his vision.   Good communication skills and leadership go on together, if you can be a good communicator, you will be able to express yourself very well, both thoughts and feelings.   You have to establish good and effective communication with your team in order to convey not only words but also meanings.   In addition, if you become an effective communicator, you will be able to project a confident and sincere image that people likes to see in a leader.   You should maintain good communication with your team; otherwise, you and each of your employees will draw into isolation which will bring negative effects on the business because it can cause in making wrong decisions .In the next four or five years, I would want to develop these skills in order to contribute to my success, particularly, honesty and integrity, competence and credibility, and good communication skills.   These three set of skills are, in my opinion, the most essential in becoming an effective leader, for that reason, these are the skills that I will focus on developing in the next four to five years.   Honesty and integrity are very important because it is through these that trust can be build and establish.   Developing honesty is not easy because humans are subject to lie most of the time intentionally and unintentionally due to their nature.One particular reason why we lie is because we do not want others to be hurt that is why we resolve to saying â€Å"white lies†, however, in the business realm, these lies and other kind of lies should be avoided because covering negative things with such will affect the result of the job.   In order for me to develop honesty, I must learn to say truthful things and also learn the proper way to address them especially those negative matters so that people would not be hurt and for them to see for themselves the aspects that they could work on the aspects they should work on.   On the other hand, to develop integrity, I should learn to focus on my principles and be able to control myself in order to act rationally not based on my impulse and sudden emotional outburst.   Through this, I will be able to avoid acting unjust and harsh towards other people.The next competence I want to develop is competence and credibility.   To develop these two, I must gain a lot of experiences in order to expand my competencies and credibility.   I must learn to take responsibility for a lot of things, and to handle different kinds of situation and, as well as, pressure in order for me to be considered as competent.   In addition, I should acquire the necessary qualities and attributes such as charisma, communicat ion skills, confidence, and responsibility to be competent enough to be a leader.   On the contrary, in order to be credible, I need to study the things I need to learn regarding the task at hand, since I am planning to enter business, I must equip myself with the appropriate knowledge on how the business world works and about the certain business I would enter to so that my team will look at me in a way that I perfectly know what I am talking about and what I want to happen.  Lastly, I would want to develop my communication skills because I believe that communication is the most important thing between the relationship of an employer and an employee.   Without good communication skill, I would not be able to convince them to work for me, I would not be able to share them my vision and the plans that I have in order to achieve our goals, and I would not be able to tell them what I have in mind or if they are doing the right thing.   It is only through communication that will I be able to inspire and motivate them to do the things we have to do.   Most relationships fail due to lack of good communication, which is why for me this is the most essential skill in becoming an effective leader.My team should always hear me out in reminding them of our goals and in briefing our plans. Without communication, they would not do the things they have to do and worse, they will just move according to their own way.   If that happens, the job would not be accomplished and the group will not stay intact.   The process of leadership can only be considered a success if the job was done and the group still stays together as a cohesive team.Some of the most influential leaders in the history have all the five important leadership skills, especially the three that I have chosen.   Queen Elizabeth II of the Great Britain held the British monarchy and institution with a steady hand which is why they remained solid throughout the time she was placed in the throne, sh e understood the needs of reforms and even opened her accounts to the public in order for them to see that they are one with the people when it comes to decreasing the costs of their lifestyle.Then there is also Arnold Schwarzenegger who was elected as the governor of California, people may raise their eyebrows or have already raised them when he ran and won the election, but he is a visionary and this was evident on the economic policies that he have imposed on California in order to reduce the effects of global warming, he is also the one responsible in restoring the state’s environment – he have reduced the pollution in air and water, and even restored the habitats for the animals.   All these measures were done for his vision of making California acquire electricity on natural sources like wind, biomass and sun by the year 2020.Likewise is in the case of President Hu Jintao of China, who aims to get through the economic and social tensions rising in the country t hat was brought by the country’s growth for he wants to build a society living in harmony.   He was the one responsible of China’s rapid growth in the international world economically; he also radiates an aura of a knowledgeable, intelligent and confident leader.   Also, if there is anyone who had a lot of pressure and stress in leading, it could be Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York City who needed to rebuild the city that never sleeps after the unforgettable nightmare of â€Å"9/11† – this is what competency is about.While in the world of business, Bill Gates, co-founder of Microsoft from the year 1975, dominated as the world’s most influential business leader.   He has the kind of determination that he used in his leadership that led to the change of the face of programming and information technology.   Dropping out of Harvard University did not seem to become a waste as he is now one of the world’s richest men.   And there is also Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple, who is responsible for today’s most hyped gadgets.Being a leader is not impossible for anyone of us, we may be born with the potential leadership skills, and all we have to do is to develop them to become an effective leader. The five sets of skills I have discussed are really important to become an effectual leader.   Leaders should be honest to everyone including himself; he should have integrity, the competencies and credibility to become one. He should provide inspiration and motivation to give his followers the drive to work. He should be forward-looking and should be a visionary to be prepared and focus of the future. Lastly, he should be a good communicator to convey all of these to his team.   Being a political leader or a business leader necessitates all these skills; one may just need to adapt one’s focus as applicable in the setting where one is expected to lead.

History And Geography Of Morocco - 1155 Words

History and Geography Morocco is a diverse country with a strong culture. Morocco had a hard time in establishing its independence, but its unique culture helped it to establish its own civilization . The Berbers ruled Morocco and the west coast countries of North Africa. The Berbers are a civilization of nomadic Christian, Pagan, and tribal people. Morocco was invaded constantly in its early stages. In the 12th century the Phoenicians invaded and established trading posts. The Phoenician settlements were occupied by the Carthaginian invaders. In the 2nd century the Romans sent away the Carthaginians and they dominated the African Mediterranean coast for six centuries. When the Arabs invaded some Christian Berbers and Pagans were converted to Islam. Mohamed ruled Morocco and it became, Spainish influenced by French, and Portuguese in the 15th century. There was a slave trade in Morocco, slaves would come to Morocco to try and go to Spain, but instead were executed. Spain and Portugal invaded Morocco and developed a settlement. Spain was the European country that colonized Morocco. Spain wanted more power over different countries. Morocco gained independence in 1957 under the rulership of Muhammad H. The independence opened up freedoms in the country and Spain gave back their holdings in Morocco. Morocco has a varied landscape. There are mountain ranges, deserts and beaches. The Atlas mountain range is a beautiful range with great features. There is also a rift regionShow MoreRelatedTaking a Look at Morocco1298 Words   |  5 PagesIntroduction Morocco a country that in itself has a rich history that dates back to prehistoric times. An odd land where you can sit in 80 degree temps and have palm trees surrounding you and look up to the mountains tops covered in snow. Where so many have wondered in to discover a part of Africa rich in abundance of unique culture and heritage. 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Street food - Change agent -Read MoreSample Resume : Regional Cuisine2856 Words   |  12 Pages UNIT22034 MOROCCO REGIONAL CUISINE (Turnoftheworld, 2015) (sheknows, 2010) (bedandbreakfastmarrakech,2014) SEUNG YEOL LEE (JAMIE) 12807 DCPCKYAPR14 D1 Contents - Cover page --- 1 - Contents --- 2 - Introduction --- 3 Part 1 - History ---4 - Geography---5 1. Geography---5 2. Topography---6 3. Climate---7 4. Agriculture live stock - Culture--- 1. Religion 2. Festival Celebration 3. Table manner Etiquette 4. Farmers market 5. 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