The White Noise by Don DeLillo

Datil (Banana)Yucca essays

Datil (Banana)Yucca essays The Banana yucca, Spanish bayonet yucca, and Amole yucca are all names for the Datil Yucca. Yucca is a Caribbean name for the Cassava plant that originally was named yucca gloriosa. The name banana yucca also refers to the large fruits. When it is wet from rain the yuccas bloom all over the landscape. They look like large snowy-white candles. Another name for the Datil Yucca is,Our Lords Candles. Yuccas bloom each year while agaves bloom only once. The Datil Yucca is found in California, Nevada, Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Mexico. It grows from four thousand seven hundred and twenty feet to six thousand six hundred and twenty feet in elevation. The Datil yucca has large, stout strap like leaves that are twelve inches to forty inches long, one inch to two inches wide, and are sharply pointed. The plant has very short stems, which may occur singly or clumped together. Leaves are arranged spirally at the base of the stem. Bell-shaped flowers, which grow in thick clusters during the spring, are one and half inches to three and one half inches long and are creamy white in color. The fruits are large, four inches to nine inches long, and fleshy at maturity. The pods contain flat, blackish seeds. The pueblo Indians utilized the Datil Yucca for food. The fleshy fruits were eaten green or dried and stored for winter consumption. Baked, the fruits have a flavor that is similar to potatoes. In some pueblos, the Datil pulp was mixed with berries and made into cakes that could be dried for winter use. The young flower stalks were also eaten, like asparagus. The seeds for reproduction are in the fruit pods. There is a specific pollinating moth species for each yucca species. The moth rolls pollen into a small ball and transfers it from plant to plant, pollinating the flower. Fibers came from the yucca leaf. Leaves were soaked in water, and then pounded with stones to separate the long fib ...

Julius Caesar1 essays

Julius Caesar1 essays Julius Caesar was the self-elected dictator of Rome in 44 B.C, for only one year, before being killed. He was born on the 13th of Quintilis, which is now July in 100 BC to Gaius Caesar, which became part of his full name, Gaius Julius Caesar. When Caesar was born, the city of Rome was flourishing, becoming a rich culture, and an advanced form of government. When Caesar was born, the government was a democracy. Nobility governed the state. Nobles were people who claimed consuls or other high officers as their ancestors. Caesars birth was very interesting. His mother did not have a vaginal birth, but had the first Caesarian C-section, hence the name C-section. Caesar was born into a well-bred family called the Julian clan. As he started to grow up, he understood that his family was important and that he had to appreciate the historical importance of the parents claim, of being of a Noble birth. Since he was a noble child, he was to take his fathers place in Romes government. Until the age of seven, Caesar was in the care of his mother. His education was done at home in his big, elegant home. There he was taught the traditional Roman way of living. Some of the things he was taught were endurance, sympathy for others, religion, and the right way of doing things. He was also told a story about Roman war heroes and through that was taught to respect the achievements of his Uncle Marius, a general and a senator. When Julius Caesar was seven, he attended a public school in the towns business district. The school was a very hard school Caesar had to memorize and dictate back to his teacher many things with the threat of being beaten if he made a mistake. He had to memorize Roman law, and had to learn how to be a public speaker. Julius Caesar was popular in school, making friends with many of the other noble students. He was also very interested in his fathers ...

Nitrogen Triiodide Chemistry Demonstration

Nitrogen Triiodide Chemistry Demonstration In this spectacular chemistry demonstration, crystals of iodine are reacted with concentrated ammonia to precipitate nitrogen triiodide (NI3). The NI3 is then filtered out. When dry, the compound is so unstable that the slightest contact causes it to decompose into nitrogen gas and iodine vapor, producing a very loud snap and a cloud of purple iodine vapor. Difficulty: Easy Time Required: Minutes Materials Only a few materials are required for this project. Solid iodine and a concentrated ammonia solution are the two key ingredients. The other materials are used to set up and execute the demonstration. up to 1 g iodine (do not use more)concentrated aqueous ammonia (0.880 S.G.)filter paper or paper towelring stand (optional)feather attached to a long stick How To Perform the Nitrogen Triiodide Demo The first step is to prepare the NI3. One method is to simply pour up to a gram of iodine crystals into a a small volume of concentrated aqueous ammonia, allow the contents to sit for 5 minutes, then pour the liquid over a filter paper to collect the NI3, which will be a dark brown/black solid. However, if you grind the pre-weighed iodine with a mortar/pestle beforehand a larger surface area will be available for the iodine to react with the ammonia, giving a significantly larger yield.The reaction for producing the nitrogen triiodide from iodine and ammonia is:3I2 NH3 → NI3 3HIYou want to avoid handling the NI3 at all, so my recommendation would be to set up the demonstration in advance of pouring off the ammonia. Traditionally, the demonstration uses a ring stand on which a wet filter paper with NI3 is placed with a second filter paper of damp NI3 sitting above the first. The force of the decomposition reaction on one paper will cause decomposition to occur on the other pa per as well. For optimal safety, set up the ring stand with filter paper and pour the reacted solution over the paper where the demonstration is to occur. A fume hood is the preferred location. The demonstration location should be free of traffic and vibrations. The decomposition is touch-sensitive and will be activated by the slightest vibration.To activate the decomposition, tickle the dry NI3 solid with a feather attached to a long stick. A meter stick is a good choice (dont use anything shorter). The decomposition occurs according to this reaction:2NI3 (s) → N2 (g) 3I2 (g)In its simplest form, the demonstration is performed by pouring the damp solid onto a paper towel in a fume hood, letting it dry, and activating it with a meter stick. Tips and Safety Caution: This demonstration should only be performed by an instructor, using proper safety precautions. Wet NI3 is more stable than the dry compound, but still should be handled with care. Iodine will stain clothing and surfaces purple or orange. The stain can be removed using a sodium thiosulfate solution. Eye and ear protection are recommended. Iodine is a respiratory and eye irritant; the decomposition reaction is loud.NI3 in the ammonia is very stable and can be transported, if the demonstration is to be performed at a remote location.How it works: NI3 is highly unstable because of the size difference between the nitrogen and iodine atoms. There is not enough room around the central nitrogen to keep the iodine atoms stable. The bonds between the nuclei are under stress and therefore weakened. The outside electrons of the iodine atoms are forced into close proximity, which increases the instability of the molecule.The amount of energy released upon detonating NI3 exceeds that requ ired to form the compound, which is the definition of a high yield explosive.

Engineering Ethics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 3

Engineering Ethics - Essay Example In order to attain this, engineering ethics, which are, a set of principles that guide the conduct and the way engineers perform their roles are employed. Engineers being professionals should work to raise the health, welfare and safety standards of the society while putting into consideration the sustainability of resources and the environmental impacts. They should be personally and professionally committed to improving the livelihood of the society through proper knowledge exploitation and innovations. The engineering discipline derives its values from the individuals involved. These values are based on the common values which bring people together. Therefore, all activities should be conducted with honesty, fairness and integrity. Engineers should adhere to the essence of equality in opportunity and social justice, and freedom of choice. Professional engineers have to acquire and apply wisely, the knowledge relevant to the skills required to serve other people. They should act with competence and exceptional care at all times. They should keep themselves updated and avoid misleading others and perform only services within their areas of expertise. Engineers should also present and review engineering theories and interpretations honestly and accurately. Engineers should ensure that all the activities undertaken is lawful and justified. They should strive to lessen and justify the impacts on society and the environment, and withhold the health and safety concerns of the public. They should also act responsibly, lawfully and professionally to protect the reputation of their discipline. Engineers should exert high leadership standards in the application and management of technology. They should ensure that the positions they hold in the society is not used to realize personal interests or to harm the society. They should promote the understanding on the effects and advantages of engineering achievements while being objective and honest in any statements

Discussion Board 1-2 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 2

Discussion Board 1-2 - Assignment Example Problems facing children are likely to be due to the mistakes of the parents (Nichols, 2013). However, blaming parents openly has clinical consequences that therapists need to observe to ensure effectiveness of treatment. A therapist can blame parents for problems of their children due to various motives. One of the motives is when parents especially a mother involved in uncontrolled drinking habit with little time to guide a child. The child then becomes desperate of love and care, and consequently walks out to explore alternatives to enable survival. It is under such circumstances that a child may learn improper behaviors and conducts, which may result serious family problems (Nichols, 2013). Another motive that may make a therapist blame a mother for the problems facing a child relates to situations where the mother formed a triangle relationship with a child against father or other family members. A mother forming triangle relationship with a child is likely to discuss negative issues, which are usually inappropriate for the age of a child. This kind of relationship can make a child become schizophrenic or withdraw socially depending on the nature of information shared. Nichols (2013) warns that blaming any individual in the process of family therapy may compromise the entire treatment. Blaming a family such a mother may pile all the problems faced a family on the mother and encourage other members to hate the former. Hatred in families is undesirable and may only work to scuttle and ruin entire system of a family. The move by a therapist to blame a parent on problems of a child may also lead to early withdrawal or discourage active participation of the victim in the treatment

The Bedrock of our Lives Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Bedrock of our Lives - Essay Example Indeed, in the fast-paced movement of the modern world, we need family to keep us grounded and give us a place to call home. First of all, our family has been with us from the start and has seen us through our development in life. Before we could get started in our careers, before we become successful people in whatever fields of endeavour we explore, before we meet all our friends, our family was there to guide us through the early stages of our life. That means that they accept us no matter what, despite our shortcomings. We all have heard stories of young people who left their homes to rebel against their parents, blaming them for some imagine grievance, and believing that they can make it in the world. Some of them fare well, earning money and establishing themselves in a good career. Some, however, find themselves involved in all sorts of vices and moving in the wrong crowd. Either way, at some point in their lives, they will find themselves drawn back home – a place of f amiliarity and safety, a place that has accepted them for who they are. The truth is that family reminds us of a more innocent time in our lives, it takes us back to our childhood when things were so much simpler and safer. The second point that I make when I say that family is most important is that a large part of a person’s emotional state is determined by whether or not he or she has a happy family. It is easy to take our families for granted when we are successful, when we are surrounded by friends, when we immerse ourselves in other preoccupations. The truth of the matter is, however, when we lose our families or when family relationships break up, it is one of the biggest causes of depression and even suicide. In an important study conducted by Jerry Jacobs and Joseph Teicher entitled â€Å"Broken Homes and Social Isolation in Attempted Suicides of Adolescents† (1967) it was found that that after looking at the life-histories of patients who had attempted to com mit suicide and comparing it to the life-histories of those who had not committed suicide, a great proportion of those in the former group come from broken homes or had unhappy family relationships. So you see, this means that while it is easy to take family relationships for granted when our family is stable and whole, when the links that bind are broken, it causes a great sense of personal devastation – indeed, to the point that it can drive one to commit suicide. It is clear therefore, that more than any other thing, family is the most important thing in life. Thirdly, our families have our back, no matter what. That is the power of relationships within the family. One may have plenty of friends to spend good times with, but how many people will stick by your side during the bad times? If, in the middle of the night, you find yourself in the unfortunate situation of being arrested and thrown to prison, chances are, the first person you would call is a family member. That i s because of the absolute certainty we have that our family is going to be there not only in the good times but also in the bad. They cheer for us when we are at our best, and give us steady and unconditional comfort when we are at our worst. They say that life is a competition: we are constantly competing with other people for a variety of things, be it a job promotion, academic honors, winning affection from the opposite sex. Some people, therefore, will want to bring you down in order to get ahead. Our families, however, are our safe haven from the mini-olympiads playing out in the

Reflection Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 31

Reflection - Essay Example The experience narrated on the Magnaporthe grisea (MGA) dilemma faced by Professor John Hamer, reportedly a molecular biologist at Purdue University, paved the way for the discovery of a practical, yet revolutionary discovery, using the four habits of the mind. One, therefore, realized that there are still much to be discovered through scientific inquiry or through assuming an explorative and inquisitive stance in life. Today’s problems in various facets, could find solution with the appropriate application of these habits of the mind. The example of its application in a science classroom enabled the development of needed skills in the students; and paved the way for greater interests in learning. One hereby asserts that through the knowledged gained from the article, one is truly inspired that through the four habits, solutions to societies’problems could be envisioned as viably possible – with enough curiosity, openness, skeptism, and communication. Other course modules could use these theoretical framework to be integrated in the curriculum, as a means to find practical solutions, to problems which could have been deemed

Socrates guilty or not Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Socrates guilty or not - Essay Example Socrates was convicted with four charges which stated that Socrates studied things up above in the heavens and below the earth, and was capable of making the worse of the arguments appear as the strongest ones owing to his eloquence, which he denies upfront. Furthermore, Socrates was accused of corrupting the mind of the youth of Athens, this charge was a consequence of the prior charges, and he was regarded as an evil doer, who made the youth follow in his evil plans; all this three charges culminated in the claim of the prosecutors that Socrates denied their gods and on the contrary had created gods of his own, and thus called him an atheist (Academic.mu, 2010, 1). Socrates defended himself and negated all these claims; however it is debatable as to whether he had managed to grasp the attention of the jurors, but even if he did, he angered them by proposing the alternate punishment for himself, which showed that he did not fear the jury or the prosecutors or death. Socrates respond ed to all these charges from the prosecutors in a detailed and complicated manner, which is rather confusing and leads the people away from the actual context, like other dialogues of Socrates narrated by Plato, such as ‘Euthyphro’ (Jowett 2008). The response of Socrates managed to make the prosecutors to agree to his denial, he rounded the argument in such a manner as to confuse others. He claimed that the charges against him were false, and levied by people who were personally angered by Socrates, and they were not knowledgeable and wise, and were careless of their people, and did not actually worry about the Athenians, but rather the reputation damage that Socrates caused them by calling them unwise. In order to take revenge from Socrates and teach him and other people who deviate from their orders that they would not be spared by them or the court, and therefore the trial of Socrates resulted in a death penalty which was approved by the majority of the jurors. Socrates

Understanding Partnership Working Essay Example for Free

Understanding Partnership Working Essay There are many advantages to partnership working. The main advantage being, that when all partnerships work together it enables the service user to have a better quality of life and sustain authority and freedom over their own lives. Good Partnership working between individuals and health and social care providers will encourage compliance with care as well as promote a positive outlook with a service which people participate in rather than simply receive. Each Health and Social Care provider will have their own expertise in their own line of work. They will also have their own unique relationship with the individual, here are just some for example? The Carer that provide the service user with support with personal care, social visits, making meals and everyday living. The Managers of the carers, that put together care plans, rotas, risk assessments and keep all carers updated on the service user’s needs and most importantly manages the team of carers to make sure there job role is being adhered to. The Social Worker that will ensure that the person in question is safe guarded and supported, they will liaise with the service users families and support with the commencement of care companies for supported living, support with financial needs, living allowances, bills and housing. The Advocate that arranges activities, day centres and liaises with all the service providers, the advocate is solely there to make sure all partnerships are following procedures and looking after the service user’s needs adequately The Family and Friends that will often know an individual’s particular way of communicating their preferences and the best approach to use. Sharing their knowledge, history and understanding of what needs to be in place helps to ensure the best possible care. Working with the professionals as equal partners will lead to tailored person-centred support that will meet the persons needs more effectively. Ultimately when all of these partnerships cooperate and work together great things can be achieved, mutually beneficial relationships will improve the quality of care. All partners involved are in effect â€Å"reading from the same sheet†. Not only is it effective and Informative for all parties involved, but by swapping key  information in each partnership’s experiences with the service user makes for better understanding and equips all parties with the nesseceary tools to be able to provide to right help and support. Establish and maintaining working relationships with colleagues My Own experience of Partnership working is based on my position as a home care support worker. I have been visiting a Lady for a little over a year and I have a close working relationship with my fellow colleagues, my line managers, the ladies family, the social worker, the occupational therapist, the advocate and most of her health care providers including the ladies doctor, optician and dentist. It is my Responsibility as a home care support worker to behave with integrity and strive to establish and maintain the trust and confidence of my service user. I am to promote her independence whilst seeking to ensure that she does not harm herself or others. It is my responsibility to document and record all information deemed relevant to ensuring the safety of my service user. It is within my role to help with Meals, finances, social visits, shopping and emotional support. My contribution to the partnership working surrounding this individual is my understanding and documenting of my service user’s activities, physical needs and emotional needs, whilst the other health and social care team contribute in lots of other ways. I appreciate their professional experience and years of working with my service user, I find their knowledge invaluable and educational which helps me have a better understanding and provide better care, alternatively they gain knowledge on her day to day needs and any fluctuations in behaviour and physical needs. On several occasions all of the service user’s care providers and immediate family will have a meeting. This is to discuss any concerns the service user and care providers may have and to discuss the outcome of new changes from the last meeting. Care providers will also discuss any new idea’s they feel will help to promote a more comfortable living for the service user but ultimately all issues can be addressed and dealt with by being delegated to the appropriate care provider. As a homecare support worker I do not work with colleagues on a day to day basis very often but it is still very much my responsibility to report and communicate effectively with my colleagues to help them and my service user. The more information they have the better equipped they are to deal with any problems that may arrive. I am able to deal constructively with any  conflict that may arise with colleagues, one example of this is; recently it was discussed by my service user’s family and other care providers that the service user had been putting on some weight. This had an effect on her care as her regular carer’s could no longer push her around in her wheel chair due to the increase in weight and difficulty accessing the community, this in turn had an effect on her emotional needs has the service user was having different carer’s that were not familiar with her needs. The service user has difficulty understanding diet and nutritional need’s so it is up to the carer’s to provide a more balanced diet. A new diet plan was put into place. As the service user still wanted to have the old diet plan it was agreed it would be joint effort in encouraging and showing the service user a better way to eat or coming up with healthier alternatives for the foods she didn’t want to go without. But some of the carer’s did not want to participate and we’re stuck in old habits and this became very confusing for the service user as certain carer’s we’re making certain meals. After looking at her f ood diary I brought it to my line managers attention, who has access to all carer’s that attend this service user and it was reiterated back to them the importance of team work and the responsibility of all to maintain a healthy and balanced diet and that it is in the best interest for the service user and her health and wellbeing. Establish and Maintain Working Relationships with other professionals My role and responsibility when working with professionals is to respect their individual skill set and knowledge and communicate effectively with them in the interest of the service user. All professionals and health care providers will ultimately have the service user’s best interest at heart and will have their own ideals on promoting the welfare of the service user. Together it is our Role to identify and challenge any difficulties the service user may face in day to day living, negotiate and organise skills that enable good team work and deal with difficult situations and manage conflict in a professional and open minded way. Having been present at a meeting with all care providers I found it helped to listen and observe the skills and understanding that each professional brought to the table. I could really understand where they were coming from, seeing things from a different prospective helped me in my role and improved my knowledge and education. Building Relationships with a strong bond and trust will help develop great effective working with other  professionals. To listen to each other, respect each other and consider the interests of all partnerships will help with cooperation and collaboration. Each Partnership will have their own protocols to follow it is imperative that from the start all partnerships share information on policies and procedures, available resources, service users’ needs and standard levels. The better equipped with knowledge each partnership is, the more tools each care provider will have access to. Agreeing common objectives when working with professionals and within the boundaries of my own role and responsibility involves the effective organising of each partners specialist skills. All objectives need to be agreed in an inclusive and specific way. The careful processing and clarifying of the objectives will help for a successful outcome. Goal objectives should address the five Ws†¦ who, what, when, where, and why. The goal needs to specify what needs to be done with a timeframe for completion. Goal objectives should include numeric or descriptive measures that define quantity, quality, cost, etc. How will partners know when the goal has been successfully met? Is the goal achievable with the available resources? Is the goal achievable within the timeframe originally outlined? Why is the goal important? Goal objectives should identify a definite target date for completion and/or frequencies for specific action steps that are important for achieving the goal. By when should this goal be accomplished? Incorporate specific dates, calendar milestones, or timeframes that are relative to the achievement of another result. Once objectives are agreed it is crucial that all professionals address how their partnership actions will be measured and specifically how information on those actions will be collected and organised. Appropriate governance structures need to cover issues such as: Management of risk and the audit of accidents and incidents, professional regulation and accountability, supervision and performance appraisal, complaints and compliments and the organisation of learning and continuing of professional development, These evaluations should help keep professionals focused on the outcomes of their joint actions. With Partnership working every Care provider may have their own ideals on what they think is best for the individual, they will have their own interests related to their job position and requirements that they have to for fill in the line of work they are in. There may be conflicting interests on how best to get things done. But  professional diversity can be a partnerships greatest strength. The difference between a good working relationship and bad working relationship is the understanding of control and influence. In an honest and trusting partnership relationship no professional will have full control even if they have the authority to exercise more power than others. Being able to put your point across and enable people to understand your reasoning, objectives and opinion will have a lot more influence than trying to force your way of thinking. It is very important that all parties agree priorities, express their different values, delegate roles and try to listen and understand each other the best they can. Lack of planning and communication will cause the breakdown of the effective partnership working. Be able to work with Partnerships and Others There are many different types of partnerships, and many different reasons that you might want to develop them. Some partners will help you generate ideas and provide knowledge and advise, Some care providers may spend more time with the person on a day to day basis, some will have years of knowledge on the individual but on a more spaced out time scale and others will have years of training and expertise in their profession. But it is key that everybody respects and acknowledges all the individual partnerships input and take note of all their concerns and intentions ending with mutual and clear objective for all. Not all service users will want to have an active role in the care they receive, in order for service users to be more involved with their care services, users need to have more understanding and be confident in making decisions for themselves. Advocates and other similar roles are there to help a user become all those things but this can take time because they need to build up trust and a solid relationships. Development procedures for effective working have been put in place, The Government introduced the new ‘Outcomes Framework for Adult Social Services (Department of Health 2011)’ which involve; Enhancing quality of life for people with care and support needs D elaying and reducing the need for care and support Ensuring that people have a positive experience of care and support Safeguarding people whose circumstances make them vulnerable and protecting  them from Avoidable harm.  Whilst working in partnership you must agree common objectives when working with others within the boundaries of your own roles and responsibilities, partnerships should share information on policies and procedures, available resources, agreed boundaries, accountability in respect to commissioning, purchasing and providing, identify agreed staff, times, finances, agreeing leadership, providing specific training and development needs. The procedures put in place for working with others means all partnerships are well-equipped to strategically plan and monitor the service user’s level of care in all aspects of their life. It makes partners accountable for their decisions own responsibilities and makes room for adjustments and improvement. By tackling any issues and problems and evaluating the outcome to identify what new measures need to be put in place and what plans have worked. To deal constructively with any conflict that may arise with others you must be willing to look closer at yourself, what is it I don’t know yet? The more you listen, the more you will understand, take on conflict situations with an intention to understand more of what’s going on. You must make a distinction between the problem and care provider’s views, you should be straight forward and concrete in your communication and develop your ability to look at an issue from the outside. Sharing your differences honestly, openly and none defensive will enable for positive solutions.

Trials And Triumphs Of Inner City Students Social Work Essay

Trials And Triumphs Of Inner City Students Social Work Essay The book, And Still We Rise: The Trials and Triumphs of Twelve Gifted Inner-City Students, offers valuable insight into the lives of inner-city youth in Los Angeles and throughout the country. Inner-city students are frequently subjected to poverty, violence, gangs, and drugs in their schools, homes, and communities. Yet, many of these students manage to survive and thrive despite their volatile environment. The book provides school social workers with a unique opportunity to understand the challenges presented to inner-city students, and the power of resilience to overcome adversity. Let us now examine how various psychosocial and environmental factors contributed to the development and success of the students discussed in the book. Developmental Tasks, Systems, and Resilience Adolescence is arguably one of the most difficult and challenging stages of development for an individual. It is a time of great social, psychological, emotional, and academic growth that poses many challenges for youth surrounding identity, self-esteem, and self-efficacy (Zastrow Kirst-Ashman, 2007). According to Eriksons psychosocial theory of development, adolescence is a time of exploration and experimentation in relation to peers and social roles in order to establish a sense of identity (Zastrow Kirst-Ashman, 2007). The students in the book are each facing various identity challenges and demands within their environment. They are exposed to gangs, drugs, poverty, and teen pregnancy in their everyday lives, and they must each make the difficult decision of who to be and how to reconcile various role demands. Sadi, for example, had to make the difficult decision of whether to maintain his gang lifestyle which provided a sense of power, protection, and family for him or to explo re his intellectual abilities as a student in school. Fortunately, with encouragement from Ms. Little and Mr. Braxton, Sadi chose to join a different kind of family, one that offered promise and hope through academic achievement. The students in the book are also charged with the task of navigating various systems within their environment that impact their lives. On a mezzo level, the students interact with family, teachers, social workers, foster and group homes, and gangs. On a macro level, the students interact with the school, community, social services, and the judicial system. Unfortunately, the students in the book are negatively impacted by a number of these systems. Many of the students lack adequate support at home and are forced to work in order to survive. Some students have been neglected or abandoned by their families and are forced to navigate a cruel and unjust world alone. The students are also exposed to violence and poverty within the community and frequently suffer retribution from the judicial system. Additionally, the social service system did not always adequately address the needs of the students. For many of the students, their only sanctuary was school, a place where they felt welcom ed, supported, encouraged, and cared for. The students in the book survived due to their resiliency. Each student possessed the inner strength, power, and motivation to overcome obstacles in their environment and to thrive in the face of adversity. The incredible power of resiliency allowed the students to maintain focus and motivation despite negative environmental factors. Their resiliency coupled with the support and encouragement of administrators and teachers within the school allowed the students to exceed expectations and claim futures full of hope and promise for a better life through education. Let us now examine how the challenges of adolescence, systems in the environment, and resilience shaped the life of one inner city student. Olivias Story Olivias story provides a unique perspective on the various difficulties encountered in relation to systems in the environment, and how the power of resilience provides motivation and drive to survive and beat the odds despite numerous obstacles. Olivia was affected by various mezzo and macro level factors throughout her childhood. On a mezzo level, Olivias interactions with her mother, social workers, and various foster and group homes shaped her life. Olivia was physically and emotionally abused and neglected by her mother, and abandoned by her father. At the age of twelve she entered the world of social services, and began her journey through various foster and group homes that provided little to no financial or emotional support. Olivias social worker did not provide her with adequate resources and support either, and Olivia was forced to take matters into her own hands and support herself by working a number of jobs, many of which were inappropriate, dangerous, and illegal. From a macro level perspective, Olivias encounters with the teachers and administrators at Crenshaw High School, the social service system, and the judicial system significantly influenced her life as well. At a time of chaos and uncertainty in her life, school was her only reprieve. It was the only place she felt wanted, needed, and loved. School also provided her the opportunity to show her true potential in the gifted magnet program. Olivia received the support and encouragement she needed at school from Ms. Little and Mr. Braxton, who served as her pseudo parents and family. They provided her with the guidance, nurturance, and impetus she needed to reach her academic potential. Unfortunately, Olivia was underserved by the social service and judicial system. She was in the social service system for many years and was never provided the adequate resources and support she needed to survive. As a result, Olivia was forced to seek alternate illegal sources of support that ultimately l anded her jail. If Olivia had been given adequate resources and support from the social service system she would not have had to engage in illegal activities to survive. In this sense, the judicial system was reactive as opposed to proactive with Olivia. For many years, she tried to navigate her way through an unforgiving system trying to attain assistance. Ironically, it was not until she committed a crime that she finally had access to the resources and support she desperately needed throughout her childhood. Fortunately, despite all the hardships Olivia endured throughout her childhood she did not let the social service or judicial system prevent her from attaining her dream of attending Babson College. Her incredible sense of resiliency and drive for a better life helped her to stay positive and maintain focus despite the many obstacles she encountered. Olivia always knew she would prevail, and in the end she did! She relied on the strength and perseverance she had used to overc ome past obstacles to achieve the dream that had almost been stolen from her. Her story is a source of inspiration for inner-city students throughout the world, and proves that childhood experiences and environmental systems may influence, but do not define, an individual. Lessons for a Future School Social Worker The book provided me with valuable insight into the lives of inner-city students. Prior to reading the book, I was unaware of the various obstacles many inner-city students face in their everyday lives. I now have a new understanding of how various systems in the environment negatively and positively influence students, and how I might be able to assist students in navigating many of these systems as a school social worker. The book also helped me realize how important it is for students to have access to adequate resources and support for optimal psychological, social, and academic development. The book also highlighted the relevant role school teachers and administrators have in impacting students lives, and how important it is for social workers to work collaboratively with school staff to ensure that students needs are being met. On a positive note, I have learned that inner-city students have incredible potential and that as a school social worker I will play a vital role in ide ntifying and addressing obstacles, providing resources and support, and serving as an advocate and coach to help students reach their full potential. I can, and will, make a difference in the lives of the students I work with! J

Personal Environmental Ethics :: essays research papers

There are some people who believe that the United States' strictly forced endangered species laws seriously hamper our economy. I on the other hand must disagree. The endangered species laws were created for an important reason: to protect our earth's biological diversity. Whenever humanity interferes with the ecosystem for the purpose of economic growth it tears it apart piece by piece. It is for reasons like these we must have such tough laws, as in the Endangered Species Act. The fact of the matter is that a problem still exists today. Many policy-makers and forest industry representatives argue that the current forest and wildlife conditions constitute a "forest health crisis"(Peters, Frost, & Pace, 1999). The current crisis results from companies who tear down forests for their own profit. By doing this not only is the forest itself being destroyed, but the wildlife within it. Furthermore, in 1990 the EPA's scientific research team stated that destruction of habit ats, and species extinction are two of the four most critical global environmental issues (Biodiversity, 1999). As can be seen, companies who destroy the ecosystem for economic gain are creating irreversible problems that future laws cannot correct. To prevent further problems from occurring we must maintain all biodiversity laws. The basis of the laws are to protect all life, including all human life; and are crucial for present and future generations (Biodiversity, 1999). The federal government has taken charge of this situation, most notably through its endangered species protection efforts (Biodiversity, 1999). This has become a controversial, but necessary step in protection our ecosystem and all of the valuable resources it has to offer. Understanding those environmental issues are subjects of disagreement arising from different perspectives and values; the controversy of economic gain verse ecological conservation is not easily settled. I support wildlife preservation only to prevent extinction. I believe without these laws that we as humans will suffer greatly, because we would be unable to reap the benefits of the ecosystem. I agree with the congressional findings that various species of fish, wildlife, and plants have been rendered extinct as a consequence of economic growth and development intemperate by adequate concern and conservation (O'Laughlin, 1998).

The Runes of Franks Casket and the Epic of Beowulf Essays -- Epic Beow

Franks Casket and Beowulf  Ã‚   Runic inscriptions have been found not only in Anglo-Saxon poetry but also in archaeologicial discoveries like the Clermont or Franks casket. Runic inscriptions have been discovered on coins and various other objects, the most important being the beautiful Clermont or Franks casket. The top and three of the sides are now in the British Museum, the fourth side is in the Museo Nazionale at Florence. The casket is made of whalebone, and the scenes carved on it represent an episode from the Welandsaga, the adoration of the Magi, Romulus and Remus nursed by the she-wolf and, lastly, a fight between Titus and the Jews. The carving on the Florence fragment is still unexplained. The legends engraved around these episodes are intended to represent the capture of the whale and to elucidate the carving. On linguistic grounds it has been thought probable that the casket was made in Northumbria at the beginning of the eighth century. In several Old English manuscripts runes are found in isolated cases, for instance in Beowulf and in the Durham Ritual. In the riddles of the Exeter Book the occasional introduction of runes sometimes helps to solve the mystery of the enigma, and sometimes increases the obscurity of the passage. Occasionally a poet or scribe will record his name by means of a runic acrostic introduced into the text. Thus, the poems Crist, Juliana, Elene and the Vercelli fragment bear the runic signature of their author, Cynewulf. In the poem Beowulf we see runes used with connotations of magic or charms. Early Englishmen were fully conversant with the Germanic runic alphabet. In Beowulf the hero is in deadly combat with Grendel’s mother in the mere. He is at the point of being killed... ...her to cross the sea in search of the distant country where he had found gold and land, etc.. So runes are seen to be usable, as The Husband’s Message illustrates, in common communication with no overtones of magic. In Beowulf we see the mention of runes used with connotations of magic or charms. Examining historic evidence, we find that early Englishmen used   runes sometimes with connotations of magic and sometimes without such implied meanings. BIBLIOGRAPHY Chickering, Howell D.. Beowulf A dual-Language Edition. New York: Anchor Books, 1977. The Husband’s Message. In The Earliest English Poems, translated by Michael Alexander. New York: Penguin Books, 1991. Collins, Roger and McClure, Judith, editors. Bede: The Ecclesiastical History of the English People; The Greater Chronicle; Bede’s Letter to Egbert. New York: Oxford University Press, 1969.

Overcoming the perils of canoe lake Essay

There are over two thousand drug courts in America, each one specializing in its own level of drug abuse. A drug court’s primary role is to handle cases with offenders of substance abuse. They offer offenders an opportunity to enter a rehabilitation program in lieu of sentenced jail time. The road to recovery is of course challenging and difficult, making the drug courts so strict and costly. Drug courts were generally created for non-violent drug abusers. Although these offenders are given the chance to avoid jail time they are extremely supervised by the court officials. Drug tests, substance abuse treatment, must make regular appearances in court and constant checkups are required to continue in the program. These offenders’ cases are usually dismissed due to their involvement in the program or their sentence is only shortened. Participation in these programs are completely voluntary and if qualified to enter, the offender must agree to complete all the tasks given a nd report to every summoning from the court. If an offender doesn’t complete the program, they can be prosecuted or their sentence will be revised and will be placed in jail. Drug courts are considered one f the most effective ways to eliminate drug abusers and avoiding incarceration. While in the program offenders are monitored and results of every drug court case is very astonishing, but the long term effect of these cases are beyond the rulings of the court. It is not known if those who participated in the programs continued their lives drug free. These courts have been examined and tested to see if the results justify the cost of the program. The operations evaluated such as the number of participants, referrals issued, and drug court graduates. The cost savings of processing the offenders through the program instead of straight jail time, and results compared with those who have been completed their sentenced jail time as opposed to those in the programs. The therapeutic jurisprudence theory supports these courts, f ocusing on the impact that these laws create on a human’s physiological and emotional well-being.

Max Weber Essay

Maximilian Carl Emil Weber or better known as Max Weber is a German political economist and sociologist who is considered as one of the great founders of the contemporary discipline of sociology and public administration (â€Å"Weber, Max,† n. d. ). In a brief background, Max Weber started his career in a learning institution named University of Berlin (â€Å"Weber, Max,† n. d. ). Afterwards, he also worked in several Universities such as Heidelberg, Munich, and Freiburg as an academician in education (â€Å"Weber, Max,† n. d. ). Moreover, Max Weber is also famous in his thoughts about politics and religious faith as most of his literary works deal with rendering profound explanation in sociology of religion and government (â€Å"Weber, Max,† n. d. ). His essay called The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism is considered to be the main manifestation of Max Weber’s standpoint about religion, which is later commended as the start of his excellence in the said topic (â€Å"Weber, Max,† n. d. ). Politics As A Vocation, on the other hand, is a lecture of Max Weber about government that has been well essential in the study of contemporary Western political science (â€Å"Politics as a Vocation,† n. d. ). Likewise, Max Weber also provides his own profound definition of Power, Authority and Coercion, just like any other sociologists. Thus, Max Weber defines power as the possibility that an individual or a person within a social relationship would be in a position to implement his or her own will despite the opposition, regardless of which grounds such probability rests (â€Å"Max Weber’s definition of the modern state 1918,† n. d. ). In addition to this, Max Weber states that power could either be legitimate and illegitimate. Authority, on the other hand, is characterized by Max Weber as the actual exercise of power that is directly set under the legal grounds. As such, he said that authority is the practice of legitimate power. In the end, Max Weber rationalization about coercion is the utilization of force under the grounds of illegitimate power (Kirby et al. , 2000). Nonetheless, Max Weber as a reputable sociologist had done a clear distinction on power, authority and coercion that has been significant in the sociology of religion and government. Referrences Kirby et al. (2000). Sociology in Perspective. (2nd ed. ). London: Heinemann Educational Publishers. Max Weber’s definition of the modern state 1918. (n. d. ). Retrieved August 14, 2008, from http://www. mdx. ac. uk/WWW/STUDY/XWEB. HTM Politics as a Vocation. (n. d. ). Retrieved August 14, 2008, from http://www. ne. jp/asahi/moriyuki/abukuma/weber/lecture/politics_vocation. html Weber, Max. (n. d. ). Retrieved August 14, 2008, from http://www. riseofthewest. net/thinkers/weber03. htm

Some Aspects of Muslim Educational System in Pre-Colonial India

SOME ASPECTS OF THE MUSLIM EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM IN PRE-COLONIAL INDIA by Aamir Bashir ABSTRACT This paper explores some of the hitherto less known aspects of the Muslim Educational System in pre-colonial India. It examines the broad contours of this system by looking at the public attitude towards knowledge, scholars and students; the various types of institutions, and the evolution of curriculum. It also looks at the depth of Indian scholars’ engagement with IadEth and other sciences. Finally, it also looks at Sufis and their attitude towards the various Islamic sciences.The paper suggests that the educational system of the period under study was organic in structure and was in tune with the needs of the individual and the society. The course of study was a good balance between the temporal and the religious. Indian ‘ulamE were fully engaged with the IadEth sciences; and lastly, the Sufis gave great importance to all Islamic sciences. This paper suggests that the historic al Muslim educational system in pre-colonial India provides valuable resources for the problems faced by modern educational systems.INTRODUCTION The aim of this paper is to bring to light some of the hitherto less known aspects of the Muslim Educational System in pre-colonial India. By pre-colonial India, we refer to the time from the advent of Islam in India in the beginning of the eighth century CE up to the consolidation of colonial rule in the middle of the eighteenth century. 1 This short paper cannot do justice to all the details of the Muslim Educational System during this period. Therefore, we shall confine ourselves to only some aspects of it. These include the evolution of the curriculum over the centuries, and general contours of the educational system.We will also be challenging some conventional theories. These include the notion that before the coming of the press, books were in short supply in India. The other is that IadEth was little known in India until the coming of ShEh WalE AllEh (d. 1762). We will be presenting individual incidents which we feel to be representative of a broader trend and from these we shall draw general conclusions. During the period under study Muslim rule gradually extended from Sindh to include the whole of Northern India until it became one of the three major Muslim powers of that time under 1All the dates mentioned in this paper are CE (common era) dates unless otherwise noted. the Great Mughals,2 Ottoman Turkey and Safavid Iran being the other two. Such a strong and vast empire required a strong administrative structure which in turn required an effective system of education. As we shall see later, education was sufficiently sought after, and provided for during this time, such that India at that time could favourably compare and often compete with the central lands of Islam in the field of scholarship. 3POSITION OF KNOWLEDGE AND EDUCATION IN ISLAM We begin our analysis with looking at the position of knowledge and education in Islam. Numerous Qur’anic verses and Prophetic traditions establish the centrality of knowledge in Islam. The verses include â€Å"Are those who know and those who do not know alike? † (39:9); the first revelation â€Å"Read in the name of your Lord who created† (96:1); and the prayer taught in the Qur’an, â€Å"Say (O MuIammad), My Lord! Increase me in knowledge† (20:114). Similarly, the Prophetic traditions (aIEdEth) exhorting people to seek knowledge are also well known.Examples include the famous tradition in which the Prophet is reported to have said, â€Å"It is obligatory upon every Muslim to seek knowledge. †4 At another time, he said â€Å"Seek knowledge even if you have to go to China. †5 Similarly, al-TirmidhE has reported a IadEth in which the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, â€Å"The excellence of a scholar upon the worshipper is like my excellence over the lowest one amongst you. † 6 This emphasis upon knowledge and education has been taken for granted in Muslim societies since the beginning of Islam.The religious basis for the pursuit of knowledge resulted in defining the objective of education as al-fawz bi al-sa‘Edah fi al-dErayn i. e. to succeed through bliss in this world and the hereafter. This in turn implied that education should be acquired 2 â€Å"Great Mughals† is a term used to refer to the first six Mughal Emperors of India. These are, in chronological order, BEbar, HumEyEn, Akbar, JahEngEr, ShEh JahEn and Awrangzeb. These are the first and the greatest of all Mughal Emperors. In all, they reigned from 1526 to 1707 with a fifteen year interregnum from 1539 till 1555.The empire reached its zenith with Awrangzeb (reigned from 1658-1707) and after his death began her decline which ended with the capture of the last Mughal emperor BahEdur ShEh Zafar at the hands of the British in 1857. 3 S. M. Jaffar, Education in Muslim India, (Delhi: Id Era Adabiyyat-e-DillE, 1972), viii. 4 AbE Bakr AImad ibn al-? usayn al-BayhaqE, Shu‘ab al-OmEn, (Beirut: DEr al-Kutub al-‘Ilmiyyah, 1410AH), 2:253. 5 Ibid. 6 MuIammad ‘Abd al-RaImEn ibn ‘Abd al-RaIEm MubErakpurE, TuIfat al-AIwadhE bi SharI JEmi‘ al-TirmidhE, ed. Abd al-RaImEn MuIammad ‘UthmEn, (Beirut: DEr al-Fikr, n. d. ), 7:456. 1. To understand the will of God and to lead one’s life according to it. 2. To inculcate Islamic values in oneself. 3. To cultivate cultured behavior in oneself. 7 As can be seen from these objectives, acquiring knowledge was considered a sacred duty. It was the sole means to success. Knowledge (‘ilm) and practice (‘amal) were inter-linked. Instruction (ta‘lEm) went hand in hand with training (ta’dEb). The traditional Islamic concept of education was, thus, holistic as understood at that time.Muslim scholars had divided knowledge into two parts, the farI ‘ayn (individually obligatory ) and the farI kifEyah (collectively obligatory); but there was no strict separation between the religious and the secular sciences. Both formed part of an integrated whole. THE GENERAL ENVIRONMENT AND PUBLIC ATTITUDE As we have seen above, Islam has placed considerable emphasis upon knowledge. Because of this we find that, historically, the general attitude of Muslims, throughout the world, towards knowledge, scholars and students had been that of reverence.In every land, there were to be found a significant number of people who had dedicated themselves to learning and/or teaching. At the same time, the general public considered it an act of worship to help the scholars and the students. This public attitude coupled with safety of the roads maintained by stable and strong Muslim governments, enabled people to move across great distances in search of knowledge. In spite of the crude means of conveyance, people were constantly on the move; students setting out to learn, teachers trav eling to teach. GhulEm ‘AlE OzEd BilgirEmE (d. 785) writes in his book Ma’Ethir al-KirEm, which is a historical account of sixteenth/seventeenth century Mughal India, that: Seekers of knowledge travel in multitudes from one place to another. Wherever, the situation is agreeable, they get busy in learning†¦. The well-to-do people of each town take care of these seekers of knowledge and consider it a great honour to serve them. 8 7 8 Al-Nadvi & Moinuddin, Survey of Muslim Education: India, (Cambridge: The Islamic Academy, 1985), 5. Sayyid ManE? ir AIsan GElEnE, PEk-o-Hind main MusalmEnon kE Ni? Em-e-Ta‘lEm-o-Tarbiyyat. Lahore: Maktaba RaImEniyya, n. d. ) 19. The teachers occupied a high position in society. Though their emoluments were not always great, they commanded universal respect and confidence. GilEnE mentions a number of incidents when the teachers, in spite of their poverty, refused to accept any monetary help from others; and whatever help or gift was accepted, the giver always considered it to be an honor for his gift to have been accepted. 9 This attitude was widespread throughout the period under review. Even absolutist monarchs showed deference to the ‘ulamE and the Sufis. Ni?EmE has also mentioned several incidents of ‘ulamE and Sufis refusing royal gifts even while suffering from abject poverty. 10 For many, poverty was a chosen path and the royal gifts were seen as undoing years of patient hard work. INSTITUTIONS The main institutions for teaching and learning during the period of Muslim rule in India were maktabs and madrasahs,11 mosques and khEnqEhs (Sufi centers), and private houses. Almost every mosque served as an elementary school. However, a large number of eminent scholars and men of letter taught independently and even supported the students who came to them to study.This then was the foundation upon which the whole system was built; the teacher and the student. The issue of budgetary allocations for school buildings and provision of other services was not the top most priority for these people. What was most important was the existence of a sincere teacher and a sincere student. If these two were obtaining, other things could be improvised. OzEd has mentioned a famous teacher of his hometown Bilgiram, MEr MubErak. He taught there for years but throughout this time, he was based in the verandah of a certain noble of the town. verandah. 2 At the same time, the state was not negligent to matters of education. Kings as well as local Nawabs and other well-to-do people considered it an act of virtue to build maktabs, madrasahs and to support teachers and students. We find a network of such institutions; oneman schools as well as larger more organized affairs; scattered throughout the length and breadth 9 Hundreds came and studied from him but he continued to operate from that Ibid. , 24. Khaliq Ahmad Nizami, Some Aspects of Religion & Politics in India during the 13th century, (Bomba y: Asia Publishing, 1961), 152-156. 1 It should be noted that madrasah refers to an institute which offers a comprehensive multi-year course in Islamic studies. It is different from a maktab which refers to part-time schools that offer basic instruction in reading the Qur’an and basics of Islam. 12 GElEnE, 21. 10 of India. All three levels viz. elementary, secondary, higher, were catered for. However, no one level dominated in any one institution. Private houses were being used to provide basic elementary education but at the same time could be seen to provide advanced studies to those interested.In fact, this lack of bureaucratic uniformity was this system’s greatest strength. The system reflected the needs of the people. It accommodated the grassroots desires and ambitions of people regarding education. Thus, we find huge well-funded, well-organized madrasahs existing side by side with one man schools operating out of private houses. 13 The student had the liberty of choosing which teacher to study from. Problems of admissions and school discipline were rare. The focus was on the real thing: education; with very little squabbling over the means to acquire it.Muslim rulers also patronized scholars. Amongst the earliest examples is that of the famous theologian Fakhr al-DEn al-REzE (d. 1209). He was also a great philosopher and expert in many Islamic sciences. He was patronized by many rulers. Among these was ShihEb al-DEn GhaurE (1206), the founder of Muslim rule in India proper. It is reported about him that he had al-REzE stay in his camp wherever he went. Al- REzE was the official prayer leader and delivered sermons and lectures in the camp. 14 COURSE OF STUDY Muslims first reached India as conquerors in the beginning of the eighth century.The intellectual climate of their Arab homeland was extended to Sindh, the portion of India that had been conquered. At this stage we find an active participation of Sindh based scholars in the field of Iad Eth. Their names appear in the chains of transmission of aIEdEth that were later on recorded by other IadEth masters. Some of their names and works have also been mentioned by ‘Abd al-? ayy al-? asanE in his al-ThaqEfah al-IslEmiyyah fi al-Hind. 15 However, this period lasted for only four centuries and Muslim rule was confined to Sindh and Multan (southern Punjab).Beginning towards the end of the tenth century, Muslims began to enter India from the North-West in successive waves, each time extending their territories even further towards North and Central India. Along with each invading army, and on 13 14 Ibid. MuIammad ShafE‘, FutEI al-Hind, (Karachi: IdErat al-Ma‘Erif, 2002), 60-61. 15 ‘Abd al-? ayy al-? asanE, al-ThaqEfah al-IslEmiyyah fi al-Hind, (Damascus: Mujamma‘ al-Lugha al-‘Arabiyyah bi Dimashq, 1983), 135. their own as well, came ‘ulamE and Sufis. Both had a role to play in the spread of Islamic knowledge in India.Major cities in the newly acquired territories quickly turned into centers of learning. Initially, Multan, then Lahore and finally Delhi became the pre-eminent centre of learning in North India. 16 This second period starting from the end of the tenth century lasted until the last quarter of the fifteenth century. During this time, India benefited enormously from an otherwise unmitigated disaster. The Mongol hordes that ravaged Central Asia, Afghanistan and Khorasan forced many of the scholarly families based there to migrate to other countries. India was the top destination for them.Not a day passed but a noteworthy scholar would arrive in Delhi with camel loads of books. The Indian rulers were fully aware of the worth of the newcomers. They made them feel extremely welcome. Every newcomer was given a post or a stipend or an estate to support himself and his family. Thus, the nascent Muslim community of North India benefitted from a continuous supply of scholars and books. During this period, the education system in North India consisted of three stages: At the first stage, as has been the practice throughout Muslim history in all Islamic lands, a child’s education began with the Qur’an.Each locality had teachers who specialized in tajwEd, the art of recitation of the Qur’an. It is mentioned about Ni? Em al-DEn AwliyE (d. 1325), the great Chishti Sufi saint of Delhi, that he started his education in his hometown, Badaun. This began with learning how to read the Qur’an. His teacher was a freed slave who had converted from Hinduism to Islam and knew the seven major recitations of the Qur’an. 17 After Qur’an, students would normally move on to Persian, the official language of the country. Most of the major works of Persian prose and poetry were studied. These included the works of major writers such as Sa‘dE, ? Efi? SalmEn SaojE, AnwarE, and others. 18 The education of the general population normally stopped at this level. Howeve r, it seems reasonable to assume that some elementary Arabic was also taught at this stage because the students were expected to understand the Arabic phrases that were often used in Persian books and regular conversation. We also find 16 17 Ibid. , 9-10. GElEnE, 139. Also cited by Nizami in KhalEq AImad Ni? EmE, IslEmE TehzEb kE Asar HindustEn par, (Lucknow, Majlis TehqEqEt-o-NashriEt-e-IslEm, 1982), 42. 18 GElEnE, 141. people with only basic education being able to freely quote from the Qur’an and Prophetic traditions. 9 The second stage was dedicated to an intensive study of the Arabic language as well as fiqh. Some of the books taught at this stage included: KEfiyah and MufaIIal for Arabic grammar; and MukhtaIar al-QudErE and Majma‘ al-BaIrayn for HanafE fiqh (Jurisprudence). Later on, MufaIIal gave way to SharI JEmE and SharI WiqEyah replaced Majma‘ al-BaIrayn. 20 Education up to this level was considered sufficient for those wanting to engage in teaching, pr eaching, etc. and entitled one to be called a dEnishmand (wise man) or a mawlawE. Studies at this level would correspond to the fourth year of study in the present-day eight year Dars-eNi?EmE. In the third stage, also called faIElat, advanced books of each science were studied. These included al-KashshEf and MadErik al-TanzEl for tafsEr (Qur’anic Exegesis), MishkEt al-MaIEbEI and MashEriq al-AnwEr for IadEth, al-HidEyah for HanafE fiqh, and UIEl al-BazdawE for uIEl alfiqh (principles of jurisprudence). Along with these, major works in the various branches of balEghah (rhetoric) were also studied. The one who completed this stage was called a fEIil. As can be seen from this brief outline, rational sciences and kalEm (dialectics) were not paid much attention in the regular curriculum.Only a few basic texts of logic and kalEm such as al-QuIbE and SharI al-OaIE’if were studied. 21 In fact, the general attitude amongst the ‘ulamE towards these is best summed up in thi s statement of FatEwE al-TEtErkhEniyah, a fatwE collection compiled during the fourteenth century: The issues of ‘ilm al-kalEm lead to new dissentions (fitnahs) and innovations and cause deterioration of faith; (and) the ones who normally engage in it are either less-intelligent or are seeking to dominate rather than seeking the truth. 2 This all changed towards the end of the fifteenth century and the beginning of the sixteenth century. During this third period which lasted until the beginning of the eighteenth century, logic, philosophy, and kalEm got new impetus. At this time, many students of SharEf JurjEnE and Sa‘d al-DEn TaftEzEnE moved to India and brought with them new books on grammar, 19 20 21 22 Al-Nadvi & Moinuddin, 4. Ibid. , 5. GElEnE, 151. Ibid. , 155. rhetoric, kalEm and fiqh. 23 Later, FatIullEh ShErEzE came to India from Iran and brought with him works of DawwEnE, MullE OadrE and MirzE JEn.These works were readily accepted by Indians and before long the se became part and parcel of the curriculum. 24 Again during this period, purpose built institutions existed side by side with individualized private instruction. The fourth period can be said to have begun from the early part of eighteenth century lasting until the founding of DEr al-‘UlEm at Deoband in 1866. This period is characterized by the presence of two very important personalities. Each of them contributed to education in his own way. One is ShEh WalE AllEh of Delhi and the other is Ni? Em al-DEn SihElvE of Lucknow (d. 1748).WalE AllEh focused on the teaching of IadEth especially the OiIEI Sittah (the six major collections of IadEth viz. OaIEI al-BukhErE, OaIEI Muslim, JEmi‘ al-TirmidhE, Sunan AbE DEwEd, Sunan al-NisE’E and Sunan Ibn MEjah) and al-MuwaIItE of MElik ibn Anas. Later on, WalE AllEh’s son ShEh ‘Abd al-‘AzEz, operating from his base in Delhi, helped to popularize it throughout India. SihElvE, based at FarangE Mahal in Luckno w, focused on developing a comprehensive curriculum which came to be called Dars-e-Ni? EmE, after him. SihElvE focused more on the ma‘qElEt (rational sciences) and fiqh than on the manqElEt (transmitted sciences).In fact, an examination of this curriculum shows that it included ten books on logic, five on dialectics and three on philosophy while only a portion from two works of tafsEr and one book of IadEth were studied. 25 This curriculum proved extremely popular because of its ability to prepare students for independent study. Even the ShE‘ites of Lucknow came to the Sunni school of FarangE Mahal to study because of the reputation of this curriculum at producing well-rounded and rational, educated individuals. Although, our period of research ends here, however, let us state this much.WalE AllEh’s curriculum and SihElvE’s curriculum represented two extremes in their emphasis upon the transmitted and the rational sciences, respectively. Quite a number of p eople took advantage of both the curricula but there was still no single unified curriculum. That came about with the founding of the DEr al-‘UlEm at Deoband in 1866. The curriculum adopted at DEr al-‘UlEm, although still referred to as Dars-e-Ni? EmE, was a combination of the two. On the one hand, rational sciences were studied in almost as much detail as SihElvE had envisaged; and on the 23 24 25Al-Nadvi, 6. Ibid. , 7. Al-Nadvi & Moinuddin, 10. other hand, WalE AllEh’s emphasis on IadEth was also incorporated so that during the last year of study, the OiIEI Sittah, as well as the SharI Ma‘EnE al-OthEr of al-UaIEwE, and the al-MuwaIIEs of MElik and MuIammad al-ShaybEnE were studied in their totality. INDIAN ‘ULAMO AND ? ADOTH The prevalent idea among the vast majority of Indo-Pakistani ‘ulamE is that IadEth was historically a neglected science in India. It was only with the coming of WalE AllEh that this changed.The unique position that WalE All Eh occupies in Indian Muslim intellectual history has meant that his supporters tend to sideline the important contributions made by others before him and during his time. Regarding the contributions of Indian ‘ulamE to IadEth, we have to keep Indian history in perspective. Muslims came to regard India proper (Sindh & Multan being the exception) as their home only after the coming to power of QuIb al-DEn Aybak in 1206. Indian Muslims’ contributions should be examined keeping this in mind. By this time, all the major works of IadEth had already been compiled.It was too late for Indians to form part of al-BukhErE’s chain of transmitters. They could not have taken part in the formative period of the IadEth sciences. Sindh, which was Islamized earlier on, did take part in these activities and was the exception. Later Indians, however, engaged in those pursuits that were still possible. They compiled newer collections based upon the original collections. They learned the IadEth sciences, memorized texts with their chains and taught these to others. In this regard, a prominent example is that of ? asan al-OaghEnE al-HindE (d. 1252).He was the Indian ambassador to the Abbasid court in Baghdad. Upon orders of the then Abbasid caliph al-MustanIir BillEh, he compiled MashEriq al-AnwEr, a collection of 2246 aIEdEth from the two OaIEIs of BukhErE and Muslim. The caliph himself studied this book from him. For many centuries after that, this book was an integral part of the curriculum of Islamic madrasahs. Numerous commentaries were written on it by ‘ulamE in Egypt, Iraq, Syria and Hijaz. It was held in such high esteem that Sultan MuIammad ibn Tughlaq is reported to have placed it side by side with the Qur’an while taking oath of allegiance from his officers. 6 26 Muhammad Ishaq, India’s Contribution to the Study of Hadith Literature, (Dhaka, University of Dacca, 1976), 218-221. There are many other examples from each of the succeedi ng centuries as well as some from the previous ones which show that learning IadEth and teaching it to others was very much a part of the educational system. There was IsmE‘El MuIaddith (d. 1056) who was based in Lahore and had dedicated himself to teaching the various Islamic sciences including IadEth. 27 Then there were Shaykh BahlEl of Delhi and MuftE MuIammad of Lahore, both from the time of Akbar (c. ixteenth century). Both were well-known for their expertise in IadEth. 28 MuftE MuIammad used to teach OaIEI BukhErE and MishkEt al-MaIEbEI. Also from the sixteenth century is MEr MurtazE SharEfE, the grandson of SharEf JurjEnE. He left Shiraz to go to Makkah and learned IadEth from ibn ? ajar al-MakkE and got ijEzah (permission/license) from him to teach it to others. He came to settle down in Agra and passed away during the reign of Akbar. 29 Then there was ? Efi? DarEz PeshEwarE who had learned IadEth from his mother. This lady had written a commentary on OaIEI BukhErE in Persian. 0 Moreover, it is mentioned about MuIammad Farrukh, the grandson of AImad Sirhindi, that he had memorized 70,000 aIEadEth along with their chains and texts and their strengths and weaknesses. 31 This devotion to IadEth was not confined to North India alone. Gujarat in western India is situated opposite the Arabian Peninsula and therefore, has enjoyed a closer relationship with the Arab peninsula from the beginning. Prominent ‘ulamE such as ‘AlE MuttaqE (d. c. 1568) and his students MuIammad ibn UEhir PatnE (d. 1578) and ‘Abd al-WahhEb al-MuttaqE (d. 1592) were in the forefront in the science of IadEth.They flourished in Gujarat and Makkah and from there, their influence extended to various parts of the world. In Delhi, ’Abd al-WahhEb’s student ‘Abd al-? aqq (d. 1642) was active in disseminating IadEth. He wrote important commentaries on the major works of IadEth. He was followed by his son NEr al-? aqq, who similarly, was quite active i n serving the IadEth sciences. In South India, we find the sixteenth century scholar BhikErE KEkorvE who wrote a book on the principles of IadEth, titled al-MinhEj. 32 In Zaidpur in eastern India, MawlEnE ‘Abd al27 28 Ishaq, 45-46.GElEnE, 129. 29 Ishaq, 99. 30 GElEnE, 130. For more information about women muIaddithEt (traditionists) throughout Muslim history, see Akram Nadvi’s up-coming 40 volume work al-Muhaddithat: Women Scholars in Islam. Its one volume introduction (muqaddimah) has recently been published by Interfaith Publications, UK. 31 GElEnE, 128. 32 Ishaq, 124. Awwal (d. 1560) had written a commentary on OaIEI BukhErE, titled FayI al-BErE. 33 Even OzEd, more famous for the historical works that he wrote, had written a commentary on OaIEI BukhErE, titled Oaw’ al-OarErE. 4 In Kashmir, there was MullE InEyat AllEh KashmErE (d. 1713). He had taught OaIEI BukhErE thirty six times. 35 And then in the nineteenth century, we find RaImat AllEh IlEhabEdE who had memorized the six books of IadEth (OiIEI Sittah). 36 The rulers also took active part in patronizing IadEth sciences. It is mentioned about Sultan MaImEd ShEh (d. 1397) of the South Indian Bahmani kingdom that he had set aside special stipends for the scholars of IadEth so that they could stay engaged in their scholarly pursuits without having to worry about earning their living. 37Sufis and Knowledge Sufis enjoy perhaps the worst reputation in Islamic scholarly circles. Much of this stems from the behavior and statements of ignorant Sufis. This then leads to a blanket condemnation of all Sufis including the classical giants of taIawwuf. Historical evidence points in a different direction. It would be helpful to consider here the case of some Sufis and their attitudes towards education. In fact, in the second half of the thirteenth century, Delhi saw the founding of the khEnqEh of the famous Chishti saint, Ni? Em al-DEn AwliyE. Not only had Ni?Em al-DEn studied the above-mentioned M ashEriq al-AnwEr from cover to cover but also knew the entire collection by heart. 38 The best source of information about him is his utterances (malfE? Et) that were recorded by his disciple AmEr ? asan SijzE (d. 1336) in his famous work FawE’id al-Fu’Ed. 39 Even a cursory glance at this collection will show that Ni? Em al-DEn had a thorough understanding of IadEth and fiqh. And this in spite of the fact that he was busy training his Sufi disciples and did not have time to be actively involved in the intellectual life of Delhi. Another incident is worth considering.It is mentioned about a certain AkhE SirEj who had moved at a young age from his native Lakhnauti to Delhi to benefit from Ni? Em al-DEn. He lived in Ni? Em al-DEn’s khEnqEh for many years. Once, someone recommended his name to 33 34 Ibid. , 122. Ibid, 163. 35 Ishaq, 160 and GElEnE, 128. 36 GElEnE, 128. 37 Ibid. , 134 and Ishaq, 103. 38 GElEnE, 119. See Nizami, Some Aspects†¦, 347 for the ijEzat nEmah (license to teach) that Ni? Em al-DEn received from his teacher after completing MashEriq al-AnwEr. 39 AmEr ? asan SijzE, FawE’id al-Fu’Ed, translated from Persian into Urdu by ZiyE-ul-? san FErEqE, (New Delhi: DK Printworld, 1996). Ni? Em al-DEn for successorship. Ni? Em al-DEn replied that SirEj was not educated and therefore, not qualified to be a successor. Upon this, one of the scholar disciples of Ni? Em al-DEn, MawlEnE Fakhr al-DEn ZarrEdE volunteered to teach SirEj and fulfill this important condition for him. He accomplished this in six months. 40 This shows the erudition and skill of ZarrEdE as well as the acumen of SirEj to learn. Above all, this incident shows the central importance that Sufis gave to education.One could argue that the sources for all such incidents are hagiographical accounts whose sole purpose is to glorify the personality of the person being written about. Even if we were to accept this charge, although there is enough reason not to, even then, the fact that the biographers considered acquisition of knowledge to be praiseworthy shows the status of knowledge and education in the Muslim society of that time. AVAILABILITY OF BOOKS The scarcity of books in India before the coming of the press has been made quite an issue of.Some historians, as evidence of this claim, have cited an incident involving WalE AllEh’s son, ShEh ‘Abd al-‘AzEz. It is reported that when ‘Abd al-‘AzEz began writing his Persian commentary on the Qur’an (FatI al-‘AzEz), he could not even find al-TafsEr al-KabEr of al-REzE. 41 After a desperate search, he finally found it in the library at the Royal Palace in Delhi. This is hard to believe. All of ‘Abd al-‘AzEz works have come down to us. We find him referring directly to classical works of ShEfi‘E, AbE YEsuf (the main student of AbE ? anEfah), al-GhazzElE, Ibn ? azm, Ibn Taymiyyah, etc.Some of these works were hard to find even a fter coming of the press. It is reasonable to assume that someone who had access to such rare works would also have had access to al-REzE’s work. Even if the incident was to be considered true, it cannot be taken to be representative of a general trend. It appears as an exception rather than the rule. Moreover, GElEnE has cited an incident involving OzEd’s teacher, MEr Tufayl. OzEd writes that once MEr Tufayl went to see the Nawab of Agra. There, a debate ensued about certain linguistic aspects of the Qur’anic verse â€Å"and for those who have the power† (2:184).According to OzEd even for this relatively minor issue, most major works of tafsEr, including al-REzE’s al- 40 41 Ni? EmE, IslEmE TehzEb†¦, 43. GElEnE, 38. TafsEr al-KabEr, al-KashshEf, BayIEwE, and other books of language and rhetoric were consulted. 42 MullE MuIib AllEh BihErE (d. 1707) is a prominent scholar who flourished during Awrangzeb’s (d. 1707) reign. He is the author of Musallam al-ThubEt, a famous work on the principles of jurisprudence (uIEl al-fiqh). A manuscript of the author’s marginalia on this work is available online. 43 In this, he mentions the books that he consulted while writing this book.The list includes all the major works of uIEl of each of the Sunni schools viz. UIEl al-BazdawE, UIEl al-SarkhasE, Kashf al-BazdawE, Kashf al-ManEr, al-BadE‘ along with its commentaries, alTawIEI wa al-TalwEI, al-TaIrEr along with its commentaries al-TaqrEr and al-TaysEr, al-MaIIEl of al-REzE, al-IIkEm of al-OmidE, QaIE’s MukhtaIar along with its various glosses, SharI of alAbharE, SharI of TaftEzEnE, gloss of FEzil MirzE JEn, al-RudEd, al-‘UnqEd, al-MinhEj of alBayIEwE along with its commentary, MukhtaIar of ibn al-? Ejib and Muntaha al-UIEl. This is an exhaustive list.If these books were available to someone working in Bihar, it is quite reasonable to assume that they would have been available in the capital Delhi as wel l. In fact, not only were books easily available during the period under study, rather it was not such a major issue. There are two important reasons for that. Firstly, there was always a professional group of copyists in each locality who were called warrEq (scribe) or nussEkh (copyist). They kept track of all the books available in their area as well as other cities and upon demand they could quickly make copies of the desired book. 4 Secondly, amongst the general educated public most people could write quite fast. About the first contention, the following incident is quite telling. ‘Abd al-QEdir BadEyEnE (d. 1625) was an accomplished scholar and man of letters who was attached to Akbar’s court. Although working under Akbar, he had become thoroughly disgusted with Akbar’s eclecticism. Even though an officially approved history of Akbar’s reign had been written by Abul Fazl titled Akbar NEmah, BadEyEnE felt that the record needed to be set 42 43 Ibid. , 5 7. MuIib AllEh BihErE, ?Eshiyat Musallam al-ThubEt, MS. Or. 350, p. 1, University of Leipzig Library, downloaded from â€Å"UIEl al-Fiqh wa al-QawE‘id al-Fiqhiyyah,† al-MuIIafE min al-MakhIEIEt al-‘Arabiyyah wa alIslEmiyyah, %20 %20 %20 accessed 16 August, 2010). 44 During the period under study, copyrights violation was not an issue. There was no legal hindrance to making copies of other people’s books. Today, the opinion is divided among traditional scholars regarding copyrights. Some insist that they have no basis in Islamic law.Others approve of them. For a sampling, see NEh ? E MEm Keller, â€Å"Copyrights in Islam,† Shadhili Teachings, (accessed 17 August, 2010). right. So, in secret, he wrote his historical work titled Muntakhab at-TawErEkh, in which he showed the darker side of Akbar’s reign. He could not make it public during his own lifetime for fear of severe official reaction. After his death, some copyists got hold of it and befo re long its copies were to be found all over the country. By this time, JahEngEr, the son of Akbar, had ascended the throne.He tried to ban the book. However, in spite of his absolutist powers, JahEngEr could not take this book out of circulation. Every now and then, a report would be received that this book was seen in this town or that city. 45 This can be reasonably attributed to the easy availability of copyists who made sure that they had access to books that people wanted. In fact, this also explains the slow spread of the press in India. The effective system of copyists had relieved people of the need for a printing press. About the second contention, i. e. the writing speed of educated people, let us present some incidents. OzEd has mentioned about a certain scholar Shaykh KamEl: Text books of Iarf (morphology), naIw (syntax), manIiq (logic), Iikmah (philosophy), ma‘EnE, bayEn, fiqh, uIEl, and tafsEr, all of these, he copied with his own hand. And for every book, he wr ote its gloss in such a way that the text did not require the commentary anymore and the commentary did not require the text anymore. 46 Regarding Shaykh NEgaurE, the father of Abul Fazl and FayzE, OzEd writes, â€Å"He wrote 500 volumes with his own hands. 47 Similarly, it is mentioned in the account of a certain Shaykh Junayd ? isErE that he could copy the whole Qur’an in three days and that too with the diacritical marks. 48 To close this topic, let us mention what ‘Abd al-WahhEb MuttaqE has mentioned regarding his teacher ‘AlE MuttaqE. This has been quoted by ‘Abd al-WahhEb’s student ‘Abd al? aq DehlavE in his AkhbEr al-AkhyEr. ‘AlE MuttaqE had moved to Makkah and was the foremost scholar of that city. ‘Abd al-WahhEb mentions about him that he had a habit of copying 45 46 47 48 GElEnE, 59. Ibid. , 62. Ibid. Ibid. , 63. mportant books and sending them out to all those regions where such books were unlikely to be found and people would need them. Writing books was a religious vocation for him. 49 CONCLUSION A systematic study of Islamic intellectual heritage (of India as well as the rest of the Muslim world) is essential for a better understanding of Islamic Civilization. In the preceding account, we have tried to give a glimpse of the educational system of historical Muslim India. This is just a preliminary study. The abundance of historical evidence seems to suggest a very well- organized and organic system of education.Madrasahs, maktabs, mosques, private houses, all kinds of institutions existed in harmony. The options available to any sincere seeker of knowledge were many. Seeking knowledge and imparting it was a sacred exercise and not a commercial enterprise. The general attitude of the public towards knowledge and those who engaged in it was fundamental to the flourishing of this system. General interest in the various Islamic sciences meant that all segments of the population participated in the cul tivation and dissemination of Islamic sciences. Sufis thus placed high value on seeking a proper Islamic education.Similarly, Indian scholars paid close attention to the IadEth sciences. Many of them rose to become pre-eminent IadEth scholars known for their erudition throughout the Muslim world. Moreover, the curriculum that had evolved over the years maintained a healthy balance between the secular and the religious. There were differences in terms of emphasis on the rational vs. the transmitted sciences. However, the overall curriculum was still relatively holistic. In short, Muslim India matched the central lands of Islam in terms of its educational advancement and achievements. 49 See ‘Abd al-? qq DehlavE, AkhbEr al-AkhyEr, translated from Persian into Urdu by SubIEn MaImEd and MuIammad FEzil, (Karachi: MadEnah Publishing Company, n. d. ), 529. BIBLIOGRAPHY Al-BayhaqE, AbE Bakr AImad ibn al-? usayn. (1410 AH). Vol. 2, Shu‘ab al-OmEn [Branches of Faith]. BayrEt: DEr al-Kutub al-‘Ilmiyyah. BihErE, MuIib AllEh. ?Eshiyat Musallam al-ThubEt [Marginalia on the Flawless Evidence]. MS. Or. 350. University of Leipzig Library, downloaded from Usul al-Fiqh wa alQawa’id al-Fiqhiyyah [Principles of Jurisprudence and Legal Maxims], al-MuIIafE min al-MakhIEIEt al-‘Arabiyyah wa al-IslEmiyyah [Chosen Arabic and Islamic Manuscripts].Retrieved August 16, 2010. http://mostafamakhtot. blogspot. com/search/label/16%20 %20 %20 %20 DehlavE, ‘Abd al-? aqq. (n. d. ). AkhbEr al-AkhyEr [Reports of the Select]. (SubIEn MaImEd and MuIammad Fazil, Trans. ). Karachi: MadEnah Publishing Company. GElEnE, Sayyid ManE? ir AIsan. (n. d. ). PEk-o-Hind main MusalmEnon kE Ni? Em e Ta‘lEm-oTarbiyyat [The educational system of Muslims in Pakistan and India]. Lahore: Maktaba RaImEniyya. Al-? asanE, ‘Abd al-? ayy. (1983). Al-ThaqEfah al-IslEmiyyah fi al-Hind [Islamic Civilization in India].Damascus: Mujamma‘ al-Lugha al-‘Arabiyyah bi Dima shq. Jaffar, S. M. (1972). Education in Muslim India. Delhi: IdEra AdabiyyEt-e-DillE. Keller, NEh ? E MEm. (1997). Copyrights in Islam. Retrieved August 17, 2010. http://www. shadhiliteachings. com/tariq/? act=article&id=6. MubErakpErE, MuIammad ‘Abd al-RaImEn ibn ‘Abd al-RaIEm. (n. d. ). Vol. 7, TuIfat alAIwadhE bi SharI JEmi‘ al-TirmidhE [Gift of the Skilful, a commentary on JEmi‘ alTirmidhE]. Ed. ‘Abd al- RaImEn MuIammad ‘UthmEn. BayrEt: DEr al-Fikr. Muhammad Ishaq. (1976). India’s Contribution to the Study of Hadith Literature. Dhaka, University of Dacca.MuIammad ShafE‘. (2002). FutEI al-Hind [Conquests of India]. Karachi: IdErat al-Ma‘Erif. Al-Nadvi & Moinuddin, Survey of Muslim Education: India, (Cambridge: The Islamic Academy, 1985), 5. Nizami, Khaliq Ahmad. (1961). Some Aspects of Religion & Politics in India during the 13th century. Bombay: Asia Publishing. Ni? EmE, KhalEq AImad. (1982). IslEmE TehzEb kE Asar HindustEn par [The effect of Islamic Civilization on India]. Lucknow, Majlis TehqEqEt-o-NashriEt–e-IslEm. SijzE, AmEr ? asan. (1996). FawE’id al-Fu’Ed [Benefits of the Heart]. (ZiyE-ul-? asan FErEqE, Trans. ). New Delhi: DK Printworld.

Self Evaluation Essays

Self Evaluation Essays Self Evaluation Essay Self Evaluation Essay Self-Evaluation from Employee It’s easy to say you can use any performance review phrase, change it to â€Å"I† or â€Å"me† and be finished with your performance review – but it’s not always that simple. You want your phrases to be honest, accurate, but not too harsh. Phrases criticizing performance need to be well balanced. We’ve compiled a list of hundreds of self evaluation phrases you can use to complete your performance review and receive the high marks you deserve. We’ve separated the phrases by topical area, then by positive and needs improvement. Find the right balance to describe yourself and speed up your performance review paperwork. This is part 1 of a several part series on self evaluations. Self Evaluation Sample Templates Writing a great self evaluation during performance review time can be a difficult task. How exactly do I describe my performance in Training or Leadership? We’ve written 450 self evaluation paragraphs in 30 categories – by exceeds expectations, meets expectations, and below expectations. These paragraphs make completing the self evaluation easy – simply copy and paste into your document. This ebook is available for instant download for $18. 5. - Top of Form Bottom of Form Attendance and Punctuality Self Evaluation Positive Phrases I am a reliable employee who arrives on-time and leaves on-time. My break times are well planned and do not exceed the allotted time. I arrive each day fully prepared to tackle my responsibilities. I am reliable and do not have any attendance problems. I   ensure my team adheres to their lunch schedules and breaks. I meet all company standards for attendance and punctuality. I begin each day refreshed and ready for any challenges I will face. My attention to punctuality has paid off this year, I consistently arrive on time. I start and end meetings on time. I schedule time off well in advance. I am conscientious of others when scheduling time off. Attendance and Punctuality Needs Improvement Self Evaluation Phrases I am occasionally late for work and will improve this area by focusing on showing up on time each day. I need to improve showing up to work on time and keeping a normal work schedule. Over the next year, I’m going to improve meetings so they run to their prescribed time. Some of my breaks may run a little long, but I will improve my schedule. I will work on taking heavy traffic and weather into account for arrival time. I will continue to work on punctuality. Attitude Positive Self Evaluation Phrases I always try to keep a positive attitude, a smile on my face, and demonstrate how much I enjoy my job. I try to be cheerful to help those around me feel welcome and appreciated. I have an even demeanor through good times and bad. I do this to help others keep their â€Å"enthusiasm† – both positive and negative – in check. I have a calm personality to keep an even attitude. I bring a high level of enthusiasm to my job. I try to always set a good example for the team and be here when they need a lift. I maintain a positive mind-set. Even though we have difficult situations and decisions to make, I maintain a positive outlook. I maintain a positive attitude. I like to build trust with my team by being a positive force on the team, congratulating high performers on successes, and working with those that need assistance to improve. Attitude Needs Improvement Self Evaluation Phrases At times, I can be brisk and to the point. I don’t mean to offer a negative impression, but sometimes I am very focused on the work at hand. Due to the demanding nature of our business, my team may at times think I am insensitive, but we have to get the job done, on time, and on budget. I am working to improve how I deal with others and customers. Though some may struggle with my personality, I believe I effectively use it to manage my employees. Communication Positive Self Evaluation Phrases I keep managers and coworkers informed of my work progress. I report all necessary information to my coworkers. I am excellent at keeping written information about my assignments and projects. One of my strengths is the use of candor and effective communication with my employees. One of my core strengths is the ability to immediately connect with someone. I am a very competent communicator. I clearly communicates with my employees and they understand my expectations. I am clearly good at communication as evidenced by my effectiveness in resolving customer problems. At first, communication was not my strongest attribute. However, after a lot of work, I have become a very good communicator. Communication Needs Improvement Self Evaluation Phrases Though some may believe I withhold information from my co-workers, I provide all information as required. My written communication is great, but I need to improve my verbal communication skills. My verbal communication skills are very good, but I need to work on my written communication skills. I believe I effectively communicate with my fellow team members, but I must improve communication with my management team. Communication is a weakness which I know I must improve. Creativity and Innovation Positive Self Evaluation Phrases My ability to change direction when required is an asset to the team. I am an innovator at heart – my skill at inspiring new ideas adds a lot to the team. I have an imaginative personality and am very resourceful in times of need. I have a creative touch in a sometimes normal role within our team. I add an artistic flair to everything I produce which makes my projects much more fun than most. When a major problem arises, I use creative problem solving to look at different sides of an issue I think outside the box when crafting solutions. I demonstrate a key ability to craft creative solutions to problems. I show ingenuity when facing difficult situations. Whenever we need a fresh look at a problem, I try to provide a novel perspective. I don’t rely on common methods to solve a problem, but address each situation with a innovative viewpoint. I constantly search for new ideas and ways to improve efficiency. I create an exciting atmosphere for his team: one in which new ideas are rewarded and encouraged. Creativity and Innovation Needs Improvement Self Evaluation Phrases I find at times that I am more practical than creative in many aspects of my job. Over the next year, I plan on working to improve my imagination at work to think more creatively. Innovation is not at the heart of what I do – I am more of a task oriented person. There are times when creative solutions are just not called for, but I have a creative mind and have a tendency to go there immediately. Sometimes I have difficulty thinking outside of the box and creating innovative solutions. I plan on improving innovation this year by seeking out new opinions and ideas. I have a tendency to ask for help from other people more frequently than researching potential solutions and fixes. Customer Satisfaction Positive Self Evaluation Phrases I take great pride in my work with our clients. I skillfully overcome client objections. I consistently receive high marks on my customer satisfaction surveys. I understand the latitude to ensure customer satisfaction and do everything necessary to retain customers. I am able to handle clients well. I am very good at keeping happy customers and successfully up selling them at the same time. I deal with customer complaints with a calm demeanor. I am very good at handling difficult situations with customers. I work with customers very well. I am very good at dealing with irate customers in a calm and rational manner. I believe no problem is too big that cannot be solved with care and understanding. I listen to our customers and resolves their problems in an agreeable manner. I understand how to listen to customers and extract those details which make a big difference when dealing with our clients. Customer Satisfaction Needs Improvement Self Evaluation Phrases Sometimes, I do not follow up with customers quickly enough. Though I have some low marks on customer satisfaction surveys, I am working to improve those scores. I continue to work on improving my ability to overcome customer objections. I understand the importance of customer service training, though I do believe I’ve received enough training to be successful. I am much better about handling telephone customer service than in person situations.