Educational Goals and Philosophy :: Education Teaching Teachers Essays

Educational Goals and Philosophy I have many reasons for choosing education. The first reason would have to be that I love being around children. I like to watch them get excited about new things that they learn and see their eyes light up when something really amazes them. The second reason is that my mother is a teacher. I have seen her in class with her students and how they have so much respect for her. I also have much respect for her because I know teaching isn’t easy and there has not been a day in her teaching career that I haven’t seen her amaze the students or me for that matter. I just hope that one day maybe I can be as good of a teacher as her. My last reason is that I hope to make learning fun and exciting for students. When I was a student in grade school I had a teacher that didn’t use any special teaching methods or manipulatives and that class was boring for me. One year I had a teacher that used many exciting activities, such as, treasure hunts to make learning fun. I learned a lot from that teacher and was very excited about what I learned. During my observation experience I noticed that the classroom environment helps to enhance student’s learning. From this experience I would like to display projects that I did at that grade level to motivate my students and encourage them with their work. I would also like to hang pictures and have sculptures that would be fun and educational for them at their level. For example, if I would teach fourth through sixth grade, I would use fossils and skeletons for their learning experience with science. I could also use pictures of famous places for learning history like The Eiffel Tower, The Leaning Tower of Pisa, Big Ben, The Taj Mahal, The Great Pyramids, The Sphinx, Stonehenge, etc. I believe that classroom management is as important as classroom environment when it comes toward contributing to children’s learning. From my experience, I feel that if a teacher uses only negative discipline then he/she has a repugnant affect on students, which causes the student not to reach their potential. In my classroom, I plan to use both positive and negative forms of discipline, so that good behavior will be rewarded and students will remember and be motivated toward proper behavior. Educational Goals and Philosophy :: Education Teaching Teachers Essays Educational Goals and Philosophy I have many reasons for choosing education. The first reason would have to be that I love being around children. I like to watch them get excited about new things that they learn and see their eyes light up when something really amazes them. The second reason is that my mother is a teacher. I have seen her in class with her students and how they have so much respect for her. I also have much respect for her because I know teaching isn’t easy and there has not been a day in her teaching career that I haven’t seen her amaze the students or me for that matter. I just hope that one day maybe I can be as good of a teacher as her. My last reason is that I hope to make learning fun and exciting for students. When I was a student in grade school I had a teacher that didn’t use any special teaching methods or manipulatives and that class was boring for me. One year I had a teacher that used many exciting activities, such as, treasure hunts to make learning fun. I learned a lot from that teacher and was very excited about what I learned. During my observation experience I noticed that the classroom environment helps to enhance student’s learning. From this experience I would like to display projects that I did at that grade level to motivate my students and encourage them with their work. I would also like to hang pictures and have sculptures that would be fun and educational for them at their level. For example, if I would teach fourth through sixth grade, I would use fossils and skeletons for their learning experience with science. I could also use pictures of famous places for learning history like The Eiffel Tower, The Leaning Tower of Pisa, Big Ben, The Taj Mahal, The Great Pyramids, The Sphinx, Stonehenge, etc. I believe that classroom management is as important as classroom environment when it comes toward contributing to children’s learning. From my experience, I feel that if a teacher uses only negative discipline then he/she has a repugnant affect on students, which causes the student not to reach their potential. In my classroom, I plan to use both positive and negative forms of discipline, so that good behavior will be rewarded and students will remember and be motivated toward proper behavior.

Business Strategies Success of McDonald

Social responsibility is the concept that business is part of the larger society in which it exists and must therefore act in a way that not only advances the firm, but also serves the society. More than ever firms are being challenged to integrate social responsibilities in to their operations. Many firms now believe that social responsibility to be a lot more than granting money to community groups or volunteering their time to organizations – although these are both important ways that firms support the community. Today, business leaders recognize that a commitment to corporate social responsibility can provide distinct advantage in attracting and retaining employees, dealing with suppliers and regulators, strengthening customer relationships and providing positive returns for investors. Let us take a look at some of the social responsibility issues and analyze how businesses are showing their social responsibility. Around the world there are lots of environmental concerns that challenge companies to be better global citizens. Leading companies know that taking a strong role in protecting the environment improves the efficiency of operations and saves money, making a positive impact on business partners, customers and investors. Let us see how socially responsible companies are responding to the environmental concerns. Delphi Automotive Systems is dedicated to protecting human health, natural resources and the global environment. For Delphi, a commitment to environmental management is a critical business strategy. Delphi has certified 15 of its global manufacturing sites under ISO 14001, a global standard that recognizes facilities that have systems in place to proactively manage and reduce their environmental impact. The company is working toward earning this certification for all 168 of its manufacturing facilities around the world over the next three years. John Jaffurs, director, Delphi environmental services, states, â€Å"We want to formally integrate our environmental management into the goals of the business. Delphi is using ISO 14001 and other tools as a means of creating a total environmental management system. This will allow us to integrate operational environmental issues directly into future planning. † Delphi's involvement in reducing the automobile's environmental impact began more than 30 years ago with the introduction of the first catalytic converters. Delphi works to reduce emissions, increase fuel economy, decrease vehicle mass and enhance the recyclability of its products. Delphi also believes that the reduction or elimination of materials can go far in helping the environment. Delphi's E-STEER Electric Power Steering reduces the number of seals and totally eliminates the power steering fluid, hoses and pump from the power steering system. In 1995, 75 percent of all cars sold (approximately 27 million) were equipped with traditional power steering and carried an estimated 40 million liters of hydraulic fluid. This new technology can result in a significant reduction in raw materials, which means less material to recycle or dispose after the life of the product. E-STEER also reduces energy demand by up to 80 percent, resulting in improved fuel economy and reduced vehicle emissions. E-STEER received the 1999 PACE (Premier Automotive Suppliers' Contribution of Excellence) award from Automotive News and Ernst & Young LLP, which recognizes automobile suppliers who have excelled in adapting and reinventing their companies and their products to meet the growing demands of their customers — the world's major automotive manufacturers. E-STEER is just one example of the many innovative product technologies Delphi can offer to provide environmental solutions to its customers. According to the American Lung Association, motor vehicle emissions account for approximately 77 ercent of the carbon monoxide (CO), more than 35. 6 percent of the volatile organic compounds (including hydrocarbons) and around 45 percent of the nitrogen oxides (NOx) in our nation's air. With this in mind, car manufacturers like GM, Ford and Honda are now producing and marketing cleaner-burning cars powered by electricity, alternate fuels or a combination of the two. Environmentalists like to refer to these as â€Å"green cars† because they represent an environmentally responsible way to travel in style. Politicians, on the other hand, have begun to see the potential for addressing larger issues. Earlier this year, Representative Robert T. Matsui (D-CA) introduced legislation that would give up to $5,000 per year in consumer tax credits to people with green cars. With this in mind, GM came up with its environment friendly â€Å"EV1†, Ford with its â€Å"Ranger† and Honda with its â€Å"Insight†. The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), the nation's largest electricity producer, has announced that it will begin test-marketing alternative energy sources as early as next year. As phase one of the TVA's Green Power Program, the test will utilize wind, solar and landfill gas energy sources to generate roughly three to six megawatts of power. Eight distributors, representing all seven of the Tennessee Valley Public Power Association's districts, have agreed to participate in the test. If the test is successful, TVA customers could see full-scale implementation by the end of 2003. The Green Power Program is the first of its kind in the Southeast. In related news, the TVA received word June 18 that the Department of Energy (DOE) has approved a proposal from the Virginia Alliance for Solar Electricity (VASE) to provide matching funding for the Green Power Program. The TVA's marketing plan for Green Power represents the fruits of an alternate energy initiative that began in January 1998. At that time, the TVA solicited and received 22 proposals for adding renewable electricity generators to its energy production facilities. Initial research also revealed that 84 percent of TVA customers favored a green power option. In the fall of 1998, the TVA held seven public forums that further confirmed the need for a Green Power. Participants included several members of the environmental community, utility executives, energy experts, healthcare organizations and representatives from citizens' groups. After the forums, the TVA formed the â€Å"multi-interest team† that was eventually responsible for the 2000 test-marketing plan. As the association of U. S. shareholder-owned electric utilities, Edison Electric Institute (EEI) works with key stakeholder groups, including regulators, legislators and member companies, to achieve environmental excellence. EEI's Climate Challenge program is a voluntary effort created in partnership with the Department of Energy in response to concerns about global climate change, says spokesman Jim Owen. To date, more than 600 electric utilities participate in the program, which means they have pledged to sequester or avoid 170 million metric tons of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in the year 2000. This is more than four times the original goal established by the government in 1993. While some Climate Challenge efforts are undertaken by individual utilities, there are five industry-wide initiatives in place as well. These include Envirotech Investment Funds, which provide venture capital for emerging renewable technologies; the Utility Forest Carbon Management program, which funds tree planting and forest management projects; the National Earth Comfort Program, which promotes geothermal heat pumps; EV America, which introduces electric vehicles into the marketplace; and International Utility Efficiency Partner-ships, which support joint projects with foreign utilities and governments to provide efficiency of new or existing power systems. According to the Department of Energy's Energy Information Administration, electric utilities represent almost 85 percent of the voluntary actions to reduce, avoid or sequester greenhouse gases. In addition, electric utilities have made significant progress in restoring aquatic habitats, protecting endangered species and generating renewable energy, says Owen Bridging the gap between school and work is another critical link that companies are focusing on. The national organization Jobs for the Future (JFF) was founded in 1983 to help prepare tomorrow's workforce and smooth the transition from school to work. Ford†s Contribution in developing tomorrow's workforce Ford Foundation, is an initiative that seeks to create a measurable increase in jobs, wealth, services and other community infrastructure through increased corporate involvement in community economic development. JFF works with the initiative's many partners, whose collective experience and expertise cover community and economic development, national and international business and education to achieve these goals. One of JFF's major corporate partners is the Ford Motor Company. The two organizations have developed a relationship in which they exchange expertise and experience that allow both to enhance their individual programs. â€Å"In today's rapidly changing economy, schools alone cannot effectively prepare young people for a successful future,† explains Hilary Pennington, president of Jobs for the Future. â€Å"Academic standards are only part of the equation. Young people need the chance to apply what they've learned to new situations, and what happens in the real world is hard to simulate in school. We try to build partnerships between companies and schools to give kids opportunities to expand their learning experience. The Ford program is a splendid example of this type of partnership. † Ford has created several innovative education initiatives that â€Å"are helping us create a pipeline — for employees and suppliers, as well as a consumer base for our products,† says Renee Lerche, director, workforce development, Ford Motor Company. For example, the Ford Academy of Manufacturing Sciences (FAMS) is an academic- and work-based program in public high schools. The program's goals are to provide students the opportunity to learn science, math, technology and communications skills in real-life settings and encourage them to pursue secondary education. Ford trains high school teachers, who teach the manufacturing-oriented courses to 11th or 12th grade students (participants take two courses through Ford each year). An internship during the summer between 11th and 12th grade provides work experience as well. The program serves as a way not only to attract future employees to Ford, says Lerche, but also as a way to draw customers for its cars and trucks. We don't have concrete evidence that if you do these things, people buy your products. However, these activities do influence perception of our commitment to the communities in which we do business,† says Lerche. Issues such as environmental protection, education and community support are critical to companies that want to gain the trust and loyalty of their constituents. The companies profiled here understand that corporate social responsibility offers clear business benefits for all stakeholders.

Harmonizing Research, Practice

Harmonizing Research, Practice, and Policy in Early Childhood Music: A Chorus of International Voices (Part 2) Lori A. Custodero & Lily Chen-Hafteck a b a b Music and Music Education program at Teachers College, Columbia University Music Department, Kean University, New Jersey Version of record first published: 07 Aug 2010. To cite this article: Lori A. Custodero & Lily Chen-Hafteck (2008): Harmonizing Research, Practice, and Policy in Early Childhood Music: A Chorus of International Voices (Part 2), Arts Education Policy Review, 109:3, 3-8 To link to this article: http://dx. doi. org/10. 3200/AEPR. 109. 3. 3-8PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE Full terms and conditions of use: http://www. tandfonline. com/page/terms-and-conditions This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing, systematic supply, or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. The publis her does not give any warranty express or implied or make any representation that the contents will be complete or accurate or up to date. The accuracy of any instructions, formulae, and drug doses should be independently verified with primary sources.The publisher shall not be liable for any loss, actions, claims, proceedings, demand, or costs or damages whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with or arising out of the use of this material. Copyright  © 2008 Heldref Publications Harmonizing Research, Practice, and Policy in Early Childhood Music: A Chorus of International Voices (Part 2) LORI A. CUSTODERO and LILY CHEN-HAFTECK Editor’s note. Lori A. Custodero and Lily Chen-Hafteck served as guest editors for both Part 1 and Part 2 of the special issue International Policies on Early Childhood Music Education: Local and Global IssuesRevealed. n the November/December 2007 issue of Arts Education Policy Review, readers were introduced to e arly childhood music policies in Brazil, England, Kenya, Puerto Rico, South Africa, and the United States. In this collection, a second ensemble of experts from Australia, China, Denmark, Korea, Israel, and Taiwan joins them. Like the previous issue, these authors presented papers or workshops at an International Society for Music Education, Early Childhood Music Education Seminar in Taipei in 2006 and wrote new articles for inclusion here.They responded to the same charge as the previous authors to answer the following questions: †¢ What policies currently exist in your country for early childhood music education? †¢ To what extent do these policies meet the needs of children in your country? †¢ How are teachers prepared to teach early childhood music in your country? †¢ In what ways do local and global cultures figure into the policies and practices of early childhood music in your country? Additionally, we offered the following questions, to be addressed at th e author’s discretion: †¢ Do different musical cultures require different instructional approaches?And, conversely, are certain music instructional approaches culture specific? How does this impact policy and practice of early childhood music in your country? †¢ What are the potential risks and rewards of mandating multicultural musical experiences for young children? Finally, we asked authors to address any issues specific to their regions and to make concrete suggestions regarding policy for their countries. Salient themes emerged addressing what was taught and who was responsible for that content.In many ways these two conditions are inseparable, interrelated through the social nature of musical experiences. In these accounts, we also see ways in which content and delivery shape reception and how that process, in turn, defines and is defined by culture. Examining these geographical contexts raises questions about atti- I tudes, practices, and policies concerning early childhood music education that have significance for many of us. We chose three threads of inquiry from the many that weave these single texts into a textual fugue: (a) ensions between child and adult culture; (b) competing influences by global, regional, and local agencies on standards and curricula; and (c) expectations for teacher knowledge and preparation. Competing Cultures: Child and Adult The existence of a musical culture in early childhood, which is distinctly different from the adult culture, is based on studies showing similarities of vocal contours used in communication between infants and mothers across cultures (Papousek 1996), as well as research regarding the differences between music made by children and adults (e. . , Bjorkvold 1992; Campbell 2007; Littleton 1998; Marsh 1995; Moorhead and Pond 1941). Sven-Erik Holgersen’s article on early childhood music in Scandinavia describes practices in Denmark, Sweden, and Norway that are sensitive to the childâ €™s culture. The cultural clash in those regional systems exists between programs that favor an elemental or natural approach to education for the young based on the free play aesthetic and those that see music Vol. 109, No. 3, January/February 2008 3 as a mode of artistic expression requiring learned skills.Lily Chen-Hafteck and Zhoyua Xu and, separately, Jennifer Chau-Ying Leu found preschools in Chinesespeaking countries to have a strong sense of adult culture. Most parents and teachers believe school should stress academic learning rather than play, so that children can achieve high scores on tests and examinations. Chinese culture also stresses study and hard work as important for academic success. In Korea, Nam-Hee Lim and Shunah Chung found that adults believe young children need close supervision and guidance from teachers and parents in their development.Therefore, children’s natural tendency to be playful and creative is not recognized as a core value in school; potential for future success drives decisions. These cultural differences are interactive with and reflective of current conditions and regional history. In China, for example, books were printed with movable type as early as the eighth century, whereas in Europe copies were still drawn by hand until the 1400s. Such a long history of text accessibility elevated reading and writing to a valued skill that was recognizable and sought (Smith 1991).Societal values may offer another lens to interpret early academic emphasis, such as those espoused by Confucius, for whom morality and caring for others, especially family, were primary. In terms of contemporary conditions, Louie Suthers of Australia notes that in her varied country one can see differences in starting ages of pre-primary education. In Denmark, the children start at three years of age and continue for four years. In China, pre-primary education starts at four years of age and continues for three years, although care is availa ble in each country mentioned from birth.Also of note, the average student teacher ratio in China is 28:1, differing from Hong Kong’s average ratio of 16:1. The older starting age in China may perpetuate (or reflect interest in) the schooling culture. Leu’s discussion of the importance of family context is relevant to this point, inasmuch as it may provide the space for child culture 4 Arts Education Policy Review to flourish while adult culture is operating at school. Claudia Gluschankof writes about the purposeful creation of materials for the child culture with the development of the New Hebrew Culture in the Israeli territories during the early 1900s.Preschools were created based on the Froebel playcentered model and provide an unusual case in the concentrated production of children’s music in a language that had no such repertoire prior to the kindergartens establishment. The conscious choice to provide young children with cultural tools for understanding a t the earliest stages of a community is reminiscent of Sheila Woodward’s discussion concerning the importance of children in nation building in South Africa, featured in the previous issue of this journal.In her conclusion, Gluschankof raises important questions concerning this created canon of songs and the lack of repertoire for Arab-speaking children. Using the idea of child culture as a lens for viewing cultural and educational policies provides a useful way to understand differences and similarities in political systems that define the worlds in which we teach, research, and cohabitate. Such understanding may lead to more focused and meaningful questions that may reveal inequities or alternative directions in music education worthy of exploration.Considerations of these policies regarding conceptions of adulthood and childhood lead directly to curricular influences that we view from a related dialectic: the local and global. Local and Global Influences: Child and World I n the first part of this symposium, we focused on the tension between small and large scaled views of what should be taught, each serving a different societal need. In the second part, we speak more specifically to the notion of a national curriculum because it is mentioned in each of the articles collected here.We are interested in questions dealing with how these personal and collective influences affect children’s music education: â€Å"Does governmentmandated standardized curriculum limit possibilities or insure access of quality to all children? † and â€Å"What is the exemplar to which music education should be standardized? † The first question is meant to generate critical thinking regarding what and how policymakers might send messages about music education in the early years; the second is meant to question assumptions we might have surrounding best practice and the cultural nuances that shape it.Suthers, discussing Australia’s situation, is min dful that there is no national music curriculum for pre-primary school and points to a recent reform movement in music education that excluded early childhood experiences. She notes that this leaves teachers feeling isolated and that their work is undervalued. Alternatively, Gluschankoff discusses the children’s music written in Hebrew as somewhat ideological and makes suggestions for addressing the inclusion of additional materials to meet the needs of a multicultural society.One of the ways in which the national curriculum may become nationalistic is in the mandates or recommendations around singing repertoire. The role played by singing in socialization is significant and has been used for centuries to transmit cultural values, to teach language, and to establish qualities of rhythmic energy that typify a way of being; Dissanayake (2000) makes the case for mutuality and belonging as ways the arts are meaningful to us.Inasmuch as collective singing creates a sense of belong ing, we have a responsibility to monitor the ways in which we look at the child and the world (see Leu’s article describing ecological systems and Lim and Chung on the supportive role of adults). Chen-Hafteck and Xu also write about the importance of family singing and the differing role of school music. When local knowledge is replaced by chauvinism, music can be decontextualized. Because musicality is deeply rooted in shared experience, (Trevarthen 1999) we need to guard the personal and not expose children’s vulnerability to politicization.Our concern regarding global trends also involves the perception that globalization means movement toward Downloaded by [Macquarie University] at 14:58 28 March 2013 Western ideals. Attention to the local, once again, is necessary to adequately implement any change. In China, for example, although the new educational policies follow the global trends rhetorically, espousing learning through play and stressing personal expression a nd creativity, its usefulness is severely hampered by conflicting views in the local tradition regarding a deep belief in academic success as the consummate benchmark.Holgerson considers a similar dissonance between local needs and governmental responsibility to all children through the philosophical lens of Bildung, a generative model that keeps the questions about such disconnections at the forefront of practice. Downloaded by [Macquarie University] at 14:58 28 March 2013 Teacher Knowledge: Child and Music Practice policies are perhaps best viewed vis-a-vis teacher preparation— what do we value as knowledge? For most of us, early childhood musical practice involves understanding as much as we can about children while keeping the cultural context in mind.This might include individual experiences that contribute to their uniqueness and developmental trends that might give indications about what to expect in terms of maturation. What knowledge do we need of music? In this issu e, the authors discuss the importance of a diverse and culturally responsive repertoire, singing range, quality of recordings, appropriate use of instruments, and sound sensitivity. In this collection of articles, the authors suggest that these two knowledge areas are rarely considered together and that they exist in bifurcation, at least conceptually.Across the globe, there are those who are considered to have knowledge of the child in context (families or generalist teachers) and those who have knowledge of the child in music (specialists). Holgersen describes this dichotomy in practical terms—music activities and music teaching. The goals of using music are indeed varied and the complexity of music leads to multiple possibilities worthy of exploration. Among the authors there is a consensus concerning the need for collaboration between the two areas of expertise with several concrete recommendations.Reasons for this common phenomenon center on the systems in place for teac her preparation and the institutional divisions of disciplines; authors advocate for more carefully structured professional development to help bridge the disciplinary divide. Knowing the body of work of these authors, we are familiar with their efforts to form partnerships with local child care specialists and have been involved with such partnerships at our universities. Child and Adult It is noteworthy that many of the responses are about memories of musical adults who were influential in their music education.Graham Welch (pers. comm. ) offers: I was educated in a Church of England Primary school in London . . . where we sang, often with the local Vicar leading on the piano. I can remember his enthusiasm, quick tempo and intensity of keyboard playing. F or most of us, early childhood musical practice involves understanding as much as we can about children while keeping the cultural context in mind. We believe them to be some of the most meaningful opportunities for our own teach er knowledge.Policy and Personal Voice In addition to the authors featured here, to inform our sense of the historical significance of current situations regarding early childhood music and the breadth to which our profession defines policy, we asked our colleagues involved in international musical education about their memories of early childhood music education and their relationship to policy with the following questions: 1. Reflecting on your childhood before age eight, what were the influences of policy on your music education? . How does this compare with today’s situation for young children? Responses were varied and provided insight through a self-reflective lens. We looked at the seven responses regarding their relatedness to our three topics and to how policy can reach us as individuals in a long-lasting way. Alda Oliveira (pers. comm. ) from Brazil also reflected on a teacher: The first time I went to school I was seven years old. At this age I choose to take piano lessons with a private piano teacher.She was a marvelous teacher since her method included not only playing by reading and singing the notes, but also playing by ear and some popular songs. Family members had a strong musical presence in June Boyce Tillman’s (pers. comm. ) childhood in England: â€Å"My music was regularly singing with and listening to the playing of my paternal grandfather who was the village dance band pianist. † Margre van Gestel (pers. comm. ) of The Netherlands also wrote of related experiences: I had the privilege to be surrounded by a musical family.We had a piano in our home and I spent lots of time behind the piano in my grandmother’s house. My uncles and aunts could play the piano and as a child I enjoyed listening to them. One of my aunts was the ballet teacher in the village and from the age of four I was in her dancing classes. It was normal in my family to sing and play. My father had a good voice and was a soloist in the church c hoir when he was young; he played the clarinet and was a folkdance Vol. 109, No. 3, January/February 2008 5 teacher during scouting activities.I guess my days were filled with (live) music, not in courses but just all day long. Van Gestel shared a record of family influence: In my baby dairy, when I was 8 months old, my mother wrote: â€Å"Today she clapped her hands. She probably learned that from her grandmother! When you sing Clap your hands she reacts immediately. † One year old: â€Å"When we sing Oh my daddy (a popular song in the sixties) she sings along, ‘daddy, daddy. ’† In South Africa, apartheid led to decisions about schooling for Caroline Van Niekerk (pers. omm. ) that indirectly influenced her musical education by removing her from the direct influences of the national educational system of that time. She also spoke of a contemporary situation in which fighting governmental policies was necessary and of the strength we have to overcome questi onable decisions: I had a desperate call just yesterday from someone with a story of how their education faculty, in training teachers for the Foundation Phase, wants to remove music as an optional area of specialization for students.We are now all doing everything in our power to protest such a prospect loudly. But I have also seen what I regard as a promising development, and similar to the situation I witnessed in California when we lived there, more than twenty years ago—as parents of young children realize that the formal education system is not necessarily going to provide their children with what they believe is important, and especially as regards the arts, including music, they start to take responsibility for those things themselves. ntil I was about [age] five) could not get my lessons paid for. Had the place still be in that county I would have been entitled to a bursary to pay for lessons and I would have been able to learn a second instrument. But without that m y parents could only afford piano lessons. I am still sad about this, which was simply a matter of geography and the local control of resources. Child and Music The same issues featured authors raised are apparent in the additional professionals’ responses: the lack of resources and teachers. Gary McPherson (pers. comm. links personal memories with policies, of which he sees little change, from his Australian childhood: I have a vague memory of singing in a school choir that was [led] by a general classroom teacher when I was about six or seven, but the group was nothing special so it had no impact on my subsequent musical development. . . . I went back some years ago and had a look at the way music was described in the school curriculum (particularly primary school curriculum). There were all sorts of aids and resources for general primary teachers to use but music wasn’t typically taught well in schools.To be honest, I’m not sure the status of music in the cur riculum is any different. Downloaded by [Macquarie University] at 14:58 28 March 2013 These testimonies to strong and positive adult influence suggest that family education is important, as Leu and others advocate in this symposium, with the caveat that the experiences described are with adults perceived as musicians. This suggests we need to exercise caution in defining people in terms of limited musicality and that music education of our children means their children will be better educated.It is interesting that teachers were remembered for the affective qualities they conveyed and through a curricular stance that was relevant to the child. Child and World The relationships among local, state, and global influences are also reflected in these personal accounts. Many of these music professionals took private music lessons and considered their experiences to be nonpolicy driven. Oliveira (pers. comm. ) mentioned the involvement of musicians in music education policy—specific ally, the Canto Orfeonico policy under the leadership of composer Villa-Lobos.She recalls that this policy influenced her school education, which included â€Å"group singing and elementary level music theory. † As already discussed, group singing is a common vehicle for politicization. Like Gluschonkof’s report of Israeli songs contributing to nation-building, Boyce Tillman (pers. comm. ) noted that: At [age] seven I went to a school where we had massed singing in the Hall when we sang British folksongs, many of which I still know by heart. We had a book called the New National Song book, which was a deliberate attempt after the war to restore a sense of nationhood.This was used throughout my school career. 6 Arts Education Policy Review Welch wrote of intersecting influences of church and state: I discovered later that the London County Council was very supportive of music in schools generally, although my local experiences as a child were as much to do with the link to the Church and the established ethos of including singing as a natural part of the school day. Ana Lucia Frega (pers. comm. ) describes a similar situation in her native Argentina. Early childhood music courses were not always taught by a specialist . . . his means that some problems arose: some of the K-general teachers [choose materials that] do not really fit the [appropriate] children range of voices, and which tend to create vocal difficulties. He notes the longevity of such a workable match: â€Å"On returning to the school many years later for my first teaching post, I discovered that the school’s policy toward music had continued, with the same range of events and activities in place. † In the previous issue, Young discussed the unprecedented commitment England has made to the arts—specifically music, a commitment Welch reiterates.Boyce Tillman recalls a time when the resources from the national government were in local hands, resulting in inequitabl e opportunity: At [age] seven I started piano lessons but because the place we lived in was then in Southampton and not in the County of Hampshire (to which we are very close and in which we had been Although our policymaking systems move slowly, and are not always moving in the direction we would like, there is hope in the growing numbers of people who care about music education. Oliviera writes: â€Å"at least we can feel the difference between my generation and today’s generation. Perhaps our aim is to prepare children who grow up to be like von Gestel, with the same rich resources at hand for creating meaningful experiences: Music (and especially making and teaching music) was and is a part of my everyday life, and really I can’t imagine a life without singing together and making music. It makes my life worth living. References Bjorkvold, J. R. 1992. The muse within: Creativity and communication, song and play from childhood through maturity. Trans. W. H. Halverso n, New York: HarperCollins. Campbell, P. S. 2007. Musical meaning in children’s cultures. In International handbook of research in arts education, ed.L. Bresler, 881–94. Dorderecht, The Netherlands: Springer. Dissanayake, E. 2000. Art and intimacy. Seattle: University of Washington Press. Littleton, D. 1998. Music learning and child’s play. General Music Today 12 (1): 8–15. Marsh, K. 1995. Children’s singing games: Composition in the playground? Research Studies in Music Education 4:2–11. Moorhead, G. E. , and D. Pond. 1941. Music of young children. 1 Chant. Santa Barbara, CA: Pillsbury Foundation for the Advancement of Music Education. Papousek, H. 1996. Musicality in infancy research: Biological and cultural origins of early musicality.In Musical beginnings: Origins and development of musical competence, ed. I. Deliege and J. Sloboda, 37–55. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press. Smith, D. C. 1991. Foundations of modern Chinese e ducation. In The Confucian continuum, ed. D. C. Smith, 1–64. New York: Praeger. Trevarthen, C. 1999. Musicality and the intrinsic motive pulse: Evidence from psychobiology and human communication. Musicae Scientiae (Special Issue: Rhythm, Musical Narrative, and Origins of Human Communication), 155–211. Lori A. Custodero is an associate professor and program coordinator of the MusicDownloaded by [Macquarie University] at 14:58 28 March 2013 and Music Education program at Teachers College, Columbia University, where she has established an early childhood music concentration that integrates pedagogy and research through both theory and practice. She served on the International Society for Music Education’s Commission for Early Childhood for six years and is involved in research and teaching projects in a variety of countries. Lily Chen-Hafteck is an associate professor of music education and assistant chair of the Music Department at Kean University, New Jersey.Ori ginally from Hong Kong, she has held teaching and research positions at the University of Pretoria in South Africa, the University of Surrey Roehampton in England, and Hong Kong Baptist University. She serves on the editorial board of the International Journal of Music Education, Asia-Pacific Journal for Arts Education and Music Education Research International. She is the chair of the International Society for Music Education Young Professionals Focus Group. Vol. 109, No. 3, January/February 2008 7 Downloaded by [Macquarie University] at 14:58 28 March 2013 ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?

Night World : Witchlight Chapter 17

Not for the dragon. She jumped for the tree. It was a good, tall loblolly pine, whose drooping lower branches didn't look as if they could support a kitten. But Keller didn't need support. As she leaped, she changed, pushing it as fast as she could. She reached the tree with four paws full of lethal claws extended. And she ran straight up the vertical surface. Her claws sank into the clean, cinnamon trunk, and she shot up like a rocket. When she got high enough to be obscured by the dull-green needles on the droopy branches, she launched herself into the air again. It was a desperate move, betting everything on one blind spring. But it was all she could think of. She could never take the dragon in a fair fight. She was betting on her claws. In the wild, a panther could shear the head off a deer with a single swipe. Keller was going for the horns. She came down right on target. The dragon made the mistake of looking up at her, maybe thinking that she was trying to get behind it, to land on its back again and kill it. Or maybe thinking that she might see the pale face of an innocent girl and hesitate. Whatever it thought, it was a mistake. Keller was already slashing as she landed. A single deadly swipe with all her power behind it. Her claws peeled the forehead off the creature in a spray of blood and flesh. The screaming roar almost burst her eardrums. It was the sound she'd heard before in the mall, a sound so deep in pitch that she felt it as much as heard it. It shook her bones, and it reverberated in every tree and in the red clay of the ground. And that was another mistake, although Keller didn't know it at once. At the same instant as she heard the roar, she felt the pain. The dark power crackled through her like a whiplash and tore her own involuntary scream from her. It was worse than the first time she'd felt it, ten times worse, maybe more. The dragon was much stronger. And it followed her. Like a real whip, it flashed across the clearing after her. It hit her again as she hit the ground, and Keller screamed again. It hurt. She tried to scrabble away, but the pain made her weak, and she fell over on her side. And then the black energy hit her right shoulder-exactly where it had hit the first time in the mall. Keller saw white light. And then she was falling in darkness. Her last thought was, I didn't get it. I couldn't have. It still has power. Diana, I'm sorry†¦ She stopped feeling anything. She opened her eyes slowly. Hurts†¦ She was looking up at the dragon. It had dropped Iliana; Keller couldn't see where. And it was staring down at her in malevolent fury, obviously waiting for her to wake up so she could feel it when it killed her. When he killed her. He'd taken on the shape he'd been wearing in the beginning. A young man with clean, handsome features and a nicely muscled if compact body. Black hair that shed rainbow colors under the moonlight and looked as fine and soft as her own fur. And those obsidian eyes. It was hard to look away from those eyes. They seemed to capture her gaze and suck her in. They were so much more like stones than eyes, silver-black, shiny stones that seemed to reflect all light out again. But when she managed to drag her gaze upward, she felt a thrill of hope. His forehead was a bleeding ruin. She had gotten him. Her slash had carved a nice hamburger-sized piece out of his scalp. Somewhere on the ground in the clearing were two little stubby horns. But only two; there were three left on his head. He must have turned at the last instant. Keller would have cursed if she had a human throat. â€Å"How're you feeling?† the dragon said, and leered at her form under the gory mess of his scalp. Keller tried to snarl at him and realized that she did have a human throat. She must have collapsed back into her half-and-half form, and she was too weak to change back again. â€Å"Having trouble?† the dragon asked. Keller croaked, â€Å"You should never have come back.† â€Å"Wrong,† the dragon said. â€Å"I like the modern world.† â€Å"You should have stayed asleep. Who woke you up?† She was buying time, of course, to try and regain some strength. But she also truly wanted to know. The dragon laughed. â€Å"Someone,† he said. â€Å"Someone you'll never know. A witch who isn't a witch. We made our own alliance.† Keller didn't understand, and her brain was too fuzzy to deal with it. But just at that moment, she noticed something else. Movement behind the dragon. The figures that had been lying on the ground were stirring. And they were doing it stealthily, in ways that showed they were awake and with their wits about them. They were alive. She could see Galen's head lift, with moonlight shining on his hair as he looked at her. She could see Winnie turn toward Iliana and begin to crawl. She could see Nissa's shoulders hump and then fall back. Later, when they were asked, they would all say the same thing had brought them to awareness: a deep rumbling sound that vibrated in their bones. The dragon's roar. Or, at least, three of them would say that. Galen would always say that all he heard was Keller's scream and his eyes came open. The surge of hope she felt made Keller's heart beat hard and wiped away the pain-for the moment, at least. But she was terrified of giving the dragon some clue. She didn't dare look at Galen any longer. She stared at the dragon's black stone eyes and thought with all her strength, Get away. Get away, take the Jeep, take Diana. He may not be able to follow you. Run. â€Å"Your time's over,† she told the dragon out loud. â€Å"The shapeshifters don't want you anymore. Everything has changed.† â€Å"And it's changing again,† the dragon said. â€Å"The end of the world is coming, and the beginning of a new one. It's time for everything that's sleeping to wake back up again.† Keller had a horrified vision of hundreds of dragons being dug up and brought back to life. But there was something going on in the clearing that was even more horrifying to her. Galen wasn't getting away. He was slithering on his stomach toward her. And Winnie, the idiot, was beside Diana nowbut she wasn't dragging her to the Jeep. She seemed to be whispering to her. Keller felt a hot wave of utter desperation. What can I do? If the dragon sees them, they're all dead. There's nothing any of them can do against him. Galen's not a warrior-he can't change. Nissa looks too hurt to move. Winnie's orange fire won't even singe the dragon. And Diana will get swatted like a butterfly. They can't do anything. I have to. She was so tired and hurt, and her claws were much less lethal than in her full panther form. But she had to do it, and she had to do it now. â€Å"Go back where you came from!† she shouted. She bunched her muscles and jumped. Right for him. Straight on. That was what took him by surprise, the sheer insanity of the attack. He threw the black energy at her, but he couldn't stop her leap. Her claws ripped into his forehead again, and then she fell back. The dragon's scream split the heavens. Dizzy with pain and shock, Keller stared at him, hoping desperately†¦ But she'd taken only one horn off. He still had two. He thrashed around in wounded fury, then threw the dark power at her again. Keller shuddered and lost her balance. She crashed to the ground and lay there, limp. â€Å"Keller!† The scream was full of such raw anguish that it hurt Keller's throat to hear it. It made her heart throb hard and then fall in sick dismay. Galen, no, she thought. Don't bother with me. You have to get Iliana away. â€Å"Keller!† he screamed again, and then he was beside her, holding her. â€Å"No . ? .† she whispered. She couldn't say more than that. She looked at him pleadingly with the eyes of a dumb beast. If he died, too, it would make her own death meaningless. The dragon was still screaming, both hands to his forehead. He seemed to be too angry to attack. â€Å"Keller, hang on. Please, you have to hang on.† Galen was dripping tears on her face. â€Å"Run†¦Ã¢â‚¬  she whispered. Instead, he did the most gallant thing she had ever seen. He was already holding her, his shaky hand stroking the hair off her face, brushing one of her tufted ears. Now, suddenly, he gripped her hard, and his expression changed. His jaw tightened, and a white line showed around his mouth. And his eyes†¦ seemed to darken and glow red. Too late, Keller realized. He was taking her impression. Learning her shape. No. You were meant to be something gentle. Galen stood up. And changed. But something was a little off. Maybe it was the fact that he had to hurry when he took the impression, or some extra twist from his own genes. Because, instead of becoming a soot-black panther, he became a gleaming golden leopard. The same animal. Different colors. This leopard was the dark rich gold of Galen's hair, and its eyes were the incredible green of his eyes. He was marked with perfect black rosettes, each with an even darker gold center. His body was sleek and supple and almost seven feet long with the tail. He was a big leopard, at least a hundred and sixty pounds. And before Keller had time to think, he was in motion. A good spring. Untutored but full of the real killer instinct. The coughing yell he let out as he jumped was the kind a cat makes when its fury is too great to hold in. The dragon whirled to face him. But it was too late. Once again, the crackling dark power hit but couldn't stop the rush. The dragon's human body couldn't fend off a hundred and sixty pounds of solid feline muscle. Keller saw Galen swipe. The dragon bellowed, clapping a hand to his head. And Keller wanted to cheer. She couldn't. She didn't have the strength left. But her heart was singing inside her with sheer pride. You did it. Oh, Galen, my prince, you did it. She saw his body falling, struck by the black energy. She saw it hit the ground and lie still. And she was sorry that they were both going to die. But with the dragon dead, too, and Iliana alive, there would still be hope. There would be people to carry on. Then she looked at the dragon, and time stopped, and her heart turned to ice. He still had a horn left. The one right in the middle. They hadn't done it after all. He still had power. He was going to kill them now, and Iliana, too. And neither she nor Galen could do anything to stop him. The noises the dragon was making were beyond description. He seemed to be out of his mind in pain and fury. And then Keller realized that it was more than that. He was screaming in sheer blood-lust-and he was changing. So strange-she hadn't even thought about the dragon changing before. But she could take on most animals. She knew to go for the juncture between head and neck for rhinos, the belly for a lion. But this†¦ what it was shifting into†¦ No. I don't believe it, Keller thought. It looked more like a moth being born than a shapeshifter changing. It split its human skin like a chrysalis. More of the yellowish liquid she had seen on Jaime's cheek oozed from the splits. And what was revealed underneath was hard and greenish-yellow, flat, smooth. Scaly. The smell was the smell from the basement Sickly-sweet, pungent, an odor to make your stomach lurch. Powerful back legs bunched, and the figure grew and stood against the moonlit sky. It was huge. In her mind, Keller saw a scene from the past. Iliana, her violet eyes huge, saying, â€Å"He can turn into a dragon?† And Keller's scornful answer, â€Å"No, of course not. Don't be silly.† Wrong, Keller thought. It actually looked more like velociraptor than a dragon. Too big-it was more than fifteen feet long, counting the powerful tail. But it had the same look of alien intelligence, the same reptilian snout, the same saberlike hind claws. It's not a mindless animal, Keller thought. It's smart. It even has things like hands on its forelegs; It's where evolution took a different turn. And it had power. Maybe more power this way than in its human form. Keller could feel its mind even at this distance, the terrible ancient core of hatred and malice, the endless thirst for blood. It opened its mouth, and for an instant Keller expected to see fire. But what came out was a roar that showed huge spiky teeth-and a flood of black energy. The dark power crackled around it like an aura of lightning. Nothing-no shapeshifter, no witch, no vampire-could stand against this creature. Keller knew that absolutely. That was when she saw Iliana getting up. Stay down, you idiot! Keller thought. Iliana stood straight. There's no point, don't attract its attention†¦ â€Å"Azhdeha!† Iliana shouted. And the monster turned. There they were, the maiden and the dragon, face to face. Iliana looked twice as small as ever before in contrast to this giant. Her silver-gold hair was blowing loose in the wind, and her dress shimmered around her. She was so delicate, so graceful-and so fragile, standing there like a lily swaying on its stalk. I can't watch, Keller thought. I can't see this. Please†¦ â€Å"Azhdeha!† Iliana said, and her voice was sweet but ringing and stern. â€Å"Hashteher! Tiamat!† It's a spell, Keller thought. Winnie taught her a spell? When they were lying there, whispering together? But what kind of spell would Winnie know against dragons? â€Å"Poisonous Serpent! Cold-blooded Biter! Rasta-ban! Anguis!† No, they're names, Keller realized slowly. Its names. Dragon names. Old names. â€Å"I am a witch and the daughter of a witch. Mine was the hand that took your power; mine was the hand that buried you in silence. Hecate was the most ancient of my mothers. Hecate's hand is my hand now.† Winnie couldn't have taught her that. Nobody could have taught her that. No witch alive today. Keller could see Winnie's pale face watching in surprise from beyond Iliana, her eyes and mouth dark O's. â€Å"Mine is the hand that sends you back!† Diana's palms were cupped now, and orange fire crackled between them. Keller's heart plummeted. Golden-orange fire. Witch fire. It was impressive, from a girl who'd never been trained, but it wasn't nearly enough. It was about as dangerous to the dragon as a firefly. She heard Winnie's voice in the silence, small and frightened but determined. â€Å"Aim for the horn!† The dragon threw back its head and laughed. That was what it looked like, anyway. What came out was a roar like all the other roars and a belch of black energy that fountained skyward. But in her head, Keller heard maniacal laughter. Then it swung its head back down and pointed the horn straight at Iliana. Die! it said. The word wasn't spoken but sent on a cold wave of pure energy. â€Å"Mine is the power of the ages† Iliana shouted back. â€Å"Mine is the power-â€Å" The golden flare in her palms was changing, blazing white, blinding hot†¦ â€Å"-OF THE END OF THE WORLD!† Something like a supernova was born between her hands. The tight shot up and out, exploding. It was impossible to look at. And it was no longer white but dazzling, lightning-brilliant blue. The blue fire. The Wild Power had awakened. I knew it, Keller thought I knew it all along. Keller couldn't see what happened to the dragon; the light was simply too bright. While it flared around her, she was bathed in radiance that seemed to shine through her, humming inside her and lighting up her bones. She tried to lift her own hand and saw nothing but a vague rainbow shape. But she heard the dragon's scream. Not low like the roar but high and squealing, a sound like icicles driving into her ears. It went up and up, higher in pitch until even Keller couldn't track it. And then there was a thin sound like distant glass shattering, and then there was no sound at all. There were shooting stars in the blue-white light. For the second time that evening, Keller fainted. â€Å"Boss! Please, Boss, hurry. Wake up!† Keller blinked open her eyes. Galen was holding her. He was human. So was she. And Winnie and Nissa were trying to drag both of them somewhere. Keller gazed up into those gold-green eyes. The exact color of a leopard's, she thought. Only leopards don't cry, and his were brimming with tears. She lifted a languorous hand and stroked his cheek. He cupped his own hand over it. Keller couldn't think. There were no words in her mind. But she was glad to be here with him, for this last moment in the moonlight. It had all been worth it â€Å"Boss, please!† Winnie was almost crying, too. â€Å"Let me die in peace,† Keller said, although she didn't realize she was saying it aloud until she heard the words. Then she added, â€Å"Don't you cry, Winfrith. You did a good job.† â€Å"Boss, you're not dying! The blue fire did something-it healed us. We're all okay. But it's almost midnight!† Keller bunked. She blinked again. Her body didn't hurt anymore. She'd assumed it was the blessed numbness that comes just before death. But now she realized that it wasn't. Her blood was running in her veins; her muscles felt firm and strong. She didn't even have a headache. She stared beyond Winnie to the girl in white. Diana was still slight and childlike, almost fairy-like of figure. But something had changed about her. At first, Keller thought she looked as distant and beautiful as a star, but then she smiled and wasn't distant at all. She was simply more beautiful than the dreams of mortals. And really shining with her own light. It pooled around her in soft, silvery radiance. Keller had never seen a Wild Power do that before, not on any of the tapes. But she's not just a Wild Power, the voice in her head whispered. She's the Witch Child. And Goddess alone knows all that she's meant to do. For a moment, Keller felt so awed that it was almost like unhappiness. But then Winnie's message finally sank in. She snapped her head up. â€Å"Midnight?† â€Å"Yes!† Winnie said frantically. Keller bolted upright. â€Å"Nissa?† â€Å"Right here, Boss.† Keller felt a flood of relief. Nissa was the one who had seemed closest to death on the ground there. But now she was standing on her own two feet, looking cool and imperturbable, even though her shirt was bloody and in rags. â€Å"Nissa, can you drive that Jeep? Can you figure out how to get to Charlotte?† â€Å"I think so. Boss.† Keller had never been so grateful to hear that calm voice in her life. She jumped up. â€Å"Then let's go!†

Finance 426 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

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