The International Expansion of Design Practices Essay Example for Free

The International Expansion of Design Practices Essay Designing world-class structures is now made easier with software that any architect in the globe may use in the privacy of his home.   3D modeling, rendering and animation software is but an example of such specialized software, making it easier for architects around the world to compete in designing architectural marvels (Advanced Micro Systems, Inc.).   As a matter of fact, architects are already competing to create the world’s best designs.   By their interaction alone, the world of design must be raising its levels of competence to build finer, safer and more beautiful buildings (Coduto).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The Kalo Opera Festiva and Danske Arkitekters Landsforbund (the federation of Danish Architects), together with investors were expected to initiate an international architectural competition around the end of the year 2003 (â€Å"International Architectural Competition†).   In the year 2004, the Friends of the Canadian Museum for Human Rights Inc. announced that there were three architectural firms selected by the Architectural Review Committee in one of the stages of the International Architectural Design Competition (ArcSpace.com).   Then there are international competitions that encompass only a specified region.   In Asia, ten architectural companies from Thailand were chosen for an international reward in the year 2005 (Asia Africa Intelligence Wire).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Unsurprisingly, such international competitions urge today’s architect to not only improve his designs by learning from global talents that he competes with, but also to work on becoming the very best in the global field of design practices.   Twenty four design firms from all over the globe submitted proposals to compete for the position of Master Designer of the Orange County Great Park (PR Newswire).   Undoubtedly, all of the proposals submitted were excellent, and world-class!   However, only one architect was to become a true model for the rest of the architectural community to follow.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   As mentioned before, architects are getting together at the regional level as well.   This practice is also very healthy for their profession.   The city of the angels regularly lists its top architectural firms, each inspiring the others (Kissock).   The American Institute of Architects claims that â€Å"good design makes a difference.†Ã‚   This association of architects describes itself thus: â€Å"For almost 150 years, members of The American Institute of Architects have worked with each other and their communities to create more valuable, healthy, secure, and sustainable buildings and cityscapes.†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The architectural community in Australia is said to have received many international awards for its designs (Johnston).   What is more, the entire international community of architects has its own list of top international design firms (KEO International Consultants)!   The competition is stiff, and absolutely healthy.   Under the watchful guiding eye of the top-notch international community of architects, it is difficult for an architectural firm to make an inferior design and thereby endanger the safety of the people who would be occupying the building thus designed.   The world of architectural design is expecting improved output at all levels and at all times.   This international expansion of design practices makes for a safer and more beautiful world.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Given the above facts, we hypothesize that the international expansion of design practices is good for the architectural profession.   With the advent of the Internet and the glories of globalization and technology, it is expected that architects around the world must have seen massive improvements in their designs, seeing that they now have access to superior designs from around the world that serve as models in their work.   In this case, as in most others, global heads are better than one! Bibliography Advanced Micro Systems, Inc. (2007). Available at http://www.amsystems.com. (25 January 2007). ArcSpace.com. (24 May 2004). â€Å"International Architectural Design Competition.† Available at http://www.arcspace.com/architects/Predock/canada_museum. (25 January 2007). Asia Africa Intelligence Wire. (4 March 2005). â€Å"Thai Architectural Firms Receive International Award.† Available at http://www.accessmylibrary.com/comsite5/bin/pdinventory.pl?pdlanding=1referid=2930purchase_type=ITMitem_id=0286-18970560. (25 January 2007). Coduto, Donald. (2005). Foundation Design: Principles and Practices. USA: Prentice Hall. International Architectural Competition. Available at http://www.operafest.dk/uk/?Kalo+Opera+Festival/International+Architectural+Competition. (25 January 2007). Johnston, Lindsey. â€Å"The Sun Shines on Architectural Education in Australia.† The International Education Site. Available at http://www.intstudy.com/articles/twearch.htm. (25 January 2007). Keo International Consultants. (2006). Available at http://www.keoic.com/. (25 January 2007). Kissock, Nancy. (12 March 2001). â€Å"Architectural Firms.† Los Angeles Business Journal. Available at http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m5072/is_11_23/ai_71841058. (25 January 2007). PR Newswire. â€Å"International Architectural Firms Compete to Design Orange County Great Park.† Available at http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=109STORY=/www/story/06-03-2005/0003775011EDATE. (25 January 2007). The American Institute of Architects. (2007). Available at http://www.aia.org/about_default. (25 January 2007).

Gandhi: Charasmatic Leadership In Termoil

Gandhi: Charasmatic Leadership In Termoil INTRODUCTION Charismatic leader with high ethics and objective have the strength to inspire and transform the followers they lead. The Country or Nation runs successfully when the leader is skilful and influent. Charismatic leader have magical ability that attract followers and motivate them but without showing their authority or external power, it is not the only thing that leaders can do. A great leader can structure the country in the way he wants and they know how to achieve their goal. Most of the leaders use ample range of strategy to manage their image but Gandhi ji was a charismatic leader people follow them because they have charm, dint of personality and self-confidence. Max Weber classifies leader as a charismatic leader and in 1978 James Macgregor Burns define yet another categories of leadership: Transactional and Transformational leaders. Charismatic leadership is similar to Transformational leadership style. WHAT IS LEADERSHIP? John Garden describe that the leadership is the process of persuasion or example by which an individual (or a leadership team) induces a group to pursue objectives held by the leader or shared by the leader and his or her followers (Philip Sadler, 2003). WHAT IS CHARISMATIC LEADERSHIP? The term Charisma will be applied to a certain quality of an individual personality by virtue of which he is set apart from ordinary men and treated as endowed with supernatural, superhuman, or at least specifically exceptional powers or qualities. These are such as are not accessible to the ordinary person, but are regarded as of divine origin or as exemplary, and on the basis of them the individual concerned is treated as a leader. (Roe, Kavins Notices weak 7) According to Weber charismatic leaders have some unique qualities which give him the ability in leading and convince the people by his judgement and prepared them follow him. The charismatic leader did not learn these characteristics from his social, economic, or from political status and from his education but from his personal traits. The main aim of the charismatic leader is to help either people or his country or anyone around him. But in negative way some of the leader who misguides the people for their own interest by convincing them with illusory or fake promises. Most of the countries got freedom when a charismatic person leads the people of their country. There are lots of charismatic leader who fought for their country and for their followers such as Mahatma Gandhi, Jesus Christ, Z.A Bhutto. All those charismatic persons use their charisma to collect the people around them to gain the independence for their country. According to Weber Mahatma Gandhi ji was a charismatic lea der because charismatic can not taught or learned so it could not be the symbol of bureaucratic managerial system because charisma is not bureaucracy it is totally different charismatic leaders do not order the peoples to follow them so that why Gandhi ji was a charismatic leader he did not force people to follow them. People follow them because they like the way of Gandhi ji life by using nationality clothes. One of the principles of the Weber also shoes that charismatic leader do not have governmental powers or weapons but they defined that he is the biggest power in the country; they can fight with the army without any weapons and could win. METHODS OF CHARISMATIC LEADERSHIP The process of Charismatic leadership is seen as a mixed product of three factors such as the leader and his characteristics, the circumstances which wants for such a leader and the communication between leader and the lead. The Four steps of the charismatic leadership process and indentify Mahatma Gandhi ji with his leadership in Indias non-violent freedom movement: 1) RECOGNITION In recognition the aspiring leader is on the social prospect; the followers of that leader are suffering and they want someone who will resolve their problems and one who recognize themselves. At this level the social situation getting worsened gradually. The social situation is gradually getting worsened at this level. This is the time when the leader recognized their strength, their power and their ability. Before returning to India from South Africa in 1915 Gandhi jihad started a movement for public rights in South Africa, because once he was travelling in the first class compartment of the train which was reserved for whites only was thrown out from train because he was not white. The movement was successful and that incidence was also famous in India and when he returned to India, Indian peoples welcomed him as a hero and then he became a leader of Indian national congress at that time Gandhi ji realise their ability and the charismatic quality was just started showing its colou rs. 2) ACTIVITY STIMULATION In this stage followers become the part of revolution because the leader provokes them. In this situation the people who are just follower and just admire the leader now they become supporter of the leader. The longer this period ends the longer is duration of the charismatic leadership. In the case of Gandhi ji this step ended from 1920 till 1930. In 1921 the non-cooperation movement by Gandhi ji was a clear example of activity stimulation period, in this period whole country was awakened and was against the British rule. 3) COMMITMENT In this stage the charismatic leader is confident about their decision and they make lots of commitment with their followers. Charismatic leadership is on peak at this stage and they also can start losing his charisma at this level because this is the time when the leader make lots of commitment with there followers but in the end some of them achieve their desire goal and some are not, those who achieve success they become more famous but who failed they loose their followers. The charismatic leader make commitment with followers to achieve their goal and the followers do the same commitment with them. In this stage the charismatic leader have to sacrifice for their commitment or some time that commitments should become dangerous for the leader but this sacrifice and danger creates the good image of the leader in the eyes of their followers as the leader is dedicated to their goal and he have courage also to face the problems easily. There are many leaders who make a fallacy commitm ent with the followers for their own benefits such kind of leaders kwon as pompous and hypocrite. The leader is divided in two categories personalized and social leadership. The personalized leaders are authoritarian and exploitative like Hitler was a dictator he was authoritarian. The second type socialized leaders are more democratic and they believe in sharing power and responsibility with others such as Mahatma Gandhi. In 1930 to 1935 the commitment stage for Gandhi ji. The salt Satyagraha can be consider as the high level of Gandhi ji charisma and the conference of round table was a symbol of disappointment because that conference was a political failure. 4) DISAPPOINTMENT This stage is unavoidable on the part of the leader. The social structure carries the disenchantment stage many times. Routinisation creates the fear in the mind of the followers and some time they feel of loss of goal. This stage loses some of the important followers of the leader. Some time leader seems to be failing in this stage because of the situation. From 1933 to 9138 is the period of disenchantment for Gandhi ji because he lost his strongest followers like Subhas Chandra Bose. This is the phrase where disappointment seemed to have taken place clearly. ATTRIBUTES OF CHRISMATIC LEADERS It is clear from the above discussion that what is charismatic leadership and the attributes that a charismatic leader posses. Now this section will describe the trait that make a person a potential leader. There are some characteristic which are shown by a person from his childhood or adolescence which create a person potential charismatic leader. At their adolescence charismatic leaders do show some specific type of behaviour. TRAIT OF CHARISMATIC LEADER 1) SELF-MOTIVATION It is a vital part of charismatic leadership. The social scenario motivates the leaders without being prompted about it. The charismatic leader can talk to his followers energetically when he is self-motivated. The leaders who are self-motivated they have the capacity to transform this self-actualisation to their followers as well. They actually raise the level of their followers. 2) SELF-MONITORING In self-monitoring the leader watch them because they know that the followers are watching them so it is import ant for the leader to make a good picture of themselves for their followers. The charismatic leader are born out for the need of the followers and social situations, it become crucial for the leaders to continually recognize themselves with the need of the followers and social scenario. 3) MOTVE TO ACHIEVE POWER The charismatic leader does not want any conventional power. They are not looking for any official post or position, they want only social power. They want respect from their followers and see them as their rescuer. They want to make a special place in the hearts of their followers. With the values and beliefs of their followers the leader can identify themselves. They can convince their followers because that leader is high rated on their social skills and appeal them to their hearts. With this power the leader is popular for long time. 4) SELF-ENHANCEMENT The charismatic leaders having self-correcting nature and they are well known for that. They try to improve themselves and judge themselves. The superiority of the leaders makes them different from their followers. Eventually when the charismatic leader will bring their followers to their level of superiority and they believe that if the follower achieves that level then the leader should have gone one step above and remain their leader. 5) OPENNESS TO CHANGE The charismatic leader represents change and only charismatic leader prove many time that they are the only one who bring changes. Charismatic leaders are most powerful in the situation which demands the changes and they are open to changes. Gandhi ji bring the change, when the Indians were slave under British people and they dont have complete freedom and rights like British people have, so Gandhi ji fought for their rights, after long struggle they got same rights like British people have, with this change Indians become more liberal and democratic. OUTCOMES OF CHARISMATIC LEADERSHIP We discussed the process of charismatic leader and their attributes of the leader in which they posses and the outcome are unavoidable of charismatic leadership. Most of the researchers show that the charismatic leader as positive force which yields desirable results and some scholar focused on negative aspect of the leader but we will see negative as well as positive aspect of the charismatic leadership. Charismatic leaders motivate their followers and inspire them to give extra output and the leaders help their followers to achieve self-actualisation in themselves. Gandhi ji motivate their followers to fight for their freedom and with that motivation they achieve their desirable goal. CONCLUSION To conclude charismatic leadership Gandhi ji was a charismatic leader they have the quality to lead followers in the right direction. As we known that the charismatic leader has a magnetic quality which attracts the followers, the followers listen to them and obeys what the charismatic leader said. The charismatic leader has to recognise them selves that they have the potential to lead, when Gandhi ji started movement in South Africa then they come to know they have the charismatic quality. Above discussion show that with charismatic quality of Gandhi ji India got freedom from the British People and without using any weapon they fought with them, only charismatic leader will fight without weapons. Over all we can say that Gandhi ji was a heroic charisma and he was a great man.

Responsibility for Childhood Obesity Essay -- Obesity in Children

Childhood Obesity- Whose Responsibility Is It? Daniel Weintraub wrote an article in The Sacramento Bee exclaiming his concern for childhood obesity, criticizing the â€Å"blame game†, and whom he believes is not taking enough responsibility for this horrendous epidemic that is sweeping our nation. Weintraub states that, â€Å"Parents -- not the fast food companies, not the government-- are in the best position to fight the epidemic of overweight children.† I agree that parents play a vital role in establishing healthy eating choices and exercise habits. However, I also strongly believe that fast food companies and the government should share the responsibility of keeping our nations children healthy. I suggest that a system should be created which implements and reinforces responsibility amongst all three parties. All three parties have played a role in getting our children in this unfortunate situation, and all three should help our children to become healthy, active, productive members of society. With billions of dollars spent annually on advertising to children, I believe that the government should limit the amount of airtime available to purchase for companies that sell â€Å"unhealthy food/beverage products†. The growing epidemic of childhood obesity has brought attention to the role that food/beverage advertising and marketing play in negatively influencing the eating habits of children. Children are being exposed to increasing amounts of advertising and marketing. Parents should take an initiative and limit the amount of time their children spend watching television being exposed to such advertising and marketing. Parents also should reduce the amount of trips they take to fast food restaurants and reserve such trips as a treat ... ...lic schools and advocates healthy alternatives, regardless of the extra income it provides to the schools and the popularity of the students. There are many external factors which affect and influence children into making everyday choices. Parents are ultimately responsible for their children and the consequences of the choices that they make. Nevertheless, the â€Å"blame game† needs to end and responsibility needs to be distributed across the board. Our nation, as a whole, should be proactive in ridding ourselves of the name â€Å"Junk Food Nation† and help prevent the many ailments and risk factors of childhood obesity, such as diabetes and stroke. To put it simply, our children are our future. Providing and encouraging our children with a healthy, active, productive lifestyle ensures that we have healthy, active, productive members of society and leaders of tomorrow.

Why I Hunt: A Predator’s Mediation by Rick Bass :: Hunting Women rick Bass Essays

Why I Hunt: A Predator’s Mediation by Rick Bass Five years ago you could have found me hiding under my covers, praying to a god that I no longer believe in with my eyes shut tightly—but not anymore. These nights I offer up a two minute thanksgiving for the sake of karma; I look out into the darkness and I recognize the shadows as objects in my house rather than the faces of my dead grandfathers. It feels good to open my eyes, but I’ve traded in that old ignorant twinkle for a steady calmness. I still duck and cover when an insect the size of my pupil is within five feet of me, but from a distance I know that I am not so different from the tiny creature. If I am a predator, I am not the kind of predator who hunts but rather the one who kills out of fear. I prefer the role of the prey— it suits me well. I avoid conflict: I prefer spending time at home with my wife, I weigh less than 100lbs, and I have been notorious for becoming paralyzed with laughter upon being attacked by testosterone-laden family membe rs. If a human or other animal my size or larger were to want me for dinner, I would be an easy target though my meat wouldn’t feed a family of four. As a member and supporter of the earth’s weak little peacekeepers (small humans with loud voices), I can say that despite Rick Bass’s honorable honesty, I found â€Å"Why I Hunt: A Predator’s Mediation† to be a threat to womankind. Not all women are vulnerable, but with weapons the hunter can make most anyone his prey. There are predators in the United States who hunt women the way Bass hunts elk. If Bass’s non-human targets are replaced with women and children, the essay has quite a different effect on the reader, though the arguments don’t change. When Bass describes his love of â€Å"sitting in some leaves, completely hidden and motionless—waiting, and waiting† (63), I picture him waiting in a park for an unattended child or an unaccompanied woman. My concerns about Bass’s instincts aren’t neurotic. I’m a loving woman who occasionally hugs trees and wants to feel safe in the world—not a card carrying member of PITA.

Steroids :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Steroids were first developed in the 1930's. The Germans first experimented on dogs and then on their own soldiers in the World War II, as well as used them on their prisoners to help them stay healthy because they suffered from significant malnutrition. Then in the 1950's many Russian and European athletes began to find that steroids were very beneficial to their goals and soon after began dominating the sport of power lifting, crushing previous world records. In the mid 1950's it was proven that testosterone was the reason behind the improved athletic ability by Dr. Ziegler. Soon after he and his labs were producing Dianabol or Methandrostenolone. A few years later, steroids were available on the market. At that time both athletes and doctors were using them alike on a regular basis. On March 1st 1991, the Federal Anabolic Control Act was in effect. This put anabolic steroids on the schedule III of the Controlled Substance Act, making them an illegal substance without a prescription. Today, there are clinics that will prescribe testosterone and HGH to qualified patients. HGH is also known as Human Growth Hormone. Because of this act, the only other way to get steroids is on the black market.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There are many reasons why people take steroids. Before you look at the side effects of steroids, they seem as a great advancement in medicine. Steroids increase muscle mass, strength, endurance, and recovery rates. They also heighten aggression, improve performance in sports and on the job, increase muscle definition and leanness, and they maintain your appearance while aging. Although steroids help you greatly in muscular development, it has terrible side effects. The major side effects from abusing steroids can include liver tumors and cancer, yellowish pigmentation of skin, tissues, and body fluids, fluid retention, high blood pressure, increases in the bad cholesterol, and decreases in the good cholesterol. Other side effects include kidney tumors, severe acne, and trembling. In addition, there are some gender and age specific side effects.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Men may experience the shrinking of the testicles, reduced sperm count, infertility, baldness, development of breasts, and increased risk for prostate cancer. However woman may experience growth of facial hair, male-pattern baldness, changes in or killing of the menstrual cycle, enlargement of the clitoris, and a deepened voice. Adolescents who use steroids may have their growth halted prematurely through premature skeletal maturation and accelerated puberty changes.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There have been many reports of steroid users demonstrating violent behavior.

Gender and subject choice Essay

To carry out these interviews, I would take a sample of 20 sixth-formers, preferably within my own sixth-form to allow easier, speedier access and consisting equally of both males and females. In order to do this I would use quota sampling, this is a way in which variables can be controlled and the participants with similar characteristics are chosen, hence the overall sample can reflect the characteristics of the population as a whole. These samples would also preferably include students that had chosen to study any of the sciences, however particularly focusing on Biology. This sample would also take into account ethnic and class differences in order to allow me to differentiate between males and females according to different variables, providing sufficient extra data to measure gender against class roles and the intersections. Whilst this will provide qualitative clues as to subject choices by gender it will be limited in illustrating the impact of the learning environment and gender roles, as this would demand more ‘qualitative analysis’ such as that of Anne Colleys’. However, I would expect the results to be generalisable to a wider population. I will anchor these questions in previous research such as that of Anne Colley. Within the interviews, I am going to focus on Biology in particular when asking about the science/favourite subjects, etc. My reasons for doing this arise from the evidence that Science at GCSE level is more popular with males whereas at A-level it is more commonly chosen by females. I would begin the interviews with a number of open-ended questions, so as to give the participant a chance to provide me with worthy feedback, eg. â€Å"Why did you choose Biology? â€Å", and â€Å"What did you think of it ?(in comparison to GCSE level), etc. I would record the answers to these open questions as it would be time-consuming to write down many long answers, etc. This would enable me to extract a varied viewpoint on many different students perspectives of subject choice and preference. Then I would ask a series of closed-ended questions which will generally be more appropriate to achieve a table of results for clear comparisons to be made. These closed-ended questions would include similar questions to: â€Å"Do you think Biology is a girls subject?† and â€Å"Do you think Physics is a boys subject? â€Å", etc. Questions would be piloted on a small group of males and females to ensure its adequacy. This is in fact a small-scale preliminary study which will allow me to check that things will run smoothly during the interviews and also allow improvements to be made to the design of the research, should there be any faults. (471 words) Potential Problems As this is a such a small piece of research, it would a problem to generalise from it, especially to schools and pupils different from the sample, eg.ethnic minorities, private education, etc. It would give an idea of the reasons in which a particular small group of students chose their ‘A’ level subjects and their own individual reasons for doing so. However it could give a fair impression of reasons for subject choice in other cases, eg. similar circumstances to other pupils studying the same subjects etc. The usage of quota sampling does have both theoretical and practical drawbacks in some circumstances. It isn’t truly random as each person within the population doesn’t have an equal chance of being chosen. The lack of this genuine randomness may have a significant effect on the results. For example, the quota sample within my study would be only those illustrated on the biology class register, however the results may have more of an impact if a quota sample had been taken from all those who achieved a high grade at GCSE biology and were in fact considering going on to study it at a higher level, etc. There is of course, with my research an interviewer bias. As my opinions on the topic are set by doing the research, participants may be influenced by my asking of the questions and will therefore respond by giving a respectable answer as they may find the real truth embarrassing, eg. â€Å"I fancied a lad who was taking the course†. However I am similar in status to my chosen sample group, therefore they may wish to impress or please me by giving me answers that they think I ‘want’ to hear. Another problem may be the reliability of the interviewees memory, they aren’t currently making their choice and might not remember their thoughts on it at the time. Also during interviews, a crucial factor as a way of achieving a reliable outcome of the research is to not put ideas into the students head before having asked open-ended questions. For example, closed-ended questions especially may put forward ideas that weren’t there before and therefore mislead me about ‘their’ thoughts on the matter, etc.

School Adjustment of Children from Divorced Families

The family is the basic unit of society where human beings are brought to life. It is considered a small society where children learn basic virtues. Therefore, the relationship between parents and children is very important for their growth and development. Through this relationship, children gain the virtues of trust, autonomy and initiative. Children also learn about socio-emotional relationships, self-respect and self-control. Thus, family environment and parent behaviour are crucial for children to grow as healthy, happy, and responsible people.Yet, despite the importance of parent support, there are still many children devoid of proper care from their parents resulting from the increasing number of divorces, or separations. In spite of the negative effects caused by divorce on children, the society seems to think divorce is something that can be easily done. Since the early 1990’s, divorce rate in Korea has risen rapidly not withstanding the fact that Korean society has a negative view on the divorce as compared to those in western countries. The influence of Confucianism is still deeply imbedded in Korean culture where family and marriage are supreme for most Koreans.Hence, many children from divorced families encounter deep-seated prejudice as if they have psychological defects. Although this may not be true for every child with divorced parents, some studies have shown that because they are exposed to a series of changes and are more disadvantaged than those who grow up in intact families, their school performance may be poor and they may exhibit antisocial behaviour. For example, children living in single parent families are less likely to have as many economic resources as children living in intact families.Other problems relating to aspects like parenting, education, housework, psychological issues will, as well, rise. Further, children of divorced families have to deal with sorrows from the absence of either their father or mother and that th ey will have to adapt to the change in family system. A study shows that children from divorced parents often become a laughingstock, and develop wrath towards their mother or father. Moreover, some children may find it difficult to focus during class, hence, receive poor academic grades. Childhood experience can have large impact in determining how they might turn out in the future.Parent-child relationship can largely influence children’s personality formation or intellectual development due to the account that children learn by imitating adults. Divorced parents may find more financial responsibility when it comes to parenting thus they may suffer from depression. Kurdek and Hetherrington also mention that single parent tend to raise their children with more rules and restrictions and less attention. Unfortunately, these single parents’ mental, emotional and family disorder difficulties will influence growing children and society at large. Parents’ divorce is a crisis which stirs up the ordinary life of children.For this reason, studies on divorce and its effects on children should be taken seriously. Divorce does not appear to have consistent effects across all children and ages as observed in two children, ages 10 and 11, from divorced families. Thus, this study is limited to elementary school age. It hopes to aid in understanding the behaviour of children from divorced families in school environment by illustrating researcher’s own experience with such children in class. It is related to theories which support their behaviour and possibly suggest ways for parents and educators to contribute to children’s well-being.The structure of this essay is as follows: ? the effects of divorce on children ? the differences between the children of intact and divorced families ? gender differences in the effects of divorce ? school adjustment of children from divorced families ? personal experience with children from divorced familie s The Effects of Divorce on Children Children’s reactions towards divorce can vary. Not only can the fact that the absence of one of the parents influences children but the change of environment after divorce settlement also affects children.They can suffer from psychological, behavioural and social problems. Psychological problems Study shows that children from divorced families have difficulties in adapting to new family environment. They are also likely to develop wrath towards one parent and some of them may even blame themselves for the divorce and show constant nervousness and incompetence. These effects may only be negative for a period of time or for children who have been exposed to parental conflict for a long time and recover rapidly in consequence of the stress released by their family environment.The most influenced psychological part of children of divorced families is that of depression and nervousness. Twenty-five percent of these children suffer from depressi on and fifty percent of them experience emotional turmoil or often appeared to be in despair. Social and behavioural problems Other influences on children from divorced families are external evidence like performance disorder, lack of sense of responsibility and understanding. They develop antisocial behaviour problems, aggressiveness, antagonizing manner and attention deficit in school settings.According to Lee’s research, during two years of their parents’ divorce children show antisocial behaviour and their social ability tend to decline. Children living with mothers exhibit impulsive behaviour, more oppositional and aggressiveness after two months of parents divorce. They also have difficulties in peer relationship and become troublesome at school, and perform lower academic achievement. Some children may seem to have overcome their parents divorce however even these children may have possibility of becoming troublesome when they are confronted with a new challenge and advancement task in school.As different studies have shown, divorce can have negative influence on children’s psychological, social and behavioural problems. Comparison between Children of Divorced and Intact Families Several researchers mention in their findings that children from divorced families differ significantly from children from intact families. Amato and Keith studied 13,000 children from preschool to young adulthood to find out if there are any significant behaviour differences between children of divorce and intact families.Their research indicates that children from divorced families have more problems in school, delinquency in the community, mental health problems and negative self-concepts. Besides differences in their behaviour problems, there is also a difference in economical stature. Children from divorced families are more likely to suffer from economic difficulty. Weitzman reported that woman’s standard of living after divorce falls by 29% th an previous household. And this can lead children to be more distressed in school from constant comparison with other children and receive lower academic achievement.This is because single parents may not have enough time to spend with their children because of their work and a decrease in income can increase frequent residential mobility. Hammaond compared the behaviour of children of divorced families and intact families and he found that boys of divorced families exhibit more behavioural problems than boys from intact families whereas girls show no significant differences. Boys from divorced families seem more distracted in class and exhibit acting out behaviour than boys from intact families do.This implies that in school setting, boys respond more negatively to their parent divorce than girls. The reason could be that in many countries including Korea, children live with their mothers after their parent divorce hence boys react more to absence of their father than girls do. Thi s means losing father’s monitoring homework or playing sports with them and sometimes there are issues they would want to share with their fathers only. From observing a student in class, I notice that sudden loss of affection from a father after divorce can influence school achievement.This is because children suffer from constant distress and tension and they become emotionally unstable. Therefore in comparison with children from intact families, their school grade naturally drops. However, recent studies show that nowadays there is less difference in the behaviour of children from divorced and intact families. This is probably due to the fact that divorce rate is increasing rapidly. Even though the difference is statistically significant, differences are becoming small.In Hetherington’s findings, she found differences between children of divorce and intact families, but she also found that children from intact families exhibit behavioural problems because of constan t parent conflict. She reports that over 90% of children including both genders from intact families are supposedly experiencing average range of problems. Remaining 10% suffer from severe family problem which would require professional help. In terms of children from divorced families, there are 74% of the boys and 66% of the girls in the normal range and remaining boys and girls are considered to have severe behavioural problems.Forty percent of adolescent boys and girls from divorced families have less behavioural problems than those from intact families. More recent studies show that the behaviour of children from divorced families are not much different from children of intact families. Based on experience, children still seem to experience considerable distress about the breakup of their parents and these feelings remain and affect them in some ways. Most of illustrated studies are carried in the West but Korea’s situation is also taken at hand to see if there are any b ehavioural differences in this area. Although H.Kim suggests that divorce is still viewed negatively in Korea, nevertheless her findings in the behaviour of children of divorce in school ages 8 to 13 shows similar effects of divorce on children’s school behaviour, which appear to be similar to that experienced by Western children studied in Amato & Keith’s research in 1991. Korean children from divorced families also exhibit aggressiveness, seek more attention and disobey in school. Gender Differences in the Effects of Divorce Besides behaviour differences among children of divorced and intact families, there are also gender differences to consider.Hyatt suggests that boys and girls react differently to parental divorce. Boys tend to create more behavioural problems in school than girls do. Boys’ self-esteem tends to decline as a result of divorce and they seek constant attention from the teacher and disturb class with irrelevant talks. Their effort in school wo rk also decline. Hyatt mentions that boys are more prone to difficulty of losing contact to their father hence regular communication with the father can help these adjustment problems.Girls’ behaviour in school after parental divorce is not as noticeable as boys because they do not manifest their difficulties by acting out in class. Rather, they tend to become more anxious or unhappy or showing over controlled good behaviour. Another findings concerning gender difference in the effects of divorce is that girls do accept help from their teachers unlike boys. This is because girls see their school as a place where they can be supported during divorce while boys conduct socially unacceptable behaviour.School Behaviour of Children of Divorced Families Human beings grow by constantly adapting to new environment therefore adapting to an environment is part of life cycle. Children’s educational place can be divided into home, school and the society. The child and environment continuously interact and the school takes over large part of a child’s life. Therefore as well as having a settled family life, school period is also important in determining how children might turn out in the future.School is a place where children enjoy, and gain sense of satisfaction by experiencing various activities and maintain harmonized relationships with the teachers and other students. Similarly, school adjustment is defines as taking interest in school environment and feel comfortable being in school with other children. This adjustment reflects on their school achievement and development. For instance, children who enjoy being in school and participate in school activities are likely to gain more educational experiences than those who have adjustment disorder.Liebman defines school adjustment disorder as excessive reaction where individuals are unable to harmonize with the school environment and other students which will prohibit individual development. Children of divorced families are likely to have more difficulties in school adjustment than those of children from intact families. Berbe suggests that children with adjustment disorder tend to attract teacher’s attention by inappropriate questions in class, distract other children and find it hard to pay attention in class. They also refuse teacher’s request and are often disobedient.And if they continue to show irresponsible academic behaviour, it leads to serious adjustment disorder. Heck’s idea is also similar to Berbe’s suggestion that children with adjustment disorder problems are frequently absent and tend to be oppositional in class. However, it is difficult to judge the cause of maladjustment solely on divorce. How children respond to above stress can vary from a child to child. It can differ according to their age, gender or disposition and the environment includes economic stature of parents, social approval rating of parents and family conflict.Variab les are categorized as they may affect children’s school adjustment into demographic differences and family variables. Demographic differences include race, gender, and parental socioeconomic status and family variables include relationships, organisation, control, social support, mother rejection and father rejection. Behaviour of children of divorced in school As mentioned earlier, children from divorced families appear to have difficulty in academic achievement and relationship with other children at school than children from intact families.The cause of this should not be looked at solely on the primary factor which is divorce. Secondary factors are to be considered as well, such as the change in socioeconomic structure and resources after divorce. For example, as mentioned earlier, economic loss, poor parental adjustment, lack of parental competence and parental loss can cause behavioural problems. As mentioned in the section of ‘Comparison between children of divo rce and intact families’, women’s standard of living is reduced by 29 % after divorce and absence of father can have negative influence on children more on boys than girls.Regarding studies on children’s maladjustment behaviour, Liner categorizes disorder behaviour as: ? action-out behaviour like hitting someone and being aggressive ? withdrawing behaviour: very quiet, sucking fingers, restricted behaviour ? defensive behaviour: lying, ignoring ? disorganised behaviour: escaping from reality Similarly, Wickman describes behaviour of children with adjustment disorder as: ? immoral, dishonest, in resistance to authority, stealer, cheater, disobedient, rude and rebellious ? often violates regulation of class, careless, loses interest in study, negligent and trustless? exaggerated and offensive personality ? unsociable, overly sensitive, and liar Based on experience, as a teacher of young children, those from divorced families have lower academic achievement, are so cially isolated, overly sensitive, either humiliate themselves or boast and show negative behaviour in class. Specifically, their academic grade is poorer than it used to be and they do not try to socialize with others in class. Further, they often seem absent-minded and tend to change their mood easily.If they are scolded for not doing their homework or asked to answer something they do not know, they use violent language in response. They also suffer from headache and easily get tired. This behaviour of children can also be explained by Rotter’s theory of locus of control. Locus of control refers to how individuals attribute the cause of their behaviour to internal or external forces. In applying to children of divorced families, children who have internal locus of control believe that if their parents are divorced, it is their fate.Therefore these children are able to handle any difficulties and feel less psychological distress. In contrast, children who have external locu s of control believe that if they do not perform well in school, they tend to blame external factors such as parental divorce rather than blame themselves. Hence, these children are likely to suffer from severe distress than those who have internal locus of control. When elementary school children experience parents’ divorce, they can become aggressive and develop sense fear and sorrow.Some children also imagine reunion of their parents. And they also explain that children’s school behaviour depend on how they are treated at home. As per experience, the relationship between custodial parent and the child seem to have a large impact. Prior research says that the relationship between the behaviour of custodial parents and children’s school adjustment illustrate that the attitude of custodial parents has large influence on children’s school achievement. Mothers’ affection can influence enormously on developing children’s social skills.From moth er-child relationship, children learn responsibility, self-control and social skills, hence, hostile attitude towards children can act as hindrance in developing social skills. Therefore one can learn that the attitude of custodial parent becomes important factor which influence children’s school adjustment. Personal Experience with Children from Divorced Families Case study 1 Two years ago, I was teaching young Korean children ages 8 to 11. Before I started teaching, I was briefly explained about the behaviour of several children by their tutors.A couple of them were from divorced families. I had a difficulty in handling one particular child called J, who was 11 years old at that time. According to his tutor, his parents were divorced recently and as a result, he enrolled in this school. I did not know the reason of his parents’ divorce but his mother was diagnosed with cancer. The tutor was the custodial parent of J. My first impression on J in class was that he was very loud and also it became a routine for him not to do his homework and turn up late in class.He became aggressive and tried to embarrass me by making ridiculous comments when scolded about his behaviour. On one occasion, J had a fight with another boy in class. J actually stabbed this boy with a pencil during break time. Although it was a minor injury, parents of both boys had to be called in and J’s tutor tried to make both boys talk about why it happened. But they did not say a word. Since J’s mother was sick, his grandmother came instead, apologizing for her grandson’s action. Nonetheless, explanation of J’s grandmother helped me to understand his behaviour.J became difficult to control since his parents’ divorce. He was furious with the fact that his father left his sick mother for another woman. His grade from previous school was average but with the change of family environment, he was achieving lower grade. However, considering he was fai rly new to the school, he seemed to socialize with other boys easily and seemed to lead them as well. I have also noticed that when he was not being loud or seeking attention in my class, he would sit absent-minded and continuously shake his leg. Besides being aggressive he was probably feeling insecure as well.In the period immediately following the divorce, J’s mother’s ability to be a good parent probably declined and became more inconsistent in disciplining her son due to her illness. J’s reaction towards his parent’s divorce is all mentioned in past studies by Anthony (1974), Hoyt et al. (1990), Kurdekrikberg (1987), Liner (1976), Wickman (1987) where action-out behaviour was most apparent in his behaviour when he had stabbed a boy with a pencil and his reaction also showed that he was very aggressive, as Lee (1993) suggested that children of divorce can become aggressive.J’s behaviour of making comments in class also shares Hyatt (1999)â€⠄¢s findings of making irrelevant comments in class. J had also developed anger towards his father because he had left his mother when she was sick and Kurdekriberg (1987) mentioned that some children may develop wrath towards one parent after divorce. As illustrated in Lee (1993), Kurdekriberg (1987) and Weitzman (1985)’s study, J’s academic grade declined and exhibited withdrawing behaviour (1976) such as shaking his leg in class.He was also spotted lost in thoughts in class sitting completely absent-minded and this can refer to what Liner (1976) called disorganized behaviour that J probably wanted to escape from this painful reality of his. Case study 2 Another child called B, age 10, in my class, also experienced parents divorce. I got to know B’s background through a homework I assigned in class. Unlike J, her parents were divorced when B had just turned 5 and at that time, none of her parents were willing to look after her. Therefore she was left under the care of her grandparents in her mother’s side for a few years.And then, she joined her mother at the age of 9 who was by then re-married and had children of their own. Being with her mother’s also meant moving to another school, hence everything was new to her. Despite the change of the environment, she seemed to have adjusted herself well in school life. She had her own circle of friends and she was also active and lively during class and there was not much change in her school grade. I also noticed her suck fingers during class. One day, I assigned the whole class to write about their parents because it was soon to be Parents’ Day in Korea.Surprisingly, B did not do her home. To be exact, she actually refused to do it because she said there was nothing to talk about and as she was saying this, she was almost in tears. Then she explained her family background and she was ashamed of it. She mentioned that her mother and stepfather hardly gave her any affection and treated her as a burden, hence in order to avoid them, B spent most of her time in her room when she was home. For B, the school was some kind of a safe zone and because of her positive attitude in class, I never thought that she was unhappy at home.In my opinion, B was putting all her energy into school life to forget about troubles at home. It was obvious that B had the most difficulty in adapting to step-parenting and remarriage and what made it worse was that she hardly knew her mother either. So confronting her mother and step father was a great distress for B. Unlike J, B’s behaviour was not very noticeable in school. It seems that in B’s case, her difficult situation acted as a driving force to concentrate in her school life.This is because she had hardly any affection from her mother that she probably had with her teachers and friends, whom she can trust and rely on as it is mentioned in Goldman, Rosenzweig & Lutter (1980) that girls from divorced families tend to see school as a supporting place. Both J and B suffered from painful memories and feelings of helplessness but how they reacted to the situation differed extremely although they both showed what Liner (1976) called sign of withdrawing behaviour: shaking leg and sucking fingers.There could be many factors which caused these differences. For example, J and B’s age difference, their gender and economic stature of their parents. Since J’s mother had an illness, they probably suffered severely from economic loss in comparison with B’s situation. And the fact that B’s parents were divorced years before J’s parents, could be another reason which caused adjustment difference in school. Last but not the least, attitude of custodial parent could be another reason.Although J’s behaviour problem seemed more serious than B’s, J probably had more attention from his mother where as in B’s case, she was not suffering from the fact that her parents were divorced but suffered from trying to adapt herself to step-parenting and remarriage. From J’s and B’s cases, it is evident that their behaviours were strongly influenced by family variables. Although J received much affection from his mother, he probably felt rejected from his father and B felt rejected from his mother. Although they were both influenced by family variables, J’s reaction was much more noticeable than B.Boys create more behavioural problems than girls, hence the influence of gender differences is also apparent in this study which is known as a demographic difference. It is clear that both J and B need support from educators. Although B is able to cope with this new challenge of living with a mother who she does not know well and adapting to step-parenting by herself, without professional help, it may trigger problems in her adolescence. It is the same for J’s case. If he does not receive appropriate help form educators, h e is likely to continue with delinquent behaviour or associate with antisocial friends in the future.Therefore it is vital that they are supported with affection so that they grow into a reasonably competent person. Conclusions This paper studies the behaviour of children from divorced families by studying the prospective relationship demonstrated and certain family experiences and school adjustment of two children I taught in Korea. Although past studies show that children from divorced families are in danger for developing negative behaviour and experience academic decline, due to increasing rate of divorce, the differences in the behaviour of children of divorced and children from intact families are getting smaller.It may be that children from divorced families are having difficulties, these are not as important as the factors that cause these differences. What I learn from these two children is that being a party to their parents’ divorce is a very difficult transition f or their age. There are many factors which may cause children’s school adjustment disorder and student J and B responded differently, owing to gender differences and new family situations. Therefore, children from divorced families, including J & B, should receive appropriate support both from parents and educators until they adjust to their new living arrangements.This will help them develop intellectually and socially in the same way as their peers from intact families do. Not only the support of parents is needed but teachers need to become more aware of children’s feelings in class. I, for one, am being considerate to children from divorced families in assigning homework such as writing letter to parents. Discussing different family situations, including single parenting and remarriage, will help children of intact families develop more awareness and respect towards children of divorced.Teachers can also spend more time with children from divorced families to under stand their feelings and perhaps suggest advice if necessary. This personal attention can help children to reduce any negative behaviour which children may exhibit as a result of parent divorce. In summary, on the basis of the findings of this study, it is suggested that educators should consider any factor that may influence children’s behaviour and conduct appropriate program in order to help them.