The Challenges Of The Twenty First Century Education Essay

The Challenges Of The Twenty First Century Education Essay Introduction This chapter reviews the relevant literature used in this study in a thematic and systematic manner. It begins with reviewing texts related to the contemporary local and global challenges. It then discusses the national goals of education in Kenya relating them to the demands of the 21st century. Teacher education in Kenya is then reviewed and finally the system of education in Kenya is examined. 2.2.0 The challenges of the twenty first century The 21st Century has been conceived as: The age of Globalization, the age of Knowledge Economy, and the Information age. Globalization refers to the contemporary social reality, which is characterized by change, uncertainty, unpredictability, complexity, interdependence and diversity. According to Giddens (1990) and Albrow (1994), it refers to the process by which human relations are increasingly being intensified. As a result, economic, political, cultural and social distinctions are becoming less and less inhibitive. Advancement, especially in the information and telecommunication sectors has compressed time and space and the world is gradually becoming a borderless forum for human interaction popularly known as the global village. The educational challenges in a globalized world include: ensuring that learners acquire the technological skills that enable them to access the global information and telecommunication networks, transforming learner attitudes and dispositions to enable them adapt to change and uncertainty, fostering character traits in learners that make them functional in a cross-cultural and democratic setting. Such traits include open-mindedness, tolerance and intellectual autonomy, enhancing learners capacity and attitude to think critically and creatively. Knowledge has become the most important factor in economic development in a globalized world, hence the use of the term Knowledge economy to refer to the contemporary global economy. Consequently, the ability of a society to produce, select, adapt, commercialise, and use knowledge is critical for sustained economic growth and improved living standards (World Bank, 2002). Education needs to go beyond merely informing learners. Learners have to be enabled to learn on their own, make sense of and apply knowledge innovatively. Learners, therefore, need to take charge of their thinking and direct it towards solving problems as wells as formulating and pursuing desired goals. Information and telecommunication technologies that facilitate and support knowledge-based activities have become extremely useful. Information has become easily accessible with the use of the internet hence the use of the term information age to refer to the 21st century. Merely consuming information uncritically is dangerous in a globalized age. Education should therefore enable learners to select, interrogate, evaluate and utilize information efficiently. 2.2.1 The global challenges According to Haag (1982) education systems in the world have expanded quantitatively rather than qualitatively making them unable to address current social problems. Although a lot of resources have been devoted to education, it appears like the systems of education have been ineffective in addressing social ills like inequality, intolerance, resistance to change, crime and violation of human rights among others. These social ills manifest themselves in rising levels of poverty, ethnic and racial conflicts and violation of human rights in many parts of the world. Ward and McCotter (2004) argue that developing thinking skills in educational institutions, though necessary, is inhibited by inappropriate teaching methods used by teachers, ineffective evaluation procedures and rigorous overload of the curriculum. Other negative factors include ineffective educational policies that emphasize content and structure of education while neglecting quality and process of education. Jelinek (1978 ) refers to the dominant expository methods of instruction as didacticism in which it is assumed that education is an act of depositing knowledge into learners who are mere depositories. The process of instruction is lifeless, petrified, motionless, static and compartmentalised and thus strange to the experience of the learners. The approach is irrelevant to reconstruction of the experience of the learners since they are considered to know nothing. Ultimately the approach tends to turn humans into automatons and therefore negates their dignity and abilities as human beings. Without development of thinking skills, graduates from educational institutions are observed to be limited in analytical, creative and innovative abilities that are essential in the modern knowledge based world of work. Leat (1999) blames inability of education systems to address contemporary challenges on faulty academic cultures and traditions. For instance, attainment of good grades and certificates using whatever means is valued as opposed to transformation of learners into effective agents of change in society. Unhealthy competition among learners is tolerated instead of developing the culture of cooperation and mutual responsibility. Rigid adherence to existing academic cultures inhibits ability to respond to change. Unhealthy competition among learners promotes antagonism and undermines team spirit. According to Perkins (1990) the culture in most educational institutions is characterized by minimal informative feedback and emphasis on traditional ways of doing things. This diminishes the exercise of individual initiative and choice. Consequently learners are denied an opportunity to develop essential characteristic of democratic citizenship. Such characteristics include respect for dialogue, freedom of expression and self-determination through individual choice. Barrow et al. (2006) reports that a study done in India revealed that the main challenges facing teacher education include meeting childrens specific learning needs, respecting students cultural and socio-economic context and involving parents and communities in school activities. The teachers therefore require interpersonal and counseling skills that can enable them to empathetically discern the learning needs of pupils. The teachers also need to be able to deal with diversity of learners and forge school-community collaboration. Douglass (2006) perceives preparation of employable graduates as the main challenge of education in the 21st century. According to him, emphasis on employability has led to other challenges. For instance, there are sharp divisions between scientific-technological academic disciplines on the one hand and social science and humanities on the other. He argues that there is an overemphasis on the value of scientific-technological disciplines leading to bifurcat ion of knowledge. According to NCCPPE(2008), the main challenges that education must confront in the world today include: conservation of the environment and sustainability of natural resources; the provision of health care; renewal of economic vitality; coping with change through learning; promoting core human values like justice, peace and equity and protecting human rights. This study endeavoured to find out the extent to which global challenges mentioned above impact on Kenya. It further sought to establish whether and how the system of PTE in Kenya was responsive to them. The study also designed a framework by which the challenges can be classified for effective examination. For instance, the following categories of challenges among others were be included in the framework: cognitive, cultural, political, social, emotional, economic, ethical, technological, and religious. Cognitive challenges include obstacles that hinder effective thinking. Such obstacles render learners incapable of analytical, evaluative and creative thinking. Such learners merely copy and reproduce the ideas of other people without being sensitive to context. Cultural challenges include stereotypes and prejudices that are embodied in traditions and norms of particular social groups. These traditions are passed on from one generation to another without critical scrutiny. In additio n cultural beliefs and practices tend to be ethnocentric. As such they promote conflicts and misunderstanding among social groups. Political challenges include ideologies and policies that are designed to facilitate acquisition and maintenance of political power. Often such ideologies are propagated in a competitive way without regard to sufficient analysis, evaluation and fair-mindedness. Social challenges include the need to accommodate diversity in the contemporary setting that is increasingly becoming multicultural. There is need for tolerance, open-mindedness and humility in interpersonal interactions. Emotional challenges have to do with inability to understand and deal with ones own feeling as well as the feelings of others. This is especially so in a social context that is dynamic, uncertain and stressful. Economic challenges include scarcity of resources and controversial methods of distributing the resources. These challenges are compounded by the increasing needs and wants characterised by the consumerist lifestyles. Ethical challenges arise from disagreements on principles of right and wrong leading to ethical relativism. Such relativism makes moral values difficult to apply across board leading to ethical confusion. Technological challenges include inability to control and manage the use of technology in a way that benefits society without endangering wellbeing. Such challenges include checking abuse of the internet, regulating the mass media and ensuring that nuclear technology does not get into the hands of terrorists. Religious challenges include animosity among different faiths that sometimes expresses itself in overt violent practices. Religious fanatics often engage in breach of human rights and criminal activities in the name of God. All these challenges cannot be effectively addressed unless education empowers the learners and society at large to think for themselves, analyse and evaluate issues, question beliefs and claims as well as develop the ability to creatively solve problems. 2.2.2 The challenges in Africa Assie-Lumumba (2006) perceives the debt burden, ethnic violence, armed conflicts and the scourge of HIV and AIDS as the most visible challenges that impact education in Africa. What is needed is an education system that can empower Africans to participate in the production and application of knowledge relevant in addressing these challenges and promote broad societal advancement. In Ghana, the need to develop thinking skills among learners has been recognized as a viable way of addressing contemporary challenges facing Africa. However in practice, the development of such skills has not been given adequate attention (Acheampong, 2001; Hill, 2000). There exists a mismatch between the professed value of thinking skills in education and actual efforts to develop such skills in teacher training institutions. According to Owu-Ewie (2007), classroom environment in many educational institutions in Ghana inhibit thinking in students. The teachers have been observed to be autocratic and rigid in imposing their views on students. The opinions of students are disrespected and discarded thus discouraging learner participation, curiosity and creativity. Teachers make poor use of questioning and motivation and use the lecture method predominantly. The education system fosters rote learning, drilling and exam orientation. Such a system does not facilitate a healthy teacher-learner interaction. According to Barrow et al (2006), studies done in Namibia and Nigeria reveal additional challenges facing education in Africa. In Namibia, although educational policies are strongly based on active learning and learner-centered theoretical foundation, in practice, these lofty theories are not effectively implemented. The educational policies are poorly understood, interpreted and executed. The study findings support school-based teacher professional development programs, associated with whole-school improvement programs, as very promising ways of increasing understanding and effective implementation of active-learning policies. In Nigeria, religious tensions and economic empowerment are the challenges that education needs to address. Teachers have therefore to be empowered to facilitate inter-faith harmony, creativity and self-reliance among learners. In Ethiopia, poor quality of education, insufficient financing, lack of equity and poor management are the key challenges facing educa tion (Ethiopian National Agency for UNESCO, 2001). Consequently, the ongoing educational reform encompasses every aspect of the educational system- the curricula, teacher training, educational inputs, educational finance, organization and management, structure of education, career structure of teachers, and evaluation. The reform is aimed at total restructuring of the educational system. This study examined the challenges above and related them to those in Kenya and the rest of the world. It also compared the strategies employed to address the challenges with a view to reconstructing a more responsive approach to the challenges relevant to PTE in Kenya. 2.2.3 The challenges in Kenya In Kenya, some of the 21st century challenges are HIV AIDS, gender awareness, and sensitivity to human rights (K.I.E., 2004a and 2004b). Others include poverty, crime, drug abuse, and unemployment. These challenges require that education empowers the learner to reflect and respond to them pro-actively. While informing the learners about these problems is important, empowerment of the learner demands a transformation that transcends the cognitive dimension to include all other faculties of the human person. This study explored these non-cognitive dimensions such as the creative, cultural, ethical and social among others. According to RCE (2007), sustainable development in Kenya (as in any other country) is complex since it encompasses social issues such as peace and security, human rights, gender equality, cultural diversity and intercultural understanding. Other issues include poor governance, corruption, increased incidences of diseases, erosion of cultural values and morals, among others. The economic issues include corporate social responsibility and accountability, ethical marketing, increasing levels of poverty and the widening gap between rich and poor. The other issues include trends of unsustainable production and consumption leading to inefficiency and wastefulness, poor enforcement of policies and regulations governing production and marketing. Environmental challenges include the energy, nutritional and other domestic needs of an expanding population, unsustainable use of natural resources (water, land), rural/urban migration, climate change, rural development, urbanization, disaster prev ention and mitigation concerns. This study examines the extent to which these concerns are addressed in PTE with specific reference to pedagogical approaches employed. Abagi and Odipo (1997) argue that the operation of primary education system in Kenya faces the problem of inefficiency. Low completion rates and national pupil-teacher ratio make inefficiency evident. In addition, teaching-learning time was found not to be utilized efficiently in primary schools. The factors that may be responsible for inefficiencies include: ineffective education policies and management processes, misallocation of resources to various educational levels; school based factors such as teachers attitudes, time utilization, school environment; and household based factors such as poverty. The inefficiencies identified above lead one to question the quality and relevance of education in Kenya. While Abagi and Odipo (1997) discuss inefficiency from the point of view of mismatch between resource inputs and desired output in terms of qualified graduates able to contribute to national development, this study explored another dimension of inefficiency which involves discrepanc y between pedagogical approaches and the achievement of educational goals and objectives. The focus therefore was on the process of teaching and learning in addition to other material resources employed to pursue the achievement of educational goals and objectives. 2.3.0 Global responsiveness to contemporary issues Shah, (1997) discusses the implications of globalization in the 21st century which include information revolution, dynamic demand of relevant skills, uncertainty of a borderless world economy, and intense competition among others. He suggests that responsiveness to this reality demands a paradigm shift in the management of human relationships in all spheres of life. Although he takes a political perspective and dwells on how a shift in modes of governance needs to be effected, this study adapts Shahs ideas to a globalized educational context. For instance the shift from management to leadership in political governance can be equated to the shift from authoritarian teaching to facilitative teaching in education. In both cases, control (of citizens/learners by politicians/teachers) is discouraged while participation, consultation and involvement by all parties is encouraged. This change is so fundamental that Shah refers to it as a cultural transformation. He describes it as follows: The culture of governance is also slowing changing from a bureaucratic to a participatory mode of operation; from command and control to accountability for results; from being internally dependent to being competitive and innovative; from being closed and slow to being open and quick; and from that of intolerance from risk to allowing freedom to fail or succeed (Shah, 1997) While responsiveness as described above is desirable and even necessary in the world today, it is not easy to accomplish. In developing countries for instance, the reform of the public sector has been attempted in many countries without tangible results. Shah (1997) regards attempts to reform the public sector in many developing countries as an illusion or dream. The command and control orientation is so entrenched that developing a client orientation that emphasizes collaboration and service is difficult to achieve. Consequently human relationships are devoid of a sense of responsibility and mutual respect. Relating these ideas to primary teacher education, responsiveness would mean enabling learners to be self-reliant and self-disciplined as well as actively engaging both teachers and learners as partners in the learning process. Leithwood et al (1994) assert that modern education systems have to address broader and complex goals, use a diversity of forms of instruction and strategies for learning to cater for diverse clientele as opposed to the traditional youthful learners. In addition, educational institutions will need technical resources to facilitate independent decision making and collaboration with other agencies. Future institutions of education will need greater decentralization of authority, empowerment of staff, and increased accountability to the stake holders they serve. Much effort will be employed to review the content of the curriculum and the process of instruction in order to enhance learning as well as forge useful links between the educational institutions and their environment. Specifically the following responses will be needed: provision of higher order thinking skills like analysis, evaluation and creativity. use of flexible client-centred forms of instruction and willingness to collaborate with other educational agencies. Addressing of cultural, religious and ethnic diversity and tensions and Increasing respect for the rights of individual, ability, race, age, sex etc which enhances equity as an education goal as well as equal access to knowledge. Beyer (1997) asserts that the best way to respond to contemporary challenges is to empower learners to learn. This implies facilitation of efficient and effective thinking. Such learning involves careful development of learner inclinations as well as their abilities to think skilfully. Barrow et al. (2006) reports that a research carried out in India suggest that one way of facilitating responsiveness among learners is to create a learning environment in which children are motivated to participate actively and are encouraged to think beyond their own context. This concurs with Beamons (1997) and Beyers (1997) view that the classroom environment should be motivating and provide opportunities for learners to use their cognitive and creative abilities. In order to develop the thinking skills of learners, the teachers need to use cognitive instruction approaches and learner-centred strategies which stimulate thinking. This study explored such approaches and strategies and endeavoured to find out whether they were being used in PTE in Kenya. Kea et al. (2006) recommend multicultural teacher education preparation as a viable way of promoting responsiveness to the challenges of the 21st century. Teachers who have learned culturally responsive pedagogy are believed to be more confident and effective in instructing children from diverse social, cultural, religious and economic backgrounds. Culturally responsive pedagogy involves adapting the content of instruction and teaching styles, curriculum, methodology, and instructional materials responsive to students values and cultural norms. Thus, the ultimate challenge for teacher educators is to prepare reflective practitioners who can connect, commit, and practice an ethos of care with diverse students and their families. According to Douglass (2006), responsiveness to contemporary challenges requires cross-cultural and human rights education. Governments should ensure that their primary and secondary educational systems provide for a balance and integration of national history and identity formation with knowledge of other cultures, religions, and regions. Educational approaches should be suitable for transforming the values of young people, their perceptions and knowledge about other civilizations, cultures and peoples across all regions. Critical thinking should be promoted in order to enhance fair-mindedness and objectivity in a world where information is being generated and disseminated at an amazing rate. Critical thinking is essential for analysing, evaluating and applying information. It is useful in combating misperceptions, prejudices, inaccuracies and outright lies among others. Critical thinking enhances the learners ability to separate fact from opinion, to evaluate information for bias, to construct and deconstruct meaning logically and relevantly. Such skills are important for promoting tolerance, mutual respect and responsible citizenship. This study examines the responsive approaches discussed above in the light of the Kenyan context. It aims at developing and recommending a comprehensive proposal of responsive pedagogies for teacher education that are suitable for addressing contemporary issues in Kenya. According to NCPPHE (2008) the most important educational goal is to facilitate learning by students and the society in general and thus create a learning society. In such a society, learning is a way of life and is therefore life-long. Optimized learning is that which helps strengthen democratic and civic institutions in the nation. This concept of learning extends beyond the education of students in classrooms to include educations impact on societal organizations, businesses, corporations, and cultures. This view is also adopted by Partnership for the 21st century (2004), which is a conglomeration of public and private partnership focusing on improving education in the 21st century. The partnership reached out to hundreds of educators, business leaders and employers to determine a vision for learning in the 21st century, to reach a consensus on the definition of 21st century skills, knowledge and expertise which will enable learners to thrive in contemporary world. This work endea voured to bridge the gap between the knowledge and skills most students learn today in school and the knowledge and skills required in the 21st century communities and workplaces. The critical knowledge and skills identified by Partnership for the 21st century (2004) are learning and innovation skills (creativity and innovation, Critical thinking and problem solving, communication and collaboration), information, media and technology skills (information literacy, media literacy and ICT literacy) as well as life and career skills (flexibility and adaptability, initiative and self-direction, social and cross-cultural skills, productivity and accountability, leadership and responsibility). The partnership also identified interdisciplinary themes which summarises the content that students should learn in the 21st century. These themes include global awareness, civic literacy, health literacy and financial, economic, business and entrepreneurial literacy. This study used these themes, knowledge and skills to evaluate the success of teacher education in Kenya in equipping primary school teachers to prepare pupils for the demands of the 21st century. 2.3.1 Responsiveness to contemporary issues in Africa According to Barrow et al. (2006) research carried out in Nigeria indicated that responsive approaches in education in Africa should aim at fostering moral values such as patience, tolerance, friendliness, compassion, empathy and fair-mindedness. In addition teaching methods and strategies should create and sustain a stimulating learning environment. Teachers need to use a variety of teaching methods to reach students at different levels of ability. In Namibia, the research recommended teachers reflection on their practice in order to seek way of improving teaching and learning. Learner-centred teaching, variation of teaching methods and strategies and positive teacher attributes like kindness and courtesy were also argued to contribute to responsiveness to contemporary issues in education. Ethiopian National Agency for UNESCO (2001) describes responsive education from the Ethiopian perspective as characterized by access to basic education for all, production of responsible citizens who can solve problems and cooperate with others in productive socio-economic activities. Other characteristics of responsive education include equity, community participation in education, and suitability of academic disciplines to the needs of the country. Quality and quantity need to accompany each other in educational matters; for instance, new educational institutions should be established and the existing ones strengthened in order to produce professionals at a quantity and quality levels that match the requirements of the country. 2.3.2 Responsiveness to contemporary issues in Kenya In Kenya, attempts at making education responsive to contemporary issues and challenges is reflected in the various educational reports that have been generated since independence (Republic of Kenya, 1964, 1976, 1981, 1988 and 1999). This is evident in the review of the said reports below. The Ominde Report (Republic of Kenya, 1964) was the first commission of independent Kenya to address matters of education. It made a lasting contribution by articulating, among other issues, the goals of education in Kenya which are reinforced in the commission reports that followed. Among the recommendations that the report gave included that: partnership should be forged between government and regional and local authorities in the planning and administration of education; educational policy should be consciously directed towards promoting national unity; religious instruction should be handled as an academic subject on educational lines dissociated from the sectarian objectives of any religious group; primary education should provide training in the rudiments of citizenship; education should be responsive to contemporary needs and modern educational practice; education should be child-cantered and child study experts should be included as lecturers in teacher training colleges. The Ominde Report (Republic of Kenya, 1964) identified a number of issues of which the following are relevant to this study and remain relevant to the current situation in Kenya: Education in Kenya should foster as sense of nationhood and promote nationhood. The post 2007 election violence revealed the fact that nationhood and national unity have not yet been successfully achieved in Kenya(Republic of Kenya, 2008a) and education, to be relevant must develop among learners and teachers alike patriotism, tolerance and mutual social responsibility. Education should serve the people and the needs of Kenya without discrimination. It should develop in learners the traits of fair-mindedness, empathy and justice. Education should enable learners at all levels to adapt to change. This requires analytical and evaluative skills that enable one to examine ones context, identify and define problems clearly and accurately. It also requires creative skills to enable one to formulate and implement relevant solutions to problems. The teaching methods prevalent in educational institutions after independence were faulted by the Ominde Report (Republic of Kenya, 1964) because they neglected learner participation, imagination and understanding and emphasised drilling and authoritarian teaching. Little attempt was made to adapt instruction to the needs of learners. In teacher training colleges, few lecturers were well grounded on the crucial question of how children learn or fail to learn. The report appealed for a paradigm shift in teaching and learning as indicated in the following: We do not believe that the students will effectively break loose from the old bookish, rote methods until they have themselves shared in the exhilaration of autonomous learning and have discovered how much more complete is their final mastery (Republic of Kenya, 1964, p.116) Gachathi Report (Republic of Kenya, 1976) expounded on the implications of the ideology of African Socialism on education in Kenya. The Report recommended the following issues which remain relevant to the contemporary Kenyan context: Education needs to continue promoting national unity in order to address social and economic challenges facing the country; education should be a tool for removing social and regional inequalities and creating international consciousness; education should enhance adaptability and management of change; education should foster mutual responsibility and cooperation and education should develop positive attitudes and values that motivate people to serve diligently, honestly and efficiently. The Report recommended that all educational institutions should give increasing emphasis on problem-solving teaching methods that have a bearing on the real life situation of the Kenya environment. This study examines the extent to which PTE has addressed the concerns and recommendation of the Gachathi report. The Mackay Report (Republic of Kenya, 1981) was mainly concerned with the establishment of the second university in Kenya. It recommended the establishment of the 8-4-4 system of education. It reiterated the importance of the following objectives of education in Kenya: fostering national unity based on the adaptations of the rich cultural heritage of the Kenyan people; facilitation of the needs of national development; development of skills, knowledge attitudes, talents and personalities of learners; fostering positive international consciousness and promotion of social justice and morality. The Report observed that formal education had tended to concentrate on imparting knowledge for the sake of passing examinations instead of facilitating problem solving. Kamunge Report (Republic of Kenya, 1988) addressed education and manpower training for the rapidly changing Kenyan society. It recommended

Christchurch Earthquake Essay

On Tuesday 22nd of February 2011 there was a 6.3 magnitude earthquake at 12:51pm. The damage in Christchurch was far more substantial than the damage caused in the 7.1 earthquake only 5 months before. 185 people were killed in the February earth quake and thousands more were injured. The epicentre of the earthquake was very close to Lyttelton and only 10 kilometres out from Christchurch Central city. The fault line that ruptured and caused the earth quake was the 15 kilometre fault along the southern edge of the city from Cashmere to Avon Heathcoat estuary. The build-up of stress or pressure in the rocks below Christchurch The earth is made up of many tectonic plates. It is the movement of these plates that has created the geographical features of many countries. New Zealand lies on the boundary between two of these plates: The Pacific Plate and the Australian Plate. This boundary is most obvious along the Southern Alps. From this main fault there are many smaller ones spreading outwards. Some of these spread into Canterbury. Before the 2010 and 2011 earthquakes it was not thought that there were any significant fault lines near Christchurch. Now we know there are. Stress is not caused by the movement of tectonic plates, but more by when the edges of the plates jam against each other and stop moving. The pressure builds up behind the part that has jammed. Eventually the pressure is so great that the plate moves suddenly and this causes earthquakes. The build-up of stress and the sudden movement when the stress is released shakes the rocks deep under Christchurch. The fault lines under and near the city shake, causing the rocks to move. This causes the major earthquakes.The outer core of the earth is layer of molten rock. On top of this is the mantle. On top of the mantle is the earth’s crust that we live on. The mantle gets very hot and in thin places molten rock rises to its top. Because of this hot and cold relationship, the crust on top is broken into tectonic plates. The movement of molten rock causes energy to be moved upwards into the crust. When the crust can no longer hold this energy, it moves along the boundaries of the tectonic plates. These boundaries are the weakest parts of the crust and will therefore be the first bits to break and move. Release of stress The Port Hills fault line that caused the 6.3 magnitude earth quake in February was 15km long and stretched east to north east along from Cashmere to the Avon Heathcoat estuary. The fault line that caused the Feb 22 quake was one that was previously unknown close to the Port Hills. This fault line did not break the earth’s surface, so there was nothing visible for scientists to go and look at. Using instruments that measure earthquakes and earth movement scientists were able to determine exactly where this fault was and that the bit that actually moved, causing the earthquake was 15km long. Fault lines are the weakest part of the earth’s crust. When there is stress caused underneath by movement, the fault lines are the first part to move. It is a bit like a piece of glass: if there is a crack in the glass that will be the first place where the glass will break. So pressure is released under the earth’s crust. The earth’s crust will actually hold a lot of t his pressure. When the pressure becomes too much for the crust to hold, the fault lines are the first bits to move. One of the ways scientists measure and record the fault movement was through the displacement of GPS stations, whose displacements were used to create the fault slip model. http://www.gns.cri.nz/Home/Our-Science/Natural-Hazards/Recent-Events/Canterbury-quake/Hidden-fault The transmission of energy through the earths crust The energy released when a fault line moves is like a stone being dropped in a puddle of water. It causes ripples to move out from the centre. The ripples are worst nearest the centre and they get smaller as they get to the edge of the puddle. The centre of an earthquake is the epicentre. When energy is released at an epicentre, waves of energy move outwards, causing the ground to shake. As the epicentre of the Christchurch earthquakes was quite close to the city, the energy that caused the ground to move under Christchurch was violent. If the epicentre had been further away the quakes would have felt smaller.There was movement up, down and sideways during the February quake. The block of land on the south side of the fault line rose about 2.5 metres – this included the Port Hills. The land on this side of the fault also moved westwards. The land on the north side of the fault moved eastwards towards the sea. However, much of this movement was underground. The land has risen as much as 40 centimetres around the western side of the Avon-Heathcote estuary.The amount the Port hills has risen  varies a lot , under Lyttelton Harbour it has risen about 5 centimetres but at the base of the hills near the Heathcote valley, it has risen to a maximum of around 25 centimetres. As a result of the fault slip, areas like Bexley, Aranui, Wainoni, Avondale and New Brighton have sunk, mostly by less than 15 centimetres. Northern, northeastern and central areas of Christchurch have also sunk, but generally by less than 5 centimetres. Earth quakes / fault movements are measured with a sensitive instrument called a seismograph. Earth quakes generate seismic waves and the seismograph is used to detect them. The magnitude of an earthquake depends on how big or small the fault is and the amount it has slipped. The seismograph shows the recordings made on the seismographs detected at the surface of the earth to determine how large the earthquake was. A short wiggly line that doesn’t move very much means a small earthquake, and a long wiggly line that wiggles a lot means a large earthquake. Through the seismograph we get the Richter scale. The Richter scale is a scale used for expressing the magnitude of an earthquake based on the height of the largest shake 100km from the epicentre. There are different types of seismic waves that can be detected; there are P waves and S waves (primary and secondary) P-waves are travel at the greatest velocity through the earth making them the first waves to be recorded on a seismograph during an earthquake. S waves are transverse waves that travel slower than P waves but are more destructive because of their large amplitude. The effects on man-made structures and aftershocks Liquefaction is a substance where strength and stiffness of a soil is reduced by tectonic plates shifting or other rapid movement. Liquefaction occurs in sodden soils. The water applies a pressure on the soil particles this controls how tightly the particles are pressed together. Before an earthquake, the water pressure is relatively low. However when the tectonic plates start shaking it can cause the water pressure to build up to the point where the soil particles can readily move. Some Areas of Christchurch are more prone to others as some suburbs have up to 9cm of liquefiable substances such as sand and soft soil. These substances turn into liquefaction easily as they mix well with the water underground. Costal areas are also more prone as the soft sand mixes well with the water also. There was more damage caused by liquefaction in the central city and eastern  suburbs than other places simply because it depends on the soil. Since Christchurch is built on marsh land our soil is very susceptible to liquefaction and there is very little we can do to stop it. Some Areas of Christchurch are more prone to others as some suburbs have up to 9cm of liquefiable substances such as sand and soft soil. These substances turn into liquefaction easily as they mix well with the water underground. Costal areas are also more prone as the soft sand mixes well with the water also. Most buildings that survived the Christchurch earth quake were wooden because when wood is shaken it is able to bend and twist with the movement, whereas for bricks and stone they can’t move at all and just have to absorb the shock of the shaking which generally leads to buildings collapsing all together E.g. Christchurch Cathedral, CTV building and Knox church. Buildings like the Christchurch Women’s Hospital survived through the September and February earthquake because its foundations are base isolated. Base isolation is when a building is separated from the ground that it is built on. Large plates separate the ground and the building. One plate is secured to the ground and the other is secured to the bottom of the building. During an earth quake these plates only move a little bit, absorbing mos t of the shock from the earthquake minimizing damage to the rest of the building. Also depends on the soil under the building, if it is prone to liquefaction or not. Some houses had liquefaction coming up through their floors damaging the foundations so much they had to leave their homes, and basements of office buildings or apartment blocks were flooded with liquefaction, making them un-use able.A tsunami didn’t occur after the Christchurch earth quake because the epicentre was in land and no seismic energy was released under the sea. Tsunamis only happen when the epicentre is in the sea, making the energy from the earth quake ripple the water on to land. The bigger the earth quake is, the bigger the tsunami. Aftershocks? After shocks are a lots of smaller earth quakes that happen after the initial earth quake. They occur because the fault line that ruptured needs to settle down again and release stress, aftershocks are the fault lines way of releasing remaining energy. According to http://www.christchurchquakemap.co.nz/february there have been 8673 after  shocks since February 22nd 2011 as of Monday 19th May 2014. Including after shocks that have been so big they are classed as an earth quake of their own like the 13th of June 2011 and the 23rd of December 2011. After shocks do not occur in the exact same place, but they do occur along the same fault line and in the same region. The main earthquake has already happened and released most of its energy already, but further along the fault line the rocks are now out of place and the grinding between them causes more earthquakes (aftershocks). Bibliography http://www.ipenz.org.nz/IPENZ/forms/pdfs/ChChFactSheets-Answers-critical-questions-buildings.pdf http://keithwoodford.wordpress.com/2011/02/27/understanding-the-christchurch-earthquake-building-damage/ http://scienceblogs.com/startswithabang/2013/05/10/where-does-an-earthquakes-energy-come-from/ www.scoop.co.nz/stories/SC1103/S00054/the-canterbury-earthquakes-scientific-answers.htm http://www.mona.uwi.edu/earthquake/quickinfo.php http://all-geo.org/highlyallochthonous/2011/02/magnitude-6-3-earthquake-rocks-christchurch/ http://www.gns.cri.nz/Home/Our-Science/Natural-Hazards/Recent-Events/Canterbury-quake/Hidden-fault http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peak_ground_acceleration http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/SC1103/S00054/the-canterbury-earthquakes-scientific-answers.htm http://file.stuff.co.nz/stuff/12-51/ http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/historic-earthquakes/page-13

In this assignment, we would present our findings on whether Singaporeans are receptive to Telecommuting

In this assignment, we would present our findings on whether Singaporeans are receptive to Telecommuting. Telecommuting is the substitution of telecommunication for transportation, permitting work to be performed at a remote site anywhere except from the office. We conclude that Singaporeans are not very receptive to Telecommuting although Singapore is quite a technologically advanced country in Information Technology. A total of 20 respondents ( males and females) were asked to complete a survey form. Their age group was around 21-30 years of age. They were mainly made up of NUS students and system analysts. Among the 20 interviewees, 55% indicated that their current jobs do not require them to telecommute. Half of the 20 respondents spend on the average, 0-10 work-related hours in front of the computer every week. In addition, 90% of them feel that Telecommuting could not replace most of the jobs in Singapore. Below are the four highly topped responses that the interviewees made regarding their feelings towards Telecommuting in general. In the survey, 90% of those participating recognize that there is a loss in human touch while 85% of the interviewees feel that there is a loss in team cohesion. Telecommuting may cause a relative loss of synergy, because of reduced face-to-face contact, although electronic mail and on-line documentation can counterbalance this. Thus, Telecommuting results in less social interaction and reduced contact with the physical part of the organization (the office). This leads to isolation, loneliness and a reduced sense of identification with the organization and its members. The survey reported that 80% of the interviewees recognize that there is no need to commute with telecommuting. Telecommunication technology lets telecommuters transform almost any space into a workplace. Instead of going to work, telecommuters let work come to them. Time is saved too when the telecommuter does not have to travel to work. He beats the hassle of traveling to work and getting stuck in traffic jams. The time saved can be used to generating more output for his work. Moreover, 70% of those participating in the survey feel that they are able to spend more time with family and friends with Telecommuting. Telecommuting can help balance work and family demands. In this sense, Telecommuting can play a part in helping to bond the family together. When the parent does not have to leave home to go to work, he/she is able to spend more time at home with his family. The parent is able to show more concern for his children and spouse, as he/she knows what is going on in their lives. This will greatly improve the family cohesiveness. We found out that 65% of the interviewees think they are not able to work from home. This could be because Telecommuting requires unwavering self-discipline as telecommuters can make a choice between eight hours of work time or eight hours of web-surfing. The latter is of course more tempting. The reasons why Singaporeans are not receptive to Telecommuting might be due to three reasons. Singaporeans have a collectivistic culture and value team cohesion as well as membership. They are socialized to be emotionally dependent on organizations and institutions. As a result, Singaporeans are not used to the idea of Telecommuting. Firstly, the close proximity between family members due to Singapore's small physical size makes Telecommuting unfeasible. Secondly, the accessibility of Singapore due to its efficient transport network ensures that employees can commute between home and office quickly.

How Revolutionary Was The Revolution - 1197 Words

How Revolutionary was the Revolution? Creating the United States was not easy from the start, but instead it took much sacrifice to become what it is today. There were many factors that helped this nation grow from just the original settlers that discovered America. Some of these issues were more monumental than others, such as the political problems we faced in the beginning. Political conflict could easily be named the largest problem in early colonial history. Early colonists had to learn from other governments and face the British in order to create a society and to make that society a freer place to live in. There were many sacrifices made in order to develop the colonies and then to create a new nation from these original colonies. The colonists battled Parliament until there was a Revolutionary War. The Revolution was actually one of the biggest turning points for the colonists, and these sacrifices helped shape this nation in ways that we still see today. Before contac t with the America’s many European countries were battling to have the most pristine country of all. Europe at this time was struggling with population loss from the Black Death and famine. Meanwhile the Native Americans, who were thought to be primitive and underdeveloped, inhabited the Americas. This need for the best empire started the Age of Exploration and soon the French, the Spanish, and the British all had control of parts of the New World giving us the nickname The Melting Pot.Show MoreRelatedHow Revolutionary Was The American Revolution? Essay1242 Words   |  5 Pages How Revolutionary was the American Revolution? The American Revolution set the ground work for a major change in the New England colonies. It was a time of significant governmental changes on political and social levels, and a growing ideology on the obedience of a women and the dissolution of slavery. There were many events that led up to the American Revolution. 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