Edinburgh Napier library services Essay Example for Free

Edinburgh Napier library services Essay Edinburgh Napier University was established as a technical college in 1964 taking its name from famous inventor of logarithms, John Napier. Since 1971, the college has started to offer degree level educations. In 1992, the college was converted to university, and changed its name to Napier University. However, in 2009, the university changed its name to Edinburgh Napier University. To enhance high academic integrity, the university aims to implement scalable high level Library Information Systems in order to offer high quality learning. (Edinburgh Napier University, 2009, Microsoft Corporation, 2006). The objective of this proposal is to evaluate an initiative of the Edinburgh Napier library services. To enhance greater understanding of proposal, it is essential to provide brief description of the research area. 1. 1: Background of Research The university opened Electronic Library Information systems in 2000, and since this period, the library has acquired huge amount of academic resources in electronic formats. However, with increase in the academic complexity, learners are increasingly facing challenges in accessing academic resources from the university library. (Edinburgh Napier University, 2008). By visiting the current online library resources, it is revealed that the university is facing challenges to provide high quality and innovative e- library services. Although, the university e-library has offered various services such as e-resources, teaching resources, study and research, user’s information, and information on the library resources, however, it is revealed that there are various lapses in the existing library services that have led to gaps in the knowledge. The university teaching resources from WebCT has not provided social teaching networking where students and tutors will be able to interact when lecture is taking place. Thus, the university has not been able to provide virtual face-to-face teaching strategy that resembles traditional teaching method. As being argued by Rolfe et al (2008), the WebCT which is one of the university library resources of Napier Edinburgh University has not been able to provide social interactions for students. The lack of dialogue do not provide rich virtual academic standard for students. Moreover, the university has not be able to offer 24 hour service for students in the physical university libraries such as Canaan Lane, Comely Bank, Craighouse, Craiglockhart, Livingston, Melrose, and Merchiston. The books in these libraries have not been available online. To address this problem, the university needs to implement scalable e-Resources Strategy in order to achieve high quality e-learning. It is essential to realise that the library should be able to provide varieties of online portals that should provide social networking for students and instructors. The recommendation provided is that the existing software and hardware that were used for the university library resources need to be upgraded to high quality and scalable new software and hardware. The comparison between national and international students on the effectiveness of university library resources has revealed that overall international students are happy with the university library resources. Compared to home students where only 54% of home students are happy with the university library resources. (Bawden, Robinson, Anderson et al 2007). Thus, the proposal attempts to address these gaps and make recommendations to the library. To achieve these objectives, the study provides the outline of the project in the box below. 2. Project outline for the project 1. The idea for this research arose from: The research arose from the shortcoming identified in the library services of Edinburgh Napier University. The research attempts to provide recommendations to the library in order to fill the gap. 2. The aims of the project are as follows: To provide understanding among students the different means of accessing material through the various services. To provide recommendations of high quality and scalable e-library resources in order to ensure easy and quick accessible of learning materials. 3. The main research questions that this work will address include: To what extent the existing library resources have been able to satisfy the need of students and staff? What are the high quality and scalable methods to improve university library resources? 4. The software development/design work/other deliverable of the project will be: The software design will involve Software Development Life Cycle which is typically referred as waterfall model. The prototype of the software design reveals that output from a specific stage will provide the inputs for the next stage of software design. 5. The project will involve the following research/field work/experimentation/evaluation: There will be primary and secondary research to carry out this project. Moreover, there will be experimentation of software and hardware that will be employed for the proposal. 6. This work will require the use of specialist software: MOSS 2007, Microsoft cluster, Web 2. 0 7. This work will require the use of specialist hardware: VM Ware Tools, Linux Server, podcasts, Virtual hardware 8. The project is being undertaken in collaboration with: The project is done in collaboration with a researcher and school of computing. (Bawden, Robinson, Anderson et al 2007) 3. Conclusion The proposal attempts to evaluate an initiative of Edinburgh Napier library services. The study has revealed that there are shortcomings in the existing university library resources. The gaps identified are that the university has not been able to offer 24 hours services for some of the library resources. Moreover, the WebCT has not been able to offer virtual classroom experience for students where learners would enjoy virtual classroom experience just like traditional learning. Thus, the proposal has recommends that the existing software and hardware need to be upgraded to ensure that the university offers high quality and scalable library services for students. References Bawden, D. Robinson, L. Anderson, T. et al (2007). Towards Curriculum 2. 0: library / information education for a Web 2. 0 world. Library and Information Research. 31(99):14-25). Edinburgh Napier University, (2009). History of Edinburgh Napier University. Scotland. Edinburg University Press. Edinburgh Napier University, (2008). Napier University Learning Information Services E-service strategy: Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. Microsoft Corporation, (2006). Napier University, University Streamlines Access to Student Services with Improved E-Learning Portal. Microsoft Corporations. Rolfe, V. Alcocer, M. Bentley, E. (2008). Academic Staff Attitudes Towards Electronic Learning in Arts and Sciences. University of Nottingham. UK.

Not Just a Number: Critical Numeracy for Adults :: Numeracy Mathematics Education Essays

Not Just a Number: Critical Numeracy for Adults "It is difficult to understand why so many people must struggle with concepts that are actually simpler than most of the ideas they deal with every day. It is far easier to calculate a percentage than it is to drive a car." (Dewdney 1993, p. 1) To many people, the words "math" and "simple" do not belong in the same sentence. Math has such an aura of difficulty around it that even people who are quite competent in other areas of life are not ashamed to admit they can't "do" math. Innumeracy is more socially acceptable and tolerated than illiteracy (Dewdney 1993; Withnall 1995). Rather than discussing specific ways to teach math to adults, this Digest looks at emerging perspectives on numeracy and their social, cultural, and political implications as a context for new ways of thinking about adult numeracy instruction. What Is Numeracy? Numeracy involves the functional, social, and cultural dimensions of mathematics. Numeracy is the type of math skills needed to function in everyday life, in the home, workplace, and community (Withnall 1995). Although not always recognized as such, math is used in many everyday situations-cooking, shopping, crafts, financial transactions, traveling, using VCRs and microwave ovens, interpreting information in the media, taking medications. Different people need different sets of math skills, and their numeracy needs change in response to changes in life circumstances, such as buying a car or house or learning a new hobby (Gal 1993; Withnall 1995). Like literacy, numeracy "is not a fixed entity to be earned and possessed once and for all" (Steen 1990, p. 214), nor a skill one either has or doesn't have. Instead, people's skills are situated along a continuum of different purposes for and levels of accomplishment with numbers. Beyond daily living skills, numeracy is now being defined as knowledge that empowers citizens for life in their particular society (Bishop et al. 1993). Thus, numeracy has economic, social, and political consequences for individuals, organizations, and society. Low levels of numeracy limit access to education, training, and jobs; on the job, it can hinder performance and productivity. Lack of numeracy skills can cause overdependence on experts and professionals and uncritical acceptance of charlatans and the claims of pseudoscience (Dewdney 1993). Inability to interpret numerical information can be costly financially; it can limit full citizen participation and make people vulnerable to political or economic manipulation.

Dante’s Inferno Notes

A huge and powerful warrior-king who virtually embodies defiance against his highest god, Capaneus is an exemplary blasphemer–with blasphemy understood as direct violence against God. Still, it is striking that Dante selects a pagan character to represent one of the few specifically religious sins punished in hell. Dante's portrayal of Capaneus in Inferno 14.43-72–his large size and scornful account of Jove striking him down with thunderbolts–is based on the Thebaid, a late Roman epic (by Statius) treating a war waged by seven kings against the city of Thebes.Capaneus' arrogant defiance of the gods is a running theme in the Thebaid, though Statius' description of the warrior's courage in the scenes leading up to his death reveals elements of Capaneus' nobility as well as his contempt for the gods. For instance, Capaneus refuses to follow his comrades in a deceitful military operation against the Theban forces under the cover of darkness, insisting instead on figh ting fair and square out in the open. Nevertheless, Capaneus' boundless contempt ultimately leads to his demise when he climbs atop the walls protecting the city and directly challenges the gods: â€Å"come now, Jupiter, and strive with all your flames against me! Or are you braver at frightening timid maidens with your thunder, and razing the towers of your father-in-law Cadmus?† (Thebaid 10.904-6).Recalling the similar arrogance displayed by the Giants at Phlegra (and their subsequent defeat), the deity gathers his terrifying weapons and strikes Capaneus with a thunderbolt. His hair and helmet aflame, Capaneus feels the fatal fire burning within and falls from the walls to the ground below. He finally lies outstretched, his lifeless body as immense as that of a giant. This is the image inspiring Dante's depiction of Capaneus as a large figure appearing in the defeated pose of the blasphemers, flat on their backs Ser Brunnetto Latino = Round Three- Violence Against NatureOne of the most important figures in Dante's life and in the Divine Comedy, Brunetto Latini is featured among the sodomites in one of the central cantos of the Inferno. Although the poet imagines Brunetto in hell, Dante-character and Brunetto show great affection and respect for one another during their encounter in Inferno 15.Brunetto (c. 1220 – 1294) was a prominent guelph who spent many years living in exile in Spain and France–where he composed his encyclopedic work, Trà ©sor (â€Å"Treasure†: Inf. 15.119-20)–before returning to Florence in 1266 and assuming positions of great responsibility in the commune and region (notary, scribe, consul, prior). Such was Brunetto's reputation that chroniclers of the time praised him as the â€Å"initiator and master in refining the Florentines.† While Brunetto's own writings–in terms of quality and significance–are far inferior to Dante's, he was perhaps the most influential promoter in the Midd le Ages of the essential idea (derived from the Roman writer Cicero) that eloquence–in both oral and written forms–is beneficial to society only when combined with wisdom.We understand from this episode that Brunetto played a major–if informal–part in Dante's education, most likely as a mentor through his example of using erudition and intelligence in the service of the city. Apart from the reputed frequency of sexual relations among males in this time and place, there is no independent documentation to explain Brunetto's appearance in Dante's poem among the sodomites. Brunetto was married with three–perhaps four–children. Many modern scholarly discussions of Dante's Brunetto either posit a substitute vice for the sexual one–linguistic perversion, unnatural political affiliations, a quasi-Manichean heresy–or emphasize a symbolic form of sodomy over the literal act (e.g., rhetorical perversion, a failed theory of knowledge, a pr oto-humanist pursuit of immortality).Geryon = Round Three- Violence Against Art(fraud) giant with three heads and bodies Geryon, merely described in Virgil's Aeneid as a â€Å"three-bodied shade† (he was a cruel king slain by Hercules), is one of Dante's most complex creatures. With an honest face, a colorful and intricately patterned reptilian hide, hairy paws, and a scorpion's tail, Geryon is an image of fraud (Inf. 17.7-27)–the realm to which he transports Dante and Virgil (circles 8 and 9). Strange as he is, Geryon offers some of the best evidence of Dante's attention to realism. The poet compares Geryon's upward flight to the precise movements of a diver swimming to the surface of the sea (Inf. 16.130-6), and he helps us imagine Geryon's descent by noting the sensation of wind rising from below and striking the face of a traveler in flight (Inf. 17.115-17).By comparing Geryon to a sullen, resentful falcon (Inf.  17.127-36), Dante also adds a touch of psychologic al realism to the episode: Geryon may in fact be bitter because he was tricked–when Virgil used Dante's knotted belt to lure the monster (Inf. 16.106-23)–into helping the travelers. Dante had used this belt–he informs us long after the fact (Inf. 16.106-8)–to try to capture the colorfully patterned leopard who impeded his ascent of the mountain in Inferno 1.31-3. Suggestively associated with the sort of factual truth so wondrous that it appears to be false (Inf. 16.124), Geryon is thought by some readers to represent the poem itself or perhaps a negative double of the poem. Pier della Vigna = Round Two- Violence Against ThemselvesLike Dante, Pier della Vigna (c. 1190 – 1249) was an accomplished poet–part of the â€Å"Sicilian School† of poetry, he wrote sonnets–and a victim of his own faithful service to the state. With a first-rate legal education and ample rhetorical talent, Pier rose quickly through the ranks of public servi ce in the Kingdom of Naples and Sicily, from scribe and notary to judge and official spokesman for the imperial court of Frederick II. But his powers appear to have exceeded even these titles, as Pier claims to have had final say over Frederick's decisions (Inf. 13.58-63).While evidence of corruption casts some doubt on Pier's account of faithful service to the emperor, it is generally believed that he was indeed falsely accused of betraying Frederick's trust by envious colleagues and political enemies (Inf. 13.64-9). In this way, Pier's story recalls that of Boethius, author of the Consolation of Philosophy, a well known book in the Middle Ages (and a favorite of Dante's) recounting the fall from power of another talented individual falsely accused of betraying his emperor. Medieval commentators relate that Frederick, believing the charges against Pier (perhaps for plotting with the pope against the emperor), had him imprisoned and blinded. Unable to accept this wretched fate, Pier brutally took his life by smashing his head against the wall (perhaps of a church) or possibly by leaping from a high window just as the emperor was passing below in the street.Pier's name–Vigna means â€Å"vineyard†Ã¢â‚¬â€œundoubtedly made him an even more attractive candidate for Dante's suicide-trees. As an added part of the contrapasso for the suicides, the souls will not be reunited with their bodies at the Last Judgment but will instead hang their retrieved corpses on the trees (Inf.  13.103-8).MinotaurThe path down to the three rings of circle 7 is covered with a mass of boulders that fell–as Virgil explains (Inf. 12.31-45)–during the earthquake triggered by Christ's harrowing of hell. The Minotaur, a bull-man who appears on this broken slope (Inf. 12.11-15), is most likely a guardian and symbol of the entire circle of violence. Dante does not specify whether the Minotaur has a man's head and bull's body or the other way around (sources support both possibilities), but he clearly underscores the bestial rage of the hybrid creature. At the sight of Dante and Virgil, the Minotaur bites himself, and his frenzied bucking–set off by Virgil's mention of the monster's executioner–allows the travelers to proceed unharmed.Almost everything about the Minotaur's story–from his creation to his demise–contains some form of violence. Pasiphaà «, wife of King Minos of Crete, lusted after a beautiful white bull and asked Daedalus to construct a â€Å"fake cow† (Inf. 12.13) in which she could enter to induce the bull to mate with her; Daedalus obliged and the Minotaur was conceived. Minos wisely had Daedalus build an elaborate labyrinth to conceal and contain this monstrosity.To punish the Athenians, who had killed his son, Minos supplied the Minotaur with an annual sacrificial offering of seven Athenian boys and seven Athenian girls. When Ariadne (the Minotaur's half-sister: Inf. 12.20) fell in love wit h one of these boys (Theseus, Duke of Athens: Inf. 12.16-18), the two of them devised a plan to slay the Minotaur: Theseus entered the labyrinth with a sword and a ball of thread, which he unwound as he proceeded toward the center; having slain the Minotaur, Theseus was thus able to retrace his steps and escape the labyrinth CentaursThe Centaurs–men from the waist up with lower bodies of horses–guard the first ring of circle 7, a river of blood in which the shades of murderers and bandits are immersed to varying depths. Armed with bows and arrows, thousands of Centaurs patrol the bank of the river, using their weapons to keep the souls at their allotted depth (Inf. 12.73-5). In classical mythology, the Centaurs are perhaps best known for their uncouth, violent behavior: guests at a wedding, they attempted–their lust incited by wine–to carry off the bride and other women; a fierce battle ensued, described by Ovid in all its gory detail (Met. 12.210-535), i n which the horse-men suffered the heaviest losses. Two of the three Centaurs who approach Dante and Virgil fully earned this negative reputation.Pholus, whom Virgil describes as â€Å"full of rage† (Inf. 12.72), was one of the combatants at the wedding. Nessus, selected to carry Dante across the river in hell, was killed by Hercules–with a poisoned arrow–for his attempted rape of the hero's beautiful wife, Deianira, after Hercules had entrusted the Centaur to carry her across a river (Nessus avenged his own death: he gave his blood-soaked shirt to Deianira as a â€Å"love-charm,† which she–not knowing the shirt was poisoned–later gave to Hercules when she doubted his love [Inf. 12.67-9].) Chiron, the leader of the Centaurs, enjoyed a more favorable reputation as the wise tutor of both Hercules and Achilles (Inf. 12.71).Punishments of Each Ring -First Ring- For violence against neighbors. Made to boil in blood, and shot by arrows if they et out higher than they are deemed worthy. Fitting because those torturedmust boil in the blood they creted in life by violence.Chief sinner: alexander the great, who was violent against many of his countrymen as a tyrant.  · -Second Ring- For those violent against themselvesthey are turned into trees and are immobile. They are tortured and pecked at by Harpies. They will never be returned to their bodies because they didnt properly appreciate them in the first place.Chief Sinner: Pier della Vigna, who felt so ashamed by the lies of shcemers, took his own life.  · -Third Ring-For those violent against God. Three circles:  · Blasphamers – Just on hot sand · Sodomites – Also rained upon my fire  · Violent against art – also with purses around thier necksChief Sinner: Capaneus, Besieged Thebes. He is very defiant, still, and says hell shall never break him.Allusions  · Phlegethon-Literally a â€Å"river of fire† (Aen. 6.550-1), Phlegethon is the nam e Dante gives to the river of hot blood that serves as the first ring of  circle 7: spillers of blood themselves, violent offenders against others are submerged in the river to a level corresponding to their guilt. Dante does not identify the river–described in detail in Inferno 12.46-54 and 12.100-39–until the travelers have crossed it (Dante on the back of Nessus) and passed through the forest of the suicides. Now they approach a red stream flowing out from the inner circumference of the forest across the plain of sand (Inf. 14.76-84).After Virgil explains the common source of all the rivers in hell, Dante still fails to realize–without further explanation–that the red stream in fact connects to the broader river of blood that he previously crossed, now identified as the Phlegethon (Inf. 14.121-35).  · Polydorus-If Dante had believed what he read in the Aeneid, Virgil would not have had to make him snap one of the branches to know that the suicide-s hades and the trees are one and the same–this, at least, is what Virgil says to the wounded suicide-tree (Inf. 13.46-51). Virgil here alludes to the episode of the â€Å"bleeding bush† from Aeneid 3.22-68. The â€Å"bush† in this case is Polydorus, a young Trojan prince who was sent by his father (Priam, King of Troy) to the neighboring kingdom of Thrace when Troy was besieged by the Greeks.Polydorus arrived bearing a large amount of gold, and the King of Thrace–to whose care the welfare of the young Trojan was entrusted–murdered Polydorus and took possession of his riches. Aeneas unwittingly discovers Polydorus' unburied corpse when he uproots three leafy branches to serve as cover for a sacrificial altar: the first two times, Aeneas freezes with terror when dark blood drips from the uprooted branch; the third time, a voice–rising from the ground–begs Aeneas to stop causing harm and identifies itself as Polydorus. The plant-man expla ins that the flurry of spears that pierced his body eventually took the form of the branches that Aeneas now plucks. The Trojans honor Polydorus with a proper burial before leaving the accursed land.Old Man of Crete-Dante invents the story of the large statue of an old man–located in Mount Ida on the Island of Crete–for both practical and symbolic purposes ( Inf. 14.94-120). Constructed of a descending hierarchy of materials–gold head, silver arms and chest, brass midsection, iron for the rest (except one clay foot)–the statue recalls the various ages of humankind (from the golden age to the iron age: Ovid, Met. 1.89-150) in a pessimistic view of history and civilization devolving from best to worst. Dante's statue also closely  recalls the statue appearing in King Nebuchadnezzar's dream in the Bible; this dream is revealed in a vision to Daniel, who informs the king that the composition of the statue signifies a declining succession of kingdoms all inf erior to the eternal kingdom of God (Daniel 2:31-45).That the statue is off-balance–leaning more heavily on the clay foot–and facing Rome (â€Å"as if in a mirror†) probably reflects Dante's conviction that society suffers from the excessive political power of the pope and the absence of a strong secular ruler. Although the statue is not itself found in hell, the tears that flow down the crack in its body (only the golden head is whole) represent all the suffering of humanity and thus become the river in hell that goes by different names according to region: Acheron, Styx, Phlegethon, Cocytus (Inf. 14.112-20).Phaethon and Icarus-As he descends aboard Geryon through the infernal atmosphere, Dante recalls the classical stories of previous aviators (Inf. 17.106-14). Phaethon, attempting to confirm his genealogy as the son of Apollo, bearer of the sun, took the reins of the sun-chariot against his father's advice. Unable to control the horses, Phaethon scorched a la rge swath of the heavens; with the earth's fate hanging in the balance, Jove killed the boy with a thunderbolt (Ovid, Met. 1.745-79; 2.1-332).Daedalus (see Minotaur above), to escape from the island of Crete, made wings for himself and his son by binding feathers with thread and wax. Icarus, ignoring his father's warnings, flew too close to the sun; the wax melted and the boy crashed to the sea below (Met. 8.203-35). So heartbroken was Daedalus that he was unable to depict Icarus' fall in his carvings upon the gates of a temple he built to honor Apollo (Aen. 6.14-33). Experiencing flight for the first, and presumable only, time in his life–aboard a â€Å"filthy image of fraud,† no less–Dante understandably identifies with these two figures whose reckless flying led to their tragic deaths.

Who Invented the Ugly Christmas Sweater

An ugly Christmas sweater is any Christmas-themed sweater that could be considered in bad taste, tacky, or gaudy. The general consensus is that the  more embellishments—tinsel, reindeer, Santa Clauses, candy canes, elves, presents, etc.—the uglier the sweater. Its hard to say who invented the first ugly Christmas sweater.  As a matter of fact, we can presume that ugly sweaters were designed with the original intention of being fashionable. Its only because of ever-changing fashion trends that sweaters once deemed acceptable are now considered ugly.   Inspired by the 80s As a clothing item, ugly sweaters were often featured on situation comedies in the 1980s. They were mostly cardigans, buttoned down the front. The Christmas theme entered around the same time, with the first mass-produced Christmas garments being made under the name of jingle bell sweaters during the 80s as well. A New Tradition While no one may want to take the credit for ugly clothes, this tacky kind of holiday cheer has become a widespread festive tradition. The city of Vancouver  claims to be the birthplace of the ugly sweater party after hosting an event in 2002. Every year since, the Original Ugly Christmas Sweater party has been held  at the Commodore Ballroom, where the dress code ensures  an ugly sweater affair. Chris Boyd and Jordan Birch, the co-founders of the Commodores annual ugly sweater party, have even trademarked the word phrase  ugly Christmas sweater and ugly Christmas sweater party. To really get into the holiday spirit, the party is also a benefit that raises money for the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Canada, which grants wishes for children with life-threatening illnesses. A Brief History of Sweaters and Knitted Garments A sweater is a kind of knitted top, and knitted garments have been around much longer than the infamous Christmas sweater. Knitted clothing is created through the process of using needles to loop or knot yarn together to form a piece of fabric. Unfortunately, since knitting does not require a large piece of equipment like a loom, it is hard to trace the exact history of non-Christmas-sweater knitted garments. Instead, historians have had to rely on the remnants of the knitted clothes that have remained. The earliest examples of the two-needle form of knitting we are familiar with today are the fragments of and whole Egyptian Coptic  socks, which date back to 1000 CE. They were made from white and blue-dyed cotton and featured symbolic patterns  called  Khufic woven into them. Fast forward to the 17th century and we see another development in knitted garments. The cardigan sweater was named after James Thomas Brudenell,  the seventh Earl of Cardigan and military captain who led his troops  at  The Charge of the Light Brigade into the Valley of Death. Brudenells troops were outfitted in knitted military jackets, which were nicknamed cardigans. Who would have thought that the innovations of the ancient Egyptians and British military attire would lead to a joyously gaudy form of holiday cheer?

Comparative Article On Slavery During The Monument Of...

Comparative Article Paper Slavery is a contentious topic for scholars. Authors of both two articles discussed in this paper focus on different issues related to slavery, while they get access to issues on slavery from various perspectives. On the one hand, Alderman examines the inscription in the monument of commemorating Africa slavery from a politics perspective. On the other hand, Lambert discusses the development of Atlantic slavery in the historical geographic areas. In this paper, I aim to focus on the different perspectives and approaches that these two authors hold on when they develop their argument on issues related to slavery. This paper is going to present how the two authors differ in three main aspects. First, they examine slavery from various locations and issues related slavery. In the article â€Å"Surrogation and the politics of remembering slavery in Savannah, Georgia (USA)†, Alderman mainly focuses on the political site of representing slavery in contempora ry America. There are debates over the inscription on the monument. Alderman analyzes the conflict on ways of remembering slavery in Savannah Georgia. Alderman states that the politics of engraving slavery on people’s mind should be inspected when in comes to surrogation and look for the appropriate monument for slavery (Alderman, 2010, p. 90). There is no doubt that geography can be related to politics in many ways. The politics might affect the history of geography. As Alderman mentions that Abigail

Physics Of The Moon And Mercury - 1525 Words

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Education and Political Participation

Question: Discuss about the Education and Political Participation. Answer: Introduction: There is no gain stating the fact that education and democracy are inter-related topics. In order to improve the functioning democracy of any country, it is highly imperative that the people of the country are qualified enough to distinguish between false promises and authentic leadership skills. Research has shown concrete evidence that literacy alone helps to raise public awareness making each resident informed and responsible enough to take life-transforming decisions. Seen in the light of this argument, it is important to note that the Canadian democracy has witnessed a 7% increase in the Federal votes, and the rise in votes has been attributed to educated youths. Hence, the thesis statement of the present research is to determine if education has any important role to play in the political democracy of Canada or not. As far as the Canadian government is concerned, it has been observed that between the years of 2011 and 2015, the nation has witnessed a rise of 7 % in the total votes cast, out of which the educated youths had an integral role to participate[1]. In order to reinforce the argument, it should be mentioned that the participation rate of the people with a University degree was much higher than the Canadians who did not even complete their high school education. The surveys conducted as well as the administrative data of Canada claim that political participation of the country is directly affected and influenced by education. Over the last five years, it is being observed that higher the literacy of the nation in a particular year, higher is the participation of the people in exercising their democratic rights. According to a professor at University of Montreal, Henry Milner, education is making the people more attentive towards politics. While even some years back, people were unwilling to cast their votes, with the increase in education, people are becoming more aware of the importance of exercising their own choice by casting votes for the right people. In fact, research conducted on the Canadian election polls has further stated that 11% of the youths of Canada who refused to cast their votes belonged to the age group of 24 and thus most of them had not completed their University education during the time of the Federal vote. More the people are educated, the more they are able to think critically about the political concepts, such as good governance or effective leadership. Besides, educated people in Canada or any country have been found to have greater urge to get employed or to gain access to other opportunities. This is a reason why they are willing to bring about a remarkable change with the help of their democratic power. It is important to note here that between the years of 2011 and 2015, there has been a remarkable increase of 12% in the political par ticipation of the voters[2]. This increase in the political participation of the voters has also been accompanied by the increase in the total number of educated youths casting their votes. The people aged between 18 to 24 years of age have completed their education, and thus their participation has increased from 55 to 67% [3]. This increase in the rate of education was also followed by a remarkable increase in the rate of voter participation. Although the democratic set up of any nation allows all its members to cast their votes, the voters are often unwilling to cast their votes despite having voting rights. However, education helps to enlighten an individual shape his own opinions, and instill in him a desire to change the world. With this, the political participation of the educated youths of any nation increases, and Canada in itself bears evidence to this fact. The above diagram very accurately illustrates the higher the education rate of the Canadian citizens, the greater is the political participation. It was indeed astonishing to see that the youth voter turnout grew from 55% in the year 2011 to that of 67% in the year 2015. This data was mainly obtained from the study, which was conducted by the Elections Canada. This was mainly administered during the Statistics Canadas November labor force survey. Researchers have conducted many surveys in order to understand the main emotions that play in the minds of the young people that make them to opt for vote or stay away from voting. Some of the main points which they noted here are disillusionment among the youths and also severe confusion among them regarding the parties that need to be selected over the other. Interviews conducted in the past showed many interesting views of the youth who did not vote. Many of them said that as they the young people have less money, they are paid less importance. They believe that politicians do not care for the vote of the young Canadians as long as they do not have enough money. They also used to believe that there are many candidates and very little political substance. Therefore, the young people got disillusioned whom to vote for in the elections. Often these type of answers from the young people clarified the absence of proper knowledge about the entire system which could be only obtained by properly educating oneself in politics[6]. An interesting analysis had been done in this regard which showed that education indeed helped people to be safe from any sort of disillusionment. The young voters were mainly found to have completed their university years and had thereby been more interested in casting their votes than the non-voters who complained of d isillusionments and confusion to vote for the right person. Moreover, not only university-education but also recent trends of educating oneself by different means have also been one of the most helpful contributions to young voting. The growing trends of different forms of media have allowed different types of educational messages to be conveyed to a large audience comprising of different age cohorts[7]. Different forms of conveying important news through television, youth newspapers, social media and many others have exposed a larger portion of the political conditions of the country to the young people helping them to gather ideas and support for specific parties. These types of Medias have made the youth more aware of the different benefits that they can obtain by choosing the leader of their own liking. Therefore, one can see educating such youngsters in the recent happenings of their country has in turn ensured more young voters participate in their voting. [8] Moreover, it is also seen that educated individuals are more concerned about their future than the non-voters are and tend to initiate a better place for them to thrive well in the future. They have been mature enough to understand that in order to have a better future, individualistic approach is very important and does not let disillusionment to affect their views and beliefs. They believe that a good future can be achieved by making their country a better place to live in with huge number of opportunities. They have understood that in order to achieve the said goals, the first step is to establish a nation with an eminent leader[9]. That leader will look over the entire welfare of the nation starting from good healthcare benefits, good defense system, good place for various job opportunities and others. They believe that the citizens can not only thrive happily in such nation but also can grow as an individual both financially and mentally. Thereby one can easily point here that e ducation have helped the young people to analyze critically and hence understood their importance in providing the best leader to their nation through their voting contribution. The above discussion is indicative of the fact that the political democracy of Canada is strongly determined by the aspect of education as per the reason that, it has been identified that education is positively increasing the voting rates in the country. Most significantly, the above discourse has implied that individuals with standard educational background are willing to cast their votes more than those who do not possess a University or college degree. However, it has been also identified that in the era of twenty first century, Canadian voting rate has been decreasing from the 1970s.[10] Therefore, it can be also argued that the instead of being fairly educated, there are still a disappointing amount of people who are not preferring to utilize their eligibility to cast vote and supporting the political democracy of the country. The distinct argument can be supported by the fundamental fact that education is an aspect that helps an individual to understand the hypocritical ideali sms of most of the political leaders.[11] Therefore, it is easy to assume that education is making people sceptical about the political freedom, which is being showcased by the political leaders. However, it should also denoted in this respect that one of the dominant reason for the sudden declination in the voting rates is found out to be potential shift in the premise of social values away from the esteem to institutional authority. On the other hand, it needs to be contemplated here that it has been recognized that gradually most of the Canadians have become conscious about whether their votes will worth any value for the effort or not. Henceforth, it can be definitely said that education is one of the key aspects that determines the voting rate in Canada in both positive and negative way. It is highly arguable that education does not always works in favour of Canadian political democracy as it has been found out that it is the power of literacy that is increasing scepticism among the Canadian citizens. In other words, it can be said that it is the notion of education that is enlightening the Canadian citizens about the political hypocrisy that is breathing for a long time within the shroud of political democracy. However, it should be considered that the steady declination in the voting rates is partly dependent upon various religious reasons. Therefore, it would not be completely justifiable to blame literacy for the decreasing voting rates in Canada. Henceforth, from the entire critical discussion above, it can be deduced that education plays a significant role in the political democracy of Canada. It is because, Canadian people who are educated becoming more attentive towards the aspect of political freedom and likely they are to exercise their individual choices by casting their votes. On the other hand, in the penultimate stage, the discourse has also implied that it is literacy, which is also making Canadian people sceptical about the credibility of political freedom. Henceforth, it can be said that in Canada, education plays a potential role in the political democracy. Reference List: Bhatti, Yosef, Jens Olav Dahlgaard, Jonas H. Hansen, and Kasper M. Hansen. "How voter mobilization from short text messages travels within households and families: Evidence from two nationwide field experiments." InMidwest Political Science Associations Annual Meeting. 2015. Biesta, Gert JJ.Good education in an age of measurement: Ethics, politics, democracy. Routledge, 2015. Brade, Raphael, and Marc Piopiunik. "Education and Political Participation."DICE Report14, no. 1 (2016): 70. Coleman, James Smoot.Education and Political Development.(SPD-4). Vol. 4. Princeton University Press, 2015. Cooper, Josh, and Elizabeth Campbell. "Civic Pedagogies in Higher Education: Teaching for Democracy in Europe, Canada and the USA by Jason Laker, Concepcion Naval, and Kornelija Mrnjaus (review)."The Review of Higher Education39, no. 4 (2016): 625-628. Demaine, Jack, and Harold Entwistle, eds.Beyond communitarianism: citizenship, politics and education. Springer, 2016. Fortunato, Piergiuseppe, and Ugo Panizza. "Democracy, education and the quality of government."Journal of Economic Growth20, no. 4 (2015): 333-363. Goodman, Nicole J. "Internet voting in a local election in Canada." InThe Internet and Democracy in Global Perspective, pp. 7-24. Springer International Publishing, 2014. Goodman, Nicole J., and Jon H. Pammett. "The patchwork of Internet voting in Canada." InElectronic Voting: Verifying the Vote (EVOTE), 2014 6th International Conference on, pp. 1-6. IEEE, 2014. LeDuc, Lawrence, and Jon H. Pammett. "Attitudes toward Democratic Norms and Practices: Canada in Comparative Perspective."Canadian Democracy from the Ground Up: Perceptions and Performance(2014): 22. Persson, Mikael. "Education and political participation."British Journal of Political Science45, no. 03 (2015): 689-703. Silver, Daniel, and Diana Miller. "Cultural scenes and voting patterns in Canada."Canadian Journal of Political Science47, no. 03 (2014): 425-450. Turcotte, Martin. "Civic engagement and political participation in Canada."Statistics Canada. www. statcan. gc. ca/pub/89-652-x/89-652-x2015006-eng. htm(2015).