Social and environmental accounting case study of AVIVA and CSR The WritePass Journal

Social and environmental accounting case study of AVIVA and CSR Introduction Social and environmental accounting case study of AVIVA and CSR IntroductionPart 1 accountabilityPart 2 – accounting for global warmingPart 3 – socially responsible investmentConclusionBibliographyRelated Introduction Corporate Social Report (CSR) is one of the ways to check how well developed accounting is in the company. Oliver Dubigeon in its article discerns two kinds of companies: the one who begin to account for their social, corporate and environmental responsibility to improve the impression of their reputation and acceptability to civil society and the second who understands that it is a response at this very moment to the ‘right to knowledge and participation’ that civil society is demanding, if not to eliminate the risks to their daily life and to future generations, then at least to control and master them. First and second parts of this report will be analyzing an insurance company AVIVA, who like one of international community member, has its corporate responsibility. So it is necessary to find out whether this company belongs to the first or second category of discerned companies. Moreover, it is important to look how accountability is pursued in AVIVA company and how it takes responsibility in solving global warming problem. The second part of the report also considers the impact of professional accountancy bodies in global warming, how they deal with global warming issue in reporting. The third part will evaluate the role of global Socially Responsible Investment on the development of accountability.   This section will not be specifically concerned with AVIVA company, but it will be considering about the increase of accountability and social and environmental accounting and of course the behaviour for companies. Part 1 accountability Accountability is a concept that relates to flows of information, where those controlling resources provide accounts to society of their use of those resources. So, corporate accountability can be defined as the systematic and public communication of information that is designed to justify an organization’s decisions and actions to various stakeholders.The other definition of accountability made Gray, Owen and Adamsshows that there are two duties: responsibility to take actions and responsibility to account for those actions. The best feature of accountability is that it can show the external verification of the company’s performance – how well they minimize the social impact of a company’s activity, provide good working conditions for employees and contractors, and create an acceptable arrangement for the distribution of benefits and services. It also can show that company does not carry out with its duties properly. Social Reporting(CSR) is one of the biggest challenges for company on CSR and lack of understanding how properly to do this can be the main problem in bad reporting. Sometimes the content of a report do not reflect actual performance, or it may be incomplete. The problem is that many organisations do not really understand the meaning and purpose of CSR. It is a mistake to think that it is simply engaging in philanthropic activities or making donations.   It involves much more than this. Companies do the reporting because of very different reasons. Ones wants to reveal all the information about company’s acts to society, other want to create a â€Å"positive† look about the company, and the thirds just do not really know why they do this, but just tries to follow the â€Å"model† companies’ example. Annual report and the financial statements are as a mechanism for discharging accountability. It also includes financial and non-financial information to improve transparency and understandable information enabling users to assess a firm’s performance. AVIVA is an insurance company in which CRS involves a strong organisational commitment to social obligations and the internalization of these obligations in the culture of the organization as well as the mobilization of employees to execute these obligations in their day-to-day actions. But is it all like it sounds? AVIVA looks like a big company which seeks to be the leading one in insurance industry, but there can be very contradictory reasons for doing this: the ones which company wants to tell in public and the others which it wants to keep inside the company. The reasons AVIVA company is so active and responsible in such reporting is because it feels responsible for being an example of correct behaviour for all other beings, this company cares about planet and people. These non – financial reasons shows about companies universal responsibility. There are and financial reasons, which are promoted in CSR, such as reducing risks and increasing profits, because of an improved reputation in various markets.This company reacts to its customers, colleagues and everyone where they operate and takes positive actions towards climate change that shows good level in listening and dialogue with the society around it. Although, AVIVA makes an impact to accountability, they improve their skills and experience every year and this can be easily seen in their reports. Company was one of the first companies who helped developing and started using the HRH Prince of Wales’ Accounting for Sustainability (A4S) connected reporting framework for their performance report.Using this framework AVIVA reported about greenhouse gas emissions, waste, resource usage, customer advocacy and investing in communities. AVIVA is a very good example for other organisations who wish to connect sustainability performance with business strategy. This company has a very valuable case study, which explains how following Connected Reporting Framework reaches good sustainability reporting practice. AVIVA also put their CR Report to a separate shareholder vote at the 2010 AGM and they are the first company in UK by doing this. All this proves about Aviva’s active and valuable contribution to CSR, because even being a right example for other companies it already helps for better and clearer understanding in   CSR area which is still found difficult for organisations to understand and   make valuable reporting. Part 2 – accounting for global warming Today’s actions will affect future generations, and nowhere is this more evident than in our approach to climate change and the environment. Global warmin is long lasting problem in the world. There are a lot of different opinions about this, but it is clear that some part of the world is trying to do something on behalf of the environment. The insurance industry has the most to lose from the increasingly extreme weather that scientists agree is the result of global warming. Aviva’s strategy is to control their own impacts and resources, including water, gas, waste and electricity. The main impact on the environment is Aviva’s total carbon dioxide emissions. There is a small number of companies, who are carbon neutral, but AVIVA was the first insurer to offset emissions on a global basis and become carbon – neutral, this company is a good example for all other companies, who used more to talk than to act. AVIVA is a signatory and responding company to the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), moreover, in 2009 it was ranked eighth in the Carbon Disclosure Leadership Index for the FTSE350, third in the financial services sector and 38th overall in the FSTE Global 500. The results of emission reducing is best seen now, when in 2008 company reduced 6,6% of CO2 emissions and further 5,2% in 2009. Companies aim is to reduce their carbon emissions by 30% till 2020, from their 2006 baseline, which is 120000 tones of CO2. Company also encourages others to do the same, to manage and reduce the CO2 output, because CO2 is the principal ‘greenhouse’ gas contributing to global warming. AVIVA has invested in cutting-edge tropical storm research, revamped its flood models to incorporate global warming, publicized the need for action and encouraged reduced vehicle usage with pay-as-you-drive insurance. During the period of 2005 – 2010 AVIVA company continuously improved and reported of their direct and indirect environmental impacts. In all these years AVIVA company is trying to develop products and services that provide a positive link between climate change and premium paid. In 2005 AVIVA established a climate change forum to coordinate related activities across their businesses. In the same year, company involved in including flood research, flood mitigation and prevention work, sponsored a pan-European flood project. 2008 was the year, when AVIVA concentrated on water: they helped people to prepare to deal with a flood and shared the information how to limit the damage. Company is encouraging others to make responsible choices and tries to promote good environmental practice among their colleagues, customers and suppliers. In fact, Norwich Union is playing a leading role helping to mitigate the effects of global warming. The other offer made, seeking to provide right dec isions for environment was in 2006, by offering reduced premium insurance for drivers of hybrid and flexi – fuel Ford cars. 2007 was the year of projects. During this time, AVIVA made a progress on three strategic areas to combat climate change: carbon reduction, carbon offsetting and enhanced employee education and engagement. Biogasproject, wind turbineproject, â€Å"Green cement†project, treadle plumps and other projects where AVIVA company participates, shows that this company is very active in environments protection, it belongs to various organizations, sponsors projects and also takes valuable actions inside the company, such as signing a ‘green’ service level agreement with Hewlett Packard (HP) in 2009, for the provision and running of two data centers which are ran by ‘eco friendly’ or renewable power sources. AVIVA is an independent auditor, which uses the guidance of rules made of International Federation of Accountants’ (IFAC). This organisation made a contribution to global warming by considering this problem from a strategic perspective: it explored the enterprise governance model which encourages organisations to view governance as having a performance as well as conformance perspective. The aim of this model was to consider why corporate governance often fails in companies and, more importantly, what must be done to ensure that things go right. It still seems like the professional accountancy bodies are not involved in global warming problems as they could be.This proposition is wrong, because a professional accountancy body keeps an eye to global economy. Issue of sustainability is not an exemption too.   In the company accountants might also become involved in the development of environmental and social accounting, by doing this, accountants would be involved in the organization’s management of environmental performance at all points of the company.Environmental accounting, accurate global warming, shows the interaction between the world and the company. Part 3 – socially responsible investment UK Investment Forum, describes socially responsible investment (SRI) as ‘‘investments enabling investors to combine financial objectives with their social values’’.Miller A. SRI equates to Ethical investments and explains them as the contribution towards particular social and environmental aims. So, socially responsible investment seeks for two benefits: social good and financial return. The problem arises when this investment becomes more money making than improving social, ethical values, becoming eco – friendly company. Of course, it can not be said about all organisations that they look just for profit for themselves, in many companies it is more a positive issue they help environment, takes care of it and also helps other companies as being a right example. That shows that positive and negative criteria’s can be made analyzing SRI market. In recent years, SRI has experienced an explosive growth around the world. The growing increase in global SRI determines the better and wider understanding about companies ethical values in environment. Without good environmental management company would not achieve the maximum of profitable green investing. It is understandable why companies want financial profits of all investments, but it is important to seek more for the positive aspects of the green investments. So, there are negative and positive aspects investing in SRI. Ethical investments have financial returns, but unfortunately very small ones. Anyway, the SRI is expected not to stop growing, because it does not matter that there will be less companies, who aims to get non-financial utility from investing in SRI, it is important that at least some investors would care less about financial performance. Crisis has led to the increase of financial accounting. One of the reasons for such close accounting implication can be that a company can show very positive ‘success’ indicators to the environment by doing this. Moreover, the information made by accountants is needed for profitable shareholders decisions in global socially responsible investments. Social accounting (social reporting) provides all stakeholders with information about the social and environmental activities and impacts of the organizationit is necessary because it is the way for stakeholders to decide for themselves if a company was really socially responsible or not.Firms ignoring social responsibility may destroy long run shareholder value due to reputation losses and/or potential litigation costs. Issue like global warming has gained attention by governments and investors around the world. This means that increase in SRI will not stop growing. Environmental reporting is one of two areas where environmental agenda has encouraged the greatest development in organizational practice.The good thing is if the company gets non-financial benefits from SRI, because in that case the investors would not care so much about the money, financial profit, which they can get from these investments. Otherwise the problems with personal or societal values can arise. The question needed to answer is whether the stakeholders care about the values mentioned above? Unfortunately, social disclosure and social performance are the subjects shareholders care about just in how they affect the financial performance. The ethical positions of organizations, takes just a little part of the things shareholders cares about. The ethical norms which characterize a company are fundamental to any green investment analysis. They include the integrity of the vision and leadership of top management, and a company’s openness and accountability to its employees and to the outside world. Companies economic behaviour can be seen in the works it done. The increase in SRI is one of the factors which can determine and reveal whether the company has positive or negative behaviour in investing. Heinkel et al. (2001) suggests looking if company investors are green or neutral investors and whether they have a clean or a polluting technology. The other problem is that the company which is pursuing social and environmental goals can suffer in competitive market.   So, both of the profits need to be balanced. SRI must be an investment where part of the returns is donated to good causes.Corporate governance have to reflect the positive screening of the company, it is preferred that company would be focused on social welfare in addition to value maximization. Conclusion AVIVA company is one of these companies who cares about their customers, employers and tries to be the right example for everyone in reporting, activities related with environment, behavior which can be called representative for other organizations in successful development. Being the leading organization in Corporate reporting this company seeks to concentrate to positive values and behavior. AVIVA company makes a lot of good works in global warming issue, it is active inside and outside the organization, tries to â€Å"infect† the other organizations and people by environmentally friendly behavior and the results is already seen. Of course, only positive and valuable works showed in Aviva’s Corporate reporting makes human doubts about good faith of this company, but otherwise by having a good name this company gain confidence of customers, shows a good example for other insurers and of course the same logics asks a question why such company would harm and disparage it s reputation? So, it can be said that this company is the one who understands that it is responsible to control and master the ‘right to knowledge and participation’ which civil society is demanding for. Bibliography Books: Dave Owen ‘Green Reporting: Accountancy and the challenge of the nineties’ Chapman Hall 1992 Gray, R., Owen, D. and Adams, C., Accounting and accountability: Changes and challenges in corporate social and environmental reporting, London: Prentice Hall Europe, 1996 John Houghton ‘Global Warming : the complete briefing ’ 2nd edition, Cambridge University P., 1994 Jose Allouche, Corporate Social Responsibility Volume 1 Concepts, Accountability and Reporting, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2006 Rob Gray, Dave Owen, Keith Maunders Corporate Social Reporting: Accounting and accountability 1987 Rob Gray, Jan Bebbington Accounting for the environment 2nd edition, Rob Gray with Jan Bebbington 2001 Journal articles: Anne Ellerup Nielsen, Christa Thomsen ‘Reporting CSR – what and how to say it?’ 2007 Aarhus School of Business, Denmark Volume: 12 Issue:1 pp. 25-40 Ainscough, T., Hill, R.P., Shank, T. Manullang, D. 2007, ‘Corporate Social Responsibility and Socially Responsible Investing: A Global Perspective’, Journal of Business Ethics, vol. 70, no. 2, pp. 165-174. Experts who put a premium on expecting the worst and working out what it costs NON-FINANCIAL RISK: Mike Scott looks at the mechanisms employed by the insurance industry to minimise the impact of risk on its balance sheet: SURVEYS EDITION 2007, , London (UK). Garry Booth, ‘Climate change: Talk needs to turn into action’, 2008 Reactions. Janet M Epps and Fiona L Solomon, ‘Adding Social Value Through Accountability in Mineral Development’ 2000 The AusIMM   Annual Conference, Sydney, [online]. Available from: minerals.csiro.au/sd/CSIRO_Paper_Accountability.htm [accessed 20/03/11] Jean Raar ‘Reported social and environmental taxonomies: a longer-term glimpse’ 2007 Deakin University, Burwood, Australia Volume: 22 Issue: 8 pp. 840-860 McGuire, D. Garavan, T.N., ‘Human Resource Development and Society: Human Resource Development’s Role in Embedding Corporate Social Responsibility, Sustainability, and Ethics in Organizations’, 2010, vol. 12, no. 5, Advances in Developing Human Resources, pp. 487-507 Ter Horst, J., Zhang, C. Renneboog, L. 2008, ‘Socially responsible investments: Institutional aspects, performance, and investor behavior’, Journal of Banking Finance, vol. 32, no. 9, pp. 1723-1742. Reports and On-line sources: Aviva plc Annual Report and Accounts 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006 and 2005 [online]. Available from: aviva.com/corporate-responsibility/reports/?category=All [accessed 01/03/11] Accounting for Sustainability. [online]. Available from:   accountingforsustainability.org/output/Page136.asp [accessed 01/03/11] Climate care. Treadle pumps in India. [online].   Available from: jpmorganclimatecare.com/projects/countries/treadle-india/ [accessed 14/03/11] Climate friendly Hebei Kangbao Wind Project Project Profile [online]. Available from: https://climatefriendly.com/projects [accessed 20/03/11] International Federation of Accountants [online] Available from: ifac.org/ [accessed 13/04/11] Insurance company AVIVA web page [online]. Available from:   aviva.co.uk/ [accessed 20/02/11] Going green [online]. Available from: lowcarbonconcrete.ie/documents/ScanofarticleJan2009-smallOCR.pdf [accessed 20/03/11] Practical Action. Biogas: power from cow dung. [online]. Available from:  http://practicalaction.org/biogas [accessed 14/03/11] Special English development report. ‘The Importance of a Simple Water Pump’[online]. Available from: youtube.com/watch?v=A36hUKNPy-Q [accessed 20/02/11]

Nike Should Achieve Competition Advantage and Re-position Itself Essay - 1

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Investment management strategies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Investment management strategies - Essay Example The correlation coefficient between the daily stock return in each portfolio is also calculated and combined with the standard deviations in a covariance matrix to calculate the variance and standard deviation for each portfolio. Sensitivity analysis is also carried out by changing the weights of each stock in the portfolio to see how the performance changes. The variance and thus the standard deviation are far more difficult to calculate because the variance of a portfolio is not simply a weighted average of the individual variances of the stocks included in the portfolio except for the special case where the individual stock returns are uncorrelated with one another. The variance for a two stock portfolio is given by: We need to set up a covariance matrix to bordered covariance matrix to be able to calculate the 1variance and standard deviation for a portfolio of more than two stocks. For a three stock portfolio the bordered covariance matrix can be written as follows (Bodie et al., 2002): The portfolio variance is calculated from the above nine terms by multiplying the bordered weights by the corresponding covariance and then summing the different terms. The standard deviation is calculated by taking the square root of the variance. From the table above, the variance is given by: (3) and the standard deviation of the portfolio is given by: (4) The covariance matrix in table 1 above can be extended to any number of stocks. Haven discussed how to calculate the expected return on portfolio, the variance and standard deviation; we now apply the above models to the U.S and Australian portfolios. Std. Dev (%) Ave Ret (%) Citi Group Inc. 3.58 -0.03 American Express 2.99 0.26 Motorola Inc 2.25 -0.30 Boeing Co. 1.85 -0.38 McDonalds Corp 1.45 -0.44 Coca Cola 0.91 -0.34 Table two above show the standard deviation and average return of each of the stocks included in the U.S portfolio over the period under study (details of the calculations are found in the attached excel file). To be able to calculate the covariance between the different stocks, we need to know the correlation coefficients between the different stocks. We use the correlation function in Excel to calculate the correlation coefficient between the different stocks. Doing this we obtain the following correlation matrix for the different stocks: Table 2: Correlation matrix (U.S Portfolio) Citigroup Inc. American Express Motorola Inc Boeing Co. McDonalds Corp Coca Cola Citi Group Inc. 1.00 0.90 0.54 0.74 0.78 0.25 American Express 0.90 1.00 0.64 0.78 0.87 0.34 Motorola Inc 0.54 0.64 1.00 0.37 0.53 0.23 Boeing Co. 0.74 0.78 0.37 1.00 0.72 0.16 McDonalds Corp 0.78 0.87 0.53 0.72 1.00 0.31 Coca Cola Co. 0.25 0.34 0.23 0.16 0.31 1.00 To obtain the covariance matrix we use the following formula formula to calculate the

Olivier Panis Essay Example for Free

Olivier Panis Essay In der film Der Promise gibt es viele eregnisse wie kommt zwischen Sophie un Konrad, zum biespiel. An der anfang das film, konrad zi gert wann Sophie und ihre freunde geht in der Abwasserkanal. Konrad war der eignisse leute wie geht nicht in der Abwasserkanal und war bei der Deutchse Armee ertappt. Das war nur der beginne auf der probleme wie kommt zwischen Sophie und Konrad. Konrad war aufgezwungt bei ihre vater der Deutsche Armee eintreten. Konrad war ein Wandschutze. Wann Konrad der Armee verlassen hat, er ihre Ausbildung fortgesetzt. Wi hrend das Sophie fur ihr Tante arbeitet. Ihr Tante arbeitet als eine Kleider Verki uferin, fi r reich leute. Spater in das Film, Sophie und Konrad andgeordnet in Prague zu Treffen. Sie mit einander sehr gut auskommen. Sophie kleide schwanger. Aber wann der Russe Armee eindrignt Prague, dann Sophie zuri ck nach Deutschland verschwindet. Konrad besucht Sophie und ihr neue Mann, und er auch besucht ihre Kind, heisst Alex. Er war 10 jahre alt. Aber Konrad auch hat ihre eigen neue familie. Aber wir als die Beschauer, kann sehe als sie mochtet zusammen sein. Die leben aus Konrad un Sophie ist wie die leben aus Berlin. An der Anfang, Berlin war zusammen, es was nur ein Stadt heisst Berlin, aber es war abgetrennt und so war Konrad und Sophie. In der Meinung auf die groi ji hrigkeit aus der Ureinwohner, Berlin sollte als nur ein Stadt bleiben, aber die Regierung sagt als es war erforderlich. Der abgang aus Berlin auch abgesondert Sophie und Konrad.

The Price of Perfection in Brave New World :: Brave New World Essays

The Price of Perfection in Brave New World Aldous Huxley's Brave New World presents a portrait of a society which is superficially a perfect world. At first inspection, it seems perfect in many ways: it is carefree, problem free and depression free. All aspects of the population are controlled: number, social class, and intellectual ability are all carefully regulated. Even history is controlled and rewritten to meet the needs of the party. Stability must be maintained at all costs. In the new world which Huxley creates, if there is even a hint of anger, the wonder drug Soma is prescribed to remedy the problem. A colleague, noticing your depression, would chime in with the chant, "one cubic centimetre of soma cures ten gloomy." This slogan is taught to everyone, from the youngest to the oldest. Unhappiness, intellectual curiosity, disagreement, suffering - none of these feelings is allowed in the world which Huxley creates. At the first sign of unhappiness, Soma is prescribed. Emotions of all types are strictly controlled to provide stability and predictability within the population. Another of the panaceas for social ills is the belief that everyone would enjoy his or her work because he or she was "made" or trained for it when young. Consequently, from birth, everyone in Brave New World is slotted to belong to a specific social and intellectual strata. In conjunction with this idea, all births are completely planned and monitored. There are different classes of people with different intelligence and different "career plans." The social order was divided into the most highly educated, the Alpha+, and then in descending intelligence, the following divisions: Alpha, Beta, Beta -, Gamma, Delta, and Epsilon, which is the last group comprised of those citizens of the lowest intelligence who are necessary to perform society's most menial jobs. Another of the problems with the society which Huxley depicts is that the people do not have individuality. They are all conditioned by subliminal messages and artificial stimuli to respond the same way. Although all people are meant to respond identically without thinking, a few are made 'imperfectly' and, as a result, do have personalities. These people violate the principles of technology and artificial personalities and consequently have to be sent away so as not to "contaminate" others. To maintain order in Brave New World, the Resident Controller must have complete authority over more than just the present; he must also have influence over the past. In order to be able to achieve this, he must be able to rewrite history. This gives rise to one of the

Educating African American Men

  In the last quarter century, the social and economic status of the African American male in the US has been described to be steadily deteriorating (Johnson, Farrell, & Braithwaite, 2001).   Ã‚  There are an estimated 18 million African American men in the US today, but majority of this number encounter problems and challenges unique to the African American community (Independent Lens, 2007).Numerous studies have shown that the rates of school failure, unemployment, homicide, incarceration, and other anti-social behaviors for African American males far exceed those for their Caucasian, Hispanic, and Asian male counterparts (Johnson et al., 2001).Statistics from the Bureau of Justice show that African American victimization rates in 2000 alone were higher by 20% as compared to those in the general population, while homicide rate for African Americans have been 5 times higher than that of the general population for several decades.Homicide has been the primary cause of death for A frican American males between the ages of 15 to 34.   And while the percentage of African American men graduating from college has almost quadrupled since the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, more and more African American males are earning their high school equivalency diplomas in prison each year instead of graduating from college (Independent Lens, 2007).The Bureau of Justice Statistics further provide that less than half of African American boys graduate from high school four years after entering the ninth grade.   More than half of the US’ 5.6 million African American boys (below 18) live in fatherless households, 40% of which are impoverished.And while the ranks of professional African American men have experienced a huge increase in the last four decades (for instance, as of 2004 there were 78,000 African American male engineers, which was a 33% increase in 10 years), 840,000 African American men remain incarcerated, with the chances of an African American boy serving time increasing nearly threefold in the last three decades (Independent Lens, 2007).Related studies further support the evidence presented by the Bureau of Justice Statistics.  Ã‚   Edelman and Offner (2006) in their study indicate that in inner cities, more than half of all African American men do not finish high school.   In 2000, 65% of African American male high school dropouts in their 20s were jobless – meaning, they were unable to find work, or were not seeking work, or were incarcerated.   By 2004, the number of jobless African American men increased to 72%, compared to 34% for Caucasian men, and 19% for Hispanic male high school dropouts.   In 2004 as well, half of African American men in their 20s were jobless, and these numbers unfortunately included African American men who had earned their high school diplomas (Edelman & Offner, 2006).Furthermore, the movement of the labor force away from factory-based jobs has left unskilled workers of all races with fewer and fewer job options.   As of 2004, 50% of African American men in their 20s who did not have a college education were jobless, while 72% of African American male high school dropouts remained jobless (Western, 2006).These staggering statistics perhaps sadly reflect the difficult life that many African American men in the US have to face.   The inequality and punishment that lower-income African American men must deal with on a daily basis has been much documented in many studies.These economic and social challenges may be rooted in the African American subculture, and would require an extensive analysis of the cultural patterns and behaviors.The statistics showing the unemployment rate of lower-income African American males have also shown that they do not receive the same kind of opportunity that their Caucasian counterparts may have – however, the statistics also show that this status of being unemployed may be largely attributed to the lack of education o f the African American male.Dropping out of high school, not completing a college education, incarceration – all these are factors which contribute to the social and economic deterioration of the African American male.As a way of addressing this social and economic deterioration of the African American male, this study will attempt to draw up a learning community which will allow for the African American adult male to achieve his fullest potential.  Ã‚   The paper will seek to establish a system of adult education wherein African American males may have the opportunity to elevate and improve their social and economic status in society.Section 11.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Background  Subsection 1.1.1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Definition of a Learning CommunityThe concept of a â€Å"learning community† involves two distinct words which have been used in varying but traditionally separate contexts (â€Å"Learning Community – A Definition,† 1998).   The Encyc lopà ¦dia Britannica defines learning as â€Å"the alteration of behavior as a result of individual experience.   When an organism can perceive and change its behavior, it is said to learn† (â€Å"Learning,† 2007).On the other hand, TheFreeDictionary defines community as â€Å"a group of organisms or populations living and interacting with one another in a particular environment.   The organisms in a community affect each other’s abundance, distribution, and evolutionary adaptation† (â€Å"Community,† 2007).Taking the two definitions together, a learning community can then be understood to be an environment wherein a population lives and interacts with each other in order to perceive and change their behavior.Within the academic setting, more specific definitions of a learning community have been provided for in previous research studies.  Ã‚   The concept has been defined as something located in the context of education for the young â€⠀œ 4 or 5 years old until 17 years old – as composing â€Å"a group of students and at least one educator who, for a while and motivated by common vision and will, are engaged in the pursuit of acquiring knowledge, abilities and attitudes† (â€Å"Learning Community – A Definition,† 1998).Kowch and Schwier (1997) in their study defines a learning community as â€Å"a collection of individuals who are bound together by natural will and a set of shared ideas and ideals† (p. 1) and as composed of â€Å"autonomous, independent individuals engaged by influencing each other with a learning process† (Kowch & Schwier, 1997, p. 1).Cross (1998) provides for a similar definition of learning communities as â€Å"groups of people engaged in intellectual interaction for the purpose of learning† (p.4).In her outline, Kirby (2000) identifies different types of learning community models: · Technological learning community.   This model involves stu dents who are connected through technological communications.   The educational program, which is linked to schools, is offered online to students. ·Community education involvement.   This model involves entire communities participating in the operation of public schools and their educational outcomes. ·Cohort learning community.   This last model identified by Kirby involves students who go through an entire educational program or set of courses as cohorts.   Student cohorts are students â€Å"commencing a course of study in a particular year with a particular higher education provider† (â€Å"Glossary A-Z,† 2007).A cohort learning community may be presented in different ways: 1) college undergraduate students with the same major housed in the same dorm, with special arrangements provided for group study; 2) courses taught as a unit, whether for a semester or a school year, with the same students enrolled in each of the classes in the unity; 3) students be ginning an academic program together, being exposed to the same knowledge base, and eventually graduating together (Kirby, 2000).Each of these three learning community models may be applied in various ways and at various educational levels.   Past studies on learning communities have also identified different learning community models.   For instance, Shapiro and Levine (1999) categorized learning community models as paired/clustered courses, freshman interest groups, team-taught programs, and/or residential learning communities.On the other hand, Lenning and Ebbers (1999) categorized learning community models as curricular, classroom, residential, and student-type.  Ã‚   In their study, Freeman, Field, and Dyrenfurth (2001) integrate these previous models and have come up with four general categories for learning community models: ·Collateral course-based learning community model.   This category is identical to Kirby’s (2000) cohort learning community model.   S tudents may take two or more courses together as a cohort group.   This model may involve only two classes or the students’ entire course program for one or more semesters.   Educational programs may be discipline-based or cross-disciplinary theme-based. ·Residential learning community model.   Again, this is similar to Kirby’s (2000) cohort learning model, in that students live together in the same house or dormitory.   Unlike Kirby’s model however, this model proposed by Freeman, et al. (2001), does not necessarily require that the students take common classes or the same course.According to Shapiro and Levine (1999), the residential learning community model integrates the living and academic environment of the students involved. ·Freshman interest groups.   This learning community involves entering a freshman with a particular subject interest, not necessarily in the same major, and allowing the freshman to take grouped or linked courses around that specific area of interest. ·Student-type learning community model.   This learning model, such as honor students, and students with disabilities.   It may or may not involve common courses or living arrangements (Freeman et al., 2001).For purposes of this paper, it is important to understand the definition of a learning community since the latter basically pertains to a group of learners.   In this case, the particular group of learners are African American male adults.   It thus becomes relevant to provide a background on what a learning community is in order to understand how to set about developing an appropriate learning community for African American male adults.It is noteworthy to point out that application of one learning community model does not necessarily mean the exclusion of another model or models.  Ã‚   According to Freeman et al. (2001), a learning community may be structured by following either one model or a combination of models, or even an entirel y new and different model.There is no required or strict standard which must be followed since the needs of the student population or target audience will necessarily vary per environment.  Ã‚   Rasmussen and Skinner (1997) in their landmark study on learning communities provides for the following insight:â€Å"The best design will depend on [the] institutional environment and the specific disciplines to be integrated as well as the characteristics of the faculty and students who will participate.The goal is to provide a richer range of learning experiences to our students and contribute to a more vibrant and supportive campus environment for students and faculty alike† (Rasmussen & Skinner, 1997, p. 15).Regardless of the learning community model selected however, the essence of a learning community should be producing a collaborative, harmonious environment between the teachers and the students.   It should allow for greater interaction of students with their teachers an d peers.   Correlational evidence shows that students who participate in learning communities display more intellectual growth and get more out of their education than less involved students (Cross, 1998).

The Awakening of Edna Pontellier - 2487 Words

The Awakening of Edna Pontellier Kate Chopin’s short story The Awakening is set during a time where women were expected to live in a patriarchal society. More specifically, this story tells of the well-to-do Creole lifestyles in New Orleans during the mid to late Nineteenth Century. Chopin’s personal experiences as a woman during this oppressive time and her growth as an individual inspired her to write about Edna Pontellier, a woman who tries to break from the expectations of society to be her own woman. As Edna Pontellier in The Awakening experiments with the oppositional or alternative roles of Adele Ratignolle, Mademoiselle Reisz and of herself in the role of a free woman, she gradually transforms into an individual apart†¦show more content†¦It was during this conversation that Edna was called to Adele’s side during the painful and dangerous childbirth of her fourth child. She asks Robert to wait for her return and leaves him alone in her home. Adele senses that Edna is changing even more and asks her to please think of her children before she completely rejects the patriarchal lifestyle that was expected of them. Edna, after seeing Adele, begins to feel guilty and thinks maybe she has acted too selfishly. She returns home and finds a note from Robert saying good-bye. Understanding that Robert wasn’t capable of breaking free of the constraints and expectations of him even if he did love and want to be with her coupled with Adele’s advice wakes Edna up to a reality that devastates her. Feeling that she is alone and unable to belong in the world she returns to Grand Isle, the location where she achieved her new sense of freedom. Her final escape is swimming out to sea thinking of all those who never understood her but knowing that she could never give herself to them in the way that they all expected and needed (The Awakening and Other Short Stories 1-240). In her critical analysis of The Awakening, Jenni fer B. Gray believes that â€Å"Edna’s awakening allows her to resist the various â€Å"interpellations† of the dominant patriarchal ideology and experiment with both alternative and oppositional roles† (Gray 53-73).Show MoreRelatedThe Awakening by Edna Pontellier Essay1104 Words   |  5 PagesThe Awakening, not only is this the quote that Edna Pontellier identifies with when Mrs. Ratignolle plays piano for her, but it is also the perfect description of the struggle in which Mrs. Pontellier faces. Though, The Awakening was considered sexually charged and risquà © for its time, when one analyzes this quote and the original title of Kate Chopin’s story, A Solitary Soul, they come to the realization that there is more to this story than just sex (562). The Awakening is a story about Edna Pontellier’sRead More The Transformation of Edna Pontellier in The Awakening Essay950 Words   |  4 Pagessomething, anything: she did not know what† (Chopin). In Kate Chopin’s novel, The Awakening, the reader is introduced to Edna Pontellier, a passionate, rebellious woman. Throughout the novel, it becomes apparent how unsettled Edna feels about her life. The reader can identify this by her thoughts, desires, and actions, which are highly inappropriate for an affluent woman of the time. In the novel, Edna has an awakening and finds the courage to make the changes she sees necessary. Kate Chopin is ableRead MoreEssay about The Awakening by Edna Pontellier601 Words   |  3 PagesThe Awakening by Edna Pontellier The Awakening by Kate Chopin introduces the reader to the life of Edna Pontellier, a woman with an independent nature searching for her true identity in a patriarchal society that expects women to be nothing more than devoted wives and nurturing mothers. The Awakening begins in the vacation spot of Grand Isle. At first we believe that Grand Isle is a utopia, wealthy families relaxing at oceanside, but it is here where Edna first begins to realize her unhappinessRead MoreEdna Pontellier as a Feminist in Kate Chopin’s The Awakening765 Words   |  3 Pagesnot every story is so successful. In Kate Chopin’s â€Å"The Awakening†, Edna Pontellier finds herself fighting this very battle that, although begins with a positive outlook, ultimately ends in her demise. Throughout â€Å"The Awakening†, Edna is immersed in a constant clash with society over the significance of the difference between her life and her self. To Edna, the question of whether or not she would die for her children is somewhat simple. Edna attempts to explain this concept to her good friend, AdeleRead MoreThe Hours And The Awakening By Edna Pontellier And Laura Brown1341 Words   |  6 Pagesstarted a trend of succumbing to temptations throughout human history. Even in the novels The Hours and The Awakening, the characters are tempted by someone else or a different idea; however, some of these characters exhibit strong self control and avoid their demise. The fine line between success and failure when it comes to avoiding temptation is most obviously demonstrated by Edna Pontellier and Laura Brown, and these two women showcase the destructive power of seduction and the strength of willRead More growaw Epiphany of Edna Pontellier in Kate Chopins The Awakening809 W ords   |  4 PagesEpiphany in The Awakening      Ã‚  Ã‚   Kate Chopin’s novel, The Awakening, presents the struggle of an American woman at the turn of the century to find her own identity.   At the beginning of the novel, the protagonist, Edna Pontellier, seems to define her identity in terms of being a wife, a mother and a member of her community.   As the story progresses, Edna seeks to define herself as an individual.   The turning point in her struggle can be seen clearly in a scene in which Edna realizes for theRead More The Awakening: America Was Not Ready For Edna Pontellier Essay1868 Words   |  8 Pagesinvention, Edna Pontellier. Madame Edna Pontellier, wife of wealthy and much respected Leonce Pontellier, had the perfect life. Vacationing in Grand Isle, living in a mansion, raising her two boys, Edna seemed untroubled and well cared for. But one cannot see another’s private distresses from the outside. Entrapped by the sequestering tomb of the mindsets of her time and starved for freedom and expression, Edna was willing to give up her life to break free. Because of these traits, Edna exemplifiedRead More Edna Pontellier and Social Limitations in Kate Chopins Awakening4858 Words   |  20 Pages   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In discussing Kate Chopins novel, The Awakening, critic Susan Rosowski categorizes the novel under the heading of the novel of awakening and differentiates it from the bildungsroman, the apprentice novel, in which the usually male protagonist learn the nature of the world, discover its meaning and pattern, and acquire a philosophy of life and ‘the art of living (Bloom 43). In the novel of awakening, the female protagonist similarly learns about the world, but for the heroine, theRead MoreEdna Pontellier of The Awakening: A Woman before Her Time Essay896 Words   |  4 Pages Edna Pontellier is a woman of great needs. Although she has a husband who cares for her and two children, she is very unhappy. She plays her roles as a mother and wife often, but still keeps doing things unmarried, barren women should do: enjoy the company of other men, ignore her childrens cries, dress unladylike for the times. The story is set in the late 1800s, when women were to be in the kitchen preparing a meal for their family, giving birth to more children to help with dailyRead MoreEdna Pontellier Rejects Her Woman/Mother Image in The Awakening1069 Words   |  5 Pages A bird view of the historical context of The Awakening gives me ample evidence to reinstate the thesis statement: Edna Pontellelier does not reject her children; she neglects only her women/mother image. The novel The Awakening was written at the end of the nineteenth century which was fundamentally characterized by change. A wide spectrum of disciplines and structures were facing created tensions between old and new. It was the time of industrialization, urbanization which contributed