Adapting Materials For A Specific Context Education Essay

Adapting Materials For A Specific Context Education Essay Although most people associate language-learning materials with course books, in fact materials encompass a much wider scope. A very general definition would be that materials are anything that teachers and learners use to facilitate learning of a language. As well as course books this could encompass cassettes, videos, dictionaries, grammar books, newspapers, photographs, and much more (Tomlinson 1998). Added to this is the realisation that materials are not simply the mundane apparatus of the language teacher, they are a personification of the aims, values and methods of the particular teaching or learning situation (Hutchinson 1987). Therefore the selection of materials is probably the single most important decision that the language teacher has to make (Hutchinson 1987). With such a broad definition teacher produced materials will obviously play a role. However there are very few teachers who do not use published course materials at some stage in their career and the use of published materials is now more pervasive than ever before with the course book being at the centre (Littlejohn 1998, McDonough Shaw 2003). Although it is convenient to lump both teacher produced materials and commercially sponsored published course materials together there are in fact noteworthy differences pertaining to the circumstances under which they come to be written, produced and distributed. Customarily teacher produced materials are aimed at a more specified local audience, and commercially sponsored materials are for as wide an audience as possible (Dubin Olshtain 1986). Often the sheer time consuming feat of writing your own materials coupled with the reality that many teachers have little or no control over what course book and main materials will be selected leads to most teachers having to live with published materials selected by others (McDonough Shaw 2003). It is rare to find a perfect fit between learner needs and course requirements on the one hand and what the course book contains on the other. Every learning and teaching situation is unique and inimitable (Cunningsworth 1995). For this reason the option open to the teacher is to adapt and develop the materials. However before we can adapt and develop the materials we have to be able to evaluate the materials. Before we can change something we have to be clear about what we are changing (McDonough Shaw 2003). Teachers evaluations of course books and materials usually involves making general impressionistic judgements on materials based upon common assumptions and expectations. Some very common expectations of materials now are that they should achieve impact and have a noticeable effect on learners, help learners feel at ease, help develop learners confidence, and should be perceived by learners as being pertinent and useful. It has become common for materials to be expected to necessitate learners to make discoveries for themselves, expose learners to language in authentic use, entice attention to linguistic features of the input, recycle instruction, and present frequent and abundant exposure to the instructed language features in communicative use (Tomlinson 1998). It is also now highly desired that materials bear in mind that learners differ in learning styles and that learners inclination for a particular learning style is variable depending on what is being learned, where, with who, and for what. It is also hoped materials take into account that learners differ in affective and emotional attitudes (Tomlinson 1998). However a lot of these expectations are things that can mean different things for different groups of learners and teachers. For example achieving impact is variable in different places. What achieves impact in Brazil might not achieve impact in Germany, and what achieves impact in a private language school in Brazil might not achieve impact in a Brazilian high school. Often these expectations and assumptions about what is desirable, and others, such as up to date methodology, being foolproof, and containing realistic language, are all debateable. Is up to date a desirable characteristic in itself (Littlejohn 1998, Tomlinson 1998)? Teachers are also likely to focus less on the programme as a whole in their evaluation and more on whether specific activities and techniques appear to work in the context of a particular lesson (Ellis 1998). This combination of relying on general impressionistic judgements and concern with specific activities and techniques creates a type of micro evaluation that leads to a very eclectic type of adaptation. Rather to ensure a good match between what the course book includes and the requirements of the learning and teaching situation, and to avoid an eclectic approach to evaluation and adaptation teachers need to develop more methodical and potentially informative approaches creating a more in-depth evaluation of materials. (Cunningsworth 1995, Ellis 1998, Littlejohn 1998, Tomlinson 1998,). How do teachers begin a more in depth evaluation of teaching materials? Firstly by understanding that materials are indeed an embodiment of the aims, values and methods of the particular teaching and learning environment teachers can reflect over and analyse their knowledge, understanding and experience of how languages are learnt and should be taught. They can relate this to how near a match there is with the aims and values of the materials. This will lead teachers to be able to clearly state what they actually expect from their materials rather than regurgitating the latest buzzwords in the teaching industry. Teachers are then able to proceed from here and have a basis to analyse what materials contain and aspire to achieve, what materials make learners do while they are learning, how materials assume or even demand the teacher to teach learners in the classroom, and the appropriateness of the materials to the learners needs and interests (Breen Candlin 1987). This will enable us to build our evaluation of materials, and subsequently our adaptation, on the principles built upon our knowledge, understanding and experience of learning and teaching language. This evaluation helps cultivate insights into various views of language and learning and should be done against an environment of knowledge of our learners demands and the potential of the teaching situation (McDonough Shaw 2003). The subsequent stage is gathering as much information as feasible about the spirit and make-up of a course book (Hutchinson 1987). The information gathering of materials begins with what the materials say about themselves by probing the organization of the materials as stated explicitly by the author and publisher on the cover, and in the introduction and contents. Then what is actually presented inside the materials needs a thorough evaluation, and often the contents can be used as a conduit between the external claims and the reality inside (McDonough Shaw 2003). However as well as the importance of information gathering and analysis of the materials, the same is needed of the teaching and learning situation that the materials are required for. This is vital as materials evaluation is essentially a matching process in which the needs and assumptions of particular teaching-learning contexts are matched to available solutions (Hutchinson 1987). The teaching-learning situation and the classroom have a culture of their own. Culture is most commonly used in a very broad way to describe national culture, and there is often a prevailing cultural stimulus that may well be attributable to the wider society, governing for example, the rhythm and movement of classroom groups, and gender segregation. However there are also influences from institutional or professional-academic cultures, which dominate aspects of classroom cultures such as protocols and the formality of certain classroom events which therefore mean we need to be far more precise when we are talking about classroom culture (Holliday 1994). Classes will not have permanent membership, groups meet to carry out restricted and limited activities, the length of history is relatively short, and the culture only exists when the class is in session. Expectations are brought to the class that are built on other, previous classroom experiences (Holliday 1994). This in addition to different personalities and ethics that evolve in different classroom groups makes each classroom contain a unique culture. Cultures of individual classrooms are diffused to new members enabling both teachers and students to be equipped with inferred understandings about what sort of behaviour is acceptable, which they must learn and impart if they are to be fully received into the group. They assert a social force that prevents teachers from replicating their lesson agendas with different classroom groups. These understandings in turn are strengthened by common acceptance by peers (Holliday 1994) Habitually in the field of English language teaching there is frequent discord between the conventional and established interaction of the classroom and the innovation created by new language (Holliday 1994). Many teachers try to stimulate appropriate English teaching with students who are foreign to them, and try to understand their attitudes and ways of doing things, which to the outsider are obscure and unclear. Conversely teachers who are native to countries they work in, and of the same nationality as students they teach are repeatedly endeavouring to decipher methodologies cultivated and developed in the west for ideal teaching-learning situations. Ideal meaning different from the methodologies in their countries and particular teaching-learning situations (Holliday 1994). In some countries and contexts large classes are not necessarily indicative of scarce resources. Large classes might be tolerable where prevailing educational ideologies do not see the role of the teacher as a monitor and overseer of learning, but as a fount and spring of knowledge, which is delivered without any dispensation to students, and which students must exert great effort to attain. This leads to interesting observations in countries where this type of mentality holds sway such as Hollidays (1994) observation in Egypt of a newly graduated junior local lecturer. The local lecturer had undergone numerous hours of training in communicative English language teaching methodology from expatriate personnel and was supposed to be using a course book whose objectives were communicative teaching of pronunciation. The local lecturer was playing what she perceived to be the lecturer role very well. This was built on the basis of the local lecturers conviction that their responsibility s tretched to the extent of presenting the subject matter to their students, not as far as overseeing and administrating learning. Szulc-kurpaska (1992 as cited in Holliday1994) reports an interesting case in Poland of how discontent on the part of students arose pertaining to the degree of informality practised by expatriate lecturers both in and out of the classroom. Students became perplexed and apprehensive over hazy definitions of teacher and student (Holliday 1994). Here we must realise the importance of understanding each unique classroom culture and not trying to enforce an ideal teaching-learning situation in different contexts. What is important is that learning takes place. Unfortunately even taking into consideration that all learners, all teachers and all teaching situations are different, published materials have to treat them as if they were the same, commonly for commercial reasons (Maley 1998). Whether we like it or not any course book will directly or indirectly communicate collections of social and cultural morals and standards that are intrinsic in their make-up. This may be referred to as the hidden curriculum that will bring up issues of sexism, ethnic origin, occupation, age, social class, and disability (Cunningsworth 1995). Whether this is intended or not, it is a reality. Therefore the need to ensure a course book situates its material in the social and cultural contexts that are comprehensible, significant, appropriate and decipherable to learners, in terms of location, social mores and traditions, personal interests of learners, and age group is highly important (Breen Candlin 1987, Cunningsworth 1995). Often this can only be done by e valuation leading to adaptation. Lack of matching the teaching-learning situation to the materials leads to teachers returning from training programmes incapable of instigating what they have learnt, because it does not correspond to the conditions, needs and philosophies of their classrooms, institutions, and communities (Holliday 1994). In fact the materials become a constraint upon teachers sense of what may be appropriate at a given pedagogical moment, and on the autonomy and independence of teachers actions. The reality in the classroom is a trade off between materials, teachers, and learners (Maley 1998). If learners are to judge materials as legitimately offering them the prospect to develop their language knowledge and capabilities, the materials must take account of what learners perceive their needs to be, no matter how various and vague these perceptions may be (Breen Candlin 1987). Therefore information gathering and analysis of materials and the teaching-learning situation although without doubt can be driven by the teacher must include the input and feedback of learners. Especially in situations where the classroom culture is totally alien to the teacher they must be careful not to trample over the already set protocols and behaviours. Although classroom culture is open to large degrees of change, especially in the case of English language education which has supplied an abundance of new methodologies, it is largely conservative. When there is a lack of knowledge of the particular classroom culture, often on the part of the teacher, and a lack of input from the students, change can come that is too abrasive and disturbing. This develops into a crisis that leads to the closing of ranks within the classroom culture (Holliday 1994). Both the information gathering and analysis of the materials and the teaching-learning situation must be based on knowledge, feedb ack, experience, and negotiated learning objectives. This will enable the reduction of wasted time and effort and result in clear pinpointing of the steps which compel attention in the continuous process of evaluation (Bolitho Jolly 1998). The evaluation process is never static, when materials are considered suitable for a particular course after a preliminary evaluation, their ultimate success or failure may only be ascertained after a certain amount of classroom use (McDonough Shaw 2003). Therefore materials whether they are for publication or a teachers next lesson need to be persistently and incessantly evaluated and revised. Ideally materials need to be monitored by authors, other experts not involved in the writing team, and by representative users of the material such as teachers and learners (Tomlinson 1998). A pooled evaluation effort such as this can develop awareness in a number of ways. It obliges teachers to analyse their own presuppositions as to the nature of language and learning. With the almost certain reality that there will be a variance between the various materials that are available for evaluation it forces teachers to establish their priorities, and helps teachers to see materials as an integra l part of the whole teaching and learning situation (Hutchinson 1987). It must be stated that evaluation takes on a wider and more extensive role than merely evaluating to be able to adapt and develop materials by teachers. There is an increased concern for management macro evaluation of programmes and projects, carried out for accountability and developmental purposes and rationales by accumulating information relating to various administrative and curricular aspects and features of the programme. Educational decision makers formulate policy and work out strategies for budgeting and purchasing and therefore teachers do not always have direct involvement. At best they may be invited to make suggestions and comments (Ellis 1998, McDonough Shaw 2003). Such an approach to evaluation is not in concurrence with the perspective that many teachers have about what evaluation involves (Ellis 1998). There is a strong relationship and connection between evaluation and adaptation. Adaptation is a process subsequent to, and dependent on evaluation (McDonough Shaw 2003). Moving from the evaluation of materials and the teaching-learning situation in to the practical aspect of actually adapting the materials teachers will need to consider both external and internal factors. External factors are dynamics such as the characteristics of particular teaching situations, and content, organization, and consistency of the materials being an example of internal factors. To adapt materials is to endeavour to bring together these elements. Just as materials evaluation is a matching process so too is adaptation of materials. A good teacher is persistently striving for congruence and correspondence among materials, methodology, students, and course objectives. The teacher must satisfy the demands of the textbook but in ways that will be satisfying to those who learn from it by matching. Therefore maximising the appropriateness of the teaching materials in the particular teaching-learning context at hand (McDonough Shaw 2003). With evaluation of materials often constructed and fostered upon very impressionistic general judgements, teachers first steps in materials adaptation will also frequently be based on very vague motives and rationales leading to haphazard eclectic adaptation. Teachers will sometimes give the textbook a rest. The songs and games on a wet Friday afternoon are familiar to all teachers. However these dont have to remain part of a chaotic adaptation method. Rather they can be built into teaching in a principled way (Maley 1998). This means returning to our understanding of the underlying principles that evaluation of materials is based upon and subsequently looking at what adapting of materials actually involves. What must be noted is that this doesnt automatically mean adaptation has to continually be a rather formal process, although it often is. Rather, it can also be transitory. A teacher instantly rephrases a textbook elucidation of a language feature and so adapts. A good teacher is constantly adapting whether formally or informally (McDonough Shaw 2003). Therefore adaptation can be quantitative, by altering the amount, or qualitative by altering the methodological nature. This can be done using an assortment of techniques or a single technique applied to different content sections such as leaving out, adding, replacing, and changing. Materials may require adapting because they are not ideal in areas such as methods, language content, subject matter, balance of skills, progression and grading, cultural content, or image (Cunningsworth 1995). All of this must be done within a framework of gauging what materials contain against the requirements of a particular teaching environment and being sensitive to students interests, learning styles and motivation (Cunningsworth 1995, McDonough Shaw 2003). We can add to materials by supplementing them. More is put into them by extending or expanding. Materials are extended when we add more of the same, such as further grammar exercises if the grammar point being studied is difficult. By expanding we actually add to the methodology by moving outside it and developing it in novel directions. Also additions can be made before a language point appears in the framework of the book (McDonough Shaw 2003). Leaving out material is the other side of the same coin from addition. Generally subtracting does not have a significant impact on the overall methodology (McDonough Shaw 2003). Often using other published general course books or our own material for supplementary options is unsuitable. However there are numerous books that focus on skills. These afford a simple option to find exercises at a lower or higher level than the regular course book being used. For example, some general courses do not cover pronunciation as comprehensively or systematically as is necessary. Supplementary pronunciation books can fill in the gap. Usually vocabulary is covered more fully in modern books however there is still scope for supplementary vocabulary learning materials. Most books cover grammar meticulously, but there are still occasions when additional grammar work is needed, or an alternative approach (Cunningsworth 1995). Often the reasons why more pronunciation, vocabulary, or grammar is needed are the particular culture of that institution, managerial influences and teacher perceptions as well as the perceived needs of the students. The teacher has to take consideration of all of these to be successful. In my particular experience of teaching in Saudi Arabia the perceived importance and need for exhaustive grammar teaching, that was an influence of the culture of the institute, students, and the wider academic culture in Saudi Arabia, led me to adapt my teaching materials by supplementing the regular course book with grammar exercises from a well known grammar book (See Appendix 1, 2, 3). As a new teacher presented with the challenge of supplementing just because grammar was needed without any questioning I adapted in an extremely eclectic style without any worthwhile evaluation. A return to teaching will provide me with the opportunity to base my evaluation and adaptation on my understandings of teaching and learning and very importantly the context of the teaching-learning situation. Where we can usually make a noteworthy impression on the materials is by changing or modifying. Teachers can effect internal change in the style or focus of an exercise or other piece of material by rewriting when some of the linguistic content needs amendment. A prime example would be relating activities directly to learners backgrounds and interests (McDonough Shaw 2003). We could take a clearly mechanical, pre-communicative activity such as a drill and utilize the idea behind it by making the interaction more genuine and communicative by personalizing the content whilst keeping focus on structure and using authentic content. The important thing is to learn what students are interested in and build on that, showing that the English lesson is not just about English, but is about all aspects of life (Cunningsworth 1995). Restructuring involves classroom management, as in the case of when materials contain role-play for groups of a certain size and the class is too big. We can use si mplification by rephrasing instructions, explanation, or even the visual layout. Obviously there are repercussions and implications for simplification, such as the possibility that any linguistic change will have corresponding stylistic effects and therefore change the meaning or intention of the original text (McDonough Shaw 2003). As well as adapting by adding, taking away, or modifying we can transform the way the content of the materials is presented. Teachers can reorder by putting parts of a course book in a different order. For example we can adjust the sequence of presentation within a unit, or put units in a different sequence. We may do this in circumstances where the teaching programme is too short to work systematically through the book (McDonough Shaw 2003). Obviously there are patent areas of overlap among the various techniques that can be employed in adaptation. At one end adaptation is a practical activity carried out mainly by teachers to make their work more relevant to learners, however it is directly and indirectly related to a wider array of professional concerns such as administration and management of education. Adapting is one consequence of setting of objectives in a particular educational context and can only be executed effectively if it develops from understanding of possible design features of syllabuses and materials (McDonough Shaw 2003). We must be circumspect of becoming enslaved to course books. Rather course books are best seen as a resource in realizing aims and objectives that have already been fixed in terms of learner needs. They should not determine objectives themselves or become the aims. The concern must be with teaching language and not the textbook. The course book should be at the service of teachers and learners and not their master (Cunningsworth 1995). However we must strike a balance and not fall into dismissing all course books of being devoid of any value. The need to adapt does not necessarily entail that a course book is defective (Tomlinson 1998). We have to realise the entire arena of evaluation and adaptation is about matching between materials and the teaching-learning situation, basing this on our understanding and knowledge of teaching, learning and the context. Therefore the possible and inevitable areas of mismatch often can be dealt with by adaptation rather than abandoning the material s available (Tomlinson 1998). APPENDIX 1 Taken from: Headway, a typical EFL course book. The presentation of the grammar point here is not considered in depth enough and so the need to supplement. APPENDIX 2 Taken from: English Grammar In Use, a popular grammar skills book. Present the same grammar point to students as we studied in course book but with some more detail. APPENDIX 3 Taken from: English Grammar In Use. Present these additional exercises to the students usually by writing questions on the board. The students copy questions and complete with answers.

History of science, technology, society, and nature/environment Essay

Thomas Hughes is a symbol of technological advancement in relation to evolving scientific facts, environment and social order. He was initially trained as an Engineer and showed that technology consists of systems and not merely artefacts. This systems embodies social aspects as well as technological aspects. This led to the social construction of the technological system. He offers a means to look at the relations that exists between the society, technological advancements and the environment. Hughes looks at technology as a means by which changes in the society may be effected in relation to science, he also give room to the idea that the distribution of technology may not bring about a revolution in the social and science systems. A number of scholars have various expressed ideas towards the aspect of technological determinism in relation to technological system; Marx in 1994 supported the idea that technological determinism is the force that tends to drives history. The French scholar Jacques Ellul alludes that technology is the most powerful force in modern science and is beyond the control of humans. Other scholars reject this fact and claim that the distribution of technology is determined by the social changes that are present in the society and not the vice versa. Hughes adapts a middle ground by looking at the technological systems in the society which may include complex networks of artifacts, organizations and the people rather than the science that brought about the technologies. (Marx, Smith, 1994). The modern world is as a result of technologies evolving over a period of time and in the process they grow more complex achieving a certain kind of interconnection. This makes technology to be more difficult to control. (Cassidy, 1962). Hundreds and perhaps thousands of people are required to maintain the systems this brings out the aspect of society in technological distribution. Thomas Hughes therefore connects technology advancement to the presence of existing scientific knowledge and the presence of societal values that will maintain and advance the system. Ford claims that technology cannot be separated from the aspects of the environment; in this case he refers to the environment in terms of social, economic, political and cultural. The existing systems will determine kind of policies that will be put in place in order to direct the pace of technology. The other side of the idea also relates to the advancement of the various aspects of life due to the pace of technological improvement. There is need to relate the various aspects of the human life with technology, It is as important as nation building and constitution making. These are important societal values that have a significant effect on advancing the human life. Technological affairs are a mixture of several aspects of life, which also includes social concerns. The introduction of the e mail, facebook, twitter and other social sites is a technological advancement that has changed the way people relate with each other, it has brought people from across the world much closer and therefore a social concern whether it leans to a positive or a negative manner. The political concerns that have arisen due to technology cannot be ignored, In the United States, likely presidential candidates have used various advancements in technology to campaign, President Obama was able to appeal to a majority of the young voters as he was able to reach them on social sites through emails and short messages. This brings out Taylor ideas on how technology is connected to societal values and political factors. The interaction of technology and other subjects does not stop there it affects economic policies and scientific laws. Insull states that the policies relating to economy have changed throughout the world as a result of Advancement of technology. Apple Inc Company is a perfect example of this, its products such as the iphone has been well received in the market therefore building confidence in the trading of shares of Technological firms due to the interaction nature, the government therefore reduced tariff’s on technological firms due to the resources they were pumping into the economy and jobs they were creating (Cassidy, 1962). Hughes tends to bring out the relationship between technology, environment and the society through his advancement of the systems approach theory. Hughes tends to argue that the production, transmission and distribution of electricity occur in a technological environment. This environment does not only relate to the technology but economic, educational, administrative and legal factors also contribute to the process. Hughes therefore advocates for unity among these factors as much as they may be diverse, he also calls for coherence from the chaos that may result from the interaction of this factors. The technological system may only survive if it can withstand influence from the external environment, the only way it can do this is through incorporating this influences into their system. The systems theory advanced by Hughes above employs the notion of momentum which he defines as a combination of technological, organizational and attitudinal components this tends to maintain growth of the organizational system. Hughes also explains that the tendency to ensure that a technological system proceeds well when the actions of the numerous stakeholders such as educational, regulatory opportunities correspond with the work and culture of a particular technological system. This is an important, aspect in ensuring that technology relates well with the environment and society to achieve maximum results (Hughes, 1989) The idea of systems theory can be summarized by Hughes’s approach which indicates that human managers control a variety of elements which should be geared towards exploitation of the existing social environment, the technological system should resist alteration once it has incorporated all aspects of the environment, society and environment. The systems theory therefore shows that no technology should be treated in isolation as it is part of a bigger system. The relationship between technology and the environment can be understood by the changes that have occurred in the development of the bicycle, this was a technological milestone in the transport industry, however there was need to ensure that the bicycle created was safe for all individuals, this called for the collection and incorporation of the various views from the different social groups in order to come up with the required item. In the 18th Century when the ox plough was being developed a number of social interests’s needed to be addressed in order for it to be socially acceptable. This shows the relationship that Hughes shows in the relationship between technology and social life (McDermott, 1991). Technological momentum is a key aspect that Hughes advocates for as opposed to determinism and social constructionism. This will tend to merge the two and therefore creates a process that recognizes the different aspects of the environment that will have an effect on it. This involves giving due credit to socially shaped technologies as instruments of social change to achieve this historians are advised to go beyond determination of social roots of technologies to discussing the social effects of the technologies advocated for (Hughes, 1989). Oppenheimer has achieved a status whereby he highlights the need to consider the innovativeness that is associated with technology, as it creates a sustainable society. People would not be more stable if they do things efficiently but a lot easier, this can only be achieved in the case of innovation. A number of historical occurrences prove the relationship between technology environment, social order and government. This tends to place things in the perspectives of Hughes, in agriculture the planning, construction and control of even the least of the technology controlled methods of irrigation would have involved some group effort and support from the government forces. The draining of swamps especially in the early man’s time using technologies that are now considered outdated required social and political control to divert the water from the swamps (Misa, 1988). Thomas Hughes makes us think about technology and culture; he addresses the idea of technology as expressed through the history of the word. There is a tendency of too many people understanding the concept too reductively thus masking the real concept that is hidden there under. Technology consists of acts rather than artifacts as expressed by the reductively thinking individuals; it’s constituted through the creative and critical thinking of people who want to make their life better through creation of new models. This is through technology and creation whereby America was transformed from the natural built environment to a human built environment. (Hughes, 1987). He attributes this to the long standing of Christian culture that gave meaning to the technology. This shows the value that has been attached to the relationship between culture, environment and technology. Technology as a machine has been a major factor in the address of the relationship it assumes with other influences. There is need to chart a new line in the development of attitudes that relate to the advancement of technologies. The type of technologies recognized are systems of electricity, communication and mass production, the kind of enthusiasm that is associated with this technology has been great and need societal guidance in order to control. The dangers to the environment that have arisen due to technology have also been examined this especially relates to the environment and limitation of its degradation. Stem cell research and cloning is an idea that best illustrates the need to ensure that relationships between science, technology and societal values are upheld. The technology behind cloning would have not been well received in the world if the aspect of ethics and societal values would not have been incorporated. The technology involves altering the genetic make up of an organism in order to improve its qualities, this goes against the beliefs in a number of societies. Racheal expounds on the need to ensure that the aspects of technology fits into the existing structures of the society and not the other way round, this will create a harmonious co-existence between technology and society. Technology as systems, controls, and information is a theme has also been addressed in the process of achieving the relationship between technology, environment and the society. This addresses the complexity that defined the engineering in America. Hughes tends to focus less on what the outsiders of the technological arena think about and concentrates more on the introduction of systems that will be more comprehensive. (Hughes, 1987). This is in the view of the emergence of counter cultural mechanisms that tends to control and regulate technological advancement. There is need for the development of ecotechnological environment that appreciates the different aspects of life in the world. Hughes in his books has called for the redesign of system in order to protect the environment and return them to their original form (Hughes, 1989) . This shows the kind of appreciation he attaches to the environment in relation to technology. An example is the call to U. S Army Corps Engineers to reengineer the region back to its original state in order to increase the condition of the water. Hughes also recognizes Companies that are socially and environmentally responsible even in their pursuit for higher technological pursuits. Engineering relates to a larger cultural sphere.

China vs. Rome Compare and Contrast

China and Rome China and Rome were astonishing civilizations that managed to advance technology and civilations. Both civilizations were rapidly growing and making changes to the world. The two cultures were pretty similar, yet very different. Their religions were something to be modest about. When it came to religion it helped the decline of both societies, by religion changing. When it came to technology though, its change is what caused the societies to flourish. As for education the both leaders of China and Rome worked on making it easier, evident from the letters, for common people to gain knowledge. Changing things in their kingdom clearly took time. With politics being something of a fight in many respects; came as part living in an ancient society. Peaceful changes in power was a rare occasion in Rome but, highly common in China. Both societies treated each other differently, no matter if it was regarding slaves, or women. The underclass was not treated well not out of hate but out of a well beaten attitude that whoever they were, somehow they were always better. Both societies were similar yet highly different it’s surprising how it came about. When two societies emerge like the Romans and Chinese, we would expect conflict, yet none came about, here is a look into both societies as truly empires. The Han China and The Roman Empire were well-organized bureaucracies. In Han China their government was based on Confucian ideas a main one of which was; that a ruler should learn self-discipline, should govern his subjects by his own example, and should treat them with love and concern. An example of this is in document four when it calls a governor â€Å"he was a generous man and his policies were peaceful. † This shows how clearly the people loved their emperor. While in all but the last few years of the roman rule the religion was very scattered. Due to the vastness of the Roman Empire uniting them under one religion was impossible. But one of the things that did spread was the idea that the Emperor was a god. No one ever came out and bluntly said it but a change in ideals that came with Christianity led to the famous saying of Emperor Constantine which was â€Å"I am simply the first among equals. † This truly represented a new era for Rome that helped lead to its decline. The politics of Han China were all about the good of the people. Showing this is in document one where it is said â€Å"and supply enough workers to those carry out the repair work in each district. † Clearly this document is showing a want of the work to be done, for the good of the people. While in Rome it seems the Emperor had less respect for his people when even one of his advisors writes â€Å"I do not believe that tools for the crafts were invented by wise men. †(Document 7) This total lack of respect for the common people is rather disgusting. Even though the two had different political philosophies, both managed control over their vast empires. In technology there is so much to be said for these two empires they managed to change the world with their developments. Rome had many technologies that gave new life to their capital. The first of which is aqueducts, â€Å"The abundance of water is sufficient not only for public and private uses and application but truly even for pleasure. † (Document 8) The point of this is that they had enough water coming into the city to do whatever they wanted to do. That’s how Rome ended up with so many fountains, bath houses and other water related activities. Another accomplishment of Rome is roads level, and strait. It took a long process of building to achieve what they did; making something rival to The Great Wall of China. Traditionally known to the Chinese as the â€Å"Long Wall of Ten Thousand Li†, the stretch of formidable defensive structures built to ward off invasion of the Celestial Empire by barbarians from the North. If all the fortified walls built in the different dynasties around northern China are included, the total length would exceed 31,000 miles. This is so long and large that the Great Wall of China can even be seen from space. When it came to water like the Romans Chinese were controlling it like putty in their hands. The main thing was the grand canal which brought water from one city to another and acted as a road way. The Grand Canal is the world's longest man-made waterway, being 1,800 kilometers long. The canal connects the present cities of Beijing in the north and Hangzhou in the south, which served as dynastic capitals in the past, and contains 24 locks and 60 bridges. Since most of China's major rivers flow from west to east, the fact that the Grand Canal runs north and south provides it as an important connector between the Yangtze River valley and the Yellow River valley. A good example of their care for water is in Document 1 â€Å"I request that you establish water conservation offices in each district and staff them with people who are experienced in the ways of water. † When it says this you can tell how much they care about the water. Both societies clearly had a good grip on the control of water, for their benefit and their pleasure. The last topic that shows the intellect of the people and the emperor, it seems that these peoples were highly intelligent. When you are looking at Document 5 it says â€Å"all craftsman spend their time in vulgar occupations; no workshop can have anything enlightening about it. I take this as the upper class looking down on what their lower class does to support their lifestyle. Slavery was commonly practiced throughout all ancient history, but no other people in history owned so many slaves and depended on them so much as the Romans. Many Romans had slaves do their dirty and hard work for them. These slave s were bought and sold in the slave markets. Some slaves were soldiers who had been captured in wars, while others were the children of slave parents. If they tried to run away, they were whipped, burned with iron, and sometimes even killed. Slavery was accepted as part of life in ancient Rome by the slaves themselves and by the society. Women were treated differently, as time went forward. When a young woman married in the early years of the Roman Republic she left her childhood home and the authority of her father and entered not only the home of her husband but his power and control as well. In law her status was not very different from that of her husband’s daughter. As Rome’s empire grew and more and more money poured in things began to change. Any amendments to the law probably seemed quite insignificant at the time they were made, but the reality of day to day life gradually began to transform the way society viewed women and the way they viewed themselves. By the end of the First Century women had achieved a level of freedom they would not see again in Western Society until the last half of the Twentieth Century. While in China slaves were less prominent in history, they were simply people with debts to pay off, and people who created with, in some cases their lives and blood and sweat the greatness that was ancient China. Women in ancient China were considered inferior to men. This meant that their whole lives were spent being subservient to the men in their families. Generations of one family often lived in the same house together and older people were greatly respected. It seems that even though there are changes to society over time both treated others in their society badly. Even with the greatest of technology some societies just have issues with the idea of equality. Even though the quality of life was a concern as shown in document 3 â€Å"later, water power was also applied, and the benefit was increased a hundredfold. † This truly shows an attempt on improving quality of life.

Escape from camp 14 by Blaine Harden Free Essay Example, 1500 words

For as long as Shin can remember, he thought of himself as the product of a sin. Camp 14 was one of the many labor camps in North Korea where people were detained for as long as they live and generations were punished for the mistakes that their ancestors made. The reason Shin was in his prison was because his parents were there, and they were there because Shin’s uncle had committed the heinous crime of trying to escape. Easily, generations were imprisoned and they paid for the mistakes and crimes that they never committed. Shin was merely four years old when he witnessed the first death sentence of his life. The trauma that he experienced cannot be described. The first ever memory of Shin is of the brutal execution of a man, â€Å"Then there were gunshots and I remember being very scared. †(Lunch with the FT: Shin Dong-hyuk) Living in this atmosphere, Shin had no idea of the world outside, for him Camp 14 was home. His entire childhood was spent doing harsh physical labor that obviously was never paid for. We will write a custom essay sample on Escape from camp 14 by Blaine Harden or any topic specifically for you Only $17.96 $11.86/pageorder now Even the slightest of mistakes were rewarded with greater punishments. Shin has the tip of his middle finger missing, and this was the result of him dropping a sewing machine. Body parts being cut was just the tip of the ice berg as far as punishments were concerned, people were easily beaten to death, literally. (Lunch with the FT: Shin Dong-hyuk) The list of Shin’s horrific tale from Camp 14 is never ending, just as we think that this is it, it cannot get any more brutal, and it does. For twenty three years, Shin paid for crimes he never committed, instead he got used to the instructions and code of conduct there. So much that he told on his mother and brother about their escape plan, which eventually led to their death. This act of his can easily be associated with the Stockholm syndrome, a condition in which the person subjected to abuse and torment bonds emotionally with the abuser and considers him as the â€Å"good one. † (Counselling Resource)Since Shin had lived in those horrific circumstances since the day he was born, he was accustomed to the â€Å"All according to Rules and Regulations† code. Anyone who tried to escape was supposed to be killed instantly, thus he told on his own mother and brother in hope of a reward, which was a meagre extra portion of food. (Lunch with the FT: Shin Dong-hyu k) Over the time, Shin’s painful past has led to a very major and intense impact on him mentally. For every normal individual, going through such extreme circumstances from such a tender age is bound to leave its mark.