Education Essays Public Schools Education

Education Essays Public Schools Education Public Schools Education Abstract Public schools have always been a milestone of the social history of the United States. Despite arguments against them, many education researchers believe they still have an important place in the education process. Schools supervisors play an important role in education with a potential to extend their role in evaluation as needed in education reform. The aim of this essay is to provide a brief yet a comprehensive review on the arguments on public education, school supervision, and evaluation of education and school supervisors. Supervising and public schools Public education is a milestone in the US social history. The society is multicultural and ethnically diverse thus; public schools were an endeavor to create a consistent society, starting by young people, through providing a common prospectus coming up from the newly rising Anglo-American culture. The people of the US live a long dated democratic political tradition; therefore, they look at education as a key feature to the principle of equal opportunity. In addition, because of the capitalist economy is one with high competition, education becomes essential to success. Most Americans translate the phrase public education as run by elected civil authorities, and supported by taxpayers so these schools should provide free education. However, schools, by this definition, did not exist in colonial America. Thus, the roots of public education may have come from British Grammar schools, missionary (Spanish) schools in Mexico and Latin America, and possibly the underground secret (clandestine) schools of black slaves. Public education systems reflect the societys preconceptions, economic and political conflicts, and social ranking. Therefore, second to national defense, no government-provided service attracted the attention of the public in the US as education does (Encyclopedia of American Social History, 1993). Arguments on public education West (1994) looked at the history of public (government financed) education in both UK and the U.S, and came out with statements that disapprove the common notion the state should be the major supervisor and support to education. West (1994) showed that percentage of government spending on school education in UK was almost the same before and after schooling laws in 1830. The author inferred that measuring the educational output by the ability to read and write shows no large effect of government involvement. In addition, West (1994), claimed the ultimate development of the public education system was essentially the outcome of the endeavors of individuals managing it, motivated by self-interest. Thus, the result was to substitute, not to support and reinforce the earlier private education system. Young and Block (1999), summarized the arguments in favor of public education, they suggested four categories. The first argument for public education is the assertion that it produces large positive outcome irrespective of cost (economic argument). In other words, by public education rising generations benefit the society as a whole. Therefore, it is logic for the society to share in how to educate, disburse the cost of education, and does not pass on the process completely to private enterprises. In addition, increased economic productivity of educated people reflects on the productivity of the society. A second channel is that public education ensures the moral ideas, concepts, and beliefs the system needs to put in our children. This may not have a direct economic impact but its effect on crime rates, drug abuse and youth culture is evident if proper guidance and coaching are available. Second argument is that public education is necessary because parents may not be adequately educated to choose suitable schooling for their children (education argument). However, whether this argument is an advantage to the public system teaching the youth what the public body wants rather that what they or their parents want, remains open to discussion. This argument explains at most one generation of public education, after that this generation should be able to choose an education for their children. Third, the substantial resources of the government are what can provide proper investment in human capital. In addition, even if most parents can afford educating their children, however, the young generation cannot afford to pay education costs for themselves. A strong argument against a total private system of education (democratic argument) is it endorses and spreads inequality. Children coming from rich backgrounds should not superior education, and added chance of success, irrespective of their skills and abilities. The fact that family environment is a significant forecaster of school performance, increases the effect of this argument. The basic fact remains, since education is important for the public, public education should be available (Young and Block, 1999). School Supervision The rationale (philosophy) of school supervision: The basic objective for education is to provide an environment where all students can learn and eventually become successful and productive members of society.  There are six concepts to succeed as a leader of a school and be able to put this philosophy into action: vision, culture, management, community, ethics, and politics.   The choices to lead (supervise or coach) are the teacher’s response of vision of the education philosophy and aim, practical theories and are affected at the same time by the teachers personality and response to certain situations. Keeping this vision ensures that successful leadership leads to students achievements (Sergiovanni, 2006). Teachers should try to create a tailored plan for all students to ensure that meets everyone’s needs.   The classroom teacher’s must oversee this plan by frequent assessments.   These assessments will guide instructing the students to ensure making that progress for all students.   A supervisor must provide training for teachers, so they meet the eventual goal.   (Nanus, 1992). The culture of the school as a learning community depends on two essential understandings; first, the school is a place where all staff personnel are committed to the success of the school. Second, a learning community is one that accepts others and their differences, and is a community that establishes an environment of good morals as caring and mutual respect.   Developing a school culture is a necessity to develop a learning community. In this respect, supervisors represent the model behavior that sets the school culture (Rooney, 2005). The school community is not only the people within the school, it is the community outside the school related to and mixed up with the school students (as family and community businesses). Thus, the school leader must understand the needs of the community where the school is (Epstein, 1995). In managing resources, the school leadership must guarantee that all school sections receive satisfactory awareness.   A school leader must have a clear vision for student accomplishment and learning curve.   Teachers and support staff dealing with students must have a matching vision, as they are members of the school team. School ethics relates mainly to shared and common caring, respect and decency. The school leader must be an ethical role model for those in the school, and must display the spirit of standard morals and professional standards at all times.   The leader must be an example to respect, even-handedness, reliance, and integrity in all decisions.   This will promote the highest morals and ethics throughout the school personnel and gain parent’s trust (Sergiovanni, 2006). Supervisors and Education reform: In education reform, educational supervisors need to add concepts of coaching to the scope of their mission to be able to readjust the notion of educational supervisor. There is no clear definition to educational coaching, yet the term implies teaching, supervising, building, and following up the learning and skill development curve of students. This sounds similar in many ways to supervision, it is true there are connections between ideas and procedures of both terms. Van Kessel (2007) was more direct in describing the mainstay qualities of coaching. As described by Van Kessel (2007), coaching represents individualized, mutual effort, spotlights students’ progress, and focuses on results. Its center of attention is on developing solutions and not only on analyzing problems. It looks at objectives development and goal establishment in cooperation among the coach, teachers and students. It needs building up a methodical goal-directed process to advance goal achievement. Further, the coach should motivate student responsiveness to support learning and development. Finally, coaching focuses at stimulating self-directed and self-reflective learning, and at developing self-regulated progress to back unremitting change (van Kessel, 2007, English translation). Evaluation of education and school supervisors Formative-Summative evaluation: Defining formative assessment points to the assumptions and actions educators can take based on the results of an assessment; in other words, it is progression of plans and practices following an appraisal. Integrating the perception of formative assessment in education occurred over 35 years ago into the practice of education. In procedural terms, it means that students do not advance to the forecoming learning objective unless they pass an assessment in the present one. Finishing a specific learning unit, the teacher initiates an exercise based on a standardized teaching method. The teacher conducts an assessment for that unit, based on the students’ results; the teacher then classifies students into those who have mastered the unit and those who are not. For the unsuccessful group, the teacher employs diagnostic information collected from the assessment to apply corrective action usually in the form of directions to support the student’s weaknesses in understanding the subjects of the test. Thus, an essential point of formative assessment concept is that its main objective is to heighten students’ teaching (William, 2006). Formative assessment may take many forms (verbal, writing, small or focus group†¦) depending on the aims of evaluation and the students skills teaching aimed to develop (William, 2006). Summative evaluation, on the other hand, is a product (education) evaluation (Jeffs and Smith, 2005). It aims at evaluating the outcome and efficiency of an initiative, a process or a project (as education). Thus, it emphasizes on the aims and consequences of education. It seeks to clarify if a process working in a certain place can work in another place with the same conditions. In simple words, Summative evaluation is a way to decide the value of an education program at the end its activities. Thorough complete (comprehensive) testing or widespread all-inclusive (full-field) studies are the common methods of performing summative assessment. Its main use is to collect data on the effect of a running program in society for sometime (Jeffs and Smith, 2005). Role of supervisors as it relates to evaluation School supervisors perform three interlinking roles, they are control and assessment, providing support and offer guidance, and take the part of liaison (connection) officer between the higher education authorities and the school. The control function relates closely to inspection, and covers educational and administrative domains. This control function relates to evaluation of teachers and assisting staff. Support and guidance functions whether to teachers or student need knowledge of evaluation both formative and summative. Connecting schools with higher educational authorities is a form of upright liaison function; however, supervisors can also play a parallel horizontal liaison role spreading ideas and creating a school learning environment among the staff and students. There is an increasing awareness’ that supervisors role should extend to system evaluation because there is a need to education reform and increasing the quality function of the available schools (International Institute of Educational Planning (UNESCO), 2007) Conclusion My idea of a school supervisor entails belief, hope, and engagement in students’ interests. My belief is teacher supervision is more like coaching a team coming up with reliable and genuine ideas that can be signs of devotion and real hard work of teachers. I also believe in the important role public schools play in the society and that education reform should start within the school environment first. My hope is to be able to achieve the high expectations of a school supervisor in advancing students’ learning, share positively in teaching planning and processes, and fulfill my responsibilities in creating a caring and respectable learning environment. I can assess the students’ interests and needs as well as assess the quality of school supervision through performing continuous evaluation. I will also be able to recognize where I can improve the teachers performance and to prove professional endeavors that will help improving the process of public education. I will have my share in backing the commitments to the state law and policies of board of education as well as the district education guidelines documents. References Encyclopedia of American Social History (Volume 3) (1993). The American Religious Experience. Retrieved 10/06/2008, from Epstein, J. (1995). School/family/community partnerships: caring for the children we share. Phi Delta Kappan, 76(9), 701-712. International Institute of Educational Planning (UNESCO). (2007). Reforming school supervision for quality improvement: Module 2: Roles and functions of supervisors. Paris: IIIEP/UNESCO. Jeffs, T. and Smith, M. K. (2005). Informal Education. Conversation, democracy and learning (3rd edition). Nottingham: Educational Heretics Press. Nanus, B. (1992). Visionary leadership: creating a compelling sense of direction for your organization. San Francisco, CA: John Wiley Sons Inc. Rooney, J. (2005). School culture: an invisible essential. Educational Leadership, 62(5), 86. Sergiovanni, T. (2006). The principalship: a reflective practice perspective (5th edition). Boston: Allyn and Bacon. Van Kessel, L. (2007). Coaching, a field for professional supervisors. Ljetopis socijalnog rada, 14(2), 387-432. West, E G (1994). Education and the state. Indianapolis: Liberty Fund Inc. William, D. (2006). Formative assessment: Getting the focus right. Educational Assessment, 11(34), 283-289. Young, A and Block, W. (1999). Enterprising Education: Doing Away with the Public School System. International Journal of Value-Based Management, 12, 195-207.

Island :: essays research papers

I came to the conclusion that Langston was writing about te struggle to freedom for blacs. Lanston Hughes wrote about racism often in his poems, and this particular poem seems to follow that pattern. Hughes gives the feeling of loneliness and dismay at the fact that he is not considered equal to white people. The poem represents the struggle for freedom and to be considered equal. The speaker conveys a feeling of sadness and loneliness in the tone of their voice, as stated in the opening sentence of the poem. "Wave of sorrow", expresses the sadness, by the speaker who I interpret to be a black person caught up in the struggle to have equal right. Hughes uses language that is used in everday life. There are no obsolete of slang words incorporated in the course of the poem. The author uses static imagery, painting a picture of an island standing alone by itself off in the distance. I see a sunny, smoothe sandy island surrounded by cal waters and a warm atmosphere. Langston Hughes uses four stanzas which are all couplets written in closed form. The rhyme scheme is an end rhyme with the pattern ab cb cd ad. This is a unique poem structure with the first line reapeating itself again in line seven, and the third line repeating itself again in line five. This is a lyric poem, meditation, which in this case th physical object is the island. The rhythm is set to be short quck verses with pauses to lead into each couplet. The word choice of the poem is use to keep the poem's structure short and compact. The word order is slightly different from normal use. The unconventional syntax is used to create a rhyme scheme. I decided to do this poem because of the versatility of the meaning. The way Hughes writes "Island" it leaves the reader to develop their own opinions of the author's meaning. This poem can be interpreted in many different ways, for instance: I also thought that this poem could mean a person is close to reaching their goal and by saying "Wave of sorrow, Take me there", I interpreted that as meaning they needed some sort of motivation to point

Hospitality Human Resources Management Essay

In organisations today, the scope of human resource management is vast but there are three main functions that human resource management is comprised of – strategies, plans, practices, processes and policies; attract, manage, develop and reward; and contributing to the overall performance of the organisation. Throughout this literature review the different approaches that various authors take when outlining the what activities, tasks and functions contribute to the role of an human resources manager in organisations will be discussed as well as the features that are unique to the industry and affect the role of human resources manager in hospitality. I will also make an executive suggestion as to which human resource approach I feel is the most appropriate for organisations in the hospitality industry from the readings used in this literature review. The main sources that will be referenced in this literature review include Rudman (2010), Armstrong (2006), Baum (2007) and Fà ¡ilte Ireland (2005). Human resource management is an important role within organisations and businesses which focuses closely on both the recruitment and the overall management of employees within organisations and businesses. It is a strategic approach when it comes to managing people in the work place and works to create, as well as reinforce, a work environment that is positive for organisations employees. (Heathfield, 2013). When recruiting new employees, the human resource managers of organisations look for candidates who are highly experienced in the organisations field, possess a wide variety of skills that can be applied within the organisation, and have a positive working attitude and good work ethics which they will apply to the organisation or business. Human resources management is the control of an organisation’s employees; according to Rouse (2011) an organisation’s human resources management department is in charge of creating, implementing and overseeing all policies that ar e to do with the behaviour of the organisation’s employees as well as the organisation’s behaviour towards the employees. Human resources management can be defined in many different ways and everyone  has a different view on what human resources management is comprised of. It is said that up until the 1980’s human resources management was known as personnel management, and making the change from personnel management to human resources management offered organisations a new beginning. It offered organisations new beginnings as human resources management, according to Rudman (2010), is based on three key aspects; commitment and engagement, integration and fit, and flexibility and adaptability. As human resources management can be defined in various ways it is apparent that authors will have different views on what human resources management is as well as what the tasks and activities are that make up the role of a human resources manager in organisations. The roles and functions of a human resources manager are viewed differently by organisations but all organisations do have a human resources function whether they openly recognise it or not. Human resources management uses a human resources system as a means to operate. This human resources systems amalgamates the philosophies, strategies, policies, processes, practices and programmes of human resources management. (Armstrong, 2006). Armstrong’s (2006) human resources management activities model, which was based on Becker and Gehart’s (1996) human resources management model, views the role of the human resources manager in organisations to comprise of ten key components. The ten key components of Armstrong’s (2006) human resources management activities model include organisation, an employment relationship, resourcing, performance management, the development of human resources, reward management, employee relations, health and safety, welfare services as well as employment and human resource services. These ten, supposed, key components of the human resources management activities model can also be matched to a human resources model Armstrong (2006) claims. This human resources model shows that human resources and the structure that an organisation is built on should be managed in a way that harmonises them strategically. It is also said that there is a human resources cycle which is made up of four functions that are generically performed in all organisations. These functions include selection, appraisal, rewards and development according to Armstrong (2006) who believes that the human resources cycle starts with selection, then goes on to appraisal – or  performance management which it is also known as – before splitting off into two sections, rewards and development, before finishing the cycle with performance. This model and matching human resources cycle explain human resources management in a way that appears to cover every aspect of it simply and effectively . Where Armstrong’s (2006) human resources management model talks about there being ten key components of human resources management and are simple, Rudman (2010) goes into more detail when defining the scope of human resources management. Rudman (2010) said that the scope of human resources management is influenced by how big, or small, an organisation is along with other characteristics and it â€Å"†¦covers everything an organisation does to attract, manage, develop and reward†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (p. 8) employees who help the organisation achieve its goals. This scope of human resources management means that Rudman (2010) see the role of a human resources manager as consisting of activities, but he also talks about there being five main elements when it comes to human resources management. The five elements that Rudman (2010) suggests are the core elements that make up human resources management are staffing the organisation, managing people and performance, developing people and performance, rewarding people and performance, and managing employment relations. Staffing the organisation works towards attracting and acquiring any of the human resources that an organisation needs in order to achieve the organisation’s goals while managing employment relations aims to balance both the interests of the employers and their employees so that the organisation can work to achieve their goals. When an organisation manages people and performance it encourages their employee’s contribution and commitment to both the organisation and the organisation’s overall performance while developing people and performance ensures that the organisation’s employees have the necessary skills, knowledge and competencies that are required for the present performance and future performance of the organisation. When organisations reward people and performance it influences the behaviour and performance of the organisation’s employees by encouraging them with future contributions as well as recognising their past achievements. These fiv e core elements make up what Rudman (2010) believes to be the scope of human resources  management. While Rudman (2010) suggests that there are five elements that make up the scope of human resources management, and Armstrong (2006) claims that there are ten key components that comprise to make up his human resources management activities model which has a complementary matching human resources management model; there are many other perspectives when it comes to discussing what makes up the role of a human resources manager. Another perspective is that of Baum (2007) who suggests that there are eight aspects that combine together to make up what the role of a human resources manager involves. Baum’s (2007) views on what human resources management is good practice is adapted from Fà ¡ilte Ireland (2005) model of what good practice in human resources management is. The eight aspects that Baum (2007) and Fà ¡ilte Ireland (2005) suggest are activities that contribute to what a human resources managers role is are flexibility, participation, performance management, recognition, reward, communication, learning and development, and empowerment. A human resources manager needs to be flexible according to Baum (2007) because they need to ensure that the organisation can match their demands with the availability of their staff whilst recognising the employee’s work-life balance also needs to be managed. Performance management is an important aspect of a human resources managers role according to Baum (2007) as carrying out regular staff performance reviews within organisations will ensure that both individual performance and team performance is being delivered to the standard of the organisation leads to rewards and recognition, two aspects that Baum suggests are important. Ensuring that employee’s good efforts are recognised within their peer group and are celebrated will ensure that employees continue working to the same standard so that they can gain either monetary or non-monetary rewards. Learning and development is also important when it comes to the role of a human resources manager as having access to both on-site and off-site courses and learning opportunities for employee’s ensures that employee’s work is up to standard and they are up to date and speed with what they are required to do for the organisation to achieve their goals. Developing, managing and rewarding people and performance appear to be  common, and important, functions of what a human resources manager role consists of according to Baum (2007), Fà ¡ilte Ireland (2005), Rudman (2010) and Armstrong (2006) human resources management activities models. The three models that have been discussed all have similar functions but Armstrong’s (2006) seems to cover every aspect of what I think human resources management entails in a more in-depth way compared to how Rudman (2006) explains it. However, each model is specific and suggest what they see as the most important functions of human resources management and activities of a human resources manager. In the hospitality industry human resources management departments are often considered, and talked about being, a cost center. A cost center is a function in an organisation that does not produce any direct profit but adds to the overall cost of running an organisation. Human resources management is considered a cost center in the hospitality industry as measuring the outcomes of human resources management efforts is not always clear to see and the same goes for the results of managing employees. Many hospitality organisation’s face challenges including the business environment continuously changing rapidly, increasing competition and changing customer demands but the changing technologies of today are making it easier for organisations to share information and replicate competing organisation’s work practices and strategies. (Cho, Woods, Jang & Erdem, 2006). Cho et al (2006) found that human resources management issues and challenges are becoming increasingly important to an organisation’s performance where as Becker & Gerhart (1996) have argued that decisions regarding human resources management influence the overall performance of an organisation because human resources management aims to improve the efficiency of organisations as well as increase the revenue of the organisation. A major issue that human resources managers face in the hospitality industry is employee retention as there is a personnel shortage. There is a decrease in the number of teenagers that are available to work in the hospitality industry as the majority of them are looking for jobs that allow them to work nine to five, Monday through Friday and have the weekends off. However, in the hospitality industry this is never the case and, in the vast majority  of cases, employees are required to work over the weekend. Because of this decrease in availability of teenagers wanting to work in the hospitality industry, Bonn & Forbringer (1992) suggested that human resources managers are going to have to explore and develop new target markets and methods when it comes to both attracting and retaining employees. According to Davidson & Wang (2011) jobs in the hospitality industry are being characterised by the levels of labour turnover being quite high with a fair amount of employees leaving their current hospitality jobs for opportunities in different industries. This high labour turnover means that employees are not happy with the work they are doing but, in some conditions, it can also indicate that employee’s cannot reach the unrealistic expectations of the organisation they are working for. However, some other reasons have been known to be the cause of high labour turnover in the hospitality industry and these include; there being a lack of future career opportunities; the job-scope being dissatisfactory; and conflict between management and employees. Human resources managers are required to think of new ideas that will want people to work for their organisation so that there is a low labour turnover. If an organisation has a low labour turnover this means that their employee’s are satisfied with their jobs, they feel both safe and healthy in their work environment, and their work performance is deemed satisfactory from the employer’s perspective which is very important. Being able to attract and retain employee’s in one of the key components that is part of the activities and functions that comprise the role of a human resources manager. There are several different approaches that can be taken when it comes to human resources management; these include hard or soft, best practice, best fit and strategic. Two different approaches of human resources management are hard or soft. These approaches are opposing views on different human natures and control strategies; hard human resources management can be viewed as the basic functions whereas soft human resources is the advanced functions of human resources management. Soft human resources management is all about the self direction of individuals and in the center of the approach to managing people is trust, self-regulated behaviour and commitment. With soft human resources management employees are treated as  the most significant resources within an organisation and it focuses on the employee’s needs, roles, rewards and motivating them. This makes employee’s the greatest asset within an organisation and they are vital to the success of the organisation. Human resources managers ensure that they select the best candidates, provide them with training and development of a high and appropriate quality and are rewarded in regards to their value to the organisation. Whereas hard human resources management focuses on the strategic objectives of the organisation and human resources is treated like an equal function of production. Hard human resources management aims to minimise the cost of labour and make it flexible and people are often referred to as employee’s with this particular approach to human resources management as it reinforces that employee relations can be because of franchising, outsourcing or subcontracting. Strategic human resources is an approach that has a goal to use people in the most effective way in regards to the organisation’s strategic needs. This approach is designed to aid organisations meet their employee’s needs in the best way possible. It requires human resources managers to not only think and plan ahead different ways for the organisation to meet the needs of their employee’s but also ways for the employee’s to meet the needs of the organisation as well. (Becker & Huselid, 2006). Strategic human resources management is having the ability to plan for the employee’s needs as it helps improve and increase the amount of skillful employee’s whom choose to keep working for an organisation. Becker & Huselid (2006) suggest that improving and increasing this amount will reduce labour turnover costs, and the money that organisations would have to spend on attracting and recruiting new employee’s. The best practice approach to human resources management is based on there supposedly being a set of human resources management practices that are best suited and that using these practices will lead to the organisations overall performance being superior to their competitions. It aims to develop employees, increase their level of commitment to the organisation, with the intended outcome to improve the overall performance of organisations and create a competitive advantage that is sustainable. When it comes to this  approach to human resources management, what may work for one specific organisation may not necessarily be the best practice for another organisation as it may not fit the style of management, strategy, or working performance of that organisation. (Armstrong, 2006). Whereas the best fit approach to human resources management works on emphasising the significance that ensuring the human resources strategies are appropriate for the organisation. Human resources managers a re required to take into account bot the needs of the organisation and its employee’s. With this approach it is up to the organisation to decide what works best for them and what will fit their operational and strategic requirements according to Armstrong (2006). The most suitable approach to human resources management in the hospitality industry in my opinion, based on the findings of this literature review, is the best practice approach. This is because this approach aims to develop employee’s, increase their level of commitment to the organisation, and have an outcome that improves the overall performance of the organisation. When working in the hospitality industry it is important to attract and recruit the people best suited for the organisation and adopting this approach to human resources management it will ensure that the commitment of employee’s is enhanced and improved which, in turn, improves the overall performance of the organisation. There are a range of human resources practices that are significant to organisations when trying to attract and retain employee’s who will constantly deliver service of a high quality. These practices include selection and recruitment, teamwork, retention, training and developme nt, appraisals and rewards, and employee relations and they are all important to the human resources management in the hospitality industry. References Armstrong, M. (2006). A handbook of human resource management practice, 10th ed. London: Kogan Page. Baum, T. (2007). Human resources in tourism: Still waiting for change. Tourism Management, 28(6), 1383-1399. Retrieved from http://www.sciencedirect.com.ezproxy.aut.ac.nz/science/article/pii /S0261517707001033 Becker, B & Gerhart, B. (1996). The impact of human resource management on organisational performance: Progress and prospects. Academy of management journal, 39(4), 779-801. Becker, B. E., & Huselid, M. A. (2006). Strategic human resources management: Where do we go from here?. Journal of Management, 32(6), 898-925. doi: 10.1177/0149206306293668 Bonn, M. A., & Forbringer, L. R. (1992). Reducing turnover in the hospitality industry: an overview of recruitment, selection and retention. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 11(1), 47-63. Retrieved from http://www.sciencedirect.com.ezproxy.aut.ac.nz/science/article/pii/ 027843199290035T Cho, S., Woods, R. H., Jang, S., & Erdem, M. (2006). Measuring the impact of human resource management practices on hospitality firms’ performances. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 25(2), 262-277. Davidson, M. C. G., & Wang, Y. (2011). Sustainable labor practices? hotel human resource managers views on turnover and skill shortages. Journal of Human Resources in Hospitality & Tour, 10(3), 235-253. doi: 10.1080/15332845.2011.555731 Druker, J., White, G., Hegewisch, A. & Mayne, L. (1996). Between hard and soft hrm: Human resource management in the construction industry. Construction management and economics, 14(5), 405-416. doi: 10.1080/014461996373278 Fà ¡ilte Ireland. (2005). A human resource development strategy for irish tourism: Competing through people. Retrieved from http://torc.linkbc.ca/torc/downs1/Strategy%20for%20Irish%20Tourism%5b1%5d.pdf Heathfield, S. M. (2013). What is human resource management?. Retrieved from http://humanresources.about.com/od/g lossaryh/f/hr_management.htm Nickson, D. (2007). Human resource management for the hospitality and tourism industries. (1st ed.). Boston, MA: Butterworth-Heinemann. O’Neill, J. W., & Davis, K. (2011). Work stress and well-being in the hotel industry. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 30(2), 385–390. doi:10.1016/j.ijhm.2010.07.007 Rouse, M. (2007). What is cost center? Retrieved from http://searchcrm.techtarget.com/definition/cost-center Rouse, M. (2011). What is human resource management (hrm)?. Retrieved from http://searchcio.techtarget.com/definition/human-resource-management-HRM Rudman, R. (2010). Human resources management in new zealand (5th ed.).

Christmas Worksheets and Christmas printables

Christmas lessons and activities are great motivational techniques. Some of the best activities in an inclusional classroom include brainstorming activities. When you provide students with the opportunity to brainstorm, you are actually using differentiated instruction. Brainstorms work well for gifted learners, mainstream learners and disabled learners. Use the Printable Activity PDF or try some of the suggestions below. 1. How many different Christmas words can you think of? 2. How many different things can you put on a Christmas tree? 3. What realistic types of gifts do you want this year and why? 4. How many different things can you do on the Christmas holiday? 5. How many different foods can you think of for Christmas? 6. Why is Christmas special to you? 7. How many different Christmas songs can you think of? 8. How many words can you find using only the letters in the word Christmas? 9. List all your different memories of Christmas. 10. Think of all the different things that happen at your house at Christmas. (Types of decorations, visitors etc.) Brainstorms can be in writing or done in small or large groups in the classroom. All students have the chance to feel successful during brainstorm types of activities.