The Ancient Indus Valley Civilization

The Ancient Indus Valley Civilization When 19th-century explorers and 20th-century archaeologists rediscovered the ancient Indus Valley civilization, the history of the Indian sub-continent had to be rewritten.* Many questions remain unanswered. The Indus Valley civilization is an ancient one, on the same order as Mesopotamia, Egypt, or China. All these areas relied on important rivers: Egypt relying on the annual flooding of the Nile, China on the Yellow River, the ancient Indus Valley civilization (aka Harappan, Indus-Sarasvati, or Sarasvati) on the Sarasvati and Indus rivers, and Mesopotamia outlined by the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. Like the people of Mesopotamia, Egypt, and China, the people of the Indus civilization were culturally rich and share a claim to the earliest writing. However, there is a problem with the Indus Valley that doesnt exist in such pronounced form elsewhere. Evidence is missing elsewhere, through the accidental depredations of time and catastrophes or deliberate suppression by human authorities, but to my knowledge, the Indus Valley is unique among major ancient civilizations in having a major river disappear. In place of the Sarasvati is the much smaller Ghaggar stream that ends in the Thar desert. The great Sarasvati once flowed into the Arabian Sea, until it dried up in about 1900 B.C. when the Yamuna changed course and instead flowed into the Ganges. This may correspond with the late period of the Indus Valley civilizations. Mohenjo-Daro - From Archaeology at About.com The mid-second millennium is when the Aryans (Indo-Iranians) may have invaded and possibly conquered the Harappans, according to a very controversial theory. Before then, the great Bronze Age Indus Valley civilization flourished in an area greater than one million square km. It covered parts of Punjab, Haryana, Sindh, Baluchistan, Gujarat and fringes of Uttar Pradesh. On the basis of artifacts of trade, it appears to have flourished at the same time as the Akkadian civilization in Mesopotamia. Indus Housing If you look at an Harappan housing plan, youll see straight lines (a sign of deliberate planning), orientation to the cardinal points, and a sewer system. It held the first great urban settlements on the Indian subcontinent, most notably at the citadel cities of Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa. Indus Economy and Subsistence The people of the Indus Valley farmed, herded, hunted, gathered, and fished. They raised cotton and cattle (and to a lesser extent, water buffalo, sheep, goats, and pigs), barley, wheat, chickpeas, mustard, sesame, and other plants. They had gold, copper, silver, chert, steatite, lapis lazuli, chalcedony, shells, and timber for trading. Writing The Indus Valley civilization was literate we know this from seals inscribed with a script that is now only in the process of being deciphered. [An aside: When it is finally deciphered, it should be a big deal, as was Sir Arthur Evans deciphering of Linear B. Linear A still needs deciphering, like the ancient Indus Valley script.] The first literature of the Indian subcontinent came after the Harappan period and is known as Vedic. It doesnt appear to mention the Harappan civilization. The Indus Valley civilization flourished in the third millennium B.C. and suddenly disappeared, after a millennium, in about 1500 B.C. possibly as a result of tectonic/volcanic activity leading to the formation of a city-swallowing lake. Next: Problems of the Aryan Theory in Explaining Indus Valley History *Possehl says that prior to the archaeological investigations starting in 1924, the earliest reliable date for the history of India was spring of 326 B.C. when Alexander the Great raided the northwestern border. References Imaging River Sarasvati: A Defence of Commonsense, by Irfan Habib. Social Scientist, Vol. 29, No. 1/2 (Jan. - Feb., 2001), pp. 46-74.Indus Civilization, by Gregory L. Possehl. The Oxford Companion to Archaeology. Brian M. Fagan, ed., Oxford University Press 1996.Revolution in the Urban Revolution: The Emergence of Indus Urbanization, by Gregory L. Possehl. Annual Review of Anthropology, Vol. 19, (1990), pp. 261-282.The Role of India in the Diffusion of Early Cultures, by William Kirk. The Geographical Journal, Vol. 141, No. 1 (Mar., 1975), pp. 19-34.Social Stratification in Ancient India: Some Reflections, by Vivekanand Jha. Social Scientist, Vol. 19, No. 3/4 (Mar. - Apr., 1991), pp. 19-40. A 1998 article, by Padma Manian, on world history textbooks gives an idea of what we may have learned about the Indus Civilization in traditional courses, and debated areas: Harappans and Aryans: Old and New Perspectives of Ancient Indian History, by Padma Manian. The History Teacher, Vol. 32, No. 1 (Nov., 1998), pp. 17-32. Major CitiesAll the textbooks Manian examines mention the cities of Harappa and Mohenjo Daro, their urban features of ordered streets, sewers, citadels, granaries and the bath at Mohenjo-Daro, artifacts, including seals in a yet undeciphered language. Some authors mention the area of civilization was more than a million square kilometers. One author mentions another excavated city, Kalinagan, and most of the books mention the surrounding villages.DatesMost date the Indus Valley civilization from 2500-1500 B.C., although there is an alternative, 3000-2000. The year 1500 is listed as the year of the Aryan (or Indo-Iranian) invasion.Decline of the Indus CivilizationSome attribute the fall of the Indus civilization to the Aryans, destroyers and enslavers of the Indus people. Others say environmental changes caused the fall. Some say both.Identification of the AryansThe books call the Aryans pastoral nomads. Their origins include grasslands of Eastern Europe/Western Asia, the Caspian Sea, Anatolia, and south-central Asia. The books also claim they came with cattle and some say they already had iron weapons, while others say they developed them in India. One claims they crossed the Himalayas in horse-drawn chariots. Victory Over the Indigenous PeopleAll the textbooks assume the Aryans were victorious and regard the Vedas as written by these invaders.CasteThere are various interpretations of the caste system. In one, when the Aryans arrived on the scene there were already 3 castes in India. In another interpretation, the Aryans brought and imposed their own tripartite system. The dark-skinned people are generally considered the conquered people and the lighter skinned ones, the Aryans. Problems With the Aryan Theory in the Typical Presentations ChronologyThe idea that Harappan civilization fell as a result of the arrival of the Aryans. Harappa had lost its urban character by 2000 B.C., 500 years before the Aryan arrival. Traces of Harappa ElsewhereIndicators of refugees, including lustrous Red Ware, until about 1000 B.C. Refugees fled north-eastward; some residents east to the Gulf of Cambay. Lack of Aryan TracesPainted Grey Ware pottery formerly attributed to the Aryans has not been found along their possible courses, but appears to be an outgrowth of earlier Indian styles. LinguisticHistorical linguistic reasoning about the origin of the Aryans is faulty. (This is a complicated topic summarized by Kris Hirst.) Nomad Status QuestionableArchaeologist Colin Renfrew denies that there is any evidence in the Rig Veda that Aryans were invaders or nomads. Sarasvati ChronologySince the Rig Vedas refer to the Sarasvati as a large river, they must have been written before 1900 B.C., so the people mentioned in it must have already be en there.

Definition and Examples of Memory in Classical Rhetoric

Definition and Examples of Memory in Classical Rhetoric Definition In classical rhetoric, memory is the fourth of the traditional five parts or canons of rhetoricthat which considers methods and devices (including figures of speech) to aid and improve an orators ability to remember a speech. Also called  memoria. In ancient Greece, memory was personified as Mnemosyne, the mother of the Muses. Memory was known as mneme in Greek, memoria in Latin. See Examples and Observations below. Also see: Bathtub EffectClassical Rhetoric Dissoi Logoi: Dissoi Logoi on MemoryMnemonicOratory Parable: The Invention of LettersWhat Are the Five Canons of Rhetoric? EtymologyFrom the Latin, mindful   Examples and Observations In general, Roman writers on rhetoric (and, according to them their Hellenistic predecessors) avoided deciding whether memory was a natural ability or a learned skill by dividing it into two kinds. There was what was called the natural memory, which was simply an individuals aptitude for recalling things. This natural memory could be supplemented by the techniques of artificial memory, a set of practices that enabled their user to remember more clearly, more completely, more systematically, or simply more than his natural memory would allow.(William West, Memory in Encyclopedia of Rhetoric, ed. Thomas O. Sloane. Oxford University Press, 2001) The Mnemonic Place SystemIt is not difficult to get hold of the general principles of the mnemonic. The first step was to imprint on the memory a series of loci or places. The commonest, though not the only, type of mnemonic place system used was the architectural type. The clearest description of the place is that given by Quintilian [in Instit utio Oratoria]. In order to form a series of places in memory, he says, a building is to be remembered, as spacious and varied a one as possible . . .. The images by which the speech is to be remembered . . . are then placed in imagination on the places which have been memorized in the building. . . . We have to think of the ancient orator as moving in imagination through his memory building whilst he is making his speech, drawing from the memorized places the images he has placed on them. The method ensures that the points are remembered in the right order.(Frances A. Yates, The Art of Memory. Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1966) Oral Memory and the Art of Memory: Orality and LiteracySome distinctions between oral memory and the art of memory (the fourth canon in classical rhetoric) should be articulated in future studies on memory. Whereas oral memory is a conception for cultural oral traditions and, specifically, for oral epic traditions, the art of memory is a reconceived view of memory that was articulated by rhetoricians and was clearly influenced by the increased acceptance and use of literacy in Greek culture. Thus, Frances Yatess seminal work, The Art of Memory, begins with a rhetorical, not a poetic, tradition. The very notion of memory as inner writing shows the early influence of literacy on the rhetorical tradition of memory. . . . The evolving art of memory shows orality and literacy working together.(Joyce Irene Middleton, Oral Memory and the Teaching of Literacy. Rhetorical Memory and Delivery: Classical Concepts for Contemporary Composition and Communication, ed. by John Frederick Reynolds. L awrence Erlbaum, 1993) Memory as a Creative ForceIn rhetoric, memory craft is a stage in composing a work; presupposed is the axiom that recollection is an act of investigation and recreation in the service of conscious artifice. Its practitioners would not have been surprised to learn what was to them already obvious: that recollection is a kind of composition, and by its very nature is selective and formal.(Mary Jean Carruthers, The Book of Memory: A Study of Memory in Medieval Culture, 2nd ed. Cambridge University Press, 2008) Kairos and MemoryIt seems paradoxical, but kairos and memory were partnered in several ways. First, both require a kind of attunement in that the rhetor who is gathering items for reserve in the memory must be thinking simultaneously about whats available now that might be useful later. Secondly, memory requires an attunement during the moment of speaking or composing, a recognition of the right time for recalling an illustrative example, an argument, and so on. . . . It is also of crucial importance to be aware of what events or knowledge might dominate the memories of a particular audience. . . . All of these aspects of memory , we believe, connect to kairos, the ancient notion of timing and attunement.(Sharon Crowley and Debra Hawhee, Ancient Rhetorics for Modern Students, 3rd ed. Pearson, 2004) The Suppression of Memory in Composition StudiesIt is crucial to an understanding of Western literacy at this millennium to recognize that the disappearance of memory and delivery is not a benign removal; rather, it is part of a larger movement in the United States to pablumize the humanities in general, and to vitiate writing in particular by behaving as if it were a mere skill, craft, or useful tool. . . .Many issues of culture, ideology, society, and the construction of public and private lives reside in the functions of memory and delivery; public and private realms are routinely and tacitly regarded not as construction, but as palpably, obviously separate entities. The elimination of memory and delivery in the majority of student writing textbooks constitutes the removal of student-written language from the larger public arena. The removal reinforces the common, dualistic idea that students live outside ideology if they choose to do so, just as they are outside language if they choose to be.(Kathleen E. Welch, The Suppression of Memory, Delivery, and Ideology. Rhetorical Memory and Delivery: Classical Concepts for Contemporary Composition and Communication, ed. by John Frederick Reynolds. Lawrence Erlbaum, 1993) Pronunciation: MEM-eh-ree

Business Proposal for a new international SME Assignment

Business Proposal for a new international SME - Assignment Example The competitive advantages and disadvantages of the proposed business are also highlighted. In the subsequent section, operation of the proposed business is provided along with recommendations. Table of Contents Executive Summary 2 Introduction 4 Analysis of the International Business Opportunity 9 Operation of the Proposed Business 15 Conclusion 18 Recommendations 19 References 23 Bibliography 28 Introduction Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) have started to play significant role in global trade. Statistics gathered by Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and other sources have indicated that SMEs have at present account for substantial part of exports from industrialized nations throughout the world (Knight, 2001). According to the statistics of OECD (1997), SMEs account for around 25% - 35% of the global manufactured exports and around 4% - 6% of the exports of OECD countries. These statistics have indeed established facts and support the internationaliza tion activities of SMEs. In recent times, ever increasing contribution of technological advancements and continuous easing out of regulatory advances have led to easier flow of transport, goods/services, information as well as finance in and around national borders. These factors have made SMEs a major contributor towards growth in the global economy (Fletcher, 2004). Recent growth of globalization has resulted in subsequent increase in the internationalization of SMEs. Along with globalization, advancement in transportation and increase in computerization have contributed towards the SMEs looking beyond their own country for business growth and opportunity (Suh & Et. Al., 2008). International Entrepreneurship In the growth and development of business, an SME and their management need to interrelate their expansion venture keeping in view the crucial aspects related to international entrepreneurship. International entrepreneurship assumes that becoming entrepreneurial and acting ent repreneurially is a dual process. This process generally gets integrated in practice. SMEs before looking towards international expansion generally looks towards building market, financial as well as entrepreneurial resources in their own country of origin. Later, they look to build on their existing capabilities by venturing towards global domain (Fletcher, 2004). The study intends to prepare a business proposal for an international SME i.e. Practicus. The SME is situated in the UK. It is primarily a recruitment company which provides value to their esteemed clients by offering their services in various fields related to human resource such as interim management, outcome risk &reward, project & programme management, capability & skills transfer, outcome healthcheck, project media & communications. The organization renders their services related to international change delivery business along with a distinctive approach in order to assist clients with various value added support. Th e organization’s major aim is to deliver as well as embed sustainable change (Practicus, 2011). Practicus, around six years ago, was only seen as an idea. However, through sustained effort it has at present grown to possess four offices in the UK and has opened new offices in Australia and the Netherlands. The firm in the year 2010 was listed at the 13th position by Sunday Times in terms of

Professional Learning Communities Research Proposal

Professional Learning Communities - Research Proposal Example (DuFour, 2004, pp.6-11). For Senge, the five key disciplines underlying the concept of PLC include organizational learning, shared vision, mental models, team learning and systems thinking whereas Hord believes these five key elements to be supportive and shared leadership, shared values and vision, collective learning and application of learning, supportive conditions and shared personal practice (Alberta Education, 2006, pp.8 & 9). Since teachers play a key role in the over all accomplishment of any educational institute, they have become the cynosure of professional learning communities where they are considered as learners who are in a constant process of mentoring and being mentored. The reason behind bringing the teachers to the centre of attention is the fact that any kind of improvement happening in any classroom involves the participation of a teacher (Schwarz: 1998). Any development in teachers would not only improve students’ performance but would also motivate the teachers themselves. As a consequence of aggrandizing trend of professional learning communities, the education system has witnessed a considerable phase of amelioration. According to the studies of Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, as a result of professional development, the teachers do not confine their lessons to the conventional facts but keep updating their knowledge with latest developments in their fields. Similarly, the teachers do not expect normative feedback but appreciate multiple perspectives from their students. They also design the curriculum in such a way that the knowledge inculcated to the students becomes more thought provoking. In order to elucidate various concepts, they try to extract examples from the real life situations instead to sticking to the text book instances. Through the practice of collegiality facilitated by PLCs, teachers are now able to work in groups in order to share different teaching strategies about

Sports Leadership And Communication Physical Education Essay

Sports Leadership And Communication Physical Education Essay This research is based in Sports Leadership and communication. The specific area to be investigated is the question following: Different coaches will have different leadership and communication styles. How will you determine the most appropriate style for you to use? The Coaches leadership and communication style can affect the athletes psychology. Im investigating this area on my class paper because as a sports coach, I would like to know how to be a leader of my team and communicate with my athletes. Based on that problem statement, I have to answer the questions: What is Leadership? What is Communication? From these two basic questions, I should answer more focused questions. What is leadership and how is connected with psychology? What are the leadership traits? How communication skills can be use in sports psychology? How can you send and receive messages more effectively to athletes psychology? These questions are made into sections which can be: Definitions of leadership The Leadership traits Communication Send and receive messages Definition of leadership in Sports psychology Leadership might broadly be considered the behavioral process of influencing individuals and groups towards set goals. This definition is useful because it encompasses many dimensions or leadership. In sport and exercise, these dimensions include making decisions, motivating participants, giving feedback, establishing interpersonal relationships, and directing the group or team confidently. (Weinberg, 2007) A leader knows where the group or team is going and provides the direction and resources to help it get there. Coaches who are good leaders provide not only a vision of what to strive for but also the day-to-day structure, motivation, and support to translate vision into reality. Coaches, teachers, and exercise specialists are leaders who seek to provide each participant with maximum opportunities to achieve success. And successful leaders also try to ensure that individual success helps achieve team success. (Weinberg, 2007) Leadership is simply this: First its knowing how to chart a course, to give others direction by having a vision of what can be. A team without a leader is like a ship without a rudder. Second, leadership is developing the social and psychological environment-what business calls the corporate culture and Ill call team culture-to achieve the goals the leader has charted. This culture consists of selecting, motivating, rewarding, retaining, and unifying members of your team-players, assistants, everyone who helps your organization. Excellent coaches-leaders-give the team vision, and know how to translate this vision into reality. Coaches, in their leadership roles, seek to develop an environment whereby each and every athlete has the maximum opportunity to achieve success, and in so doing achieve team success. The coach is concerned not only with the physical environment, but the psychological and social environments as well. . (Martens, 1987) Leadership formally defined, is the action of an individual to influence others toward set goals. It is often confused with management. Management consists of planning, organizing, staffing and recruiting, scheduling, budgeting, and public relations. Leaders perform these functions, or delegate them to others, but they also do more. Leaders determine the direction for the future, and then marshal the resources within the organization to pursue that vision. Managers simply handle the routine, never questioning whether the routine should be done. This distinction is significant in sport, for too many teams are over managed and underled. (Martens, 1987) Leadership emphasizes interpersonal relationships and has direct impact on motivation, whereas management necessarily does not. Tom Peters and Nancy Austin write in A Passion for Excellence: Coaching is face-to-face leadership that pulls together people with diverse backgrounds, talents, experiences and interests, encourages them to step up to responsibility and continued achievement, and treats them as full-scale partners and contributors. Coaching is not about memorizing techniques or devising the perfect game plan. It is about really paying attention to people-really believing them, really caring about them, really involving them. (1985, p. 326) While reading through the massive literature on leadership, I gained two impressions. First, the leadership literature in psychology, including sport psychology, contains pounds of pulp and ounces of information. Never have so many said so much to tell us so little. And second, the essence of leadership, what sets it apart from other human processes, is ill conceived in psychology. (Weinberg, 2007) Leadership Style There are two leadership styles democratic and autocratic. As you might expect, the coach with a democratic style is typically athlete centered, cooperative, and relationship oriented. Conversely, the autocratic style is usually win oriented, tightly structured, and task oriented. A coach need not act entirely one way or the other. Coaches can effectively integrate and blend democratic and autocratic leadership styles. Different leadership behaviors are more optimal in various situations, as you have seen through the multidimensional model of sport leadership and LSS. The challenge is determining what style best suits the circumstances and whether individuals and flexible enough to adapt their dominant style to a particular leadership situation. The appropriate coaching style depends most on situational factors and member characteristics. (Weinberg, 2007) One aspect of style that has been researched is how decisions are made by coaches. In fact, coaching effectiveness largely depends on making good decisions and the degree to which those decisions are accepted by athletes. Chelladurai and others have developed a model of decision making that applies in sport. Five primary styles of decision making are used in sport: Autocratic style. The coach solves the problem herself using the information available at the time. Autocratic-consultative style. The coach obtains the necessary information from relevant players and then comes to a decision. Consultative-individual style. The coach consults the players individually and then makes a decision. The decision may or may not reflect the players input. Consultative-group style. The coach consults the players as a group and then makes a decision. The decision may or may not reflect the players input. Group style. The coach shares the problem with the players; then the players jointly make the decision without any influence from the coach. (Weinberg, 2007) To the above figure we can see the different types of coaching leadership style: (Martens,1987) Section II Trait Approach In the 1920s, researchers tried to determine what characteristics or personality traits were common to great leaders in business and industry. They considered leadership traits to be relatively stable personality dispositions, such as intelligence, assertiveness, independence, and self-confidence. Proponents of the trait theory argued that successful leaders have certain personality characteristics that make it likely they will be leaders no matter what situation they are in. This would mean, for example, that Michael Jordan would be a great leader not only on the basketball court but also in other areas of life such as business and community affairs (or as part owner of the Washington Wizards). Or that Winston Churchill, Gandhi, or Martin Luther King, Jr., would have similar personality characteristics that helped make them effective leaders. (Weinberg, 2007) The trait approach lost favor after World War à Ã‹Å", when Stogdill reviewed more than 100 trait theory studies of leadership and found only a couple of consistent personality traits. Although certain traits might be helpful for a leader to have, they are certainly not essential for successful leadership. Because common leadership traits among coaches, exercise leaders, and performers have not been found, little sport research today uses the trait approach to leadership theory. Leaders have a variety of personality traits. There are no specific traits that make a leader successful. (Weinberg, 2007) Interactional Approach Trait and behavioral approaches emphasize personal factors at the expense of considering the interaction between people and their situational constraints. Many researches in industry and general psychology have proposed interactional models of leadership. These interactional theories have important implications for effective leadership in sport and exercise settings. As we have seen, no one set of characteristics ensures successful leadership. Investigators believe that great leaders have had in common personality traits appropriate to leadership role and distinct from nonleadership roles. However, leaders have not been predicted solely by their personality traits. Effective leadership styles or behaviors fit the specific situation. Coaches have been fired from team positions, for example, when administrators thought they werent providing effective leadership, only to be hired by another team where they were immediately successful. These coaches probably did not suddenly change their leadership styles or the way they coached-rather, their leadership styles and behavior fit better in the new settings. Leadership styles can be changed. If you hear someone say, Some people just have what it takes, dont believe it. In fact, coaches and other leaders can alter their styles and behaviors to match the demands of a situation. Two examples of leadership styles are presented as well as how they might change to fit a situation. For example, relationship-oriented leaders develop interpersonal relationships, keep open lines of communications, maintain positive social interactions, and ensure that everyone is involved and feeling good (their style is analogous to the consideration function described earlier). On the other hand, task-oriented leaders primarily work to get the task done and meet their objectives (their style is analogous to the initiating structure function described earlier). A relationship-oriented leader focuses on developing and maintaining good interpersonal relationships; a task-oriented leader focuses on setting goals and getting the job done. People can change from a relationship-oriented style to a task-oriented style and vice versa, depending on the situation. According to Fiedlers research as he developed his contingency model of leadership, the effectiveness of leadership depends equally on the leaders style of interacting with the group and on the situation. Specifically, Fiedler argued that a task-oriented leader is more effective in either very favorable or unfavorable situations; a relationship-oriented leader is more effective in moderately favorable situations. A physical education teacher in an inner-city school that lacks facilities, leadership, and community support might have to be seen as very unfavorable. Getting things done and setting goals would override developing positive interpersonal relations. In contrast, a physical education teacher in a lower-middle-class school where the facilities are poor but the community support is good (moderately favorable situation) might be more effective as a relations hip-oriented leader. Thus, sport and exercise professionals need to be flexible in leadership styles, tailoring them to meet the demands of situation. If a coach feels more comfortable with one type of leadership style than another, she should seek out situations in which this style would be more effective. Highly skilled players are typically already task oriented, and coaches who have a more relationship-oriented style appear to be more effective with these players. Conversely, less skilled players need more continuous instruction and feedback, and a task-oriented coach would be more appropriate for them. This does not mean than less skilled individuals do not need or want a caring, empathic coach or that more highly skilled participants do not need specific feedback and instruction. It is a matter of what should be emphasized. The effectiveness of an individuals leadership style stems from matching the style to the situation. (Weinberg, 2007) In Finding a Way to Win, Bill Parcells, successful football coach what he believes to be the keys to successful leadership: Integrity. A leaders philosophy must have a sound structure, must be rooted in the leaders basic values, must be communicated and accepted throughout the organization, must be resistant to outside pressure, and must remain in place long enough to allow for success. Flexibility. Traditions are made to be broken. If youre doing something just because its always been done that the way, then you may be missing an opportunity to do better. Loyalty. The first task of leadership is to promote and enforce collective loyalty, also known as teamwork. Confidence. If you want to build confidence in your players and coaching staff, give them responsibility and decision-making capabilities and support them in their attempts. Accountability. Accountability starts at the top. You cant build an accountable organization without leaders who take full responsibility. Candor. When sending a message, its not enough to be honest and accurate. The impact of the message will hinge on whos receiving it-and what the recipients are willing to take in at that time. Preparedness. Well-prepared leaders plan ahead for all contingencies, including the ones they consider unlikely or distasteful. Resourcefulness. At its most basic level, resourcefulness is simply resilience, a refusal to quit or give in even when all seems bleak. Self-discipline. There is always a way to compete, even against superior forces, but strict adherence to a calculated plan is required. Patience. Patience is rarest-and most valuable-when an organization is performing poorly. Its not enough to know what changes must be made; its equally important to decide when to make them. (Weinberg, 2007) Section III: Communication The relationship that exists between a coach and an athlete has been extensively researched, and can be both extreme and powerful (panel). A coach has tremendous influence on the physical and psychological development of their athletes. Sophia Jowett has defined a positive coach-athlete relationship as a state reached when coaches and athletes closeness (eg, interpersonal feelings of trust, respect, and appreciation), commitment (eg, interpersonal thoughts and intentions that aim to maintain the relationship over time), and complementarity (ie, interpersonal behaviours of cooperation, such as responsiveness, easiness, and friendliness) are mutually and causally interconnected. The main responsibility of the coach is to enable their athletes to attain levels of performance not otherwise achievable. Coaches therefore need to motivate athletes and establish the right conditions for learning. Effective coaches have many skills. They should, for instance, be good communicators and have a working knowledge of the learning processes, and of the teaching methods, training principles, and assessment procedures associated with their sport. (Sandra E Short, Martin W, 2005) These skills enable a coach to fulfil five defined roles-those of teacher, organiser, competitor, learner, and friend and mentor. 1. Teacher: This role is the most immediately recognisable function of a coach. Quality training or practising provide opportunities for coaches to display their knowledge and skills to help prepare athletes for competition. Training involves the provision of tuition about physical, tactical, technical, and mental aspects of the sport. Although some coaches also teach their athletes psychological skills (such as mental imagery or relaxation techniques) to help them learn and perform new skills, and effective strategies to improve their self confidence and regulate arousal and anxiety levels, many hire psychologists to work with their teams on these aspects of mental training. 2. Organiser: Typically the least enjoyable or rewarding part of being a coach involves the work that is done behind the scenes-the organisation of practices and competitions, and the scheduling, planning, and transportation of athletes-that makes for a successful season. Organisation, however, helps a coach to prepare for training and for competition, and is a crucial variable for success in all sports. A coach must have an explicit plan or vision, especially in team sports. It is vital for a coach to begin every season by outlining the steps necessary to achieve success. Related to the role of the coach as an organiser is the recognition that they often have to work within certain constraints. There are issues specific to places and contextual factors like scholarship allotment and budgets that can affect a coachs win-loss record. 3. Competitor: Throughout the day of competition, the coach must attend to various tasks. These tasks differ from sport to sport. Coaches of teams play a more active part in competitions than do coaches who work in individual sports; having to make athlete substitutions, call time-outs, and interact with officials. Individual sport coaches are often passive observers during competitions. Coaches in team sports also tend to be more emotional than those in individual sports, in that they are more likely to experience the same emotions as many of their athletes. This emotional response, coupled with perceptions of how the team played and the outcome of the contest, interact to affect the content and focus of the post-competition meeting with athletes. 4. Learner: A coach should be continually learning about their sport and improving their abilities as a trainer. 5. Friend and mentor: Coaches have the opportunity to develop strong relationships with their athletes and to take on the role of friend and mentor. This process involves being a positive role model, discussing problems, sharing successes, offering support when needed, and even providing counselling when necessary. This aspect of coaching can have a strong positive or negative effect on the athlete and affects their feelings of satisfaction with the coach-athlete relationship. An important research finding is that successful coaches seek to improve athletes lives both inside and outside of sport. Results of research into the characteristics of coaches indicate that there are some differences between those who work in individual sports and those who work in team sports. The same is true for athletes. Irrespective of the type of sport, however, both parties view the structure and function of the coach-athlete relationship in the same way. It is noteworthy, though, that athletes in individual sports often feel closer and more committed to their coaches than do team players. What seems to be more important than the individual sport versus team sport distinction is the expectation that a coach has for their athletes. The expectancy theory, or the self-fulfilling prophecy, describes the situation in which coaches perceptions of their athletes affect their behaviour towards them, consequently encouraging actions from the athletes that are consistent with the initial judgment. In sport, the expectancy model comprises four stages. First, coaches form expectations of their athletes bas ed on the athletes personal cues-eg, physical appearance, ethnic origin, and sex-and performance information-eg, practice behaviour, past performances, and skill tests. Second, the expectations made by the coaches affect their behaviour towards the athletes with respect to the frequency and quality of interactions, quality and quantity of instruction, and type and frequency of feedback. Third, over time, the coaches behaviour affects the athletes performances by causing lowexpectancy athletes to perform to poor standard because they have received less reinforcement and playing time, have less confidence, and believe their ability is limited, compared with high-expectancy performers, who typically excel. The cycle is complete when the athletes performance confirms the coachs expectancy. If a coach is wrong, a gifted athlete might never achieve his or her potential. Coaching is an art as well as a science. A coach has to assimilate a vast amount of information and scientific data about their sport, and translate it into practical coaching and training programmes. The success or failure of this process relies heavily on the coachs experience, availability of resources, knowledge of the event or sport, and their relationship with the athletes that they are coaching. By understanding the scientific principles that surround their sport, a well designed training programme can be developed that will help an athlete reach their full potential. The art of coaching is in the understanding and application of the science. (Sandra E Short, Martin W,2005) Sending and receiving messages These are guidelines for sending effective verbal and nonverbal messages (Martens, 1987b): 1. Be direct. People who avoid straightforward communicating assume that others know what they want or feel. Rather than expressing their message directly, they hint at what they have in mind-or they tell a third person, hoping the message will get to the intended recipient indirectly. 2. Own your message. Use I and my not we or the team, when referencing your messages. You disown your messages when you say, The team feels or Most people think you are.. . What youre saying is what you believe, and using others to bolster what you have to say implies cowardice in expressing your own megs.. 3. Be complete and specific. Provide the person to whom you are speaking with all the information he needs to fully understand your message. 4. Be clear and consistent. Avoid double messages. I really want to play you, Mary, but I dont think this is a good game for you. I think youre a fine athlete, but youll just have to be patient. This is an example of a double message-acceptance and rejection-and it probably leave Mary confused and hurt. Double messages send contradictory meanings, and usually the person sending them is afraid to be direct. 5. State your needs and feelings clearly. Because our society frowns on those who wear their emotions on their sleeves, we tend not to reveal our feelings and needs to others. Yet to develop close relationships, you must share your feelings. 6. Separate fact from opinion. State what you see, hear, and know, and then clearly identify any opinions or conclusions you have about these facts. You say to your son when he returns home late one night, I see youve been out with the Williamson kid again. In the context in which you say it, your son will receive the message but not be certain of what exactly your concern is about the Williamson boy. A better way to send this message would be to say, That was the Williamson kid, wasnt it? (verifying a fact) and then, Im concerned that you spend time with him. Im afraid hell get you into trouble (stating your opinion). Although your son may not be pleased with your opinion, at least hell understand it. 7. Focus on one thing at a time. Have you ever begun discussing how to execute a particular skill and abruptly switched to complaining about how the team hasnt been practicing well? Organize your thoughts before speaking. 8. Deliver messages immediately. When you observe something that upsets you or that needs to be changed, dont delay sending a message. Sometimes holding back can result in your exploding later about a little thing. Responding immediately also makes for more effective feedback than a delayed response. 9. Make sure your message does not contain a hidden agenda, which means that the stated purpose of the message is not the same as the real purpose. To determine if your message contains a hidden agenda, ask yourself these two questions: Why am I saying this to this person? Do I really want the person to hear this, or is something else involved? 10. Be supportive. If you want another person to listen to your messages, dont deliver them with threats, sarcasm, negative comparisons, or judgments. Eventually the person will avoid communicating with you or simply tune you out whenever you speak. 11. Be consistent with your nonverbal messages. Perhaps you tell a player it is okay to make an error, but your body gestures and facial expressions contradict your words. Conflicting messages confuse people and hinder future communication. 12. Reinforce with repetition. Repeat key points to reinforce what you are saying. However, dont repeat too often, because this causes the other person to stop listening. You can also reinforce messages by using additional channels of communication-show a picture or video along with explaining a skill, for example. 13. Make your message appropriate to the receivers frame of reference. Messages can be much better understood if you tailor them to the experiences of the person with whom you are communicating. It is inappropriate, for example, to use complex language when speaking to young athletes. They do not have the vocabulary to understand what youre saying. 14. Look for feedback that your message was accurately interpreted. Watch for verbal and nonverbal signals that the person to whom you are speaking is receiving the message you intended. If no signal is given, ask questions to solicit the feedback: Do you understand what I am telling you, Susan? or Are you clear about what you should do? Athletes and Coaches behaviour has the most important role in their communication to the follow article we see some studies about players and coaches behaviour. Relevance of several factors to players aggressive behavior has been extensively studied. Sport-related factors were studied in the framework of context-personality (Isberg, 1985, 1986, 1989) or context-gender (Rainey, 1986; Kemler, 1988; Bond Nideffer, 1992) relationship. Teams moral atmosphere, team norms regulating aggressive acts, and players perception of these norms are mentioned to be important in this circumstance (Stephens Bredemeier, 1996). Difficulty of the task (McGowan Schultz, 1989) and use of anabolic steroids (Lefavi, Reeve, Newland, 1990) also appear to be relevant to aggression in sport. The relevance of communicating factors was also studied (Hanin, 1980) and practically discussed (Hanin, 1992). Coach-related factors are also of importance in this context. Coaching includes decision-making processes, motivational techniques, giving feedback, establishing interpersonal relationships and directing the team confidently. Good coaches provide not only a vision of what to strive for, but also the day-to-day structure, motivation, and support to translate vision into reality. Because of the importance of coaches behaviors and its possible relation to players behaviors, it seems that our understanding about the significance of this relationship needs improvement. Having studied coaches behaviors extensively, some investigators tried to categorize coaching behaviors. Tharp and Gallimore (1976) after studying the behavior of the most successful NBA coach emphasized the importance of instruction and demonstration behaviors and their significant effects on players success. At the same time, sport specific questionnaires were also developed. Danielson, Zelhart, and Drake (1975), revised the Leadership Behavior Description Questionnaire to classify coaching behaviors into eight categories. On the other hand, researchers trying to develop guidelines for training coaches (Smith, Smoll, Hunt, 1977; Smoll, Smith, Curtis, Hunt, 1978) needed a proper tool to observe and classify coaches behaviors; therefore, the Coaching Behavior Assessment System (CBAS) was developed for coding and analyzing the behaviors of coaches in natural field settings (Smoll Smith, 1984). This system which was applied in the present study, divides coaches behavior into twelve categories as follows: Reinforcement Nonreinforcement Mistake-contingent encouragement Mistake-contingent technical instruction Punishment Punitive technical instruction Ignoring mistakes Keeping control General technical instruction General encouragement Organization and General communication According to Smoll and Smith (1984), distributions in the CBAS categories indicated that nearly two-thirds of coaches behaviors were found to be positive, falling into the categories of: a) positive einforcement, b) general technical instruction, and c) general encouragement. Players who played for coaches, who frequently used encouragement, instructions, and reinforcement, demonstrated greater self-esteem at the end of season. They rated their teammates and their sport more positively. According to Weinberg and Gould (1995) these players reported that: they liked their teammates more, felt their coaches were knowledgeable, rated their coaches better as teachers, had a greater desire to play again the next year, and had higher levels of enjoyment comparing to other young players (p. 208). Having considered the association between coaches and players behaviors (Tharp Gallimore, 1976; Danielson, Zelhart, Drake; 1975), one may consider that some players unwanted or negative actions may also be related to coaches behaviors. Aggressive behaviors are among the most problematic behaviors in sport setting and reported to be somehow related to coaching behaviors. Isberg (1985) reported that coaches encouraged players to commit aggressive acts to win the game; such acts were often rewarded by coaches and teammates. Stephens and Light-Bredemeier (1996) observed that the power of context in elite level of competition, forced young soccer players to act aggressively even if they had different orientation. Special stress on relating players aggressions to coaches behaviors would be explained by Social Leaming Theory (Bandura, 1973), which emphasizes the important role that significant others have on the development or control of aggression (Smith, 1988). Therefore, the main objec tive of the present study was to investigate the reality and the amount of possible correlations among coaches behaviors and players aggressive acts in natural field settings. (S. M. VaezMousavi, M. Shojaei, 2005) Conclusion Leadership is the process that one individual set some goals and is trying to support them and accomplish them with the help of others. A Leader is a person who rules others and he is trying to guide and inspire them. As a Coach you have to have the strength to lead your players or athletes. There are different types of coach-leaders but is good to borrow from other coaching-leaders if you want to improve your coaching and leadership skills. The most important traits of a leader are honesty, integrity, to be a good person and to be positive. Exhibiting these traits will decrease your leadership. A coach influences the physical and psychological development of his athletes. Some important roles of a coach are teacher, organizer, competitor, leader, friend and mentor. The characteristics of a coach are different depending on who he is coaching. When he is sending some messages he must be direct, complet

The effects and implications of using ergogenic aids for exercise and sports performance

Throughout the history of sport, ergogenic aids have always been taken to enhance performance at sport. However, in more recent times physiological knowledge has improved and there are many more ergogenic aids becoming available for athletes. Some of these aids are legal and some are illegal. Therefore, when working as a coach, it is important to know which are legal and which are illegal so that you can avoid any risk of your athlete being prosecuted. One ergogenic aid that is prohibited is blood doping. This practice involves the athletes taking a certain amount of blood out of their body and frozen. Their bodies will then make up for this blood loss and after that process is complete, the blood that they took out is injected back into them. This process has a positive effect on sports performance as the number of red blood cells in your body is increased. Blood doping is most commonly used by endurance athletes, such as distance runners, skiers and cyclists. By increasing the number of red blood cells within the blood, higher volumes of haemoglobin are present. Haemoglobin binds to and carries Oxygen from the lungs and to the muscles where it can be used for aerobic respiration. Blood doping therefore allows extra Oxygen to be transported to the working muscles, resulting in a higher level of performance, without the use of the anaerobic energy systems. However, there are also many side effects to blood doping. Re injecting blood can cause many problems. Firstly it can easily cause infection to the athlete which can result in heart problems such as a heart attack. It can also cause blood clots in the body which can be fatal, jaundice which is the skin, eyes and body fluids turning yellow. One example of blood doping being used was at the winter Olympics. Six Austrian skiers had all been found to be using to using blood doping in an attempt to improve in the cross country skiing event. The skiers were called Wolfgang Perner and Wolfgang Rottmann and the cross-country skiers Martin Tauber, Jurgen Pinter, Johannes Eder, Roland Diethart and Christian Hoffmann. This particular event is an aerobic event as it lasts for a long time, with the competitors covering huge distances. Therefore the extra red blood cells in their bodies would have meant that they were able to go on much longer and faster than they would normally be able to. As a punishment, all six skiers were banned for life from the Olympics A second example of a prohibited ergogenic aid in sport is diuretics. Diuretics are banned in sports because they can help with weight loss and could also be used to speed up the elimination of drugs from the system. This can be very helpful to athletes competing in many different sports such as boxing, horse racing or rowing. One example would be a boxer that has put on weight between fights and is therefore too heavy for the weight category they are fighting in. Diuretics would help them to lose weight much more quickly than by natural means and they would be able to pass the weigh in. They help the sportsperson lose weight by increasing the volume of urine produced by promoting the excretion of salts and water from the kidney. This results in them losing a lot of water through urine, which causes them to lose weight very quickly. The second reason they are banned is, if you take a banned substance that is excreted through urine, it could speed up the elimination of drugs from the system. If it is being used in this way, it is not so much an aid to improve performance but could cover up for another prohibited aid. There are two main side effects to diuretics that damage a persons performance levels in sport. The first of these is dehydration. Diuretics work by removing all excess water and this means that dehydration often occurs. This will immediately have an effect on sports performance. Firstly, blood will become thicker and therefore more difficult to pump around the body, resulting in less oxygen being carried through the blood to the muscles. The body will then overheat due to an inability to sweat because of dehydration. Finally, Waste products such as lactic acid are not discreeted due to water conversation. A second effect on sports performance is muscles weakening, which is very important for sports people such as boxers. This is due to the poor blood supply to muscles. An example of the consequences that diuretics can cause is in boxers. They used to have the weigh in on the day of the fight. This meant that any boxer using diuretics would have to use them on the same day as they were fighting. The diuretics would get rid of any excess water in the body but the problem was that it took away the layer of water between the skull and the brain. This layer of liquid protects the brain from hitting the side of the skull when knocked. Therefore, without this protection, many boxers developed brain damage after years of boxing. Another prohibited ergogenic aid is beta blockers. Beta blockers are banned in many sports due to their ability to slow the heart rate. It is precision sports such as snooker, darts and diving that they improve performance in as they give you more control over slight movements. Beta blockers are normally given for the treatment of angina, high blood pressure, irregular heart beats or following a heart attack. They act by interfering and inhibiting certain nerve impulses being transmitted through the nervous system. They act by reducing the demand of oxygen required by the heart, lower heart rate and reduce the production of adrenalin. There are many possible side-effects of these drugs, but some people may not suffer from any. Possible effects include dizziness and fainting caused by the medications lowering heart rate too much and blood vessels can narrow causing cold and pale fingers and toes. On the other hand, there are also permitted ergogenic aids. This means that they can improve sports performance, but are still allowed by governing bodies of sports. One example of this is altitude training. Altitude training is very useful to any sports people that are competing in aerobic events. Many long distance runners either come from countries at high altitude or move there to train. Altitude training works because when the athlete trains at high altitude, there is very little oxygen in the air. The body soon adapts to this change of oxygen available and produces more red blood cells than normal. This means that there is increased haemoglobin levels in the blood that aren't lost when the athlete returns back to lower altitude to compete. These effects usually last for about two weeks after altitude training and result in much better endurance levels. There are very few side effects to altitude training as long as athletes do not over train themselves at altitude. It has been scientifically proven to have positive effects on performance. Altitude training is proven to have a positive effect on sporting performance b the Kenyan long distance runners. For years they have dominated all long distance running events. Kenya is at a very high altitude and the effects that the athletes get from training in their home country is proven in the times on the track. Another permitted ergogenic aid is psychological techniques. The increased stress of competitions can cause athletes to react both physically and mentally in a manner that can negatively affect their performance abilities. They may become tense, their heart rates race, break into sweat, worry about the outcome of the competition or find it hard to concentrate on the task in hand. There are many different psychological techniques that can be used to combat these effects on the body. These include imagery techniques, relaxation techniques and goal setting. There are three psychological factors which athletes must have control over to improve performance. These are confidence, control and commitment. Confidence is improved through mental imagery. Using imagery, the athlete is able to imagine a previous good performance, remembering how they felt and acted. It also allows you to imagine yourself winning at the end, feeling like you have already been in the same situation and improving confidence. Control is improved through relaxation techniques. An example of a relaxation technique is through meditation. If athletes complete meditation before competing, they will be able to be much more relaxed and have control over what they are doing. The final technique that athletes can use is goal setting, which can improve commitment in sport. If they are given something to aim for, with multiple small aims along the way, they are more likely to complete any objectives they have. There are no side effects to psychological techniques as long as they have the necessary skills to complete them. An example of psychological skills improving performance in sport is through Johnny Wilkinson. Whenever he is kicking a conversion, he pictures an elderly woman standing at the other side of the goal posts that catches the ball. This improves confidence and concentration as it makes the task at hand seem much simpler. One of the very few drugs that is allowed my governing bodies of all sports is paracetamol. These have been seen to not improve sporting performance and therefore are not banned. However, they could be used to help a performance in certain sports. Paracetamol work as pain killers. Therefore, any sport that requires its participants to go through pain may benefit from paracetamol. One example of a sport where athletes go through pain in is boxing. If boxers took some paracetamol before going out to fight, it is possible that it will help cover some of the pain when they are getting punched. They are most commonly used for aches such as head aches so they may also stop the boxers from getting head aches after being punched. It is not just contact sports however that deal with aches and pains. Nearly all sports at the top level require its participants to push their bodies to their absolute limit and through the pain barrier. A sport such as long distance running for example will cause a lot of aches on the athlete's body and paracetamol will help cover these. There are very few side effects to paracetamol as they are widely used by everyone to stop pains. This means that we know more about the dangers than we would of a new drug that may be illegal, as it is used by less people. The only danger would be if the athlete took an overdose which could cause serious problems or be fatal.

Srs for Online Attendance Maintainance System - 6178 Words

Table of Contents 1. Introduction 1. Purpose 2. Scope 3. Intended Audience 4. Definition, Acronyms, and Abbreviations 5. References 6. Technologies to be used 7. Overview 2. Overall Description 1. Product Perspective 2. Product Functionality 3. User and Characteristics 4. Operating Environment 5. Design and Implementation Constraints 6. User Documentation 7. Assumptions and Dependencies 3. Specific Requirements 1. User Interface 2. Software Interface 3. Hardware Interface 4. Communicational Interfaces 5. Functional Requirements 4. Behavior Requirements 4.1 Use Case View 5. Other†¦show more content†¦For this application we have provided the following modules and features. ⠝â€" Admin o Add Modify details of ââ€" ª student ââ€" ª faculty ââ€" ª subject ⠝â€" Office Staff o Generate various types of reports o Send notice to black listed students ⠝â€" Faculty o Attendance on basis of ââ€" ª subject ââ€" ª day by day o Check various generated Reports Existing system The type of the system any institute uses always plays an important role in management of the institute. Better the form, efficiency and accuracy of the system, the easier would be the management tasks. Since the existing Attendance Management System of the Institute is totally working manually. All the Information’s are handled manually in the registers or other documents. The process of the work is mainly divided in two parts, first is to take attendance on sheet enter details into the registers. And then at the end of the session or semester attendance is calculated manually reports are generated. Limitations of the Existing System âž ¢ The Current system is completely manual. So the wastage of time occur the most over here. In today’s circumstances where there isShow MoreRelatedSchool Management System15436 Words   |  62 PagesSCHOOL MANAGEMENT SYSTEM PROJECT REPORT By- PRAVEEN SHEKHAR PANKAJ PANDEY PUNEET KUSHWAHA NEERAJ CHAUDHARY Under Able Guidance of- Mr. S.S. Soam Department of Computer Science Engineering Institute of Engineering Technology, Lucknow Institute of Engineering Technology Lucknow Abstract We propose a system that shall enable a SCHOOL MANAGEMENT SYASTEM interfaced with a computer to be managed remotely using personal computers. A client running on the users computer would connect to a central