Benefits of Breastfeeding Essay

It’s amazing how all creation have been endowed with built-in capabilities to procreate and sustain its progenies. It is said that â€Å"there are 4,000 species of mammals† and each kind produces a distinctive sort of milk for their young (Ruth Lawrence, M. D. , professor of pediatrics and obstetrics, in Williams, accessed in the Internet last February 27, 2007, http://www. fda. gov/Fdac/features/895_brstfeed. html ). Given that, the natural food for an infant is its mother’s milk. Human milk is custom-built for human babies and enough to meet all the dietary needs of a suckling babe. It is an established fact that years of research on the efficacy of breast milk making it perfectly suitable to provide nourishment to infants and basically protect them from illness. In comparison to bottle-fed babies, the former have decreased rates of admissions or hospitalizations, infections related to the ear, rashes and allergies, diarrhea, and a host of other medical concerns (Williams, accessed in the Internet last February 27, 2007,http://www. fda. gov/Fdac/features/895_brstfeed. html) . This paper examines and proposes the manifold benefits of breastfeeding both for the infant and its mother, its historicity, and society’s role in its practice as well the risks when mother is exposed to questionable lifestyle or substance use-whether legal or illegal. II. Review of Related Literature Despite its popularity and very common occurrence in various parts of the globe, breastfeeding is a subject frequently being researched. In a compendium on this matter, Cadwell and others brought together information on the incidence, and other studies to present a realistic picture of the importance and condition of the breastfeeding in America (Calandro & Marcus in Cadwell et al article, 2003). Historically, this maternal activity is unquestionably a norm or an everyday occurrence of early Americans. According to Cadwell and other writers however, this is no longer the situation. Breastfeeding moms are fast becoming an â€Å"endangered species† so to speak. This team among others, are convinced that a resurgence of the breast feeding practice is most needful, and education’s place in promoting breastfeeding. In addition to the many positive effects of breastfeeding, recent study published by the La Leche League International focuses on the OSA (Obstructive Sleep Apnea) occurrence (Palmer, 1999). Findings revealed that breastfeeding and the longer a baby is breastfed lowers the incidence of this disorder. III. Historicity and Occurrence of Breastfeeding Culture and society shape people’s values to a large extent. They shape attitude early on those developmental stages. Family, teachers and friends greatly have their effects on other people’s beliefs about what are those ways that are acceptable and are not (Canahuati et al, 1999. http://www. waba. org. my/wbw/wbw99/foldereng99. htm). Many in the research field say that ninety-nine (99%) percent of human history has been known to have breast milk as the primary or sole food until two years of age. There is common knowledge also that this practice of infant nursing even continues for more than those two years (______ in Small, last accessed in the Internet, February 27, 2007). However, culture and society slowly evolved until the norm became non-existent almost. Today, in first world countries mainly, the women now choose the option to nurse or breastfeed – the ready solution to feeding a baby has become to bottle-feed them. And this beside the avalanche of information that reach mothers, many women still choose to introduce formula which all agree as an artificial substitute (Matusiak, 2005). This was actually introduced around the 1860s in the U. S. and in Europe with advertisements persuading women to purchase what might well be the scientific discovery of the day at the same time convincing its customers they are paying for the most perfect substitute for mother’s milk (Matusiak, 2005). It is true that culture is most influential when the choice to breastfeed is taken or not. To date, there are various intricacies where culture and the choice to breastfeed are involved. Matusiak in his study on A Cultural Perspective of the Feeding Habits said that â€Å"In all cultures there exist a number of factors and beliefs not directly related to breastfeeding that nevertheless affect women’s decisions on how to feed their children† (Matusiak, 2005). They include feeding habits – when to feed and when not to feed – and also the duration (one year or less for instance) of nursing the child. This even includes the feeding position – the cultural differences that influence the mother to decide what she has been taught to do. This goes to mean that mothers hand over to their children what they usually practice. In addition, it undeniably true also that whenever one mother decides to breastfeed, society almost always dictate to a large degree this decision made by women. In Pakistani society for example, male children are more preferred at than the female children. So much so that when a mother gave birth to twins, the male child was breastfed while the infant daughter was given the formula (Matusiak, 2005). Again to quote Matusiak â€Å"The cultural aspects of what roles the male and female play complicates the issue. As seen, societies that favor a male over a female, as in some developing countries, tend to have the male breastfed, while the female gets the artificial breast-milk. While more developed countries are struggling with the emergence of a strong, self-willed female population† (Matusiak, 2005).

Dystopia Transcript

Transcript Dystopias are a futuristic, imagined universe which enforce oppressive societal control and the illusion of a perfect society are maintained through corporate, bureaucratic, technological and moral control, such as in the text ‘We' by Yevgeny Zamyatin and ‘2081' by Chandler Tuttle. Often we see in these societies the ways that humanity can be repressed, losing one's individuality and also the ways a hero rises to challenge the Dystopia's laws, only to fail and become a victim to the dystopia, all being common conventions of dystopic texts from which we can learn about our own societies' flaws.After the long campaigns of One State, the world and all its citizens are under the control of this totalitarian society. Through D-503's journal we see that all humans suffer from a loss of individuality and emotion most particularly from the conformist nature of the society where regimentation and oppressive control has rid of the population of freedom and imagination, k ey factors in a human's individuality.The starting statement of â€Å"What I think-or, to be more exact what we think,† immediately when the novel begins, showcases the conformist nature of One State, tying in with the suppression of humane aspects, extrapolated by the motif, the table of hours which is One State's main instrument in controlling the population. This subjugation of citizens and further oppression is also seen in ‘2081,' where the more extraordinary of the population being handicapped to allow fair living.The constant display of the effects of added weights and shock devices linked to those who think too much show to us just how repressed everyone is in the society. Multiple close shots of Harrison Bergeron while he produced his speech about the flaws in their society illuminate to us the oppression and the dark nature of the society while he was dressed in many handicaps. â€Å"They had hoped to destroy in me, any trace of the extraordinary. Harrison's parents also demonstrate this oppression by the quick cuts to fragmented memories which are consequentially destroyed by handicaps and how the only ones without handicaps are the unintelligent, evident by Harrison's mother and the stuttering news reporter, revealing how degraded the dystopia has caused the human population. As in most dystopic fiction, there is a protagonist which rises against the society's laws and then becomes a victim. This is seen in the changes that occur to D-503 in ‘We. ‘ Throughout the beginning f the novel, D-503 constantly praises the â€Å"mathematically perfect† system of One State, evident in the constant inclusion of mathematics in his speech. â€Å"Irrational numbers†¦ I don't want root – 1. † he says as he displays the effect of this conformist society and how the propaganda around has affected him. This comes to change after being introduced to emotion and imagination by I 330, developing a ‘soul'. Howeve r, this causes his downfall as he is then subjected to the great operation, which had permanently taken away his free will and imagination, evident by his sudden indifferent attitude to I-330.From this we can see how the convention of the hero becoming a victim to his/her dystopic society. Similarly, Harrison in ‘2081’ undergoes similar events as the film progresses. He creates a performance revealing what the un-handicapped extraordinary can achieve, revealing what the dystopic society was hiding all while diegetic sound is played, highlighting the importance of his actions which continue onward to past his death at the hands of various security officers, becoming a victim to the regime despite fighting against it.Both dystopic texts follow the various conventions and ideas seen in dystopian societies, outlining to us multiple flaws in the human society and flaws we can create. As futuristic settings, these texts offer to us an understanding from which we can summarize that these dystopic texts are cautionary tales which we should learn from to create a brighter future. By Kevin Dai

Behavior Traits of Successful Businesses

Businesses are resource limited and must determine where and in what way to allocate resources to achieve business mission objectives. This translates to why it is so important for business to be creative and actively plan for innovation correctly. Innovation is a change of direction and it alters investment policy so it is essential from the onset for the business planner to be clear about the current state of product â€Å"portfolio†. The planner must recognize how to balance the current products against possible policies for future development and their likely implications in terms of cash flow, market share, return on capital employed and other key components of company objectives. A successful behavior trait taking hold for successful companies is to develop business models to assess a strategy. These models provide change models expanding on issues such as â€Å"what†, that provide a picture of the company now of analysis; and â€Å"which†, that suggest alternative action paths for the company to take. Both of these models provide information to build a more complete picture of events within the business and options for future development. Managers should make use of these models and many don†t. Those that do are more likely to be successful and have the ability to minimize risk of failure. Business managers who do are far more likely to survive. For planners and non-planners there is not a single universal technique that can be applied in all situations. Use of strategic planning models can be a very important behavior trait for successful companies. Companies that do not use strategic planning models usually don†t because the model does not offer what the customer wants. It may be inadequate because of its analysis of the relationship between company resources and markets. These result in advice about overall investment decisions rather than about the specifics of how to manage the alternatives in the market/business relationship can be shortsighted, since there are always alternatives in order to gain the maximum competitive advantage. Since change is so an important aspect of business continuity, many models don†t necessarily provide assiduous suggestions for what type of change should be considered. An example of modeling one such model in use by Boston Consulting Group (BCG) subdivides their profit centers into four main subdivisions. This breakdown does help in planning for strategic investment matters but it does not assist the planner in identifying a single product development proposal to investigate further from a number of alternatives. The matrix system comprises the following: 1) Stars, which are products generally with negative cash flow 2) Question marks, which are products with generally negative cash flows but with low relative market share in growing markets 3) Dogs, which are products unlikely to be generating substantial positive cash flows due to the fact that they are in slowly growing markets with low relative market shares 4) Cash cows, that are products that generating cash which have high relative market shares and are established in slowly growing markets. BCG model like the previous statement in the above paragraph does not define the product enough and does not create opportunities to explore alternatives in which to improve profitability or market share. The growth concept is divided into five separate levels one being dominant, strong, favorable, tenable and weak and relates this to the stages of market development. The stages are embryonic, growing, mature, and aging, which produce a series of strategic guidelines for company development. The market growth concept provides valuable guidance about broad policies, replacing the concept of market attractiveness in the GE matrix with stages of market growth. A PLC (product life cycle) are frameworks for planning. It suggests that specific changes in product policy should be followed after the initial product introduction. A major problem is that few products follow â€Å"typical† PLC curves. This implies that the organization evaluates the likely progress of each facet of the product†s performance over the ensuing time scale to identify particular areas where investment should be concentrated without a clear indication as to whether that product will follow the predicated path of the PLC. There are several other types of commonly used models and analysis (Product viability, Market newness, technology position, opportunity cost risk, and the Ansoff matrix) that can be employed each having strengths and weaknesses and should be applied to achieve a specific outcome. By carefully defining the likely market attractiveness for innovation and the resource environment for innovation, management can identify the types of innovation that are appropriate for a particular business unit. The key components of the market and resource environments are: 1. Market attractiveness is degrees of synergy, market size, barriers to diffusion, the expected product life and the stage of technological development. 2. Resource components are likely to be market position and personnel resource, which combine to yield a definition of the company core competence. By establishing a weighting scheme the analyst can create a three-by-three grid of market attractiveness versus resource environment to provide a measure of the likely ability of the organization to carry out particular types of innovation and the expected profitability of the proposed innovation policy. Personnel are the hearts of a continuing effective innovation policy. But, it is just as important that management and leaders are made aware of their unique roles and how crucial their behavior is upon the organization – ultimately the success of the company. Managers must be able to stimulate conversation and innovation. Leaders must be clear on how paradigm shifts and leadership is interwoven. Managers must be able to demonstrate paradigm pliancy if they are going to expect others to practice it. The more active managers can be in the search for new paradigms, the more likely those managers will be to have people work with them. An example made in the paradigm text indicated that the piston engine was on its way out in the 1970†³s because of the mandates on for a cleaner environment. Once the engine engineers stepped outside the old boundaries, they found that electronics could help to resolve the issue. Managers must facilitate and encourage cross talk. More and more the answer to a particular problem will lie with someone else and if you don†t apply the cross communication, that idea won†t be brought to surface effectively. It†s especially important that managers listen. Even when some ideas sound off the wall, you want people to approach with their ideas in an on-going fashion. On the other hand, the merger of these ideas though on their own may seem a bit far-fetched; when combined they offer leverage for the manager to generate great and unique solutions. In the text, Paradigm, the author Joel Arthur Barker defines a leader, as a person one will follow to place one wouldn†t go by himself or herself. To be successful in the twenty-first century means that leaders will need to be competent on managing within a paradigm and leading between paradigms. One without the other will not work. Successful leaders tend to lead to new paradigms in a variety of ways. Leaders need to be aware of the pattern of choices that occur during paradigm shifts. Typically three opportunities emerge: 1. Keep the paradigm; change your customer 2. Change your paradigm; keep your customer 3. Change your paradigm; change your customer Warren Bennis set forth a list of characteristics of leaders in the May 1990 issue of training magazine. The manager administers; the leader innovates. The manager has a short-range view; the leader has a long-range perspective. The manager asks how and when; the leader asks what and why. The manager has his eye on the bottom line; the leader has his eye on the horizon. The manager accepts the status quo; the leader challenges it. Roger Milliken, CEO of Milliken and Company, a privately held textile company in South Carolina demonstrated true leadership when he began his company drive to world-class status in the early 1980†³s Though most industry experts predicted the demise of the U.S. textile industry, Milliken continued to pursue excellence. In 1990 Roger Milliken won the noted Malcolm Baldridge Award demonstrating excellence. Employees operate at different levels, some are visionaries (don†t have people following them), some are leaders, some are managers, some are leaders and even a smaller percentage have all four roles – remarkable is a company that has an individual having all four characteristics. The most important factor in sector creating innovation is the concentration on academic and theoretical concept development, which demands a specific organizational framework. They contrast with the rapid developmental demands of performance extension, technological reorganization and process innovations and with the need for close contact with the market required by other types of innovation. Therefore, three broad types of organizational patterns can be described as appropriate for components of the innovation matrix and it can be described as follows: 1. Common room – appropriate for the development of sector creating innovations 2. Rugby scrum – approaches are best for the management of performance extension, technological reorganization and process innovations and those innovations that require a close and continuing contact with the marketplace for effective control 3. Coffee shop – reformation, service, branding, design and packaging are most suited in this sector Once a company has formulated an innovation policy it must evaluate whether to acquire the expertise from outside the organization (acquisition), to borrow it (licensing), to develop it with a partner with some specific expertise in this area (joint venture), or to concentrate on developing the knowledge internally. By studying how knowledge has been acquired and the problems associated with each route, it is then possible to come to some general conclusions about the best overall method for developing competitive advantage in the 1990†³s and beyond.

CONFLICT MANAGEMENT IN CROSS-CULTURAL PERSPECTIVE Essay

CONFLICT MANAGEMENT IN CROSS-CULTURAL PERSPECTIVE - Essay Example wledge provided to human beings as a result of what they think is wrong, right and acceptable, to a large extent, plays a crucial role in determining how conflict is viewed by different people around the world. According to Fry, Conflict is a perceived feeling of a divergence in the interests of two or more people and groups, and how these people decide to act upon this threatening divergence- whether they act in a violent or non-violent way, or if they even view this conflict as something threatening- depends on the culture that these people have thrived in. Samovar and Porter (1995), point out that culture controls and defines the various circumstances and conditions under which different messages are and are not noticed and interpreted, and similarly, the way which a particular conflict is viewed, deciphered and ultimately handled has a lot to do with the individual culture that people, societies and groups have developed over a course of time. Different people and societies have varying attitudes towards how they react towards conflicts and Fry provides a variety of examples of Brazil’s Upper Xingu River Basin where a group of inter connected tribes have developed a system of harmony through which they avoid conflict and practice a peaceful existence together. The villagers adopt an attitude of tolerance through which problems are resolved mostly in a non-violent fashion and many issues are over-looked. Fry also gives the example of other groups of people such as the Tarojas of Indonesia who also use avoidance to indirectly deal with any issues that may arise between two families and the lack of confrontational activities which lead to minimization of violent contact. Other communities, such as the Jalà © of New Guinea may cease to speak with to each other when two or more parties are faced with pressing conflicts and altogether avoid being in the presence of one another so that violent confrontations are virtually non-existent. Apart from toleration and

Connecting Content and Kids Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 21

Connecting Content and Kids - Essay Example Understanding provides the intellectual diet that enables the students to gain confidence. I find this information to be useful and it is also true as it applies to all the learners. The students have to understand what is being taught to them before they can utilize the knowledge. The teachers should therefore focus on ensuring that the students have understood the lesson taught. On the other hand, it is responsibility of those developing the curricula to focus on aiding the students to easily understand what is being taught. The curricula should however act as the catalyst for enabling the students to develop a better understanding. This is an indication that the presence of a good curriculum does not guarantee better performance by the students. The article emphasizes that the teachers should ensure that they are aware of both the quality of the curriculum and the instructions that they use. This is considering that the levels of understanding differ among the students. It is the responsibility of the teachers to ensure that all the students gain adequate knowledge and skills. I think this information is important to both the teachers and the students. This is considering that the teachers understand the curriculum well in most cases. The teachers also need to use a wide range of skills to enable the students to understand what is being taught. The article also suggests that few teachers are able to translate ideas into classroom practice. I think is ids an issue of great concern as it contributes to the failure of most of the students. This is considering that most of the students rely on the abilities of their teachers. The teachers are supposed to create and use the models that will impact positively on the success of the students. Key attitudes and skills are required for the purposes of developing responsive teaching.

Managing Change and Creativity in Organizations Essay

Managing Change and Creativity in Organizations - Essay Example In this context of the study, the organization chosen to illustrate the importance of ingenuity in an organization is Apple Inc. Prior getting into deep, a brief overview of the company will be presented. Apple Inc: A Brief Overview Apple Inc. is an American company which manufactures and sells consumer electronic goods. The company is presently headquartered at California, USA (Yahoo Finance, n.d.). The company was founded by Steve Jobs, Ronald Wayne and Steve Wozniak in the year 1970. The company has wide range of products such as desktop computers, laptops, mobiles and different application software. Together with the subsidiaries the company also manufactures and sells various portable applications. Some of the bestsellers of the company are mobile communication devices portable music players, and several other gadgets. In addition, iPod, iPad and iPhone are also creations of Apple. The company also has a sturdy presence in the software field. The software segment includes operat ing systems such as Mac OS and other utility and productivity applications like Quick time player, I-work and logic studio among others (Apple Store, n.d.). The company has a global presence and operates with more than 370 stores. It has a workforce of 20,000 people. Apple mainly distributes its product through whole sellers, retailers and Apple owned exclusive stores. Some of the major competitors of the company are Hewlett Packard, Dell, Google and Research in Motion Limited (NASDAQ, 2012). On the other hand, companies such as Lenovo, Compaq, Toshiba and Hitachi are also considered as the circumlocutory competitors of the company. Change Management Change management can be attributed as one of the key responsibilities for each employee, executives and managers of an organization. The leadership, execution and managing organizational change is therefore considered as one of the central factors for an organization’s success. Change is an obvious factor in every aspect of pers onal life, society and organization. However changes are constant in an organization, but most of the changes are gradual and unplanned (Burke, 2010, p.1). Moreover, society always looks for some changes and therefore queries such as when, how and by what ways changes will occur are prevalent (Lewis, 2011, Introduction). Now in the organizational perspective change serves as the method by which important amendments are addressed. Changes at Apple Apple also goes through organizational changes. The changes comes in the form of strategy change or changes in the management. Sometime rules and regulation of the organization also changes. For example in the recent past Apple has gone through a series of changes in the form of policy modification, philosophical changes, organization’s rule of law, and also changes in the governance. The major change in Apple has taken place recently when John Browett, the senior vice president of the retail division and Scott Forstall, the senior v ice president of iOS software left the organization. On the other hand Jony Ive will take the charge of leading the human

The Global Governance of the Internet Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

The Global Governance of the Internet - Essay Example Above all, the Internet offers global presence. ‘Everywhereness’ is possibly the distinguishing feature of the dynamism of the Internet. Geography is an irrelevant matter for Internet users; hence, regulating the Internet has legal and jurisdictional dilemmas. Moreover, no particular nation or body has power over the Internet. Without a doubt, this dispersed nature has been one of the paramount attributes of Internet dynamism, but it also has raised serious problems. Favourably, Internet dynamism have led to a spectacular outburst of human innovation in terms of new consumer prospects and choices, new commercial channels, and new global information and communication systems. But, unfavourably, the dynamism of the Internet has compounded any effort to regulate it, hold cybercriminals responsible, and resolve conflicts (Mueller, 2010, pp. 175-176). This condition where in a responsible entity or cybercriminal is unknown expresses itself in everyday occurrences: online iden tity theft, e-mail spam, network viruses, etc. Making matters more complicated is the fact that several nations and jurisdictions also seek someone to be held responsible when their legal principles or societal standards are violated (Thierer & Crews, 2003, p. 16). New, innovative technologies can pose problems for policymakers, who often try to control new technologies that they have little knowledge about. The Internet has been particularly challenging for local and global policymakers because its affordability, accessibility, and inclusiveness helped its popularity to flourish at an unparalleled speed. Unfortunately, the Internet is almost impossible to regulate or control because it is not owned by anybody, and hence anyone can use, or abuse, it from anywhere in the world. Even when an unidentified person does something other people believe to be offensive—like downloading and sharing copyrighted video or music files or posting pornography—it is very difficult to i dentify the wrongdoer. Thus policymakers have been trying to develop regulations and policies for the Internet in order to identify and prevent cybercrimes or illegal activities on the Internet, like pornography and gambling. In other words, these policymakers are trying to mitigate the adverse outcomes of Internet dynamism. It is the contention of this essay that global rules for the Internet would not undermine its dynamism; in fact, global rule will safeguard and reinforce it. The Need to Regulate the Internet The dynamism of the Internet, which in turn spawned commercialisation, popularity, and ubiquity of the cyberspace, has resulted in some common social dilemmas and conflicts in the Internet. The illegal downloading of video and music files, the proliferation of corrupted forms of speech, and the disintegration of privacy are some of the examples of these dilemmas. Simultaneously, e-commerce merchants have been violated by hackers (Schwabach, 2006, p. 309). It is immature to believe that the best solution can be social rules, the market, or the law alone. The complicated problems raised by the Internet can only be solved through the combination of the market, social rules, and the law. Even though there is a certain extent of controversy on how to regulate the Internet, nobody disputes the importance of some form of global rule and technical management. Regardless of opposition to regulatory supervision, the Internet cannot endure with the absence of this global rule. There should be regulatory entities that take care of usual and everyday technical issues like the supervision of IP addresses and domain names and the establishment of technical norms (Mueller, 1998, p. 93). Two main policy organisations that offer Internet governance are the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF),

Nursing Research Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Nursing Research Paper - Essay Example According to Aust (2011, p264), about 34% of the people on wheelchairs suffer from sitting discomfort; while more than half of wheelchair users have sitting interface pressure. Collins (2004, p53) argues that, pressure ulcers impose high risks of death, loss of function and poor quality of patient’s life. Treatment of the ulcers increases the health care cost of the patient. Pressure ulcers mainly occur as a result of damaged soft tissues. Scientifically, the tissues are mainly damaged due to unrelieved pressure built over a long time. Pressure ulcers could also be caused by the localized disruption of the skin integrity which results due to piled pressure on the underlying tissues. According to Borbasi and Jackson (2008, p16) pressure ulcers are preventable. Based on studies conducted by Bours (2002, p16); use of support surfaces, maintaining nutritional status, moisturizing, and timely repositioning is extremely essential in the prevention of this killer disease. In a scenar io where one has the pressure ulcers, then the effective and efficient role of the nursing staff is of immense importance. This study paper seeks to determine the significance of the nursing staff knowledge and education in the preventing and taking care of the pressure ulcers among patients with impaired mobility. ... Objectives and hypothesis of the study It is clear that pressure ulcers are a serious problem among the immobile patients. In most of the patients, their impaired mobility is as a result of trauma, unconsciousness, spinal cord or brain injuries. Owing to the impaired mobility; the patients develop pressure ulcers since they have limited or almost no activity. Prevention of the disease is a key issue of concern. Therefore, there is the importance of educating the nursing staff on how to care for patients with impaired mobility as a way of preventing the disease. This would consequently, result to a low percentage of the occurrence and development of the pressure ulcers among the immobile patients in the health care facilities (Brienza et al, 2010, p26). Prevention is better than cure; therefore, the nursing staff ought to make prevention of the pressure ulcers their goal especially in the clinical setting where the patients are more prone to the disease. The objective of this research study is finding out the level of education and evidence based knowledge of the staff and how this determines the prevalence and occurrence of the pressure ulcers. The research also looks into possible ways of reducing the occurrence of the disease among patients with impaired mobility. The research study will be guided by the following research questions; 1) Is the nursing staff equipped with skills, knowledge and education to help curb pressure ulcers? 2) What is the probability of a patient with impaired mobility prone to the pressure ulcers? 3) What are some of the possible ways of preventing the pressure ulcers among the immobile patients? 4) How often are the patients repositioned in the health care centres? 5) What is the average

An Analysis of the Impact of the Internet on Competition in the Essay

An Analysis of the Impact of the Internet on Competition in the Banking Industry, using Porters Five Forces Model - Essay Example It helps to reduce physical and high operating cost (Johns and Perrott, 2008). For example, Amazon.com use internet that reduces its operating costs, so, it provides books at low costs as compared to large conventional bookstores. Requirement of knowledge: For the banks, large capital is required, but in internet banking, no physical networks are required. Online banking deliver services more economically and speedily. Internet banking changes the rules of competition for small and large banks and minimizes the importance of physical distance and location (Siaw and Yu, 2004). Brand building: Brand building is necessary for products and banking services that are undifferentiated. The internet creates the high-level image of brand that helps to make more informed purchase decisions for customers because they found everything on the web. The internet is helpful to change the balance of power for the customer’s benefits. Customer segmentation: Financial institutions can increase profits through effective customer segmentation. Internet banking is an effective channel for reaching customers. With the help of this, banks can target same customers through internet services (Johns and Perrott, 2008). On the other hand, customers gain more profits from internet banking as compared to traditional banking. So, it is profitable for banks to develop the lucrative market segment, identify profitable internet banking customers and target them. Customer relationship management: In the banking industry, a firm develops new products and other banks copy them quickly, so, customers shift from one bank to another and internet makes it easy for customers. Thus, to differentiate, banks should manage the relationship with customers (Momparler, Climent and Ballester, 2012). Through the internet, bank can provide product information and other services to target customers and maintain relationships with them for long-term profitability. Global market: Internet has

Introduction to Business Accounting Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

Introduction to Business Accounting - Essay Example Secondly, there are different ways of calculating same ratios, which makes the comparison difficult, and interpretation is subjective too (Wiley 1998). This is important as comparison between companies and industries becomes difficult as they use different definitions of accounting items, which are part of the financial ratio analysis. Thirdly, when industry analysis is done using ratio analysis then it is often difficult to define the set of companies that may be considered to be in direct competition with the company and thus makes comparison quite subjective. Fourthly, there are some financial elements, which are based on estimations and thus can affect the outcome of ratio analysis. Finally, difference in accounting standards and policies of companies and country of origins makes the comparison difficult (Keown, et al. 2005). The Income Statement provides information regarding the companys performance over an accounting period (Dodge 1997). It provides details of the revenues generated by business and cost of operations to generate those revenues. The different between revenue and cost of sales is referred to as gross profit. Moreover, it provides information regarding expenses incurred by the company over the period, which may be variable or fixed in relation to the revenues generated. After deduction of expenses from the gross profit from operations or profit before interest and tax is derived. The next information element that the income statement provides is the amount of interest paid by the company in lieu of its debt obligations. Then the tax amount is disclosed which is deducted from profit amount to arrive at profits from continuing operations. Any receipt or payment related to extraordinary items activities is added or subtracted to derive net profit attributable to common shareholders and mino rity shareholders. It also gives information related

Hurrican Katrina Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Hurrican Katrina - Essay Example As the report declares Bush, Congress, the mayor - each of them are symptoms of a bigger problem, that we don't have accountability for disasters or challenges of this scale. That's all the public wants in trying times - accountability ... Lovin added that it's too convenient to blame one branch of government when they are all, at some level, failing people. This paper stresses that Lovin's sentiments seem liberal and noble on the surface. We do have a human need to assign blame in "trying times," real accountability does seem lacking at multiple levels of our government, and we shouldn't go on a witch hunt to appease public outrage by scapegoating one person or one department of government, when the culpability is much more diffuse. This is certainly a moral sentiment, and an appropriate stance to take in the absence of compelling facts to the contrary. However, facts to the contrary can be found. And the culpability in this matter is not equally shared. The United States government has known for decades that large scale natural disasters necessarily go beyond the response capabilities of state and local authorities. According to the Fort Worth Star Telegram, it is likewise well-known, by our top disaster planning experts, that a quick mobilization of the United States active military is the only adequate response in such disasters.

Fast Food vs Organic Essay Example for Free

Fast Food vs Organic Essay Have you ever sat and back and wondered why there are so many obese people in the U. S.? You would think that with all of the buzz about organic foods that we have available, that we would slowly be getting better with our weight as a country. Unfortunately the reality of the situation is organic food are expensive and with the way the economy is today many people are working on a budget and simply cannot afford to splurge on the organic items. So now that we know that lets look at the second half of that equation, Fast Food! Now as much as people criticize the fast food industry it’s convenient and like the name says fast. Now days most people do not want to come home after a long, hard day of work and slave over the stove to cook a hot meal for their family. However what they don’t realize is how much that food is poisoning us. Take McDonalds for example, it has been brought to the public’s attention just what goes on when they are making their food. The food looks like food that you would make in your kitchen, but it is actually manufactured. French fries use to be made by potatoes peeled in the back room and cut into strips. Today they are made in large factories, frozen and processed. Some of the ingredients are very fatty. Even though they have said that they â€Å"were† injecting the chicken nuggets with a pink dye, people are still running to the franchise for their food. I am not judging anyone by any means just stating my observations. Now if you think about it most families probably spend about $100 a week on fast food. Why would so people spend so much money on fast food you ask? Its simple its easy, and its convenient and inexpensive. Compared to other foods its something that working people and ordinary people can go out and enjoy. The design of a fast food restaurant is very well thought out. We form our eating habits as children so they try to nurture clients as youngsters. Its very important that the fast food companies make sure that their fast food meals for children are healthier. In contrast the benefits of eating organic foods are great and if you can afford them should definitely take advantage of them. The are good for both the earth and the environment. The animals are living stress-free, free-grazing on the land and not being manufactured in deplorable living conditions. Organic farmers use less energy, less water resources, and NO pesticides. Organic farmers’ soil stays rich in content, moisture and nutrients due to careful management of land and using only natural organic matter to grow their crops. When industrialized agriculture arrives in farming communities, many farmers are forced out of business. Each month dozens of new pesticides, show up in local supermarkets and stores. Because they are advertised heavily are purchased and used and thus the destruction of the earth continues slow and steady. Organic farmers, live cleanly. Free of pesticides and toxins.

History of Primary Education Reform 1871-1904

History of Primary Education Reform 1871-1904 1. Siam in the Expansion period 1905 1934 In the preceding chapter, we considered the foundation period of primary education reform from 1871 to 1904, particularly in relation to ethics instruction. In this chapter, we will consider the second period of reform the expansion period. This period, extending from 1905 to 1934, embraced the last five years of King Rama Vs reign (1905 1910), together with the reigns of Kings Vajiravudh (or Rama VI, 1910 1925) and Prajadiphok (or Rama VII, 1925 1934). These were eventful years for Siam, witnessing the rise of a new political class, the countrys entry upon the international stage through its participation in the Great War and the League of Nations, the effects of the Great Depression, the abrupt transition from absolute to constitutional monarchy in the revolution of 1932, and the abdication of the reigning monarch Rama VII in 1934. ‘Goodness, beauty and prosperity will be with them throughout their lives if they have acquired education.'[1] These words from Rama Vs decree of 1871 sum up his vision of education, including its moral dimension. As we have seen, he began by ‘modernising education within the palace, but by the end of his reign had embarked on the expansion of educational opportunities to people of all classes throughout Siam. Early in the expansion period, the subject of Ethics was added to the primary curriculum, its content comprising essentially a course in Buddhist morality. This reflected the anxiety of Rama V that the people would lose touch with their ethical and spiritual roots in Buddhism a possible undesirable side-effect of his own attempts modernise (which meant, in effect, to ‘secularise) the education system. At the start of the foundation period, Rama Vs most pressing educational concern had been to produce more highly qualified and competent administrators to staff the offices of his government. By the end of his reign, however, the realisation was growing that a modern state needed not just a literate bureaucracy but also a diversely skilled workforce capable of supporting a productive and diversified economy. Thus, by 1913, King Vajiravudh (Rama Vs son) had proclaimed two national educational goals: to broaden the scope of public education beyond the art of reading and writing, and to educate the people for productive vocations.[2] Attempts to develop basic education on these lines, and even to provide opportunities for higher education, continued through the reign of Prajadhipok (Rama VII: 1925-1934). In 1932, however, a coup took real power from his hands, leaving him as a figurehead. Nevertheless, the cause of public education was taken up vigorously by the new national government. Article 63 of the 1932 Constitution stated that ‘all educational institutions must be under the State and more than half of the population will complete primary education by 1942.'[3] The revolution had been carried out in the name of democracy, but the revolutionaries were uncomfortably aware that the Siamese people had little notion of what would be required of them in a parliamentary state. Thus Siams the school system found itself charged with an additional task to educate citizens for democracy. Before focusing on the changes made to education in the expansion period, we must explore more fully these aspects of the historical context.[4][5] 1.2. Politics and Administration 1905-1934 (B.E. 2448-2477) Faced with the advance of western colonialism, King Rama V had embarked on a radical program of modernization of Siamese society. Only a ‘modern Siam could preserve its independence and identity against Western power. But modernisation was a long-term strategy. In the short term, it was necessary to play for time by cultivating friendly relations with the colonial powers, in the hope of forestalling any confrontation that might lead to the loss of territory or sovereignty. Accordingly, Rama V signed a number of unequal treaties, granting extraterritorial rights to European citizens, and even gave up some of his dominions to assuage the imperial appetites of Britain and France. From 1894, Rama V carried out a major administrative reorganization, putting in place a system which still forms the basis of public administration today. Administration was decentralized to regional and local authorities (Monthons) under the power of the Interior Ministry. Each region comprised a number of provinces (or towns), and each province a number of districts and villages. The head of each region was a Lord-Lieutenant, or sometimes a Viceroy, who was invested with full power to administer his area under the provisions of the Royal Decrees promulgated from time to time. Governors and district officers were appointed in all rural areas. Bangkok was exempted from this system, as the king remained its supreme head, although he delegated this power to the Metropolitan Ministry.[6] Taken as a whole, these measures were successful both in maintaining the countrys independence throughout the turbulent years of the Western colonial threat and in providing a foundation for the modern system of government.[7] [Was this the local government system that inherited responsibility for the local schools in 1935, after the failure of the local committee system was acknowledged?] 1.2.1. King Vajiravudh (1910 1925) At the death of Rama V in 1910, his son Prince Vajiravudh succeeded to the throne as Rama VI. The first Siamese monarch to receive an education abroad, Vajiravudh had attended Sandhurst and Christchurch College, Oxford, spending nine years in England before his return to Siam in January 1903.[8] As king, Vajiravudh continued the process of nation-building and administrative reform begun by his father. By this time, the educational initiatives of the previous reign were producing actual improvements in the quality of governmental administration. Junior officials were better qualified and more capable. In addition, at the elite levels of government, many of the kings brothers had, like the king himself, completed studies in Europe in a range of fields including natural science, finance, public administration, military science, and diplomacy. They were able to bring this expertise to their leading roles in government. As a result of the high importance attached to it by the crown over two reigns, government service acquired a prestige that made people prefer it to other occupations. In the expansion period, the government increasingly saw that this tendency was not wholly beneficial to the broader development of Siams society or economy.[9] Peoples aspirations needed to be channelled in the direction of economically productive work. Meanwhile, the upper echelons of the growing bureaucratic class had become part of a new social elite. There were two other strands to this elite: the officers of the new standing army, and the business class that had emerged since the Bowring treaty opened up Siam to free international trade in 1855. Together, these three groups formed a new ‘political class that increasingly resented its exclusion from power. As we will see, this sense of exclusion ultimately found expression in the revolution of 1932. Vajiravudh, however, was more preoccupied with Siams fortunes in the international arena than with creating a fairer distribution of power within the kingdom. If Siam was to stay independent, its people had to be made patriotic and ready to fight for their nation. Accordingly, from the beginning of his reign, he tried to promote nationalistic feelings in Thai men and boys, and to develop military discipline and training. To this end, he founded the Boy Scout Organization in 1909. Boys were encouraged to join the scouts, where they learned to be patriotic, to obey rules and orders, and to sacrifice themselves for their country.[10] In 1911, a Senior Scouts Corps was established and became, in effect, a territorial army. As we will see, scouting activities were also eventually incorporated into the school curriculum. Thus, these patriotic and military virtues became part of the ethics that the school system tried to inculcate. Another step in the same direction was the creation of the ‘Wild Tiger (Sua Pa) Corps in 1911. The name was borrowed from the group of men who kept watch on the frontiers of Siam. These Wild Tigers of the past were believed to have embodied qualities such as hardiness, patriotism, piety, fearlessness, and devotion to the king, combined with deep knowledge of both nature and warfare all the qualities, in short, that Vajiravudh wanted to promote among Siamese manhood in his own day.[11] World War I provided Siam with an opportunity to test its new military prowess, and to raise its international profile. Vajiravudh prudently maintained neutrality through most of the war, but in July 1917 he decided that the time had come to demonstrate Siams progress towards modern nationhood. He entered the war on the side of the Allies, sending an expeditionary force of 1,200 volunteers to Europe. Shortly after entering the war, Vajiravudh also changed the national flag, abandoning the motif (introduced by Rama II) of an elephant on a red ground, and replacing it with the Siamese tricolour, which remains in use today. The choice of red, white and blue was a shrewd gesture of solidarity with Siams war allies in particular the colonial powers, Britain and France which had flags of the same three colours. The deeper significance of the flag, however, was as a symbol of the new consciousness that Vajiravudh wanted to create in Siam and for which education was to be an important instrument. The Siamese (still, in reality, mainly a nation of subsistence farmers, living in remote villages, most of whom had never seen a foreigner, or read a newspaper) had to be made more aware of their Siamese identity; they had to be made to feel a patriotism that transcended local loyalties, and become willing to fight or make sacrifices for their country. The new flag communicated this duty. It had five horizontal stripes (from top to bottom: red, white, blue, white, and red). The red stripes stood for the nation (and for blood spilt in its defence), the white ones for religion (the moral purity of the Dhamma), and the wider blue band in the centre occupying one-third of the total area symbolized the monarchy. The monarch would be a focus for patriotism, crystallising a vague sense of belonging into a specific obligation. In this way, loyalty to the monarchy became part of ‘ethics that were cultivated in the school system. Vajiravudhs efforts to play the part of friend to the colonial powers met with some success. Upon the defeat of Germany in 1918, Siam participated in the Versailles conference and became a founding member of the League of Nations. Having thus achieved a presence in the international arena, Siam began to renegotiate the unequal treaties of the two preceding reigns. In 1920 the United States became the first country to give up special trading privileges and extraterritorial rights, except in certain cases.[12] But growing international esteem could not stop growing discontent at home, which was in fact being fuelled by education. By this time, not only members of the royal family were being educated abroad. Some members of the foreign-educated elite brought radical political ideas back with them when they came home from Europe. At the same time, Siam itself was becoming more exposed to western culture, as the growth of literacy created a minority market for newspapers and literature. Western novels and romances were translated, and film screenings were common in Bangkok by the time Vajiravudh came to the throne in 1910. Ideas of freedom and equality were part and parcel of this cultural influx.[13] At the same time, the conspicuous wealth and unrestrained power of the royal family began to provoke resentment. The behaviour of Vajiravudh, an aesthete who loved display, tended to fuel this ill will. His coronation in 1910, a grand affair attended by royalty from Europe and Japan, swallowed no less than 8% of the national budget. This and other extravagances, such as his enthusiasm for palace-building, soon got him into debt, necessitating a foreign loan. For all Vajiravudhs intellectual sophistication, such habits made it difficult for him to command the same respect as his father. A challenge to absolutism began to take shape in Siam among the new political class.[14] Even before Vajiravudh, Rama V had been confronted with the question of whether to share his power. As we have seen, he resisted the suggestion that he move towards a more constitutional form of government in his lifetime. However, he realised that this resistance could not last forever. Shortly before his death in 1910, he stated to ministers his wish that the Crown Prince Vajiravudh should introduce a constitution and a parliament when he eventually to the throne.[15] When that time came, however, Vajiravudh did no such thing. In 1912, two years after Vajiravudhs accession, a group of junior army officers, exasperated with absolutism, plotted a coup detat. Their plan was discovered before it could be implemented and the leaders were imprisoned. However, the attempt forced Vajiravudh to recognise the vulnerability of his position. At first, he attempted to enter into dialogue with the critics by giving lectures and writing articles for the press (something that his education and literary ability qualified him to do), sometimes under the concealment of pseudonyms.[16] For example, in Klon Tid Law (‘Mud on Wheels), he argued that the main obstruction to the development of the kingdom was the lack of competent people: the implication was perhaps that Siam was not ready for democracy yet. But by 1916 the king had lost patience. Giving up on dialogue and experimentation, he opted for repression. He began by closing down certain newspapers on various pretexts, and in 1923, (after some years of hesitation prompted by fear of western criticism), he enshrined censorship in law, prosecuting many publishers and closing many presses. Yet even now, realising perhaps that history was against him, he equivocated by showing some willingness to move towards constitutional government. As late as 1924, he stated that: If people really want a constitution, and if it is well intended, then petition for it. I shall not hold any grudges against anyone for doing so. I shall consider the pros and cons of the petition. I myself think that it is better to have a constitution, and feel that for one person to hold absolute power is not judicious.[17] However, any further steps that he might have taken towards constitutional government were cut short. After ruling Siam for 15 years, Vajiravudh died of blood poisoning in 1925 at the early age of 44. King Vajiravudh deliberately ignored the current tradition that each reigning ruler usually set up one royal monastery by turning his attention to setting up an educational institution instead; he had Vajiravudh College established under his patronage. [This might go better in the later section on religion. It might suggest that the influence of Buddhism faded a bit in Vajiravudhs reign.] 1.2.2. Prajadhipok (Rama VII) 1925-1934 King Prajadhipok, officially named Rama VII, came to the throne in 1925. He promulgated many new laws such as the Land Expropriation Act 1928, the marriage law amendment 1930, etc. [Something should be said about the significance of these laws. Otherwise, the reader learns little from these statements.] All of these laws were thoroughly scrutinized [by whom?] and were strictly adhered to by the populace, which positively affected the country [This sounds too blandly positive and uncritical see my ‘advice.] [Also, I think you need to say something about Prajadhipoks policies on education and Ethics instruction. If he simply continued the policies of Rama VII, you need to say so explicitly. ] Prajadhipoks plans were upset by two great events. The first was the Wall Street crash of 1929, which triggered the Great Depression. Siams economy, like that of many other countries, was hit hard, and this fuelled the grievances of the political class. This dissatisfaction led to the second great event of the reign the 1932 coup detat, which compelled Prajadhipok firstly to accept a constitutional form of government, and then to relinquish power altogether by abdicating.[18] As we shall see, the 1932 revolution also had an impact on the development of education, which thereafter was geared to the process of democratization. [19] Even before the coup, Rama VII himself was aware of the dangers inherent in absolute monarchy. Intellectually, to some extent, he accepted the necessity for change. However, he proceeded too cautiously and slowly. Two years after his accession, he created a Supreme Council and the Committee of the Privy Council as means of broadening participation in decision making. Unfortunately, both these bodies were packed with members of the royal family and the aristocracy, and so did nothing to appease the frustrations of the political class. Like his two predecessors, Prajadhipok took the view that Siam was not ready for an elected legislature. It would be unfair to dismiss this as a convenient rationalisation for maintaining absolutism. Prajadhipok was not the only sceptic on the question of whether democracy could work in Siam. In 1926, Francis B Sayre, an American advisor originally hired by Vajiravudh, was consulted by Prajadhipok on a variety of pressing political questions, including democracy. Sayre later recorded his advice as follows. Discussing these issues with His Majesty, I had to point out the inherent dangers. In Siam there was no middle class. The Siamese peasants took little or no interest in public affairs but lived their simple lives in secluded rural districts. To set up a legislature and clothe it with real power overnight without an educated electorate to control it would be likely, I suggested, to invite trouble and possible corruption. Power uncontrolled was almost bound to breed corruption†¦ As I talked with him I felt the utter sincerity of the new monarch and his real desire to lead Siam modern nationhood.[20] The revolution of 1932 was not a mass uprising; no crowds were rallying in the streets. It was a bloodless coup conducted by leading elements of the new political class, eager to seize a share of power. Sayres view that there was no widespread popular demand for democratic institutions at this time is corroborated by the contemporary account of the Bangkok Times: There was no evidence that the masses took any part in the recent demonstration. The discontent of several salaried classes, especially of the officers of the Army and Navy, clearly counted most in the movement. At the same time a contributory cause is to be found in the extension of education in Siam since the middle of the nineteenth century. King Rama VII introduced western methods and technique to the country and the numbers of Siamese students trained in Europe increased. And [these classes of] educated officials, administrators, and officers having once been formed, it was only a question of time and opportunity before they demanded a share in the government of the country.[21] The coup was staged by a group calling itself the Peoples Party. All of them were of the ‘commoner class (khun nang), in other words from outside the ranks of the aristocracy. The ringleaders had begun their conspiracy five years before, in 1927, when they were students in Paris. Their western education had given them a keen sense of the inadequacy and backwardness of Siamese absolutism in the light of current Western democratic ideas. Pridi Banomyong, the leader of the Peoples Party, articulated its aims in six principles: 1. To guard independence in every way to ensure the security of the nation. This included independence in politics, the courts and the economy. 2. To preserve internal security and reduce internal strife. 3. To guarantee the economic well-being of the people, by creating full employment. 4. To make all citizens equal, so that princes and commoners had the same rights. 5. To grant all citizens freedom and equality, provided it did not conflict with the preceding principles. 6. To assure every person of a full education. Acquiescence in the coup was not the only option available to Prajadhipok. Elements of the large armed forces would probably have remained loyal and fought the revolutionaries, had he given the command. However, he wanted to avoid bloodshed, and in principle he had long recognised the need to share power to some extent. He therefore agreed to the Peoples Partys demand for a constitution, hoping to maintain a position of leadership within a constitutional framework. Accordingly, on 10 December 1932, he signed Siams first constitution, ending 700 years of absolute monarchy. This was a major turning point in Thai history, and despite the many constitutions that have followed, the fundamental principles laid down in 1932 remain the same today. Behind the scenes, however, Prajadhipok and leaders of the royalist cause struggled over the next few years to retrieve as much as possible of royal power. There were counter-coups and some limited military confrontations. At one point, Pridi Banomyong, the leading theoretician among the revolutionaries, was briefly forced into exile. Steadily, however, the balance of power shifted to the revolutionaries. In 1934, Prajadhipok sailed to Europe, ostensibly for medical treatment. Long-distance negotiations failed to reach a compromise. In 1935, apparently despairing of the situation, he abdicated. Even today, the 1932 coup remains controversial. Some historians have criticized Pridi and his party for failing to follow their six principles, while others have suggested that the principles themselves were inappropriate to the place and time. Still others have argued that the principles were good, but were misunderstood or misapplied by subsequent rulers, especially Sarit Thanarat, the eleventh Prime Minister, (1959-1963) who in theory was a devotee of the principles, but whose actual rule was a byword for tyranny and corruption.[22] I would agree with his opinion that the six principles should be developed as a network system not separated apparently and also they must be adapted according to the change and the context of time. On balance, however, there is considerable agreement that the move towards democracy in 1932 was premature. Some have gone so far as to blame Rama VII for being too fainthearted in his absolutism, arguing that he should have fought back more decisively against the new elite in the interests of the nation as a whole. As Sayre had grasped, the great majority of Siamese people at this point had no notion of democratic principles, and their participation in any democratic process could at best be passive. They could not discern the difference between absolute and constitutional monarchy. As for the coup leaders themselves, if their understanding of democracy lacked depth, their grasp of the real needs of the people was arguably just as weak.[23] To quote Sayre once again: Students returning from England or France or America often were unhappy and disturbed, with half-baked ideas about democracy and human liberty; they wanted Siam to adopt Western forms almost overnight, as if these were but outward garments. Many felt that Siamese culture was out of date, and their minds seethed with modern, western ideas, often superficial and misunderstood. [24] 1.3. The economy and public finances in the expansion period Although the Siamese economy grew overall through this period, trade was mostly in the hands of foreigners. According to modern government estimates, as much as 40% of the income generated by Siamese trade in this era went abroad.[25] Under the terms of the Bowring agreement, still in force at this time, Siams power to tax foreign businesses was narrowly circumscribed. [26] In 1918, in the aftermath of the World War, the entire world was facing economic recession. Siams balance of payments was in deficit from 1920 to the end of Vajiravudhs reign in 1925. Faced with falling revenues and the consequences of his own earlier extravagance, Vajiravudh was forced to make repeated cuts in government expenditure, and this increased his unpopularity among the military and the bureaucracy, which bore the brunt of the cuts. This situation repeated itself a few years into the next reign. From the onset of the Great Depression in 1929, Rama VII found himself obliged to make cuts in public expenditure. He felt obliged to excuse his action to military officers on February 5, 1931, thus: I fully realize that people who are the victims of the reduction program will be in deeper trouble since it is difficult for them to find other means of livelihood. I consequently feel extremely heavy-hearted and most sympathetic for those who have to leave. If I had other ways in which I could shoulder the burden, I would do everything for them but, as it is, I have no alternatives. [27] However, King Rama VII also encouraged and promoted the cooperative system by promulgating a law governing cooperatives in the year 1928. He commented, â€Å"Farmers who have limited capital but wish to pursue the same aims should form a cooperative so that they can mutually help one another in order to accumulate greater wealth †¦Ã¢â‚¬ [28] Thus the great paradox of the ‘expansion period of education reform was that the states finances, which were essential to fund the expansion of education on the scale intended, were actually in crisis through most of the second half of the period. 1.4. Culture From the reign of Rama IV, many aspects of Western culture were absorbed into Siamese life. As Europe was providing the model for progress in government, economics, and technology, its cultural influence could not be escaped. In some cases change was spontaneous, but in other it was imposed from above by the king. One of the most visible changes was in people style of dress. King Rama V decreed that when he appeared in state, the officials attending him should not dispense with their upper attire. To appear ‘topless would look barbaric to foreigners.[29] Thai women had traditionally kept their hair short and worn a waist-cloth with the end pulled between the legs and tucked in at the back. Now [When, exactly?] they started wearing skirts, grew their hair longer, and wore it in various Western styles. Other examples of royally imposed cultural changes include the introduction of an official calendar and the use of surnames. On the model of the Christian system of dating, Vajiravudh decreed the use of a calendar commencing from the death of the Buddha (the Buddhist Era, abbreviated as B.E.), which he introduced with effect from 1st April B.E. 2455 (A.D. 1912). He also required everybody to have a surname. This was an innovation, as there was no tradition of family names in Siam. In order to comply, most families had to invent surnames for themselves (in some cases, the king obligingly provided one for them!) Even today, although surnames appear on official documents such as passports, they play little part in social interaction: even prominent individuals, including politicians, are usually referred to and addressed by their first name. [all this is interesting, but can you develop it to indicate any specific impacts that the western cultural influx had on your main subject, i.e. p rimary education and ethics instruction?] Yet alongside this Westernisation of culture came a growing official concern to preserve Siamese traditions. King Rama VII established a Royal Institute to manage the Royal City Librarys activities, investigate literary works, administer the national museum, catalogue and preserve ancient sites and objects, and to maintain Siamese arts and handicrafts. 1.5. Religion/Buddhism Throughout the expansion period, the Siamese monarchys traditional support for the textual basis of Buddhism and Buddhist studies was maintained. Vajiravudh promoted the study of Buddhism in the Thai language. Several texts on Buddhism in Thai, compiled during the reign of his father, were already extant, and many writers contributed more during his own reign, especially his uncle Prince Vajirayan, the Supreme Patriarch. Prajadhipok convened a council of monks under the chairmanship of Prince Jinavara Sirivatthana, the Supreme Patriarch of his reign, for the purpose of checking the contents of the 39 volumes of the Tripitaka (the Buddhist scriptural canon) that had been printed in the days of Rama V, comparing it to editions of the Tripitaka from other Buddhist countries. Revisions were made, and a new text, known as ‘the Siam-Rath edition, was printed in 1927.[30] Prajadhipok took an interest in improving the education of children in Buddhism. He once said, ‘The teaching of Buddhism to children in Siam has not been satisfactory. Children must be taught to understand morals when they are very young. Religious texts for them should be written in a way that they easily understand.'[31] To remedy the situation, he established at his personal expense a foundation (which still exists today) to make awards to the winners of regular competitions for the best literary work in Thai on Buddhism. The winning texts were published and distributed to children on Visakha Bucha Day. The position of Buddhism in Siam, and the role of the king in relation to it, were preserved in the 1932 Constitution, which stated that ‘the king must be a Buddhist and the upholder of Buddhism. The role of monks in the modernised school system peaked and began to wane during the expansion period. Although Rama V had clearly seen the need for professional lay teachers, he seems also to have envisaged that monks would indefinitely continue to play a part in modern education. This was part and parcel of his belief that ‘there exists no incompatibility between [the] acquisition of European science and the maintenance of our individuality as an independent Asiatic nation.'[32] As David Wyatt has put it, Rama V believed that ‘Traditional institutions [such as the] Buddhist monkhood†¦ could, without creating copies of Western institutions, be bent to new ends that in essence were not so very different from the ideals of Buddhist Siamese civilization.'[33] During the first part of the expansion period, practical necessity also contributed to the continuation of the monks role in schooling. Modernisation was still in its early days, and the shortage of trained lay teachers obliged the government to continue to rely on the services of monks. Indeed, as late as 1909, we find the government issuing instructions to local authorities that monasteries which had not hitherto made a contribution towards public education should be encouraged to take part in the general endeavour. However, the aim was to produce specially trained lay teachers, and it was inevitable that these would replace the monks in the long run. After all, the monastic sangha was an entity in its own right, with its own agenda and prestige. Monks could never be so amenable to state control as a body of state-trained and state-paid professional teachers. For this reason, from 1915 onwards there was a steady decrease in the total number of monks teaching in schools, even though the number of monasteries being used as school buildings continued to increase for a while. While discussing the role of religion in the new system, we must also note that, although Christianity as a doctrine had little impact on the development of Siamese education (there were relatively few converts), Christian organisations contributed significantly to its growth. It pioneered the modern system of public education in offering Western Education to the kings and his children in the reign of King Rama IV and V. History of Primary Education Reform 1871-1904 History of Primary Education Reform 1871-1904 1. Siam in the Expansion period 1905 1934 In the preceding chapter, we considered the foundation period of primary education reform from 1871 to 1904, particularly in relation to ethics instruction. In this chapter, we will consider the second period of reform the expansion period. This period, extending from 1905 to 1934, embraced the last five years of King Rama Vs reign (1905 1910), together with the reigns of Kings Vajiravudh (or Rama VI, 1910 1925) and Prajadiphok (or Rama VII, 1925 1934). These were eventful years for Siam, witnessing the rise of a new political class, the countrys entry upon the international stage through its participation in the Great War and the League of Nations, the effects of the Great Depression, the abrupt transition from absolute to constitutional monarchy in the revolution of 1932, and the abdication of the reigning monarch Rama VII in 1934. ‘Goodness, beauty and prosperity will be with them throughout their lives if they have acquired education.'[1] These words from Rama Vs decree of 1871 sum up his vision of education, including its moral dimension. As we have seen, he began by ‘modernising education within the palace, but by the end of his reign had embarked on the expansion of educational opportunities to people of all classes throughout Siam. Early in the expansion period, the subject of Ethics was added to the primary curriculum, its content comprising essentially a course in Buddhist morality. This reflected the anxiety of Rama V that the people would lose touch with their ethical and spiritual roots in Buddhism a possible undesirable side-effect of his own attempts modernise (which meant, in effect, to ‘secularise) the education system. At the start of the foundation period, Rama Vs most pressing educational concern had been to produce more highly qualified and competent administrators to staff the offices of his government. By the end of his reign, however, the realisation was growing that a modern state needed not just a literate bureaucracy but also a diversely skilled workforce capable of supporting a productive and diversified economy. Thus, by 1913, King Vajiravudh (Rama Vs son) had proclaimed two national educational goals: to broaden the scope of public education beyond the art of reading and writing, and to educate the people for productive vocations.[2] Attempts to develop basic education on these lines, and even to provide opportunities for higher education, continued through the reign of Prajadhipok (Rama VII: 1925-1934). In 1932, however, a coup took real power from his hands, leaving him as a figurehead. Nevertheless, the cause of public education was taken up vigorously by the new national government. Article 63 of the 1932 Constitution stated that ‘all educational institutions must be under the State and more than half of the population will complete primary education by 1942.'[3] The revolution had been carried out in the name of democracy, but the revolutionaries were uncomfortably aware that the Siamese people had little notion of what would be required of them in a parliamentary state. Thus Siams the school system found itself charged with an additional task to educate citizens for democracy. Before focusing on the changes made to education in the expansion period, we must explore more fully these aspects of the historical context.[4][5] 1.2. Politics and Administration 1905-1934 (B.E. 2448-2477) Faced with the advance of western colonialism, King Rama V had embarked on a radical program of modernization of Siamese society. Only a ‘modern Siam could preserve its independence and identity against Western power. But modernisation was a long-term strategy. In the short term, it was necessary to play for time by cultivating friendly relations with the colonial powers, in the hope of forestalling any confrontation that might lead to the loss of territory or sovereignty. Accordingly, Rama V signed a number of unequal treaties, granting extraterritorial rights to European citizens, and even gave up some of his dominions to assuage the imperial appetites of Britain and France. From 1894, Rama V carried out a major administrative reorganization, putting in place a system which still forms the basis of public administration today. Administration was decentralized to regional and local authorities (Monthons) under the power of the Interior Ministry. Each region comprised a number of provinces (or towns), and each province a number of districts and villages. The head of each region was a Lord-Lieutenant, or sometimes a Viceroy, who was invested with full power to administer his area under the provisions of the Royal Decrees promulgated from time to time. Governors and district officers were appointed in all rural areas. Bangkok was exempted from this system, as the king remained its supreme head, although he delegated this power to the Metropolitan Ministry.[6] Taken as a whole, these measures were successful both in maintaining the countrys independence throughout the turbulent years of the Western colonial threat and in providing a foundation for the modern system of government.[7] [Was this the local government system that inherited responsibility for the local schools in 1935, after the failure of the local committee system was acknowledged?] 1.2.1. King Vajiravudh (1910 1925) At the death of Rama V in 1910, his son Prince Vajiravudh succeeded to the throne as Rama VI. The first Siamese monarch to receive an education abroad, Vajiravudh had attended Sandhurst and Christchurch College, Oxford, spending nine years in England before his return to Siam in January 1903.[8] As king, Vajiravudh continued the process of nation-building and administrative reform begun by his father. By this time, the educational initiatives of the previous reign were producing actual improvements in the quality of governmental administration. Junior officials were better qualified and more capable. In addition, at the elite levels of government, many of the kings brothers had, like the king himself, completed studies in Europe in a range of fields including natural science, finance, public administration, military science, and diplomacy. They were able to bring this expertise to their leading roles in government. As a result of the high importance attached to it by the crown over two reigns, government service acquired a prestige that made people prefer it to other occupations. In the expansion period, the government increasingly saw that this tendency was not wholly beneficial to the broader development of Siams society or economy.[9] Peoples aspirations needed to be channelled in the direction of economically productive work. Meanwhile, the upper echelons of the growing bureaucratic class had become part of a new social elite. There were two other strands to this elite: the officers of the new standing army, and the business class that had emerged since the Bowring treaty opened up Siam to free international trade in 1855. Together, these three groups formed a new ‘political class that increasingly resented its exclusion from power. As we will see, this sense of exclusion ultimately found expression in the revolution of 1932. Vajiravudh, however, was more preoccupied with Siams fortunes in the international arena than with creating a fairer distribution of power within the kingdom. If Siam was to stay independent, its people had to be made patriotic and ready to fight for their nation. Accordingly, from the beginning of his reign, he tried to promote nationalistic feelings in Thai men and boys, and to develop military discipline and training. To this end, he founded the Boy Scout Organization in 1909. Boys were encouraged to join the scouts, where they learned to be patriotic, to obey rules and orders, and to sacrifice themselves for their country.[10] In 1911, a Senior Scouts Corps was established and became, in effect, a territorial army. As we will see, scouting activities were also eventually incorporated into the school curriculum. Thus, these patriotic and military virtues became part of the ethics that the school system tried to inculcate. Another step in the same direction was the creation of the ‘Wild Tiger (Sua Pa) Corps in 1911. The name was borrowed from the group of men who kept watch on the frontiers of Siam. These Wild Tigers of the past were believed to have embodied qualities such as hardiness, patriotism, piety, fearlessness, and devotion to the king, combined with deep knowledge of both nature and warfare all the qualities, in short, that Vajiravudh wanted to promote among Siamese manhood in his own day.[11] World War I provided Siam with an opportunity to test its new military prowess, and to raise its international profile. Vajiravudh prudently maintained neutrality through most of the war, but in July 1917 he decided that the time had come to demonstrate Siams progress towards modern nationhood. He entered the war on the side of the Allies, sending an expeditionary force of 1,200 volunteers to Europe. Shortly after entering the war, Vajiravudh also changed the national flag, abandoning the motif (introduced by Rama II) of an elephant on a red ground, and replacing it with the Siamese tricolour, which remains in use today. The choice of red, white and blue was a shrewd gesture of solidarity with Siams war allies in particular the colonial powers, Britain and France which had flags of the same three colours. The deeper significance of the flag, however, was as a symbol of the new consciousness that Vajiravudh wanted to create in Siam and for which education was to be an important instrument. The Siamese (still, in reality, mainly a nation of subsistence farmers, living in remote villages, most of whom had never seen a foreigner, or read a newspaper) had to be made more aware of their Siamese identity; they had to be made to feel a patriotism that transcended local loyalties, and become willing to fight or make sacrifices for their country. The new flag communicated this duty. It had five horizontal stripes (from top to bottom: red, white, blue, white, and red). The red stripes stood for the nation (and for blood spilt in its defence), the white ones for religion (the moral purity of the Dhamma), and the wider blue band in the centre occupying one-third of the total area symbolized the monarchy. The monarch would be a focus for patriotism, crystallising a vague sense of belonging into a specific obligation. In this way, loyalty to the monarchy became part of ‘ethics that were cultivated in the school system. Vajiravudhs efforts to play the part of friend to the colonial powers met with some success. Upon the defeat of Germany in 1918, Siam participated in the Versailles conference and became a founding member of the League of Nations. Having thus achieved a presence in the international arena, Siam began to renegotiate the unequal treaties of the two preceding reigns. In 1920 the United States became the first country to give up special trading privileges and extraterritorial rights, except in certain cases.[12] But growing international esteem could not stop growing discontent at home, which was in fact being fuelled by education. By this time, not only members of the royal family were being educated abroad. Some members of the foreign-educated elite brought radical political ideas back with them when they came home from Europe. At the same time, Siam itself was becoming more exposed to western culture, as the growth of literacy created a minority market for newspapers and literature. Western novels and romances were translated, and film screenings were common in Bangkok by the time Vajiravudh came to the throne in 1910. Ideas of freedom and equality were part and parcel of this cultural influx.[13] At the same time, the conspicuous wealth and unrestrained power of the royal family began to provoke resentment. The behaviour of Vajiravudh, an aesthete who loved display, tended to fuel this ill will. His coronation in 1910, a grand affair attended by royalty from Europe and Japan, swallowed no less than 8% of the national budget. This and other extravagances, such as his enthusiasm for palace-building, soon got him into debt, necessitating a foreign loan. For all Vajiravudhs intellectual sophistication, such habits made it difficult for him to command the same respect as his father. A challenge to absolutism began to take shape in Siam among the new political class.[14] Even before Vajiravudh, Rama V had been confronted with the question of whether to share his power. As we have seen, he resisted the suggestion that he move towards a more constitutional form of government in his lifetime. However, he realised that this resistance could not last forever. Shortly before his death in 1910, he stated to ministers his wish that the Crown Prince Vajiravudh should introduce a constitution and a parliament when he eventually to the throne.[15] When that time came, however, Vajiravudh did no such thing. In 1912, two years after Vajiravudhs accession, a group of junior army officers, exasperated with absolutism, plotted a coup detat. Their plan was discovered before it could be implemented and the leaders were imprisoned. However, the attempt forced Vajiravudh to recognise the vulnerability of his position. At first, he attempted to enter into dialogue with the critics by giving lectures and writing articles for the press (something that his education and literary ability qualified him to do), sometimes under the concealment of pseudonyms.[16] For example, in Klon Tid Law (‘Mud on Wheels), he argued that the main obstruction to the development of the kingdom was the lack of competent people: the implication was perhaps that Siam was not ready for democracy yet. But by 1916 the king had lost patience. Giving up on dialogue and experimentation, he opted for repression. He began by closing down certain newspapers on various pretexts, and in 1923, (after some years of hesitation prompted by fear of western criticism), he enshrined censorship in law, prosecuting many publishers and closing many presses. Yet even now, realising perhaps that history was against him, he equivocated by showing some willingness to move towards constitutional government. As late as 1924, he stated that: If people really want a constitution, and if it is well intended, then petition for it. I shall not hold any grudges against anyone for doing so. I shall consider the pros and cons of the petition. I myself think that it is better to have a constitution, and feel that for one person to hold absolute power is not judicious.[17] However, any further steps that he might have taken towards constitutional government were cut short. After ruling Siam for 15 years, Vajiravudh died of blood poisoning in 1925 at the early age of 44. King Vajiravudh deliberately ignored the current tradition that each reigning ruler usually set up one royal monastery by turning his attention to setting up an educational institution instead; he had Vajiravudh College established under his patronage. [This might go better in the later section on religion. It might suggest that the influence of Buddhism faded a bit in Vajiravudhs reign.] 1.2.2. Prajadhipok (Rama VII) 1925-1934 King Prajadhipok, officially named Rama VII, came to the throne in 1925. He promulgated many new laws such as the Land Expropriation Act 1928, the marriage law amendment 1930, etc. [Something should be said about the significance of these laws. Otherwise, the reader learns little from these statements.] All of these laws were thoroughly scrutinized [by whom?] and were strictly adhered to by the populace, which positively affected the country [This sounds too blandly positive and uncritical see my ‘advice.] [Also, I think you need to say something about Prajadhipoks policies on education and Ethics instruction. If he simply continued the policies of Rama VII, you need to say so explicitly. ] Prajadhipoks plans were upset by two great events. The first was the Wall Street crash of 1929, which triggered the Great Depression. Siams economy, like that of many other countries, was hit hard, and this fuelled the grievances of the political class. This dissatisfaction led to the second great event of the reign the 1932 coup detat, which compelled Prajadhipok firstly to accept a constitutional form of government, and then to relinquish power altogether by abdicating.[18] As we shall see, the 1932 revolution also had an impact on the development of education, which thereafter was geared to the process of democratization. [19] Even before the coup, Rama VII himself was aware of the dangers inherent in absolute monarchy. Intellectually, to some extent, he accepted the necessity for change. However, he proceeded too cautiously and slowly. Two years after his accession, he created a Supreme Council and the Committee of the Privy Council as means of broadening participation in decision making. Unfortunately, both these bodies were packed with members of the royal family and the aristocracy, and so did nothing to appease the frustrations of the political class. Like his two predecessors, Prajadhipok took the view that Siam was not ready for an elected legislature. It would be unfair to dismiss this as a convenient rationalisation for maintaining absolutism. Prajadhipok was not the only sceptic on the question of whether democracy could work in Siam. In 1926, Francis B Sayre, an American advisor originally hired by Vajiravudh, was consulted by Prajadhipok on a variety of pressing political questions, including democracy. Sayre later recorded his advice as follows. Discussing these issues with His Majesty, I had to point out the inherent dangers. In Siam there was no middle class. The Siamese peasants took little or no interest in public affairs but lived their simple lives in secluded rural districts. To set up a legislature and clothe it with real power overnight without an educated electorate to control it would be likely, I suggested, to invite trouble and possible corruption. Power uncontrolled was almost bound to breed corruption†¦ As I talked with him I felt the utter sincerity of the new monarch and his real desire to lead Siam modern nationhood.[20] The revolution of 1932 was not a mass uprising; no crowds were rallying in the streets. It was a bloodless coup conducted by leading elements of the new political class, eager to seize a share of power. Sayres view that there was no widespread popular demand for democratic institutions at this time is corroborated by the contemporary account of the Bangkok Times: There was no evidence that the masses took any part in the recent demonstration. The discontent of several salaried classes, especially of the officers of the Army and Navy, clearly counted most in the movement. At the same time a contributory cause is to be found in the extension of education in Siam since the middle of the nineteenth century. King Rama VII introduced western methods and technique to the country and the numbers of Siamese students trained in Europe increased. And [these classes of] educated officials, administrators, and officers having once been formed, it was only a question of time and opportunity before they demanded a share in the government of the country.[21] The coup was staged by a group calling itself the Peoples Party. All of them were of the ‘commoner class (khun nang), in other words from outside the ranks of the aristocracy. The ringleaders had begun their conspiracy five years before, in 1927, when they were students in Paris. Their western education had given them a keen sense of the inadequacy and backwardness of Siamese absolutism in the light of current Western democratic ideas. Pridi Banomyong, the leader of the Peoples Party, articulated its aims in six principles: 1. To guard independence in every way to ensure the security of the nation. This included independence in politics, the courts and the economy. 2. To preserve internal security and reduce internal strife. 3. To guarantee the economic well-being of the people, by creating full employment. 4. To make all citizens equal, so that princes and commoners had the same rights. 5. To grant all citizens freedom and equality, provided it did not conflict with the preceding principles. 6. To assure every person of a full education. Acquiescence in the coup was not the only option available to Prajadhipok. Elements of the large armed forces would probably have remained loyal and fought the revolutionaries, had he given the command. However, he wanted to avoid bloodshed, and in principle he had long recognised the need to share power to some extent. He therefore agreed to the Peoples Partys demand for a constitution, hoping to maintain a position of leadership within a constitutional framework. Accordingly, on 10 December 1932, he signed Siams first constitution, ending 700 years of absolute monarchy. This was a major turning point in Thai history, and despite the many constitutions that have followed, the fundamental principles laid down in 1932 remain the same today. Behind the scenes, however, Prajadhipok and leaders of the royalist cause struggled over the next few years to retrieve as much as possible of royal power. There were counter-coups and some limited military confrontations. At one point, Pridi Banomyong, the leading theoretician among the revolutionaries, was briefly forced into exile. Steadily, however, the balance of power shifted to the revolutionaries. In 1934, Prajadhipok sailed to Europe, ostensibly for medical treatment. Long-distance negotiations failed to reach a compromise. In 1935, apparently despairing of the situation, he abdicated. Even today, the 1932 coup remains controversial. Some historians have criticized Pridi and his party for failing to follow their six principles, while others have suggested that the principles themselves were inappropriate to the place and time. Still others have argued that the principles were good, but were misunderstood or misapplied by subsequent rulers, especially Sarit Thanarat, the eleventh Prime Minister, (1959-1963) who in theory was a devotee of the principles, but whose actual rule was a byword for tyranny and corruption.[22] I would agree with his opinion that the six principles should be developed as a network system not separated apparently and also they must be adapted according to the change and the context of time. On balance, however, there is considerable agreement that the move towards democracy in 1932 was premature. Some have gone so far as to blame Rama VII for being too fainthearted in his absolutism, arguing that he should have fought back more decisively against the new elite in the interests of the nation as a whole. As Sayre had grasped, the great majority of Siamese people at this point had no notion of democratic principles, and their participation in any democratic process could at best be passive. They could not discern the difference between absolute and constitutional monarchy. As for the coup leaders themselves, if their understanding of democracy lacked depth, their grasp of the real needs of the people was arguably just as weak.[23] To quote Sayre once again: Students returning from England or France or America often were unhappy and disturbed, with half-baked ideas about democracy and human liberty; they wanted Siam to adopt Western forms almost overnight, as if these were but outward garments. Many felt that Siamese culture was out of date, and their minds seethed with modern, western ideas, often superficial and misunderstood. [24] 1.3. The economy and public finances in the expansion period Although the Siamese economy grew overall through this period, trade was mostly in the hands of foreigners. According to modern government estimates, as much as 40% of the income generated by Siamese trade in this era went abroad.[25] Under the terms of the Bowring agreement, still in force at this time, Siams power to tax foreign businesses was narrowly circumscribed. [26] In 1918, in the aftermath of the World War, the entire world was facing economic recession. Siams balance of payments was in deficit from 1920 to the end of Vajiravudhs reign in 1925. Faced with falling revenues and the consequences of his own earlier extravagance, Vajiravudh was forced to make repeated cuts in government expenditure, and this increased his unpopularity among the military and the bureaucracy, which bore the brunt of the cuts. This situation repeated itself a few years into the next reign. From the onset of the Great Depression in 1929, Rama VII found himself obliged to make cuts in public expenditure. He felt obliged to excuse his action to military officers on February 5, 1931, thus: I fully realize that people who are the victims of the reduction program will be in deeper trouble since it is difficult for them to find other means of livelihood. I consequently feel extremely heavy-hearted and most sympathetic for those who have to leave. If I had other ways in which I could shoulder the burden, I would do everything for them but, as it is, I have no alternatives. [27] However, King Rama VII also encouraged and promoted the cooperative system by promulgating a law governing cooperatives in the year 1928. He commented, â€Å"Farmers who have limited capital but wish to pursue the same aims should form a cooperative so that they can mutually help one another in order to accumulate greater wealth †¦Ã¢â‚¬ [28] Thus the great paradox of the ‘expansion period of education reform was that the states finances, which were essential to fund the expansion of education on the scale intended, were actually in crisis through most of the second half of the period. 1.4. Culture From the reign of Rama IV, many aspects of Western culture were absorbed into Siamese life. As Europe was providing the model for progress in government, economics, and technology, its cultural influence could not be escaped. In some cases change was spontaneous, but in other it was imposed from above by the king. One of the most visible changes was in people style of dress. King Rama V decreed that when he appeared in state, the officials attending him should not dispense with their upper attire. To appear ‘topless would look barbaric to foreigners.[29] Thai women had traditionally kept their hair short and worn a waist-cloth with the end pulled between the legs and tucked in at the back. Now [When, exactly?] they started wearing skirts, grew their hair longer, and wore it in various Western styles. Other examples of royally imposed cultural changes include the introduction of an official calendar and the use of surnames. On the model of the Christian system of dating, Vajiravudh decreed the use of a calendar commencing from the death of the Buddha (the Buddhist Era, abbreviated as B.E.), which he introduced with effect from 1st April B.E. 2455 (A.D. 1912). He also required everybody to have a surname. This was an innovation, as there was no tradition of family names in Siam. In order to comply, most families had to invent surnames for themselves (in some cases, the king obligingly provided one for them!) Even today, although surnames appear on official documents such as passports, they play little part in social interaction: even prominent individuals, including politicians, are usually referred to and addressed by their first name. [all this is interesting, but can you develop it to indicate any specific impacts that the western cultural influx had on your main subject, i.e. p rimary education and ethics instruction?] Yet alongside this Westernisation of culture came a growing official concern to preserve Siamese traditions. King Rama VII established a Royal Institute to manage the Royal City Librarys activities, investigate literary works, administer the national museum, catalogue and preserve ancient sites and objects, and to maintain Siamese arts and handicrafts. 1.5. Religion/Buddhism Throughout the expansion period, the Siamese monarchys traditional support for the textual basis of Buddhism and Buddhist studies was maintained. Vajiravudh promoted the study of Buddhism in the Thai language. Several texts on Buddhism in Thai, compiled during the reign of his father, were already extant, and many writers contributed more during his own reign, especially his uncle Prince Vajirayan, the Supreme Patriarch. Prajadhipok convened a council of monks under the chairmanship of Prince Jinavara Sirivatthana, the Supreme Patriarch of his reign, for the purpose of checking the contents of the 39 volumes of the Tripitaka (the Buddhist scriptural canon) that had been printed in the days of Rama V, comparing it to editions of the Tripitaka from other Buddhist countries. Revisions were made, and a new text, known as ‘the Siam-Rath edition, was printed in 1927.[30] Prajadhipok took an interest in improving the education of children in Buddhism. He once said, ‘The teaching of Buddhism to children in Siam has not been satisfactory. Children must be taught to understand morals when they are very young. Religious texts for them should be written in a way that they easily understand.'[31] To remedy the situation, he established at his personal expense a foundation (which still exists today) to make awards to the winners of regular competitions for the best literary work in Thai on Buddhism. The winning texts were published and distributed to children on Visakha Bucha Day. The position of Buddhism in Siam, and the role of the king in relation to it, were preserved in the 1932 Constitution, which stated that ‘the king must be a Buddhist and the upholder of Buddhism. The role of monks in the modernised school system peaked and began to wane during the expansion period. Although Rama V had clearly seen the need for professional lay teachers, he seems also to have envisaged that monks would indefinitely continue to play a part in modern education. This was part and parcel of his belief that ‘there exists no incompatibility between [the] acquisition of European science and the maintenance of our individuality as an independent Asiatic nation.'[32] As David Wyatt has put it, Rama V believed that ‘Traditional institutions [such as the] Buddhist monkhood†¦ could, without creating copies of Western institutions, be bent to new ends that in essence were not so very different from the ideals of Buddhist Siamese civilization.'[33] During the first part of the expansion period, practical necessity also contributed to the continuation of the monks role in schooling. Modernisation was still in its early days, and the shortage of trained lay teachers obliged the government to continue to rely on the services of monks. Indeed, as late as 1909, we find the government issuing instructions to local authorities that monasteries which had not hitherto made a contribution towards public education should be encouraged to take part in the general endeavour. However, the aim was to produce specially trained lay teachers, and it was inevitable that these would replace the monks in the long run. After all, the monastic sangha was an entity in its own right, with its own agenda and prestige. Monks could never be so amenable to state control as a body of state-trained and state-paid professional teachers. For this reason, from 1915 onwards there was a steady decrease in the total number of monks teaching in schools, even though the number of monasteries being used as school buildings continued to increase for a while. While discussing the role of religion in the new system, we must also note that, although Christianity as a doctrine had little impact on the development of Siamese education (there were relatively few converts), Christian organisations contributed significantly to its growth. It pioneered the modern system of public education in offering Western Education to the kings and his children in the reign of King Rama IV and V.