Welcome to India 2012 - Documentary (Episode 1 of 3) Essay

Welcome to India 2012 - Documentary (Episode 1 of 3) - Essay Example They wake up at 3am to dust the street to get gold that, in turns; they sell to Naukada- one of the gold merchants (YouTube). They get poor pay and gets frustrated. However, the have to sell to the same man as he own house in which they live in. Their struggle is highlighted as the prices for gold goes up. This means there is less available gold in dust, in the street. They opt to go for sludge. They acquire sludge in a most inhumane way, as it is full of ‘shit’. We are also shown Javeds employees working tirelessly to get pure gold (YouTube). The film also focuses on live of poor in Mumbai beach. The life is highlighted using Rajesh family. Rajesh is married to Sevita. They own a pub with no license from the council. Rajesh had been jailed due to this illegality. Sevita his wife also does part time jobs as a cleaner despite physical challenges (YouTube). The family also goes through challenges of constant eviction. They are forced to rebuild the house every time after the eviction. Rajesh is also forced to rely on moneylender to boost his stock and is faced with challenges of repaying. I disliked the way young people are forced to go through inhumane ways of making ends meet. In this film, I have learnt it is advantageous to learn how to interact and interview in order to get facts about people ways of

Religious influence on early American art Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Religious influence on early American art - Essay Example The Puritan outlook rooted in the medieval times and was deeply religious. The Puritans believed that all human actions should be directed to the main value of glory of God. On the other hand, Puritan medieval outlook combines with the new democratic feature, because Puritanism with its political ideas was close to the most daring democratic and republican theories. In most cases, Holy Bible served as an informal body of law and understanding of the rules of everyday life. In this respect, early American art being a sponge of the public ideas, absorbed the Puritanism with its religiousness. The current paper considers the influence of the religion on early American literature and fine arts. Considering the early American literature, the early writers had Holy Bible as a model. Bible was the most important source of plots, imagery, and inspiration in the conditions unsuitable even for life. Every passage of the Old and New Testament could become a subject of a sermon or a poem (works by Edward Taylor or a poem â€Å"The Day of Doom† by Michael Wigglesworth). In addition to that, every event of the daily life in New England was reinterpreted in accordance to Scriptures and was seen as a fulfilled prophecy and a confirmation of a reality of the Biblical texts. The joys of hearth and home, marital love, and the birth of children were seen as a manifestation of the Lord’s will and became a topic for New Anglican letters, diaries, poems, and reflections. A personal spiritual experience was also very important and worth literary incarnation. The spiritual experience included the moments of enlightenment or penance communication with God as well as the confrontat ion with the spirits of wickedness (Halleck, 2006). The writers of New England left behind mostly spiritual autobiographies and the diaries of the inner spiritual life (â€Å"The Spiritual Travels of Nathan Cole† (1765). Didacticism is another essential feature of the early literature of New

Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 198

Assignment Example Then in the very next point, he says that students should practice before studying a grammar rule. In the observed lesson, the teacher was working on improving comprehension skills. She began by distributing comprehension worksheets to the entire class. Then she gave a brief summary of what was expected of the class. She then asked the class to read the entire comprehension. While some were reading the essay, other students had read the essay. She involved those students in a small group discussion while the rest of the students completed reading the comprehension exercise. Later she asked the students to read the questions and answer them. While students were doing this, she observed the entire class for students who were experiencing difficulty. She helped them out. As some students finished early, the teacher began discussing the answers. She even asked students to exchange their work to get a feedback from other student. In this way, the pacing of the lesson was such that every student was involved in the lesson. The teacher ended the lesson by reading the questions aloud and discussing the answers. According to the teacher, she had divided the lecture into four parts. The first part was introducing the lesson, the second part was involving the students into the lesson. The third part was the most important as students completed the learning activity. The final part was closure where the teacher took feedback from her students. Answer: The criteria for determining the success of a learning activity is by assessing the level of comprehension of the students. This can be judged through assessments and feedbacks. The teacher can also determine the success by observing the class which the learning activities is being conducted. If the students are immersed in the activity and are enjoying the activity, then it is most likely to be successful. In my opinion, an effective learning activity should be able to develop an

Religion question Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Religion question - Assignment Example In addition to this, this god had a child with one of his wives, thus, Jesus was born. After the birth of Jesus, Satan was born which places him as the brother of Christ. This belief definitely contradicts the Christian theology that recognizes Satan as a fallen angel who rebelled against God. In this context, the Jesus Christ that Christians recognize is not the same Jesus that the Mormons know of. Their teachings created another theology of Jesus. Lastly, Christians recognize the authority of the Bible and its message, considering it perfect. Nothing should be added or subtracted from its message. In Mormonism, they have expressed the limitations of the Bible through the 8th article of faith from the Mormon Church states, "We believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly."Â  Thus, Mormons can interpret the Bible according to their perspective. In conclusion, Mormons are not considered Christians since their theology contradicts the essential doctrine of Christianity, more so, they do not fully recognize the Bible as the unerring word of

MobilephonesPrinciples of Marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

MobilephonesPrinciples of Marketing - Essay Example The formal product in mobile phone is comprised of the brand, the product code which differentiates it from other phones, the design, the packaging, the batteries and headsets which are also included together with the other features and enhancements. Recognizing the other needs of individuals aside from communication which can be integrated into the mobile phone, manufacturers continue to innovate and enhance it with new features. Starting from the core use of as a telephone, mobile phones are now also integrated with cameras, televisions, videos, calculators, planners, alarm clocks, music composers, MP3 players, flashlights, and others. These augmented features add value to the customers allowing them to use this gadget in more ways than making and receiving calls. Also, the augmented product is now tailored in order to suit the lifestyle of an individual. Thus, a mobile phone which features a higher resolution camera can be marketed to a person who is fond of taking photographs. A music lover will want to have a mobile phone with MP3 player which allows him or her to listen to his/her favorite songs while on the go. The first advertisement for a mobile phone was launched by Centel in 1989 featuring the flexibility and convenience of having a mobile phone. The succeeding commercials went beyond Centel's slogan of "Where people connect" by highlighting the new features of mobile phone. Philips targets customers by stressing that mobile phone a way to "engage" one's senses. The fast obsolescence of technology in the mobile phone industry makes manufacturers very keen in bringing state of the art technology in the market before other competitor does. Thus, most of the advertisements are geared towards capturing customers by stressing that the newly launched product is most advanced. Companies also try to appeal to the lifestyle of customers through its commercials. The commercial of Sera phone emphasizes that users of their phone are beautiful and sexy. Still other commercials are geared towards capturing the culture of the customers to be family oriented like the ones used by Nokia in the Philippine market. Also, mobile phone companies are designing products which appeals to one target group. The age of a person becomes a determinant of the type of mobile phone that he or she needs. The capacity of a mobile phone to cater to two SIM cards is geared toward individuals who want to have a different number for business and personal purposes. Thus, mobile phone is also marketed as a way of managing the complicacies of work and family life as well as gives privacy to users. Advertisements are now also infused with humorous sentiment blending technology with the natural tendencies of man. As a user of mobile phone, I can say that almost all advertisements for mobile phones are appealing considering that manufacturers are now targeting buyers through different medium and tailoring the message according to their demographics and lifestyle. APPENDIX Advert 1. http://www.cellular-news.com/tv_commercials/#http://www.cellular-news.com/tv_commercials/videos/Romania_Zapp/zie_2004_god.swf Advert 2. http://www.youtube.com/watchv=ptbJZ9HBw2k Advert 3. http://www.youtube.com/watchv=G4iGrdYAG8w Advert 4. http://www.youtube.com/watchv=K3ye7Ok8dgc Advert 5. http://www.youtu

The Mystery of Edgar Allan Poes Works Essay Example for Free

The Mystery of Edgar Allan Poes Works Essay Thesis Statement: Edgar Allan Poe is considered to be one of the greatest and most brilliant American writers in history. Many people considered him the first master of the short story form, and the father of the mysterious and the modern detective stories. Outline: I. An Introduction to Poe life and works. A. Due to Poes great works, many writers were influenced by these works. II. The early life of Poe and how it affected his life. A. His parents died so Allan raised him up. B. Allan ill-treated him and this affected his life and works afterwards. C. Poes education in England enriched his knowledge. D. Poe joined the University of Virginian and the army afterwards. III. What affected the works of Poe. A. Learning a lot of language enabled Poe from knowing different nations cultures and literature. B. Poe was good at the field of Art as well. C. Poe read to famous philosophers. IV. Analysis of the stories and poems of Poe. A. Poe was a talented writer. B. He excelled in poetry and in fiction and detective stories. V. Poe excelled in the field of detective stories, as he was the inventor of the short detective story. A. Many famous writers based their characters on Poes stories. B. The Murders in The Rue Morgue an example to show the excellence of Poe in the filed of Short story. C. Another detective story: The Purloined Letter. VI. The life of this great writer ended in New York after amusing the readers by his great works. ECLT 113 Mohamed Abdel Raouf Paper #2: Individual research projects 900-00-1018 The Mystery of Edgar Allan Poes Works Edgar Allan Poe is considered to be one of the greatest and most brilliant American writers in history. Many people considered him the father of the mysterious modern detective story, and the master of the short story form. The Works of this famous writer were remarkable to their flawless literary construction and for their haunting themes (The Columbia Encyclopedia). Jeffrey Meyers states that this great writer was considered to be the first American Writer whose personal reputation influenced the reception of his work. He was also the only nineteenth century American writer whose poems and novels were valued more highly in Europe than in his homeland. However, In spite of all his great works, it was argued that the creator of these hallucinating murders and that horror atmosphere must himself be evil, to have so evil imagination (258). Edgar Allan Poes life is considered to be a story of misery and oddness. Edgar Allan Poe, the greatest writer that was ever born in the American history, was born in Boston on January 19, 1809. His parents whom were touring actors, both died in Poes early childhood, and the little boy Edgar Allan Poe was raised by a rich man whom was called John Allan (Funk Wagnalls Encyclopedia). Edgar had a brother whom was rover and a sister that have seemed to be mentally retarded (Rieselbach 1), that is probably the reason why it was said afterwards that all the horrifying works of Poe were a result of an unstable mind. John Allan was a successful businessman from Richmond, whom was working in the merchandise. Nevertheless, he ill-treated Edgar and confused the poor Edgar by alternately spoiling and scolding him. Edgar was taken to England to attend private schools there. Edgar was affected by the travels that the Allans made in England. Many Poes weird stories reflect his own experience like Why the Little Frenchman took place in towns where he had lived and A Tale of The Ragged Mountains took place in Charlottesville (Meyers 8+). Furthermore, his poems reflected his miserable life with the Allans and his rift with them (Poe and Richmond). This proves that Poe have been taking his ideas and thoughts for his novels and poems from his own miserable life, that may be the cause of his invention of those horrible and horrifying prospects in his short stories and novels. After staying in England more than thirteen years, Edgar was more sophisticated and cosmopolitan, and far better educated than his mates in Richmond (Meyers 14). The education of Edgar in England had a great effect on him as this education widened his horizon of writing, as he read in his childhood many books and novels to great writers. Poe returned to the United States and entered the University of Virginia. Allan gave him too little money to pay for his classes (Rieselbach 1). Nevertheless, he showed remarkable scholastic ability in classical and romance languages but was forced to leave the university after only eight months because he made a fight with Allan over his gambling debts (The Columbia Encyclopedia). After leaving the University of Virginia, he worked as a clerk for a while at a warehouse. Afterwards he joined the army, because the army would alleviate his poverty, offer security and provide the basic necessities of the life (Meyer 32). What has the great affection in his lifetime is that he learned foreign languages as Latin, French, German, Spanish and Italian (Campbell 6+). He studied Latin when he was nine years old. He excelled in reading and writing Latin sharply. It is the same with his knowledge of French. He used to read works in French in the university of Virginia. Also his knowledge of German, Spanish and Italian made him talented in understanding the works of many of these countries writers, which made him talented in reading and writing stories and poems (Campbell 7+). Moreover, he was good at the field of fine arts as well. Poe knew music, painting, sculpture, theatre and dancing. He had been taking lessons in dancing and he sang well (Campbell 11). He was fond of the piano and of musical instruments in general. Poe early developed an interest in philosophy. Because he knew the German language, he was attracted to the philosophical thinking of the German philosophers. He knew about Kant, Hegel and Fichte (Campbell 12+). He drew ideas for his stories and poems from all the knowledge he had from the German philosophy. He also read to English philosophers as Bentham and Mill (Campbell 13). The works of Poe shows that Poe was a talented writer and a gifted poet. As an example to his great success is that his first volume of poetry Tamerlane and Other Poems, which he have written when he was eighteen years old, is such a rare book now that a single copy worth two hundred thousand dollars (Wilson 1). Daniel Hoffman states that the writings of Poe demonstrates Poes critical mind, his analysis of the structure and texture of poetry, the need for all details of diction and form to contribute to single effect (1). Poe was considered to have influence on the literature of twenty cultures and on fifteen major writers around the world (Hoffman 1). Poes influence on European and American art has been extraordinarily wide. Poe had a short life and a few unfinished works; however, he possessed great originality and imagination. His poems influenced the French symbolists and English writers (Meyers 280). Thus, he is considered to be one of the greatest writers in the whole literatur e history. Poe wrote in many fields and in many ways and styles. He excelled at poetry and wrote great poems as The Raven. In addition to poetry, Edgar Allan Poe wrote many kinds of stories. However, Poe excelled at writing detective stories. His superiority at detective stories may be for the reason that he was fond of puzzles and mental games, and both his fiction and nonfiction often included such mental exercises (Unrue 3). He published tales of detection, the first being The Murders in The Rue Morgue and he introduced his famous character Auguste Dupin. These kinds of stories incorporate many of the themes and techniques Poe was developing all over his life (Unrue 3). This famous American writer spent a miserable living while inventing the modern detective story and science fiction as well. He perfected the horror tale and wrote unforgettable stories, as his works continues to be a significant presence in world literature. Poe is considered the father of the modern detective story, as he was the first writer to put pen to paper and write his detective stories, and it is possibly that Poe was the inventor of the detective stories as Umberto Eco said that Edgar Allan Poe is considered by most detective fiction historians to be the founding father of the detective story, and his Murders in The Rue Morgue the worlds first detective story (179). His mind brought to reality the greatest stories in detection as The Murders in The Rue Morgue, The Purloined Letter, The Gold Bug and The Mystery of Marie Roget (Funk Wagnalls Encyclopedia). Not only did he write stories, but also he influenced by his stories the most brilliant writers in the field of detective story. Poe influence on Conan Doyle, the great writer that invented the character of Sherlock Holmes, cannot be disregarded. However, its obvious that Conan Doyle used the stories of Edgar Allan Poe as a guide in the begging of his writing because the character Sherlock Holmes have some similarities from Dupin, the character of Edgar Allan Poe. Moreover, Poe influenced Swinburne, the English poet, Dostoyevsky, the Russian novelist, and the French symbolists (The Columbia Encyclopedia). Many of Poes tales have been distinguished by the authors unique bizarre inventiveness in addition to his superb plot construction (Funk Wagnalls Encyclopedia). The Murders in The Rue Morgue is an excellent example of the detective story, which Poe had written. Stuart and Susan Levine stated in their book The Short Fiction of Edgar Allan Poe that in this tale, Dupin, Poes hero in his detective stories, is superior to the perfect of Police in that he logical. Dupin actually uses what looks like artistic inspiration to solve the problems posed by crime and conspiracy. If the private hideout of Dupin and the narrator seems to be familiar, it is because subsequent writers have made it so. The idea of the heros hidden residence has passed into popular culture. Poe invented a great deal of the claptrap and many of the conventions of the modern detective stories. As Conan Doyle said: Sherlock Holmes owed to much to Dupin, as did the detective heroes of other writers(153). In this story, Dupin and the narrator first learn from an evening newspaper that Madame LEspanaye and her daughter Camille were murdered. Newspaper accounts the next day carry depositions by links of the victims and the people in the vicinity where the crime took place; these conflicting accounts and the absence of evidence lead the narrator and the police to consider the crime insolvable. Dupin, however, places an advertisement in the newspaper after having inspected the house where the woman and her daughter have been murdered. When a sailor in search of a missing orangutan, which has killed the victims, responds to the newspaper advertisement, Dupin finds the solution to this murder, and after wards he explained the clues that led him to this solution. Dupins analytic method of solving the crime has made the tale a classic in the detective mystery genre. As the first detection in fiction, Dupin was the sample that Conan Doyles based on it his famous detective Sherlock Holmes (The Murders In The Rue Morgue 1). Another Example of Poes detective story is The Purloined Letter. This tale is also one of Poes vengeance stories; Dupin has scores personal and political to settle. The tone of the closing paragraphs of the tale is bitter and the final allusion literally bloodthirsty (Stuart and Suzan Levine 154). As he did in the other tales of Poe: The Mystery of Marie Roget and The Murders in The Rue Morgue, Dupin beat the police in solving these seemingly insoluble crimes. However, unlike the other tales, which involve murders of women, The Purloined Letter presents only petty thievery and trickery of the crime. The Prefect of the Parisian Police actually knows the thief, but the letter had to be found in order to protect the honor of a lady being blackmailed. The police department searches for the letter, but it appears that no one could found it. So the Prefect asks Dupin for help. And as usual, Dupin find the clue to this thievery and get the letter. Afterwards Dupin explains what has been the reason that led him to that solution (The Purloined Letter 1). These evidence and examples shows that Edgar Allan Poe was the inventor of the detective short story and his main character, Dupin, was the prototype that all the subsequently writers used him and invented their characters upon as Sherlock Holmes. And this success was a product of his hard work and also because of his talents. Edgar Allan died on Sunday, October 7, 1849 at the age of fourty. Poes spent his last days in a New York hospital, after taking an alcoholic overdose, became unconscious, suffered delirium tremens, fell into a coma and died four days later. Poes life was not very long, however during this short lifetime, he enriched the American Culture and all the world culture with many stories and poems that are still discussed and criticized by people all around the world. Poe (Meyers 255). Works Cited Campbell, Killis. The Mind of Poe and Other Studies. Cambridge, MA:Harvard University Press, 1933. This book introduces to the reader seven papers that were published and talking about Poe. These papers are: Contemporary Opinion of Pe, The Poe-Griswold Controversy, The Poe Canaon, The Backgrounds of Poe, Self-Revelation in Poes Poems and Tales, The Origins of Poe and The Mind of Poe. Eco, Umberto, and Thomas A. Sebeok, eds. The Sign of Three. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1983. This book discusses the detective stories and that Dupin (Edgar Allan Poes detective character), Sherlock Holmes and Peirce were the greatest character invented by writers in the whole history. The book also discusses how Conan Doyle, before writing Holmes stories, used the stories of Edgar Allan Poe as a guide to him and he was very impressed by Dupin. Edgar Allan Poe Museum. Nov. 2000. Clever Net. 1 May 2001. http://www.poemuseum.org The Museum of Edgar Allan Poe on the Internet. It contains all the works of Edgar Allan Poe and his biographical information. Hoffman, Danile. Poe As Critic, Poe Abroad. Sewanee Review. 108.2 (2000) : 11 pars. 2 May 2001. Academic Search Elite An article that includes the review of books of Edgar Allan Poe and his literary theory and criticisms. It also includes Poes influence on the non American writers as Conan Doyle and H.G. Wells. Meyers, Jeffrey. Edgar Allan Poe: His Life and Legacy. New York. Charles Scribners Sons., 1992. The complete biographical information about Poe. This book includes extendedly the life of Poe and the circumstances of his life and death. Poe, Edgar Allan. Funk Wagnalls Encyclopedia. Versaware. 2 May 2001 http://www.funkandwagnalls.com An article of the biography of Poe. Poe, Edagr Allan. The Columbia Encyclopedia. Six Edition. 2001. Columbia University Press. 2 May 2001. http://www.bartlebay.com Some biographical information about Edgar Allan Poe. Rieselbach, Erik. Poe, Edagr Allan Bibliography. American Spectator. 26.3 (1993) : 58 pars. 2 May 2001. Academic Search Elite An article that discuss the life of Poe and what reasons lead him to write his novels and poems. The article also include the evidence of the influence of Poe on other writers. Sturat, and Susan Levine. The Short Fiction of Edgar Allan Poe. Indianapolis: The Bobbs-Merrill Company Inc., 1976. The book introduces the fiction and detective stories that Edgar Allan Poe wrote in his life. It also gives short analysis and criticism to those stories and the circumstances of this tale. The Murders In The Rue Morgue. Academic Search Elite. Magill Book Reviews. 5 May 2001 Academic Search Elite The complete analysis of the story The Murders in the Rue Morgue that wrote by Edgar as an example of short detective story. The Purloined Letter. Academic Search Elite. Magill Book Reviews. 5 May 2001 Academic Search Elite The complete analysis of The Purloined Letter which was written by Poe as another good example for the short detective stories wrote by Poe. Unrue, Darlene Harbour. Edgar Allan Poe: The Romantic as Classicist. International Jouranl of The Classical Tradition. 1.4 (1995) : 112 pars. 2 May 2001. Academic Search Elite This article reveals that Edgar Allan Poe measured romantic stance determinedly against the objectivity and rationality of the classical. Distinction on the use of romantic materials and themes between Poe and gothic writers. Wilson, James Southall. A Summary of Facts Known about Edgar Allan Poe. Edgar Allan Poe Museum. 5 May 2001. http://www.poemuseum.org

Skills Gained In Social Care Social Work Essay

Skills Gained In Social Care Social Work Essay A significant learning experience is one in which the student has acquired knowledge and/or skills or where the experience has informed or shaped the students social care values and beliefs. Throughout the course of my placement there have been many cases upon which I have experienced significant learning. These include conversations with both staff and service users, as well as sitting in on various meetings and programs. The main learning experience I enjoyed was in relation to Personal Centred Planning folders or PCPs. Personal Centred Planning is a way of discovering how a person wants to live their life and what is required to make that possible (NDA, 2005). Personal Centred Planning primarily focuses on the person as opposed to a disability. It is about the whole person and their life, not just their disability. Personal Centred Planning is not an assessment of service users. PCPs are, an extremely effective method of helping service users meet their goals in life and also, for keeping track of their basic daily activities. It was a very interesting and useful method to learn how to use. Person centred planning is based on shared action, about finding creative solutions rather than categorising people and about problem solving and working hard over time to achieve goals. Its about changing a persons life (Sanderson 2000). PCPs seek to craft a vision for a persons life in which they can play an active role in their local community or any organisation of their choice. It also describes the action necessary to make this vision come through (McGinn Cassidy, 2006). This is accomplished through some basic stages. Firstly you must discover, understand and then address the core issues for the individual involved. Secondly you must explore choices available to the individual before you then alert and involve the individuals entire social network. A balance must then be reached between what is important for the individual and what is important for their social network. Ideally, the individuals goals for themselves are the ones most focused on and not the goals that the individuals friends and family have for them (McGinn Cassidy, 2006). There are six key principles that underpin person centred planning. These are that PCPs are an individuals perspective, creative approach to planning, uses all the resources available to the person, requires serious and genuine commitment, an art and not a science and that the development of the plan is not the objective. There are also several advantages to using Person Centred Planning. Some of these are that it sets out important goals for the future, provides a forum to make choices, it provides encouragement and support and may be viewed as a lifelong process and support (McGinn Cassidy, 2006). Person Centred Planning is based on completely different way of seeing and working with people which is fundamentally about sharing power and community inclusion (Sanderson, 2000). A good caring service mobilises all its resources to assist people with disabilities to increase control over their lives. They also set goals that are personally meaningful and express personal preferences. They offer guidance to the individual. It is only through organisations like this that the PCPs are a success (McGinn Cassidy, 2006). There are many issues to be considered when supporting people who have difficulty in making choices. Some of these issues are if you take a different perspective than that of the person, if you develop a different understanding of the person and risk assessments must be carried out. The service user also requires certain support and assistance from the PCP process. Some of these include interpreting the environment, understanding other peoples expectations and conditions for cooperation and to figure out satisfying ways to pursue what they want (McGinn Cassidy, 2006). Person Centred Planning has one plan per person. The service users key worker drives the process. The first step the key worker must take is to get to know the person. This includes getting to know their personal history, family, friends, health, hobbies and other personal details. You must talk to the person in order to gather this information. You must observe them in their natural environment too in order to get your own vision of the persons personality. A good way to add to this vision is to speak to the persons family and friends to get other opinions of the service users personality and goals in life. Finally reviewing previous documentation on the service user will give you other opinions on the service user, this time from a professional view (McGinn Cassidy, 2006). The second step is to discuss the persons own goals and dreams for the future with them. This involves sitting down with the service user in what they feel is a safe environment, so that they can reveal their dreams to you without feeling threatened or embarrassed about them. You then document the service users goals in their PCP file and move onto step three which is to plan a meeting. The meeting is entirely the service users choice. They get to decide who attends, where it is, when it is and what exactly will be discussed. It is simply our job to facilitate them by giving them any help or support they might need. The meeting itself is then step four. In the company of the service user and whoever they had wished to have at the meeting you work out what has to done is the coming weeks and months to achieve the service users targets. The fifth and final step is to implement everything that had gone before. It is now that the staff starts working on achieving the agreed goals. Any progress gained should be recorded in a progress plan form. A review sheet must also be completed at the end of each month and at the six month review meeting (McGinn Cassidy, 2006). The staff involved in the Person Centred Planning process, play a crucial role and have extremely important responsibilities in ensuring the process is a success. Person centred planning requires that staff adopt a flexible and responsive approach to meeting peoples changing needs and circumstances, guided by general principles of good practice rather than standard procedures (Sanderson, 2000). It is important that the staff do not underestimate the scale of the task and should allow sufficient time for it to be completed. Initially the process involves identifying people who are likely to support the idea and then, running some information and basic training sessions for everyone likely to be directly involved, impacted or called upon for support (McGinn, 2006). The unit manager also plays an important role in the Person Centred Planning process. Managers have a significant role to play in enabling staff teams to adopt a person centred approach (Sanderson, 2000). Sanderson advocates that managers extend the principles of person centred planning to their staff teams, in order to develop what she describes as person centred teams (McGinn, 2006). There are characteristics that a person centred team leader needs in order to be successful. Some of these include being able to bring the best out in people, having a clear vision and direction, encouraging personal involvement with the people being supported and investing in community connections (Sanderson, 2003). The leader of this process needs to develop a very clear understanding of the key principles and processes of Person Centred Planning (McGinn, 2006). The leader must ensure that staff work together as a team and not as individuals which will only drag the process in different directions, accomplishing nothing. They must ensure that there is good, ongoing communication at individual plan level. It is also their job to maintain and update plans over time or assign somebody the role of doing so. At a more general level, it is important to establish a routine process of monitoring, evaluating reviewing and developing the way person centred planning is being done, so as to ensure it is having a positive effect on lives and services. Every effort should be made to ensure that the role and responsibilities of every individual, group and organisation participating in the person centred planning process is clearly understood and agreed by them and adequately supported (McGinn, 2006). Success will be achieved will the Person Centred Plan if the staff team ensure that the needs of the service user are met to the greatest extent possible, consistent with their responsibility to assess risks involved and ensure that they are acceptable and considered. It is also necessary that they build a closer relationship with the service user in order to become more acutely aware of their needs and wishes. The staff team must ensure that all risks are identified and action is taken to minimise them. They must seek to maximise opportunities for the service users self development, self esteem and independence in order to realise their fullest potential (McGinn, 2006). Finally the role of the Key worker is crucial to the success of the Person Centred Plan. The Key workers objectives are to develop a close and positive relationship with the service user. They must also work co-operatively with other staff, family, external services/professionals etc, on the service users behalf to ensure that a quality service is provided. The Key workers team role is to enable the team to effectively support the service user. To do this the Key worker must listen to others, respect and support team members, maintain commitment and communicate effectively. The Key worker enables the service user to advocate for themselves, develop new skills and build enjoyable relationships with others (McGinn, 2006). There are of course challenges to implementing Person Centred Planning. The need for everyone to develop a new perspective on people with disabilities is defiantly one of the larger ones. For a goal like that to be reached it will take a global effort and one that is not easily achieved. Other challenges include the need for a new general perspective on services, resistance to change and risks and learning curves (McGinn, 2006). All of this was being carried out on a constant basis in RehabCare Cavan while I was there. Sitting in on meetings between the key workers and the service users was an eye opening experience. It also really stood out to me just how much Unconditional Positive Regard is used in services and why it is so crucially important in a programme such as Person Centred Planning. Without it the programme would be a complete failure. The entire PCP programme worked well while I was on my placement. It was being managed very sufficiently and all staff members had an excellent relationship with each other. I personally felt that I helped the staff to show unconditional positive regard towards the service users when they were finding it tough. Most importantly I have learned and witnessed just how positive an impact the PCP programme can have on the service users when managed properly. Seeing the delight on service users faces when they achieved goals which would have been impossible without Person Centred Plans made me realise how much they need the programme and educated social care workers to manage it for them. Critical Reflective Paper My twelve week placement in RehabCare Cavan provided me with sufficient opportunities for learning and to enhance my social care knowledge, skills and values. Throughout the duration of my placement I enjoyed the experience of working with a vast variety of service users most of whom had disabilities and problems that were completely unique to themselves within the centre. I also had the chance to compare my skills as a social care worker with a number of people from different occupations including social care workers, community nurses and psychologists. They all both worked together as a team and then as individuals. Overall my placement in RehabCare Cavan was an immensely enjoyable and positive experience. There were however, a number of difficulties to deal with along the way. These included challenging behaviours from the service users and limitations from the staff. Altogether though, I believe my placement would not have been as educational had it not been for the combination o f positive and negative factors. The part of my placement which I feel most facilitated my learning was working with the inter-disciplinary team. This team consists of a list of professionals from different occupations and also collaborates with the parents or friends or next of kin for each of the service users. The service user decides who they wish to have present at the meeting from their family or friends. There are strong positive relationships between the different members of the team. At the beginning of my placement I found it quite overwhelming and complicated to understand how a team consisting of so many people managed to perform sufficiently and how mistakes werent made. I also struggled to understand how there was need for so many individuals and how they each had their own unique role within the group. At first I just sat in the corner of the room and observed the team meetings. I felt I didnt know the clients well enough to make contributions and that the staff didnt know me well enough to be able to justify accepting my contributions. It was my job for the first few weeks to simply sit, observe and analyse what was being discussed and proposed within these meetings. Over the following days and weeks I started to become more familiar with the staff, the service users and the cases. I began to feel more confident interacting with the staff and service users and believed I had a place within the centre. I could see advantages of using the interdisciplinary team system, however I quickly realised too that mistakes were made. These mistakes were few though and no system or person is flawless so they were generally accepted as small human errors and rectified. Each team member had adequate knowledge of the other team members, their profession and their disciplines. This allowed each team member to answer questions and give guidance, even if was only to tell the person involved which team member was most likely to solve their problems. As my placement progressed I was able to become more involved with the staff as I became more aware and familiar with each case. By having the opportunity to observe and ultimately work with the different professionals i nvolved I was able to gain valuable knowledge and skills relevant to each discipline which will prove valuable throughout the rest of my course and beginning of my own professional career. One aspect of the service or the centre which limited my learning was unfortunately due to cutbacks. Due to lack of funds the service was severely understaffed which meant there was an extremely heavy workload on the remaining staff members. This in turn meant that there were long periods were they had work to do and I was unable to participate. During these periods I would socialise with the service users, talking to them, playing games with them and helping them in whatever way possible. Although from a professional perspective this reduced my learning experience, personally it greatly increased it. It was during this time that I got to know the service users, their likes and dislikes, their personal ambitions and most importantly, what it was like for them individually growing up in the community with their disabilities and how RehabCare has greatly improved their lives and self-esteem. I felt that it was this information that would help and inspire me to progress through my place ment and academic years ahead. While on my placement I took a leading role in facilitating a few programmes in particular for the service users. As I have a great interest in sport personally I became involved in all sport related programmes with the service users. Every Tuesday six service users went swimming and I accompanied them. I observed how much excitement and pleasure they got on a weekly basis out of this one simple activity. I also got involved with a soccer programme with the service users. As I have a good knowledge of the game I took some training sessions with them and helped them develop their skills. They are hoping to compete and win out a regional RehabCare Soccer tournament in the New Year. I also became heavily involved in programmes that were not sport related. I helped set up a woodwork programme which had not existed before I arrived. I trained the service users in the basic skills of carpentry and through this they learned how to work on a project as a team, but most importantly they could see that they were making a difference and that their project was evolving into beautiful furniture. I witnessed a sense of pride amongst the service users that was almost unprecedented. A pleasure as small as completing a piece of furniture was enough to have them busting with pride for days. Overall the programme was a remarkable success. I am particularly proud of this group as I feel this is an area in which I was able to apply a lot of knowledge and skills to that nobody else in the centre could have. One other Key programme which I participated in was the Writing skills programme. The activities or skills that were focused on during this programme were writing, pronunciation and basic maths skills. Under these heading we worked on different needs of each client which included spelling, counting and oral communication skills. As this was a continuous weekly programme I had the opportunity to observe these service users as week by week they worked in their weaknesses and I could observe a marked improvement from when I first arrived. I was able to monitor their progress and have evaluated that it was a very effective programme. I was able to contribute my knowledge towards the class which meant that more progress was gained in the same length of time. One aspect which I feel contributed positively towards my learning was working with and witnessing the staff handle particular cases which involved serious and cautious matters involving the service users. Examples of these cases are when violence is threatened by service users or a case where one service user was being unfairly manipulated into giving away the money they earned on social benefit. The staff team in RehabCare are quite a close-knit team and conduct their work very professionally. Working alongside them was an extremely positive experience and I had no problems in asking them questions when I had queries. The staff all worked together in serious cases and did not just leave it to the service users Key worker. I could see that this was an extremely effective and positive way for them to operate as each staff member brought their own ideas and together they were able to formulate a plan more effectively than if it were just one of them. Initially I was too nervous to mak e contributions myself but as the weeks passed I began to make a few suggestions some of which were used in solving certain cases. As a result of my experiences on placement I have significantly enhanced many of my social care skills and values and expanded my knowledge. One particular area in which I feel more confident in is my communication skills with a range of professionals and services, especially when communicating with people who suffer with intellectual disabilities. I gained experience and built my ability to show empathy and unconditional positive regard, particularly when being on the receiving end of insults. It is essential that social care workers have the ability to demonstrate empathy to allow them to be more responsive to the service users needs and build better relationships based on trust and honesty. Learning about the Person Centred Planning approach was probably the most valuable information I gained. I saw firsthand how well the plan works when managed sufficiently. It is a goal based system, focusing on what the service user wants to achieve in their lives. It is person focused which is the secret to is success and why it is so popular. The medication procedures in the supported accommodation branch of RehabCare were extremely interesting. The service user had to put their pills into an egg cup and then swallow them all. The support worker then had to check the service users mouth to make sure they were all swallowed. I realised then the extreme of the medication policy within RehabCare. I found it rather unsettling that the support worker had to look into the service users mouth to make sure the medication had been swallowed. Previous to distributing the medication each daily dose had to be counted to make sure that the pharmacy didnt make any mistakes while distributing it. It was surprisingly frequent how often the pharmacy had made mistakes. In conclusion my time spent on work placement has been an invaluable experience to me. I have learnt and developed many skills that will be a great attribute to me in my career as a social care practitioner. Some of these skills have included learning how to manage a Person Centred Plan, gaining practical experience in solving a wide variety of cases involving people with intellectual disabilities, improving my overall knowledge on disability awareness and most importantly learning that I can make a positive impact in any social care field that I wish to pursue. I am fully aware that becoming a successful, fully trained social care worker does not happen overnight but takes years of hard work and practice. However, seeing the positive impact that I can make of peoples lives with my career is the inspiration I need to go on and succeed. It is a long journey to get where I want to be, one that started years ago and is set to continue for a good time to come. This journey will change wh o I am, will change who I will become but only for the better. With the knowledge that I am gaining from my social care class, the lessons I am learning about myself I am sure that I will evolve into a fully competent and successful social care practitioner. Personal Learning Account Profile For the purpose of this placement, I have received a position in RehabCare Cavan, working with the Programme Facilitators at the facility. RehabCare is the health and social care division of the Rehab Group. Their aim is to enhance the lives of all of their clients through the provision of high quality, flexible, person centred services. They presently provide and are developing a number of services, including Resource Centres, Residential Services, Respite Care, Supported Accommodation and Home Based Services for people with disabilities. The role of the Programme Facilitator in the facility is to report to the Community Service Manager through the Programmes Supervisor. The Programme Facilitators facilitate service users in their choices, developing programmes within the context of a person centred model of service delivery. The programmes may include independent living, personal development and occupational and leisure activities within the context of a quality of life model. For this placement, there are a number of personal attributes and learned knowledge which will assist in getting maximum benefit from completing placement with the Programme Facilitators. Some personal attributes which play an important role in the social care role are patience, understanding, kindness and the ability to apply learned knowledge to a specific situation. Having talked to one of the Programme Facilitators I also became aware that being open-minded, compassionate flexible and a good listener play particularly important roles in this service. These are all equally important attributes as at different times they can individually and collectively be the difference between dealing well any given situation in comparison to dealing poorly with it. Due to the unfortunate discrimination that, many of the older service users received when they were younger, the Programme Facilitator must take an understanding therapeutic approach when working with these service users. For this to be successful the Programme Facilitator must apply Carl Rogers conditions for the outcome to be successful. Rogers created three conditions which a service user must believe are present b efore a therapeutic relationship can develop. These are empathetic understanding, congruence and unconditional positive regard (Sherry and Lalor, 2009). The skills and knowledge that I gained through Creative Studies (both art and drama), will play a great role in helping me assist the Programme Facilitators, in trying to ensure the service users get the best experience possible from the service. Arts and Crafts as well as drama are programmes which receive a lot of focus from the Programme Facilitators at the facility. A good understanding of people with disabilities which I gained from modules, such as Issues in Social Care and Theories in Social Care along with, reading Applied Social Care by Perry Share and Kevin Lalor will assist me throughout my placement. Also the knowledge that I gained doing woodwork in secondary school will be of great benefit, as the Programme Supervisor is planning on starting up a woodwork programme for the service users but no Programme Facilitator has any experience in the field. Communication plays a crucial role in working in RehabCare or any organisation which is designed to fit the needs of adults with intellectual disabilities. Listening is a function which we do every day without paying much notice to the information we are obtaining. However, in a facility such as RehabCare the ability to listen to clients and then digest what they are saying is of crucial importance. The ability to listen attentively to service users problems and concerns and to then support them in whatever form necessary is a skill that cannot be replaced. Considering the fragile state of mind of many of the service users you must always be compassionate when listening to them and your response must be swift. Needs Analysis Within the learning contract there are a number of objectives identified as part of key learning. Enclosed in the professional learning objectives, the task is outlined of using and critiquing social care theories. As a second year social care student I felt that it was important for me to identify theories and then critique them and recognise limitations within the theories structure and their application to real life situations. My personal learning objectives surrounded interactions with the service users. I was lacking confidence and very unsure of myself when I first started my placement. The staff were very supportive though and within a few days I found my confidence improved dramatically and with it so did my effectiveness in helping the staff and having a controlling but compassionate authority over the service users. I became firm and assertive when dealing with problematic service users and fights between them. I hope my abilities and confidence continue to grow in this ar ea which will leave me in a very strong position by the time my placement is completed. Showing Unconditional Positive Regard towards some of the service users is something I struggled with for the first few days. It was left difficult when service users were constantly rude, disruptive and fighting. I have felt myself improving though and believe over the next few weeks I will have perfected it. During my induction week I had numerous policies and procedures to familiarise myself with. There are policies and procedures regarding health and safety, fire evacuation, risk management, prevent and control, child and adult protection, swine flu, confidentiality, medication policy and staff supervision etc. A basic knowledge of these policies and procedures is paramount in order for me to play an effective and positive role during my placement. Action Planning and Activity Throughout the course of this placement, I shall partake in a number of activities with the service users, which will assist me in meeting my learning objectives. Areas of activity include practical work such as arts and crafts and woodwork while sports and drama both play key roles in the centre too. Communication skills and independent living skills have a high priority too, as RehabCare is an organisation, designed to bridge the gap from full support to independent living. Assisting the programme facilitators in training the service users through these programmes, I felt I would meet my learning objectives. The programmes are usually done on a 10(service users)-2(programme facilitator and myself) basis. I will have several opportunities to practice my communication skills as I will have to give my input and express my opinion in different cases involving different service users and different programme facilitators. Through the communications programme I will also get a chance to train some of the users in the basic forms of communication, i.e. teach them how to, write a letter to a friend, use the telephone and practice various verbal and non- verbal communication skills. During the placement it is highly important that I test a number of theories which I learned through academic means. Through applying theories to real life situations, and recognising when a theory is used, the applicability and usefulness of the theory should be examined. As a social care student, the ability to recognise the limitations within theories will assist in identifying the best practice for the service user. I can practice this in different programmes and in free time that I spend just talking to the service users. Throughout placement knowledge of policies and procedures surrounding disability awareness will be obtained through dealing with the different cases and service users. I will have to familiarise myself with all government and RehabCare policies and procedures. I shall also become aware of them through hands on work throughout the duration of my placement. Evaluation A consideration of the learning goals following the completion of the placement, there is a sense of achievement as I believe all learning goals were reached and an in dept knowledge of disability awareness and the role of a programme facilitator were gained. I believe I successfully completed identifying and applying theories. I was very happy with my supervision classes as I was able to discuss with my supervisor what I did well and what I did not so well. I was able to discuss troubling issues which I had witnessed and discover the background stories and mental reasons for such incidents arising. Treating the service users with empathy and unconditional positive regard proved crucial time and time again as I managed to keep the service users trust in compromising and threatening situations. It also allowed some of the service users to open up about their feelings and their lives. Due to their mental disabilities some service users wouldnt disclose such information while others would have without being treated with empathy or unconditional positive regard. They didnt know any different. An example of where these theories didnt work was when a service user threatened violence against both myself and the staff members in the centre. This situation arose on numerous occasions. There was a considerable improvement in my communication skills throughout my placement. I was slightly shy on my first day in the centre both with staff and the service users. It took me the length of the induction week to overcome this shyness and be able to give a genuine account of myself. By the time my placement was completed shyness was a problem of the past and communication was free flowing between me and the service users. An example of this communication is when I took programmes with up to ten service users and took a teacher like approach with them. I regularly took the writing skills programme which involved me stand