Leading educational change Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Leading educational change - Essay Example When dealing with school leadership in the Australian context, it is important for the articles by Gurr et al, (2005) and Dinham (2007) to be considered so that a better perspective of the issue under discussion can be achieved. While one would state that there are some areas of agreement between these two articles, especially touching on the various aspects of leadership, how these leadership styles are applied has been found to have some divergence. It is a fact that in Australia, there has developed a vast body of research that has confirmed that the teacher in a classroom has a profound influence on the performance of his or her students. In the abovementioned two articles, there is general agreement that it is important to find out how the quality of teaching and learning can be influenced and improved through the development of good leadership skills among the teachers in the classroom. In both articles, it is stated that educational leadership is of principle importance when d etermining the quality of teaching and learning and as a result has a pertinent influence on the achievement of the students involved. ... It is often essential for the teacher to ensure that they have undergone some kind of leadership training so that they can be better able to handle diverse and unique situations in their classrooms. He further states that it is often necessary for the teacher or school leader to realise that each and every one of their students is unique in many ways and that the behaviour of students should not be categorised in general terms. What one student may be able to understand over a short period of time does not apply to another student who might not be capable of understand over the same time. This means that in order for the teacher to be effective in their classroom, it is often necessary for him to ensure that he treats each of his students in the most flexible way he can in order to cultivate their unique capabilities. Gurr et al (2005) are also of this opinion although they go even further by stating that teachers have to do a self-examination to determine whether they have the neces sary qualities that will enable them to become effective leaders so that they can be able to not only strengthen these qualities, but also work towards ensuring that they have acquired those qualities which are most essential in helping in the academic performance of their students. The two articles adopted different methodologies and these have been manifested in the divergent outcomes that resulted from the studies they conducted. Dinham, for instance, chose to pursue two types of research sites with the aim of studying how leadership had an effect in determining the exceptional student outcomes. The first of these was the conducting of studying on departments, which were responsible for the teaching of subjects in secondary schools for

The impact of animation for children's psychological development in Essay

The impact of animation for children's psychological development in finding their identities - Essay Example Text Resources that will be consulted 14 13. Conclusion 14 14. References 16 What are animations and what forms they may adopt Since man has the ability to clearly distinguish between thirty frames at maximum over a second, an animation refers to a display of up to thirty images a second which model an illusion of movement. This optical illusion occurs due to persistence of vision and has been used successfully over centuries in the benefit of animation and other movie makers. Animation for kids refers to all the cartoons and other fun movies whose main targeted audience is the kids. Fairy tales are one of the most prized possessions of a kid, often so, because they are said to belong to the children world. As Andersen(1991) says, the fairy tales speak to a child in a language he understands. They are vibrant and colorful, the music is often loud and don’t need a serious voice over because the video alone conveys the message. Beck (2005) believes that animations may also conve y a message. They don’t necessarily have to end with a prince charming falling head over heels with a princess who has it all. It can also convey important messages such as effects of global warming, importance and need of conserving energy, basic human rights etc. At the tender age when children normally enjoy these animations, they are forming their perspective of the world. Obviously what they see will reflect on their personalities hence the animation makers need to ensure that the message conveyed is positive and important. Grant (2006) exclaims that we often see banners promoting positivity and a revolution in the world but then, animation have a much a greater impact than mere pictures and words. Ghertner (2010) exclaims that animations are not just for kids, they entertain the elders just the same. For example, who hasn’t watched ‘Lion King’ or ‘ The Lord of the Rings’? There are so many such epic animations that one wonders if there w ould ever be an end to storytelling; and the answer is no! Animated stories have been there since centuries and there will always be new stories evolving. Bessen (2008) says that one can only hope that this art gains a greater meaning and insight as it progresses since storytelling affect the psyche of young kids and adults alike who watch them and often consider themselves to be the heroes of the story. Picture credit: http://www.dandare.org/FreeFun/Images/CartoonsMoviesTV/LionKingWallpaper1024.jpg Animations Sharpen the Human Brain Over the last two decades one sees the popularity of the use of animations and other graphics increasing by leaps and bounds in the instructional media. Almost all schools rely on animations to teach the kids the basics and the teachers then add on to it. As Gilland (2009) correctly points out, around twenty years ago, one could not have imagined but now robotic schools are well thought for idea. This intrigues one to explore how animations are more eff ective than the teachers themselves. Block (2007) exclaims that it has been experimentally proven by various researches that animations on subject matters really improve a child’s retention and inference abilities. Instead of a teacher telling how Red Riding Hood got scared of the wolves, if a student gets to see it, he is able to infer it better and not only that, he retains the images better than words. The reason why animations Some of these reasons are associated with the affective role that graphics can fulfill. For example, animations may be aesthetically