Egans Theory Essay Example for Free

Egans Theory Essay This is a 3-stage model or framework offered by Egan as useful in helping people solve problems and develop opportunities. The goals of using the model are to help people to manage their problems in living more effectively and develop unused opportunities more fully, and to help people become better at helping themselves in their everyday lives. (Egan G., The Skilled Helper, 1998, p7-8). Thus there is an emphasis on empowerment. Also the person s own agenda is central, and the model seeks to move the person towards action leading to outcomes which they choose and value. This model is not based on a particular theory of personality development, nor on a theory of the ways difficulties develop. It is a framework for conceptualising the helping process, and is best used in working on issues in the recent past and the present. As with any model, it provides a map, which can be used in exploring, but which is not the territory itself. The Egan model and mentoring are not synonymous; the model can be used in many kinds of helping relationships, and mentoring/co-mentoring can be done using other models, (or none!). The model can and should be used flexibly. The model works best if attention is paid to Rogers core conditions, the helpers approach to the speaker being based on genuineness, respect, and empathy, and if principles of good active listening are remembered throughout. The Egan model aims to help the speaker address 3 main questions: 1. What is going on? 2. What do I want instead? 3. How might I get to what I want? Not everyone needs to address all 3 questions, and at times people may move back into previously answered ones. For simplicity, well look at the model sequentially. However, the skilled helper will work with the speaker in all or any of the stages, and move back and forward, as appropriate. Stage 1 is about providing a safe place for the speaker to tell their story in their own way, and to be fully heard and acknowledged. It is about a space where a person can hear and understand their own story. It is also about gently helping them lift their head to see the wider picture and other perspectives, and to find a point from which to go forward with hope. 1a an expansive part The helper encourages the speaker to tell their story, and by using good active listening skills and demonstrating the core conditions, helps them to explore and unfold the tale, and to reflect. For some, this is enough, for others it is just the beginning. .as you summarised what I said, all the jumble began to make sense. Skills in Stage 1a:- active listening, reflecting, paraphrasing, checking understanding, open questions, summarising. Useful Questions: How do/did you feel about that? What are/were you thinking? What is/was that like for you? Keep them open! What else is there about that? 1b a challenging part Since they are in the situation, it can be difficult for the person speaking to see it clearly, or from different angles. With the help of empathic reflections and challenges, the speaker uncovers blind spots or gaps in their perceptions and assessment of the situation, of others and of  themselves their patterns, the impact of their behaviour on the situation, their strengths. Id never thought about how it might feel from my colleagues point of view. * Skills: Challenging; different perspectives, patterns and connections, shoulds and oughts, negative self-talk, blind spots (discrepancies, distortions, incomplete awareness, things implied, whats not said), ownership, specifics, strengths. * Useful Questions: * How do others see it/you? * Is there anything youve overlooked? * What does he/she think/feel? * What would s/he say about all this? * What about all of this is a problem for you? * Any other way of looking at it? 1c -Focussing and moving forward People often feel stuck; that is why they want to talk. In this stage, the helper seeks to move the speaker from stuckness to hope by helping Them choose an area that they have the energy to move forward on, that would make a difference and benefit them. I see now the key place to get started is my relationship with K * Skills: Facilitating focussing and prioritising an area to work on. * Useful Questions: * What in all of this is the most important? * What would be best to work on now? * What would make the most difference? * What is manageable? Stage 1 can be 5 minutes or 5 years; it may be all someone needs. Stage 2 What do I want instead? People often move from problem to action, or problem to solution, without reflecting on what they really want, or in what way their problems might be opportunities. Stage 2 is about this, about helping the speaker to open up a picture of what they really want, and how things could be better. This stage is very important in generating energy and hope. 2a a creative part The helper helps the speaker to brainstorm their ideal scenario; if you  could wake up tomorrow with everything just how you want it, like your ideal world, what would it be like? The speaker is encouraged to broaden their horizon and be imaginative, rather than reflect on practicalities. For some people this is scary, for some liberating. At first it was really difficult but after a while I Jet my imagination go and began to get really excited about what we could achieve in the department. * Skills: Brainstorming, facilitating imaginative thinking, i.e. * Quantity vs. Quality Anything goes have fun * Write down ideas verbatim, dont analyse or judge * Keep prompting what else? * Dont hurry, allow lots of time * Useful Questions: * What do you ideally want instead? * What would be happening? * What would you be doing/thinking/feeling? * What would you have that you dont have now? * What would it be like if it were better / a bit better? 2b a reality testing part From the creative and visionary brainstorm, the speaker formulates goals which are specific, measurable, achievable/appropriate (for them, in their circumstances), realistic (with reference to the real world), and have a time frame attached, i.e. SMART goals. Goals which are demanding yet achievable are motivating. It feels good to be clear that I want a clear understanding with my colleagues about our respective rules and responsibilities. * Skills: facilitating selecting and reality checking with respect to internal and external landscape. * Useful Questions: * What exactly is your goal? * How would you know when youve got there? * What could you manage/are you likely to achieve? * Which feels best for you? * Out of all that, what would be realistic? * When do you want to achieve it by? 2c moving forward This stage aims to test the realism of the goal before the person moves to action, and to help the speaker check their commitment to the goal by reviewing the costs and benefits to them of achieving it. Is it worth it? It feels risky but I need to resolve this. * Skills: facilitation of exploring costs and benefits, and checking commitment to goal. * Useful Questions: * What will be the benefits when you achieve this? * How will it be different for you when youve done this? * What will be the costs of doing this? Any disadvantages/downsides to doing this? Stage 3 How will I get there? This is the how stage how will the person move towards the goals they have identified in Stage 2? It is about possible strategies and specific actions, about doing something to get started, whilst considering what/who might help and hinder making the change. 3a another creative part! The speaker is helped to brainstorm strategies 101 ways to achieve the goal again with prompting and encouragement to think widely. What people, places, ideas, organisations could help? The aim is to free up the person to generate new and different ideas for action, breaking out of old mind-sets. There were gems of possibilities from seemingly crazy ideas. * Skills: Facilitation of brainstorming * Useful Questions: * How many different ways are there for you to do this? * Who/what might help? * What has worked before/for others? * What about some wild ideas? 3b focussing in on appropriate strategies What from the brainstorm might be selected as a strategy that is realistic for the speaker, in their circumstances, consistent with their values? Forcefield analysis can be used here to look at what internal and external factors (individuals and organisations) are likely to help and hinder action and how these can be strengthened or weakened respectively. I would feel comfortable trying to have a conversation with him about how he sees things. * Skills for Stage 3b: Facilitation of selecting and reality checking. * Useful Questions: * Which of these ideas appeals most? * Which is most likely to work for you? * Which are within your resources/control? 3c moving to action The aim is to help the speaker plan the next steps. The strategy is broken into bite-size chunks of action. Here the speaker is doing almost all the work, producing their action plan. The helper works with them to turn good intention into specific plans with time scales. Whilst being encouraging, its also important not to push the speaker into saying theyll do things to please the helper. I will make sure we have time together before the end of the month. I will book a meeting, so that we can be sure of quiet uninterrupted time. I will organise this before Friday. * Skills: Facilitation of action planning. * Useful Questions: * What will you do first? When? * What will you do next? When? If the end point of producing an action plan has been reached, the experience of trying it out could be the starting point for a follow-up mentoring/co-mentoring session. The work would start in stage I again, telling a new story. If an action plan had not been reached, thats fine too, and the model can be used over a series of sessions. The key in using the model, as with any theory or model, is to keep the speakers agenda central, the individual in the foreground and theory in the background, and to use the model for the person, rather than vice versa.

The Human Function Argument Essay -- Philosophy Aristotle

The Human Function Argument Aristotle argues that the human function is activity of the soul that expresses or requires reason. This argument is found in Nicomachean Ethics approximately between Bekker lines 1097b24 and 1098a9. 1. Humans must have a function, or else they would be idle, which is absurd. Aristotle directly asks the reader if humans might have no important overall function other than a chosen occupation in society but suggests that this would not be expected of nature. Terence Irwin used the word idle in his 1985 translation when phrasing this disjunct of Aristotle?s question. 2. Each human body part has a function, so the whole human must likewise have a function. This premise appears parallel to Aristotle?s argument that many goods serve higher goods within a hierarchy (1094a10). Aristotle is invoking the concept a hierarchy to consider functions of body parts. Each part has a function that serves a larger part with a different function, and so it seems that the largest unit, the human body itself, must have a function. 3. The human function is unique to only humans themselves. Aristotle does not seem to consider that unique human features could simply be superfluous; he simply states as a goal that he is looking for a unique function. 4. Human function is not growth and nutrition because these aspects of life are shared with plants. It is sensible to make this exclusion if one accepts the third premise. 5. Human function is not sense perception because this aspect of life is shared with animals. Fulfilling a function like this would constitute a life of gratification, which Aristotle rejected earlier (1095b16). 6. The part of the human soul with reason is unique to humans. This is simply... ...unction argument points out its inadequacy to stand alone since the argument provides little evidence for some of its premises and rests only on certain common beliefs without making a strong connection to the supporting evidence. Bibliography Aristotle. "Nicomachean Ethics." Classics of Moral and Political Theory. 3rd ed. Trans. Terence Irwin. Ed. Michael L. Morgan. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company, 2001. Aristotle. "Nicomachean Ethics." The Internet Classics Archive. Trans. W. D. Ross. [sic]. Aristotle. Nicomachean Ethics. Trans. Terence Irwin. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company, 1985. Aristotle. Politics. Trans. C. D. C. Reeve. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company, 1998. Plato. Protagoras. Trans. Stanley Lombardo and Karen Bell. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company, 1992.

How can sociologists explain the improvement in the educational performance of girls?

It is widely argued that gender influences achievement. Sociologists have noticed a difference in the level of achievement in boys and girls under sixteen. Studies show boys do not perform as well as girls in standard subjects in school, girls are now overtaking boys at a higher-level standard. Sociologists noticed this when they saw A' level results and GCSE results, however Post-16 girls tend to drop out of science and technology despite doing better than boys at GCSE. Boys' early literacy skills are markedly lower than girls. Although sociologists agree that there is a definite ‘gender gap' between males and female under sixteen, it is not just a simple case of ‘boys doing badly, girls doing well'. The relationship between gender and achievement is much more complex; problems have arose within the area of ‘the gender gap', it is not the same in all subjects – boys perform slightly better in GCSE maths than girls. It can not be applied to all levels of education, particularly university where the dropout rate is higher amongst girls; social class and gender affect it. A variety of reasons have been suggested for the difference between male and females in relation to achievement. Sociologists have attempted to explain firstly why females out perform males in most subjects under the age of sixteen and secondly why females are less likely to enter higher education (post 16 education) despite the fact that female school leavers tend to be better qualified than male ones. It has been suggested that females out perform males because of the following facts, educational policies to help girls over the past twenty years has seen attempts to improve the academic performance of girls. Coursework favours girls – course work in many subjects has helped to improve the academic standards of many girls. Girls have higher career aspirations; there is now a greater range of role models in society than in earlier years. In the 1970s Sue Sharpe wrote a book called â€Å"Just like a girl† in which she writes that most women then wanted to get married and have children. They did not see the point in staying on at school. There were very few jobs for women in the earlier years – only office jobs, nursing, teaching etc. However in today's' society womens' attitudes towards education have changed. More girls now want to attend college and university. There are a wider range of careers for women these days – fire fighters, business, design etc. The idea of marriage has become less popular. As there are more job opportunities for girls these days, they need qualifications therefore they need to work harder. There are poorer employment prospects for men in regard to the changes in the traditional male manual work. Male overconfidence in their own abilities causes unrealistic high expectations. Anti-school culture makes boys vulnerable to acting out the ‘men behaving badly' role, which in turn places little emphasis on education. Boys are more likely to not do their homework and go out with their friends, than girls. Boys find it more difficult to stay in and do their work as they might be worried that their friends will think that they are not ‘cool'. Girls tend to be more mature. Male literacy problems- it is a fact that boys read and write less than girls. Boys are more interested in their computer games where as girls are more likely to read books. This will help them with their school work. Labelling- teachers are more likely to label boys negatively and create a self-fulfilling prophecy of educational failure. Teachers more likely to think boys are more disruptive than girls therefore do not give them as much help. Therefore they are more likely to fail the subject. Also the parental expectations of their children differ, boys are expected to be tougher and more boisterous, girls tend to be quieter and neater. They are encouraged to play different games and are given different toys therefore this creates the basis for differences in interests and attitudes. Curriculum differences – there are two levels the ordinary and the hidden curriculum. Although schools have to offer girls and boys equal access to all courses, we can see that differences emerge. In the past girls were less likely to choose science or computer courses, (it has to be noted that this may not always be the case, especially in more modern times) they were more likely to take home economics, modern languages, social studies and secretarial courses, it is quite normal for ‘male' subjects of CDT to be on the timetable at the same time as the domestic science and the office skills subjects, therefore the official curriculum varies by gender. However these days girls cannot drop out of science and maths. They also take more subjects that boys would take and they have to so GCSE coursework. This helps girls because they are better organised. The hidden curriculum; this is the way that certain ideas and values of the teachers, other pupils and the wider society penetrate through the school. This is not part of the official school lessons. In the past some sociologists argued that as a result of attitudes shown by both parents and teachers girls learn to underachieve. By this they mean that sex stereotyping occurred in which teachers (and parents) knew what sorts of jobs girls do, and have been traditionally successful in, and they then gear girls to follow courses which lead to careers in these areas. It has been suggested that the main reason why girls perform differently in the educational system from boys is mainly due to the way society and the media creates ‘gender roles' which stress how males and females ought to behave. Magazines and television advertisements portray male and females in different ways making us feel that we have to act like them. There are clear gender roles expected of girls, e. g. to be feminine, to want to marry and to have children and to follow only a relatively narrow range of occupations in nursing and office work, etc. These views are strengthened by the media, which also portray women as sex symbols, nurses or housewives. Sociologists also found that girls were rarely portrayed as the central character and rarely showed initiative. Boys were far more often shown as the central character and tended to engage in more exciting activities. However girls today want independence, they do not want to be second class citizens. Leisure – When girls have time they like to gossip and have a â€Å"chat. † Therefore girls communicate better. This means that girls have better communication and educational skills than boys. In conclusion it is clear that girls are doing better but it is not the whole story because achievement affected by other factors cannot be ignored. These other factors are class and ethnicity.

Definition and Examples of Digraphs in English

A digraph in the English language is a group of two successive letters ​that represents a single sound or phoneme. Common vowel digraphs include ai (rain), ay (day), ea (teach), ea (bread), ea (break), ee (free), ei (eight), ey (key), ie (piece), oa (road), oo (book), oo (room), ow (slow), and ue (true). Common consonant digraphs include ch (church), ch (school), ng (king), ph (phone), sh (shoe), th (then), th (think), and wh (wheel). Importance Diagraphs are considered nearly equal to the letters of the standard alphabet in importance to learning to read and write in English. In Linguistic Tips for Latino Learners and Teachers of English, E.Y. Odisho, writes: [F]rom the pedagogical and instructional perspective, the digraphs should be given utmost attention in the teaching of almost all language skills of English because of the proportionally large number of digraphs in relation to the 26 letters; they are approximately one-fourth of the core letters. Other experts have indicated the difficulty that learning digraphs presents to English language learners. For example, according to Roberta Heembrock in Why Kids Cant Spell, the digraph ch can be pronounced at least four different ways: k (character), sh (chute), kw (choir), and ch (chain). Complicated System Some sounds can be represented only by digraphs. In Childrens Reading and Spelling, T. Nunes and P. Bryant offer examples such as sh (shoot), ay (say), and ai (sail). Still other sounds can be represented in some words by single letters and in others by digraphs, such as fan and phantom, which begin with the same phoneme but are written as one letter in the first word and as two letters in the second. This is a complicated system and probably, to young children at least, it may seem a capricious and unpredictable one as well, Nunes and Bryant write. Spelling Confusion Spelling words that incorporate digraphs is as tricky as reading them and determining the sounds that they create. For example, the six letters of the six-phoneme word strict are represented by six digraph units: strict. On the other hand, the six letters of the three-phoneme word wreath are represented by just three digraph units: wreath, according to Brenda Rapp and Simon Fischer-Baum in Representation of Orthographic Knowledge.  Ã¢â‚¬â€¹ The Past Tense ​Spellings A particular difficulty for children is learning to spell words that deviate from what they have come to expect in their learning process. This is often the case, according to Rebecca Treiman and Brett Kessler in How Children Learn to Write Words, with the past tense. As an example, they note that the past tense of mess (messed) sounds like mest and that of call (called) sounds like cald, each of which is still one syllable, while the past tense of hunt, which adds the ed sound to make hunted, has two syllables. Children are used to the latter pattern and find the former one odd.