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Haliburton Rideshare, a project of the Rural Transportation Options committee, has ended.
The Haliburton Rideshare website, a forum for county residents to arrange for carpooling, operated for about three years, and was part of a community transportation project by RTO, funded largely through grants from the MTO.
The Haliburton Rideshare website had about 200 registered users.
“While focus was on providing a successful virtual platform for people to connect to share rides, the overall intent of the Rideshare initiative was to prompt people to consider ridesharing more often as well as to cause community groups to begin encouraging their own members and participants to rideshare,” the release reads.
The release notes the components of the website have been archived, should a group in the future wish to revive it.
Haliburton County council commissioned a transportation implementation plan for a booked, shared ride service within the municipality. However, it remains unclear at this time whether council intends to initiate such a system, and council is scheduled to discuss the matter this month.
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http://www.haliburtonecho.ca/haliburton-rideshare-comes-to-an-end?id=876
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This study focuses on work commuters who currently rideshare, are potential rideshare commuters, or indicated a willingness to use rideshare services. Discrete choice models were developed with survey data of residents in the northeastern United States. Built-environment variables based on home and workplace locations were examined. While the socio-demographic characteristics of rideshare commuters and potential rideshare commuters were similar, characteristics of those indicating a willingness to use rideshare services were dissimilar, specifically women and younger individuals were uninterested in these programs. Those who live in denser areas were more likely to rideshare now, but less likely to indicate rideshare as their alternative to driving alone. Having a rural workplace corresponded to more ridesharing and being willing to use rideshare services, but less likely to indicate rideshare in place of driving alone. Many attitudinal variables were examined in the models; but interestingly most were not useful in explaining potential ridesharers or potential rideshare program participants. This analysis indicates that potential rideshare commuters may be demographically similar to existing rideshare commuters but live and work in more rural areas. Those who would participate in rideshare programs are a different set and should be further defined and targeted separately.
Belz, N., and Lee, Brian H.Y. (2012) Composition of Vehicle Occupancy for Journey-To-Work Trips, Evidence of Ridesharing from the 2009 National Household Travel Survey Vermont Add-on Sample. Forthcoming Transportation Research Record.
Cervero, R. (1996). Mixed Land-uses and Commuting: Evidence from the American Housing Survey. Transportation Research Part A - Policy and Practice, Vol. 30(5), 361-377.
Charles, K., and Kline, P. (2004). Relational Costs and the Production of Social Capial: Evidence from Carpooling. The Economic Journal, Vol. 116(511), 581-604.
Chatman, D. (2003). How Density and Mixed Uses at the Workplace Affect Personal Commercial Travel and Commute Choice. Transportation Research Record No. 1831, Journal of the Transportation Research Board of the National Academies, pp. 193-201.
Frank, L., and Pivo, G. (1994). Impacts of Mixed Use and Density on Utilization of Three Modes of Travel: Single-Occupant Vehicle, Transit, and Walking. Transportation Research Record No. 1466, Journal of the Transportation Research Board of the National Academies , pp. 44-52.
Hunt, J., and McMillan, J. (2007). Stated-Preference Examination of Attitudes Toward Carpooling to Work in Calgary. Transportation Research Record 1598, Journal of the Transportation Research Board of the National Academies, Washington, D.C., pp. 9-17.
Hwang, K., and Guiliano, G. (1990). The Determinants of Ridesharing: Literature Review. University of California at Berkeley: The Univeristy of California Transportation Center.
Kaufman, S. (2002). Why People (Don't) Carpool and Change for the Better. 2nd International Conference on Sustainable Campuses. Melbourne: RMIT.
Kockelman, K. (1997). Travel Behavior as a Function of Accesibility, Land Use Mixing and Land Use Balance. Transportation Research Record 1607, Journal of the Transportation Research Board of the National Academies, pp. 117-125.
Kostyniuk, L. (1982). Demand Analysis for Ridesharing: State-of-the-Art Review. Transportation Research Record 876, Journal of the Transportation Research Board of the National Academies, pp. 17-26.
Leck, E. (2006). The Impact of Urban Form on Travel Behavior: A Meta-Analysis. Berkely Planning Journal, Volume 19, 37-58.
McGuckin, N., and Srinivasan, N. (2003). Journey-to-work in the United States and its Major Metropolitan Areas; 1960 - 2000. Washington, D.C.: United States Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration.
Pisarski, A. (2006). Commuting in America III: The Third National Report on Commuting Patterns and Trends. Washington, D.C.: Transportation Research Board of the National Academies.
Shiftan, Y., and Barlach, Y. (2012). Effect of Employment Site Characteristics on Commute Mode Choice. Transportation Research Rcord 1781, Journal of the Transportation Research Board of the National Academies, pp. 19-25.
Silvia, J., and Niemeier, D. (2009). Social Network and Dwelling Characteristics that Influence Ridesharing Behavior of Seniors. Transportatin Research Record 2118, Transportation Research Board of the National Academies, Washington, D.C., pp. 47-54.
Teal, R. (1987). Carpooling: Who, How, and Why? Transportation Reserach, Part A, Vol. 21A, No. 3 , 203-214.
Tsao, H., and Lin, D. (1999). Spatial and Temporal Factors in Estimating the Potential of Ridesharing for Demand Reduction. Berkeley: California PATH Program, Institute of Transportation Studies, University of California.
Van Lange, P., Ban Vugt, M., Meertens, R., and Ruiter, R. (1998). A social dilemma analysis of commuting preferences: the roles of social value orientation and trust. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, Vol. 28, No. 9 , 796-820.
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https://www.jtlu.org/index.php/jtlu/article/view/669
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Metro ridership in Tysons has been increasing, bucking the transit system’s overall downward trend.
According to a recent county report, from April 2017-2018 ridership increased across Tysons stations by eight percent, from 7,142 to 7,723 riders per weekday.
According to the report, the most active Metrorail station within Tysons is Tysons Corner, which averages over 3,400 passengers per day (total entries) on weekdays and over 2,500 for Saturdays, exceeding the ridership at the other three stations.
The only station to show a decrease in ridership has been the Spring Hill station, which declined from 1,220 riders to 1,188, a three percent decrease.
The same report also showed that morning and evening peak period traffic to and from Tysons in single-occupancy vehicles had decreased after years of mostly trending upward. Morning trips for single-occupancy vehicles decreased over the last year from 106,389 to 99,472, while evening trips decreased from 108,604 to 104,596.
Professor Frank Shafroth, director of the Center for State and Local Leadership at George Mason University, said the two numbers are likely rooted in traffic and tolling along I-66.
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https://www.tysonsreporter.com/2018/10/16/metro-ridership-increases-in-tysons/
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This factsheet is based on past evaluation data contained in the ITS Knowledge Resources database at: www.itskrs.its.dot.gov. The database is maintained by the U.S. DOT’s ITS JPO Evaluation Program to support informed decision making regarding ITS investments by tracking the effectiveness of deployed ITS. The factsheet presents benefits, costs and lessons learned from past evaluations of ITS projects.
Mobility on Demand (MOD) is a multimodal, integrated, accessible, and connected transportation system in which personalized mobility is a key objective. MOD enables the use of on demand information, real-time data, and predictive analysis to provide individual travelers with transportation choices that best serve their specific needs and circumstances. Modes facilitated through MOD providers can include: carsharing, bikesharing, ridesharing, ridesourcing, microtransit, shuttle services, public transportation, and other emerging transportation solutions.
A number of key trends are laying the foundation for MOD.1 These include:
- Increasing population. Over the next 30 years, the U.S. population is expected to grow by about 70 million, with most of this growth occurring in cities. Growing urbanization will continue to put significant strain on city infrastructure and transportation networks.
- Aging population. By 2045, the number of Americans over the age of 65 will increase by 77 percent. Older Americans require mobility choices allowing them to age in place.
- 1 in 5 Americans are disabled. Persons with disabilities comprise nearly 20 percent of the U.S. population. About one-third of people over age 65 have a disability that limits mobility.
- Rise of mobile devices. Ninety (90) percent of American adults own a mobile phone allowing them to access everything from traffic data to transit schedules to inform travel choices. In addition, 20 percent of adults use their phones for up-to-the-minute traffic or transit data and smartphones are regularly used for turn-by-turn navigation.
- Millennials waning interest in car ownership. Millennials are becoming less and less reliant on car ownership compared to previous generations. By the end of the 2000’s, they drove over 20 percent fewer miles than at the start of the decade. Millennials are the first generation to have access to internet during their formative years and are often early adopters of technology solutions including shared-use mobility services.
- Growing popularity of shared mobility and modes. There is growing popularity of shared mobility and shared modes, such as bikesharing and ridesourcing. The sharing economy and new transportation services are providing people with more options, helping to overcome barriers to the use of non-driving forms of transportation, and shifting individuals’ travel choices.
- Big Data era. The transportation sector is increasingly relying on data to drive decisions. Data is projected to grow by 40 percent annually. Data enables innovative transportation options such as carsharing, ridesharing, and pop-up bus services.
- Rise of connected vehicles and infrastructure. Data derived from connected vehicles provide insights to transportation operators helping to understand demand and assist in predicting and responding to movements around a city.
The transportation landscape is changing, and research in new mobility options is necessary to document, evaluate, and adequately plan for growing mobility demands, new technologies, and changing demographics, amidst challenging financial realities. New business models and the demand for situational mobility choices offer new opportunities in shared-use mobility, such as car sharing, bike sharing, and ridesharing, and app-based ridesourcing provided by Transportation Network Companies (TNCs). Likewise, there is a renewed interest in demand-responsive operations largely driven by mobile technologies and the nearly ubiquitous smartphone. Along with traditional transportation options, these new trends provide real opportunities to develop an integrated system of mobility choices focused on meeting the needs of a diverse cross section of users while enhancing the safety of all travelers. MOD is poised to contribute to this new ecosystem with connected travelers, infrastructure, innovative operations and personal mobility needs.
In 2016, the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) and Intelligent Transportation Systems Joint Program Office (ITS JPO) launched the MOD Sandbox Program that aims to provide a platform where integrated MOD concepts and solutions, supported through key local partnerships, are demonstrated in real-world settings. These projects will use smartphone apps, open data platforms, and other advanced technologies to better connect transit riders to their destinations, aided by private companies and research institutions in fields such as software development, ride-sharing, and bike-share. The 11 project selections receiving nearly $8 million in funding are described below.
Table 1: MOD Sandbox Program Grantees and their Proposed Projects
|Agency||Project Description|
|Regional Transportation Authority (Pima County, AZ)||Integrates fixed route, subscription based ride-sharing and social carpooling services into a platform to address first mile/last mile issues.|
|Valley Metro Rail (Phoenix, AZ)||Smart phone mobility platform that integrates mobile ticketing and multimodal trip planning, including ride-hailing, bike sharing, and car-sharing companies.|
|City of Palo Alto, CA||Commuter planning project incorporating trip reduction software, a multi-modal trip planning app, and workplace parking rebates.|
|Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority||Mobility on demand partnership with the car-sharing company, Lyft. *This project, led by LA Metro, includes a companion project in Seattle, WA.|
|San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit||Integrated carpool-to-transit program.|
|Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority (Pinellas County, FL)||On-demand paratransit using taxis and a car-sharing company to provide door-to-door service.|
|Chicago Transit Authority||Incorporates local bike-sharing company Divvy into CTA's transit trip planning app.|
|Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation District of Oregon (Portland, OR)||Platform integrating transit and shared-use mobility options. By integrating data, the project will allow users to plan trips that address first/last mile issues while traveling by transit.|
|Dallas Area Rapid Transit||Integrates ride-sharing services into DART’s GoPass ticketing app.|
|Vermont Agency of Transportation||Statewide transit trip planner incorporating flex-route, hail-a-ride, and other non-fixed-route services into mobility apps.|
|Pierce Transit (Pierce County, WA)||Limited Access Connections project connects service across two transit systems – local and regional – and ride-share companies to increase transit use across the Seattle region.|
While the MOD Sandbox projects are still in the process of being deployed and evaluated, other pilot projects are demonstrating MOD concepts with the following benefits, costs and lessons learned.
Benefits
Carsharing
MOD enables smarter, more efficient, and safer mobility within a multimodal ecosystem that benefits individual travelers, transportation operators, and system managers alike. One such form of MOD, carsharing, is becoming increasingly popular due to its appeal as being personally convenient and more eco-friendly.
Car2go is currently the largest carsharing operator in the world, with a presence in nine countries and nearly 30 cities. It operates as a one-way instant access carsharing system within a pre-defined urban zone. The University of California Berkeley’s Transportation Sustainability Research Center (TSRC) conducted a one-way carsharing impact study and found that car2go’s flexible one-way carsharing model can work in tandem with existing mass transit options. The study gathered and analyzed car2go activity data from approximately 9,500 car2go members residing in Calgary, San Diego, Seattle, Vancouver and Washington, DC to determine the impacts on vehicle ownership, modal shift, vehicle miles traveled (VMT), and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
Overall, the results of this study suggest that car2go one-way carsharing is substantively impacting travel behavior, miles driven, GHG emissions, and the number of vehicles on urban roads within operating regions (2016-01125).
Across the five study cities, it is estimated that:
- Car2go members sold (gave up ownership of) between 1 to 3 vehicles per car2go vehicle (on average)
- Car2go members suppressed the need for (reduced vehicle usage) for between 4 to 9 vehicles per car2go vehicle (on average)
- Overall, when considering both effects together, each car2go vehicle removed between 7 to 11 vehicles from the road of the five cities studied (on average)
- On balance car2go reduced VMT by 6 percent to 16 percent, per car2go household
- GHG emissions were reduced by 4 percent to 18 percent per car2go household
Bikesharing
Since 2010, the Capital Bikeshare service has connected a network of over 450 stations via 4,000 bicycles across several jurisdictions in the Washington, DC area including Arlington County, VA. Arlington County reported on progress on the service’s performance measures in its FY2016-FY2021 Transit Development Plan Update & Progress Report (2018-01252).
Results from 2013 to 2014 show increases in ridership, with slightly shorter trips as follows:
- Ridership grew by 24 percent between FY2013 and FY2014 as the system expanded service.
- The average annual number of trips per bicycle decreased slightly between 2013 and 2014 from 393 to 381. This decrease was expected as the system expanded to outside of Arlington’s Metrorail corridors where the highest ridership is located.
- The service saved Arlington members a combined estimated $2 million dollars in transportation spending in 2014.
- Overall the total calories burned by users grew to 14,390,372 calories in 2014, reflecting higher ridership.
- Calories burned per trip decreased from 2013 to 2014, from 80 to 75 due to a decrease in average trip distance.
- The service improved its operating cost recovery ratio from 59 percent in FY2013 to 63 percent in FY2014.
Arlington County intends to expand the bikesharing service, while working on increasing the diversity of the user base and reducing its dependency on Arlington County operating funds.
Costs
A limited number of ITS applications have been deployed to support MOD systems, with cost data not publically reported. However, costs to operate shared used services are starting to become available.
Carsharing
The primary concern of cities implementing a carsharing agreement involves issues of parking. Many carsharing programs have agreements with municipalities to allow for free on-street parking. The companies also have agreements with cities that provide a number of dedicated spaces, indicated by city signs, paint, or other markings. Typically the carsharing company pays the city a fee to cover these costs, which can generate significant revenues. Depending on the agreement the car company may also pay for other costs to operate that include insurance, pilot evaluation, car removal in cases of parking restriction violations. Information on payments made by Car2Go when launching its carsharing service is U.S. markets is shown below (2018-00395).
Table 2: Car2Go’s Payment per Vehicle to Various U.S. Cities
|City||Payment per Vehicle per Year||Year||Notes|
|Arlington County, VA||$1,645||2015||Includes payment for pilot program administration and evaluation costs. Car2Go also agreed to move cars that have remained parked for 24 hours in areas zoned for residential permit parking and parked for 36 hours elsewhere|
|Austin, TX||$1,449||2011|
|Minneapolis, MN||$1,689 for first 250 vehicles$1,614 for each additional vehicle||2013||Includes administrative cost, meter revenue recovery, event revenue recovery, and residential permits|
|Portland, OR||$1,303||2015|
|Washington, DC||$2,644||2012||Initially paid $578,000 for 200 cars; paid an additional $215,300 to add 100 vehicles|
Bikesharing
Recently Arlington County reported its cost to operate the Capital Bikeshare service in its region. Bikesharing is a service in which bicycles are made available for shared use to individuals for a short time period for a fee. The rider reserves and pays for the bicycle rental with a smartphone applications although many services also allow credit card payments at the docking station. Operating costs for 70 stations with 493 bicycles were broken out by system operations and management and marketing. System costs were projected to increase in FY2015 due to expansion of the service by up to 22 stations (2018-00396).
Table 3: Arlington County’s Capital Bikeshare Operating Expenditures
|FY2014 (Actual)||FY2015 (Projected)|
|Expenses|
|System Operations||$1,246,000||$1,371,000|
|Management and Marketing||$185,000||$103,000|
|Total||$1,431,000||$1,474,000|
|Revenue|
|User Revenue||$792,000||$972,000|
|Private Sponsorships||$102,000||$89,000|
|ACCS Commissions||$558,339||$65,000|
|Local Funding (TCF)||$0||$348,000|
|Total||$1,452,339||$1,474,000|
The overall cost recovery ratio (the portion of operating expenses covered by user revenue and private sponsorships) in FY2014 was 63 percent. Arlington County has a goal to minimize operating costs while providing an effective service at the regional and local levels.
Lessons Learned
Ridesharing
In 2012, Santa Barbara County Association of Governments (SBCAG) Traffic Solutions and the Community Environmental Council in Santa Barbara County launched the Dynamic Rideshare project, an FHWA Value Pricing Pilot Program project. The project focused on increasing rideshare participation by implementing a dynamic ridesharing program using a smartphone application (branded as Carma) that provided near real time carpool matching for individual trips. The app also provided the ability to incentivize carpooling through micro payments from Traffic Solutions to the riders and drivers. Through GPS enabled mobile devices, actual trip data was tracked for all trips within the app.
Overall, the pilot was unsuccessful at launching Real Time Ridesharing in Santa Barbara County as the Carma application failed to garner as much of a user-base as hoped. In total, 274 trips were made which resulted in 3,325 miles of ridesharing. The failure of adoption of the Real Time Rideshare Program can be attributed to several factors, including the lengthy app development process, the steep learning curve using the app, and the lack of motivating forces and a culture for Real Time Ridesharing.
Key lessons for communities interested in launching a Real Time Rideshare community are as follows (2016-00751):
- Conduct internal testing of the technology before introducing it to the general public, and only introduce a technology that is stable and user-friendly.
- Target markets that have natural conditions that lend themselves to a Real Time Rideshare solution, such as toll lanes, HOV lanes, expensive parking, and a concentration of travel between select origins and destinations.
- Remember that offering a Real Time Rideshare app does not create its own demand.
- Do not underestimate the level of effort needed to build a critical mass of app users.
- Consider testing smaller Real Time Rideshare groups composed of 15 to 25 individuals that have similar commutes as an incremental approach to building a larger Real Time Rideshare community. Each group should have a champion that will conduct outreach and marketing to form the group.
Case Study – Mobility as a Service UbiGo (Gothenburg, Sweden)
UbiGo was a public 6-month trial of a Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) model, undertaken by project Go:smart, in the city of Gothenburg, Sweden. The project was developed as an attempt to create better conditions for sustainable travel by demonstrating how new business models and partnerships can reduce the need for private car ownership. The UbiGo model achieves this through a web-based smartphone application that combines public transport, car sharing, rental car service, taxi and bike-sharing services all into one application, all on one invoice. The application provides 24/7 technical support, an “improved” travel guarantee and even bonuses for sustainable travel choices.
The public trial operated from November 2013 to April 2014, and involved 195 users. For the study, trial users subscribed to prepaid monthly packages (similar to a mobile phone subscription) based on their travel needs, with the ability to charge additional trips and save unused trips for later use.
An evaluation of the MaaS model was performed based on surveys, interviews, travel diaries and focus groups. The participant users were interviewed before, during and after the trial about their experience and their satisfaction with the service. After the initial six months of testing, no household stopped using UbiGo, and nearly 80 percent indicated that they would be interested in becoming an UbiGo customer if the pilot became a regular service. Regarding traveler behavior, half of the users changed their modes of travel, four out of ten changed the way they plan their trips, and one out of four changed their “travel-chains”. In a follow-up survey, many participants stated that they had become less reliant on private cars and were more likely to use other forms of transportation such as public transit, walking and cycling after their participation in the pilot. Additionally, users stated UbiGo made it easier to pay for travel and gave them better control of expenditures.
The total cost of the project was £1.5 million and overall perceived benefits of the project included greater efficiency to transportation services and a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions (2017-01197).
Case Study – Transportation Network Companies (New York, NY)
A recent report presents findings from a detailed analysis of the growth of app-based ride services in New York City, their impacts on traffic, travel patterns and vehicle mileage since 2013, and implications for policy makers. Results show the increases in trips, passengers and mileage generated by the growth of Uber, Lyft and other app-based ride services since 2013 as follows (2018-01245):
- TNCs provided 80 million trips in 2016, transporting 133 million passengers.
- After accounting for declines in yellow cab, black car and car service ridership, TNCs have generated net increases of 31 million trips and 52 million passengers over the past three years.
- TNCs also accounted for the addition of 600 million miles of vehicular travel over the past three years, after accounting for declines in yellow cab, black car and car service mileage and shifts from personal vehicles.
- Growth in trips, passengers and mileage was seen throughout the city. The majority of net growth occurred in northern Manhattan and the boroughs outside Manhattan. But there was also significant growth in the Manhattan core, all of it since mid-2015.
- Trip growth in Manhattan, after subtracting shifts between industry sectors, has been concentrated during the morning and evening peak periods, late evenings, and weekends.
While increasing mobility options, the growth in TNC trips and mileage has significant implications for New York City's ability to achieve its goals for sustainable population and economic growth. Potential impacts discussed included: travelers moving from transit to TNCs, potentially undermining the revenue base for transit; increased vehicle mileage from TNC increase traffic congestion delaying buses, taxis and other for-hire vehicles, driving up travel time and costs; and increased vehicle mileage from TNCs may reduce traffic safety and increase greenhouse gas emissions.
References
Mobility on Demand- Research Program Framework. U.S. DOT Federal Transit Administration. September 2016.
“U.S. Transportation Secretary Foxx Announces $8 Million in Groundbreaking Mobility on Demand Grants to Transform Public Transit.” MOD Fact Sheet, U.S. DOT Federal Transit Administration, Website: https://cms.dot.gov/sites/dot.gov/files/docs/FactSheet_MOD_20161013.pdf. Accessed 12 January 2017.
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https://www.itsknowledgeresources.its.dot.gov/its/bcllupdate/MOD/
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Please check this page regularly for updates and new services.
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In addition to the vast majority (86%) who admitted they had no programs in place, answers from the 499 respondents to the online poll included:
- encouraging more carpooling – 4%
- encouraging greater use of mass transit – 2%
- allowing more telecommuting – 1%
- some combination of the above – 6%
“It may be that gas prices haven’t risen high enough yet to cause a crisis in commuting,” said Kevin Flood, managing Web editor of HR.BLR.com, in the news release. “There might also be a sense that employees wouldn’t embrace something like carpooling even if management encouraged it.”
A free copy of the report is available here . A free registration is required.
The poll was taken between June 29 and July 6.
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https://www.plansponsor.com/poll-most-employers-not-helping-with-gas-prices/
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The HHS Office of Population Affairs’ (OPA) annual May observance is now called National Adolescent Health Month (NAHM). Beginning in 2022, this observance emphasizes the importance of building on young people’s strengths and potential, encouraging and supporting meaningful youth engagement in adolescent health activities, and highlighting key topics in adolescent health.
Adolescent health is a broad term that encompasses many aspects of health and well-being, including sexual and reproductive health, mental health, physical health, and the amount and type of care that young people access and receive. Young people should be empowered to make decisions about their own health and programs and services should offer resources, tools, and skills that adolescents need to make informed decisions. Each year, NAHM will have different themes that explore the many factors that contribute to promoting and supporting adolescent health.
The NAHM 2022 themes were:
OPA recognizes that making investments in adolescent health and well-being will generate a “triple benefit” for society: investing in adolescents creates healthier youth today, healthier adolescents become healthier adults, and healthier adults set the foundation for healthier future generations when they become parents, guardians, and caretakers.1
During NAHM and all year long, we must strengthen relationships with young people and connect youth to services and opportunities that build on their strengths and potential.2
NAHM 2022 Announcement
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Population Affairs and Director of the Office of Adolescent Health Jessica Swafford Marcella announced NAHM in a blog post about why the observance was renamed, the process OPA used to gather feedback, and how OPA planned to celebrate NAHM during its inaugural month.
A Message from Admiral Levine
HHS Assistant Secretary for Health Admiral Rachel L. Levine invited viewers to celebrate NAHM and support adolescents’ health now and into the future.
HHS Statements on NAHM
HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra, ADM Levine, and DASPA Marcella released statements to mark the first-ever NAHM.
Weekly Themes
Themes for NAHM 2023 will be announced in early spring 2023. As in 2022, NAHM 2023 will address a different theme each week to allow participants to engage with the many facets of adolescent health. During NAHM 2022, the following themes were addressed:
Week 1, May 2, 2022
Empower youth with sexual and reproductive health information and services
Ensuring adolescent health requires equipping youth with the sexual and reproductive health information and services needed to empower healthy decision-making. During adolescence, youth grow physically, try new activities, begin to think more critically, and develop more varied and complex relationships. While the teen birth rate has decreased since the 1990s, in 2019, 38.4 percent of all high school students reported that they had ever had sexual intercourse.3 Additionally, adolescents ages 15-24 account for nearly half of the 20 million new cases of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) each year.4 The teen birth rates are especially high among youth in certain settings, such as youth in foster care,5 youth who are homeless, parenting teens, and LGBTQ+ youth. Connecting youth to reproductive services and information can build on their strengths and support adolescent health. It is critical to give teens the sexual and reproductive health information and services they need to make informed decisions about their health.
Share messages to empower youth with sexual and reproductive health information and services.
Week 2, May 9, 2022
Support mental health and well-being
Mental health is an essential part of overall health. Adolescents live in varied environments and face challenges that affect their mental health and well-being. Young people can face social and economic inequality, discrimination, violence, and other factors that can negatively affect mental health. While technology increases access to information and resources and can make it easier to build communities and stay connected, researchers have linked social media use to anxiety and depression.6 In 2019, one in three high school students and half of female students reported persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness.7 The COVID-19 pandemic has compounded these issues for today's young people: unprecedented disruptions in routines and relationships have led to increased social isolation, anxiety, and learning loss. Supporting adolescents’ mental health can help address societal concerns, strengthen their resilience, and mitigate negative impacts on mental health.8
Share messages to support adolescent mental health and well-being.
Week 3, May 16, 2022
Encourage physical health and healthy decision-making
Adolescence is the time for youth to form positive habits that will improve their long-term health and well-being. As adolescents begin taking more responsibility and making more choices about their health, it is important for them to make healthy food choices, be physically active, limit social media use, and fully participate in their own healthcare, including making appointments with healthcare providers and staying up to date on vaccinations. Parents, caregivers, and youth-serving adults can encourage and support physical health and healthy decision-making during adolescence by providing teens with education, skills training, and coaching in how to navigate the healthcare system and solve problems. Supporting healthy behavior today can strengthen health for adolescents into adulthood.
Share messages to encourage physical health and healthy decision-making.
Week 4, May 23, 2022
Sustain equitable, accessible, youth-friendly services
Youth need access to equitable, high-quality healthcare services. Unfortunately, many young people stop healthcare visits after leaving pediatric care because they do not have the support they need to transition to the adult healthcare system. Young people—especially those with chronic conditions and disabilities—can experience serious gaps in care as they get older. Young people who experience homelessness, foster care, and the juvenile justice system and who live in mixed immigration status households can have a difficult time obtaining healthcare.9 Access to healthcare services is essential, and it is important for parents, caregivers, and healthcare providers to help adolescents learn to use the healthcare system and obtain the services they need.
Healthcare providers should offer welcoming, responsive, and youth-friendly care by providing accessible locations and hours, creating a warm and respectful environment, ensuring opportunities for confidential, one-on-one conversations, and encouraging youth to involve their parents or caregivers while also respecting their privacy. Parents and caregivers can teach adolescents about their health history, help them prepare for healthcare visits, and discuss with adolescents what to expect from their healthcare appointments.10
Share messages to sustain equitable, accessible, youth-friendly services.
NAHM 2022 #OPAGranteeYouthTakeover on Twitter
Revisit OPA’s second annual Youth Twitter Takeover! Young people “took over” OPA’s Twitter account (@HHSPopAffairs) to share insights into their daily lives and their experiences with two of OPA's Teen Pregnancy Prevention programs:
- Washington State Department of Health, partnering with the Northwest Portland Area Indian Health Board in Portland, Oregon
- National Center for Youth Law in Oakland, California
OPA Grantee Highlights
OPA’s grantees are working to support all components of adolescent health. Teen Pregnancy Prevention program grantees serve almost 200,000 youth each year. Nearly 20 percent of all Title X family planning clinic grantee clients–or approximately 50.8 million youth each year—are adolescents.
Learn More About TPP Grantees
OPA’s Teen Pregnancy Prevention (TPP) program grantees implement effective programs that focus on developing positive outcomes for adolescents, including supporting positive youth development, preventing sexually transmitted infections, building healthy relationships, and more. TPP programs teach adolescents more than just teen pregnancy prevention; they help adolescents build life skills and set goals for healthy futures.
Carlos Albizu University
Carlos Albizu University and its partners implement the Puerto Rico Optimal System ChAnge (PROSa) program, providing pregnancy prevention curricula and comprehensive supportive services to youth, families, and community members in Puerto Rico. PROSa implements four curricula: Adult Identity Mentoring, Friends Resilience, Love Notes, and Parenting Fundamentals.
EyesOpenIowa
EyesOpenIowa implements Iowans Optimizing Adolescent Health, which promotes optimal adolescent health and reduces rates of teen pregnancy and STIs by providing sexual health education and an array of supportive services for youth and their families in Des Moines, Iowa.
Planned Parenthood of Greater New York, Inc.
Planned Parenthood of Greater New York, Inc.’s (PPGNY) Project SHINE aims to explore, develop, test, refine, evaluate, and disseminate innovative teen pregnancy prevention programming for teens and young adults ages 16-24 in New York City with mild to moderate intellectual disabilities (ID), as well as their families and the professionals who serve them.
Spartanburg Regional Healthcare System Foundation
The Spartanburg Regional Healthcare System Foundation implements Connect Spartanburg, a project to prevent risk-taking behaviors and promote optimal adolescent health in Spartanburg County, South Carolina. The project aims to increase protective factors through proven effective curricula that target youth and families/caregivers.
Learn More About Title X Grantees
OPA's Title X family planning services grantees provide adolescents with access to reproductive and preventive health services, and in many cases, Title X clinics are the only ongoing source of healthcare and health education for young people. Title X projects may also provide other reproductive health and related preventive health services that are beneficial to reproductive health such as HPV vaccination, HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), breast and cervical cancer screening, and screening for obesity, smoking, drug and alcohol use, mental health, and intimate partner violence.
Adagio Health
Adagio Health has been working to ensure that its Title X services are youth friendly. Adagio has both Title X and TPP grants and has been enhancing connections between the two programs. For example, Adagio works to increase referrals to Title X services for youth in its foster care TPP program.
West Virginia Title X Family Planning Program
The West Virginia Title X Family Planning Program is helping teens make healthy choices. They developed the Real Talk video series, which serves as conversation starters to help parents, teachers, and youth leaders equip themselves to be good sexual and reproductive health resources for adolescents by facilitating healthy conversations, fostering learning opportunities, and creating chances to build skills and increase knowledge.
Reproductive Health National Training Center
The Reproductive Health National Training Center (RHNTC) provides technical assistance and support for the Title X community and TPP grantees. It now has a wide array of resources that are for free to all. The RHNTC exists to ensure that personnel working in OPA-funded Title X and TPP projects have the knowledge and skills necessary to deliver high-quality services and programs.
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https://opa.hhs.gov/NAHM
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From September 2020 RSE became statutory within all school settings in the UK. This was introduced to ensure that all students are educated around the topics that have been specified so that they all gain an awareness and understanding. The aim is also to ensure that they have the knowledge, and know the law to make the right decisions both now and in the future.
In PSHE lessons at Barnwood Park we follow ‘The PINK Curriculum’. This has been written by the Healthy Living and Learning team of Lead Teachers (in Gloucestershire) to meet the needs of all children and young people in Gloucestershire in primary, secondary and FE settings. There is evidence to say that health and well-being is fundamental to a child’s success and the aim is that it meets the needs of all students as they move through the key stages.
This curriculum was devised to teach and support students in school to develop the necessary skills, understanding and knowledge that they need to lead a healthy, happy and safe life, both whilst at Barnwood Park and when they leave at the end of Year 11
The PINK curriculum is free to all schools and settings in Gloucestershire. It is a curriculum that is full of differing topics that will help and support students. It also contains resources that we use in school to help to deliver these topics effectively.
At Barnwood Park we cover a variety of topics for all students in the different years. Some of these topics are to help them in their studies, others to prepare them for when they leave and we also look at topics that cover their health and wellbeing.
KS3:
Topics that we study in Key Stage Three include:
- How to manage friendships and relationships
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How to maintain physical, mental and emotional health and wellbeing including sexual health
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How to make choices and decisions about health and wellbeing matters such as drugs, alcohol and smoking
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How to maintain a healthy lifestyle looking at diet, exercise and hygiene
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Understanding the importance of online safety
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To understand the impact of someone who has dementia has on others.
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To look at the difference between conflict and bullying and the effect bullying can have.
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To look at taking risks and understand the impact this can have on others.
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To look at and how to maintain emotional health and the importance of this.
KS4:
Topics we study in Key Stage Four include:
- To understand about parenthood and the consequences of teenage pregnancy
- Understanding and managing emotions in loving and sexual relationships.
- To understand about unhealthy relationships and domestic abuse
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To look at various factors affecting teenagers and the effect this can have on someone’s health and wellbeing
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To look at and understand about emotional health in particular feeling down and depression
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Understanding about money
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To understand and respect difference communities and different type of people – (eg disability, race, culture, gender)
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To understand about discrimination and the effect this can have on people.
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To look at topics that could affect students in the future
Within PSHE we have invited in organisations and individuals to talk about some of the topics. These have included:
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Chelsea’s choice
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Knife crime/crime stoppers
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The police
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GDASS
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Nick Gazzard from the Hollie Gazzard Trust
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Lloyds bank
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Careers advice
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Teenage Cancer Trust
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School Nurse/Sexual Health Nurse
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NCS
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Army/Marines
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Organ donation
We also have a visit to Gloucester Crown Court to see a morning’s session – this is for Y10 students and they get to see what happens in a court session. They also get to talk to the judge and ask questions about the law and about the cases that they had seen that morning.
The PSHE overview will give more details of what topic is taught within each year group and when.
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https://www.barnwood-park.gloucs.sch.uk/page/?title=PSHE&pid=67
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At Trinity Catholic College PSHE and Citizenship National Curriculum programmes of study is covered within the timetable allowance of 60 minutes per 3 week cycle, and a Focus Day in the first term. Form Tutors deliver the programme.
The programme is designed to not only increase the students understanding of the world around them on several different levels from the individual to the international world in which we belong. It is also designed to raise awareness and enjoyment of the PSHE and Citizenship curriculums with the students, parents and wider school community.
What is the difference between PSHE and Citizenship and why do we have to teach it?
Both PSHE and Citizenship are separate and distinct subjects on the National Curriculum. Each subject has their own set of skills, range of content and levels of attainment. Citizenship is a compulsory subject and PSHE although being a compulsory subject the National curriculum is a set of non-statutory guidelines, which allows schools to adapt the program to meet the needs of their students.
PSHE:
As part of the 2014 curriculum review the DfE decided that it was best to make PSHE is a non-statutory subject. This was to allow teachers the flexibility to deliver high-quality PSHE which met the needs of their students and school and therefore did not provide a new standardised frameworks or programmes of study. However, in order to support teachers, they provided grant money to the PSHE Association to develop guidance on developing a robust PSHE program which ensured quality teaching across all key stages. The PSHE Association split PSHE into three core themes: Health and Wellbeing, Relationships and Living in the Wider worlds.
Health and Wellbeing:
This core theme focuses on:
- How to manage transition
- How to maintain physical, mental and emotional health and wellbeing;
- How to make informed choices about health and wellbeing matters including drugs, alcohol and tobacco; maintaining a balanced diet; physical activity;
- Mental and emotional health and wellbeing; and sexual health
- About parenthood and the consequences of teenage pregnancy
- How to assess and manage risks to health; and to keep themselves and others safe
- How to identify and access help, advice and support
- How to respond in an emergency, including administering first aid
- The role and influence of the media on lifestyle
All sex and relationship education is taught within the guidelines of the Catholic Church.
Relationships:
This core theme focuses on:
- How to develop and maintain a variety of healthy relationships within a range of social/cultural contexts and to develop parenting skills
- How to recognise and manage emotions within a range of relationships
- How to deal with risky or negative relationships including all forms of bullying (including the distinct challenges posed by online bullying) and abuse, sexual and other violence and online encounters
- About the concept of consent in a variety of contexts (including in sexual relationships)
- About managing loss including bereavement, separation and divorce
- To respect equality and be a productive member of a diverse community
- How to identify and access appropriate advice and support.
All sex and relationship education is taught within the guidelines of the Catholic Church.
Living in the Wider World
This core theme focuses on:
- About rights and responsibilities as members of diverse communities, as active citizens and participants in the local and national economy
- How to make informed choices and be enterprising and ambitious
- How to develop employability, team working and leadership skills and develop flexibility and resilience
- About the economic and business environment
- How personal financial choices can affect oneself and others and about rights and responsibilities as consumers.
Each theme is also broken down into “Learning Opportunities” which enable schools to map their provision to ensure a balanced and varied curriculum which meets the needs of thestudents at the appropriate age.
Citizenship Education:
Citizenship Education has been a statutory subject for both key stage 3 and key stage 4 since 2002. The expectation is that Citizenship Education should be recording achievement along with all other foundation subjects in the national curriculum; for this to be achieved in an ideal world citizenship education would need to receive a minimum of 3% of the timetable time. However in reality Citizenship is often mapped through other subjects and taught alongside PSHE within a combined programme.
The purpose of citizenship education is to equip the next generation of voters with the knowledge and drive to create change in the world around them. Not only are they taught the factual knowledge that will help them to understand the way that the world around them works, but also provides them with the skills they will need to effect change in the world around them, whether this be at a local, national or international level.
Learning and undertaking activities in citizenship contributes to the achievement of all three of the curriculum aims for all young people to become successful learners, confident individuals and responsible citizens.
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https://trinity.npcat.org.uk/p-s-h-e-and-citizenship/
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Office hours: Monday - Friday 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Horario de atención: lunes a viernes de 7:30 a.m. a 4:30 p.m.
Academics
We pride ourselves on individualizing our curriculum for each student. We start with the Arizona College and Career Readiness Standards and adapt to meet the needs of each child.
We have a blended learning component that your student can work on at home built into every classroom! Here are the links to some of our blended learning partners. Please reach out to your child’s teacher to see exactly what programs their classrooms are using.
Math-
Reading-
Assessment Practice-
Sports
VCA is a competitive member of the Canyon Athletic Association (CAA) for Arizona Charter Schools.
We are currently offering the following sports for 5th-8th grade:
Boys Basketball
Girls Basketball
Boys Soccer
Girls Soccer
Girls Volleyball
Cheerleading
VCA also collaborates yearly with the YMCA to offer competitive and recreational sports for KG - 8th Grade.
If you have any questions about our sports teams please contact our Athletic Director, Martin Rodriguez
Social-Emotional Learning
What is SEL?
Social and emotional learning (SEL) is the process through which children and adults understand and manage emotions, set and achieve positive goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain positive relationships, and make responsible decisions.
CASEL’s Widely Used Framework Identifies Five Core Competencies
Self-awareness: The ability to accurately recognize one’s emotions and thoughts and their influence on behavior. This includes accurately assessing one’s strengths and limitations and possessing a well-grounded sense of confidence and optimism.
Self-management: The ability to regulate one’s emotions, thoughts, and behaviors effectively in different situations. This includes managing stress, controlling impulses, motivating oneself, and setting and working toward achieving personal and academic goals.
Social awareness: The ability to take the perspective of and empathize with others from diverse backgrounds and cultures, to understand social and ethical norms for behavior, and to recognize family, school, and community resources and supports.
Relationship skills: The ability to establish and maintain healthy and rewarding relationships with diverse individuals and groups. This includes communicating clearly, listening actively, cooperating, resisting inappropriate social pressure, negotiating conflict constructively, and seeking and offering help when needed.
Responsible decision-making: The ability to make constructive and respectful choices about personal behavior and social interactions based on consideration of ethical standards, safety concerns, social norms, the realistic evaluation of consequences of various actions, and the well-being of self and others.
For questions about our SEL program please contact [email protected]
In addition to following the CASEL FIVE framework, VCA also utilizes The"7 Mindsets" SEL curriculum focusing on awareness, positive outlook and growth mindset.
Character Education
VCA – Pillars of VICTORY – Character Education
Character education is the development of knowledge, skills, and abilities that encourage the students to make informed and responsible choices, and to think critically. Character Education is a key component of our school-wide “HEALTHY BODY, HEALTHY MIND, WHOLE CHILD” initiative. Our goal is for each student to reach their potential academically, while also preparing them to be a champion of character beyond the classroom and in their communities. It is through Character Education that our students will learn and display high character, utilizing skills that will lead them to success in all aspects of life.
Expectations and Goals for Character Education:
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Develop a caring school community that promotes and models our core values
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Develop teachers and staff with an understanding of their role as character educators and an understanding that character education will be integrated throughout the curriculum, extra-curricular activities, and social interactions among all members of our school and community.
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Develop students who will learn about, understand, practice, and model our core values and positive character traits
Pillars of VICTORY
AUGUST = Respect
Respecting yourself, others and their property. Respect the rules and expectations of your school, classroom and community.
SEPTEMBER = Responsibility:
Being accountable for your actions. Being a person others depend on or trust. Considering possible outcomes before you act. Set a good example for others.
OCTOBER = Integrity
VCA students will act with integrity by: knowing the importance of honesty; respecting themselves and others; taking responsibility and remaining focused.
NOVEMBER = Gratitude
Showing appreciation and care for the people and things surrounding them. Demonstrating polite, well-mannered behavior towards others.
DECEMBER = Compassion:
Trying your best to understand the needs and feelings of others; caring for others
JANUARY = Patience:
Staying calm, peaceful and focused on moving forward in times of difficulty.
FEBURAY = Self-Discipline:
Staying consistent with positive actions, habits and behaviors; making responsible choices.
MARCH = Perseverance:
Aiming to do your best in all that you do and have a NEVER QUIT attitude; staying dedicated towards your purpose or goals; seeking to learn and apply all that you can.
APRIL = Tolerance:
Recognizing and accepting others who are different in their race, culture, habits, and beliefs.
MAY = Courage:
Making good choices in the face of fear or obstacles; not allowing fear to hold us back from exploring new opportunities, developing our skills, and doing what is right.
Physical Education
Physical Education (PE) is often viewed as a marginal subject within the curriculum. And many secondary schools actively reduce PE time to make way for what are deemed more “serious” or “important” subjects.
At Victory Collegiate Academy, PE is still championed for its potential to promote health and encourage lifelong physical activity. This is an important issue given that over 30% of year six pupils are classed as “overweight” or “obese” according to the latest government figures.
PE is also praised for its contribution to improved psychological health, for helping to nurture social and moral development – as well as supporting cognitive and academic performance.
Technology
At Victory Collegiate Academy we believe that teaching students to use technology can provide students access to a myriad of careers and college opportunities. We pride ourselves in providing a 1:1 technology environment where all students have access to a Chromebook. Students use these devices to learn to type, engage with our blended learning curriculum and to conduct research for classroom projects.
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https://www.victorycollegiateacademy.com/whole-child-learning
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It is our intent for the Design and Technology element of our school curriculum to engage, inspire and challenge pupils, equipping them with the knowledge and skills to experiment, invent and create their own product designs to create solutions to problems whilst also exploring food choices and nutrition.
The purpose of DT education is to give pupils the skills, concepts and knowledge necessary for them to explore the world around them by using creativity and imagination to design and make products that solve real and relevant problems within a variety of contexts, considering their own and others’ needs, wants and values.
We believe DT is an inspiring, rigorous and practical subject that stimulates creativity and the child’s imagination whilst giving the child unique opportunities to develop intellectually, emotionally, physically and socially. Pupils learn how to take risks, becoming resourceful, innovative, enterprising and capable citizens. Through the evaluation of past and present design and technology, they develop a critical understanding of its impact on daily life and the wider world. Pupils acquire the ability to make informed, critical responses of their own work and that of others, including products that are vital to everyday living to those that are from other parts of the UK and from around the world.
As part of their work with food technology part of DT, pupils are taught how to cook and apply the principles of nutrition and healthy eating. Learning how to cook is a crucial life skill that enables pupils to feed themselves and others affordably and well, now and in later life as well as giving them the freedom to express themselves through the love of food.
IMPLEMENTATION
Design and Technology is taught as an individual subject as well as being incorporated into other curriculum lessons, as pupils acquire a broad range of subject knowledge and draw on disciplines such as mathematics, science, engineering, computing and art.
As a school we use the Design and Technology Association to support planning and resourcing for our curriculum.
Glenmead’s DT curriculum helps pupils to begin to make an essential contribution to the creativity, culture, wealth and well-being of Great Barr, Birmingham, the UK and beyond.
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https://www.glenmead.bham.sch.uk/curriculum/design-and-technology
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Our careers provision is designed to enable students to achieve their personal best. We equip students with the skills and knowledge that they need to make informed decisions at key points in their school lives and ultimately prepare them for the world of work. We encourage students to embrace all opportunities provided and empower them to fulfil their ambitions in whichever pathway they choose. For our policies relating to careers please click here.
Onslow St Audrey’s vision is to deliver a fit for purpose CEIAG programme which provides our students with the knowledge and inspiration to succeed in their chosen career paths. This programme is based on the CDI Framework for Careers, Enterprise and Employability (2018) and the DfE document “Careers Guidance and Inspiration in Schools” (January 2018). For our policies relating to careers please click here.
The CEIAG programme is reviewed and updated on an annual basis. The next review will take place in July 2019.
CEIAG is delivered across the school curriculum by Form Tutors, Subject Teachers, Directors of Learning and the Senior Management Team through a wide variety of activities and events. The Careers curriculum is mainly delivered through PSHE lessons and Form Registration, and is emphasised during National Careers Week and National Apprenticeships Week.
Mrs Manley, CEIAG Leader is available every Wednesday, Thursday and Friday in the Careers Office (upstairs in the Business & Enterprise Block) to discuss employment, decision making, career planning and support with CVs, interview advice and higher education. Mrs Manley can be contacted via the following email address [email protected]. Should any student or parent wish to make enquiries about careers information, guidance and support on an individual basis, please do not hesitate to contact her.
Our CEIAG Leader reports to the Senior Leadership Team on a half termly basis regarding the effectiveness and impact of different initiatives. We use the Gatsby Benchmarks to assess and improve our current CEIAG provision and evaluate using the online Compass tool. Our progress is reviewed regularly throughout the academic year to ensure that we meet all standards. We will monitor the impact of our action plan and the CEIAG we deliver mainly through feedback from students and staff. All activities will be reviewed to ensure all goals and aims are met. We will also work with parents, employers, the local community and stakeholders to ensure that students are able to make informed choices about their future.
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https://onslow.herts.sch.uk/careers-education-information-and-guidance/
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About Schools Transition
A NEW PROGRAMME has been created and designed to equip young people with the knowledge and tools, to enable them to gain more understanding make better choices, by providing knowledge and skills in order to thrive and develop throughout their educational and social lives. This Exclusive Programme is designed to engage all Year 6 young people and for those referred through Year 7 and will include the following one hour workshops:
1 x First Aid
1 x Healthy Lifestyles
1 x Resilience
1 x Mental Health & Well-Being
Capabilities Sessions: Classroom/Practical based workshops, offering young people the skills and knowledge needed to thrive in the future both within their educational and social lives. Workshops are designed around the capabilities provided by The Young’s Foundation – a Framework of Outcomes for Young People, including: Communication, Confidence, Resilience & Determination, Relationship & Leadership, Managing Feelings, Creativity and Planning & Problem Solving.
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http://thewayzyouth.co.uk/whats-on/clubs/bracknell/schools-transition
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A plan for students in despair
Students in schools today exhibit extreme behaviors.
They disrupt classes with outbursts, entertain suicidal thoughts, take risks and often deal with mental health issues.
In order to address this growing concern, Crook County School District Superintendent Sara Johnson created the Secure and Healthy Learners Committee mid-year.
"When we first started moving in this direction, the district really wanted to see a system approach, not just put some funding here, put some funding there, but they really wanted to see that people had studied it," Johnson said.
The committee's charge, then, was to review what the district currently offers and make some recommendations to the board.
Last week, Director of School Improvement Joel Hoff informed school board members of the committee's progress and plan of action.
Comprised of school district directors and administrators, the committee looked into the building security piece as well as the social and emotional learning aspect.
Hoff informed the board of the latter.
A catch-phrase in the academic world today is social and emotional learning, defined as how children and adults learn to understand and manage emotions, set goals, show empathy for others, establish positive relationships, and make responsible decisions.
First, the committee conducted a district's needs assessment with guidance from Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional Learning. The organization helps equip educators and policymakers with resources to advance social and emotional learning.
They then came up with a list of problems that needed to be solved.
"We came to discover that there is a dramatic increase in the amount of student nonacademic needs in our schools," Hoff said. "We're seeing a severe spike in mental health and other needs that are non-academic related, and we're trying to piece together how we as a district address those needs."
At the elementary level, for example, there is an increase in students exhibiting extreme behaviors that take away from classroom learning.
"We're seeing a spike in student outbursts," Hoff said.
At the secondary level, counselors are seeing an increase in student despair — students who are struggling mentally and emotionally — and an increase in student mental health issues.
"There's an increase in suicide ideations, extreme at-risk behaviors, and simply not enough adults in our system to meet those mental, social, emotional needs," Hoff reported.
"We're seeing that the nationwide increase in school violence comes internally, so it's something we want to have our arms around and be able to support our students the best we can," he added.
For the final problem, the committee realized there was no overall framework of current supports.
"We hadn't looked at all of our services and put them in a way that our staff and students could use efficiently," he said.
An early task involved counselors, administrators and a few teachers coming together to identify all resources, programs, activities and services that the district already has in place to support secure and healthy learners.
They created a three-tier chart, including things like wellness rooms, the anonymous text line, Kelso's Choices, Lutheran Community Services Northwest and alternative education.
Next, committee members analyzed the currently offered supports in terms of people, time, money, the level of implementation, the impact on secure and healthy learners, whether or not it was under-resourced, and the current need.
"It's a broad assessment of our current offerings so we can identify gaps, effective practices, non-effective practices, where we are spending our money so we can determine next steps to come up with some recommendations," Hoff explained.
The committee then came up with a handful of recommendations.
First, they want to fully utilize the supports and services that they currently have in place. This may include retraining staff, re-installing the Positive Behavior Intervention and Support program at each school, and training staff on the multi-tiered systems of support.
Secondly, the committee had some personnel recommendations. This includes expanding the system-level support personnel at Crook County Middle School by maintaining a counselor and adding time to the student success position. They also suggest having a financial plan for maintaining current counseling levels and coaching elementary teachers regarding students with extreme social and emotional needs.
Thirdly, the committee wants social and emotional skills and strategies taught to all students. The CharacterStrong program has launched for secondary students, and they are looking into curriculum for elementary students.
Finally, they want to clarify and increase behavior supports at the elementary level and align teacher skills to current student needs.
"Our action is to continue to monitor our secure and healthy learners system in order to identify those practices that are effective and those practices that are non-effective and determine our gaps," Hoff said.
Johnson said the secure and healthy learners initiative is not a fragmented approach.
"It's a system approach. All needs have been looked at and considered, and there's something in place to address all the needs," she said.
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https://pamplinmedia.com/ceo/162-news/429275-336378-a-plan-for-students-in-despair
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WASHINGTON, Oct. 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Eighteen months into the global pandemic, a majority of U.S. K-12 teachers (77%) report they are vaccinated and back in the classroom. But the challenges loom large: students' mental health is the top concern for teachers as the new school year begins, according to a survey of educators conducted by SMART Technologies – the global education technology company with a 30-year track record of pioneering learning solutions that encourage student collaboration and engagement. Go straight to the release here.
Students' Mental Health Ranks Top Concern for Teachers Returning to the Classroom; But Teachers Note Connections with Families Have Improved During Pandemic
In a new survey of U.S. teachers fielded by SMART Technologies, educators are focused on students' well-being and building strong connections to set them up for success in the school year ahead.
The findings reflect research published this year in the Journal of the American Medical Association, which found that the incidence of depression and anxiety symptoms in children and adolescents has doubled during COVID-19, compared with pre-pandemic estimates. Only half of survey respondents felt their school has the resources to meet the social-emotional and well-being needs of students returning to the classroom.
"I think it [the pandemic] has shown how detrimental not having those connections can be," said one eighth-grade teacher in Oregon, responding in open comments in the survey. "You don't realize how crucial the connection is until you don't have it anymore."
While 38 percent of teachers said social isolation arising from remote learning was their top concern for students' well-being amidst the pandemic, nearly half of respondents (46%) said the pandemic improved their connections with families. With an eye forward as teachers settle into the new school year, 32% of teachers said they are placing a greater emphasis on building stronger connections between learning at home and the classroom, as a result of the pandemic.
"While the COVID-19 pandemic and other global issues continue to be of concern, perhaps a bright spot is a deeper appreciation for the critical role meaningful connections play in learning. As we've seen in the survey and through our work with millions of teachers across the globe, teachers are returning to the classroom with a greater emphasis on building strong relationships with students and engaging families in the learning experience," said Giancarlo Brotto, global education advisor at SMART.
"And, with the increased familiarity and exposure to various technologies, there's an opportunity to provide teachers with specific resources and tools that will help them strengthen relationships, address learning loss, and attend to the mental health and wellbeing of their students"
"The pandemic has taught me that even through a screen, you can connect with your students and have them connect with each other as well," said one third-grade teacher from New Jersey. "It just takes a bit more effort."
The SMART survey, administered this summer, included 1,033 respondents from public, private and charter schools of all sizes — in cities, towns, suburbs and rural communities. Additional key findings include:
- One in four teachers (26%) said that engaging parents to promote literacy and math at home was the most effective way to address learning losses. The same number (26%) believe targeted tutoring programs are the best method to address learning loss. Half (51%) of teachers believe that the majority of their students lost academic skills and knowledge during the pandemic.
- More than three out of five (61%) teachers said that remote instruction was somewhat or very effective in meeting the social-emotional needs of students. First- (68%) and second-grade (72%) teachers were more likely to indicate that was the case, as were teachers at suburban schools (65%).
- Forty percent of teachers said they were now using digital apps and technology in their classroom as a result of the pandemic.
- While most teachers (77%) reported having the professional learning and training needed to integrate technology in their teaching effectively, nearly 80% said they want to have a say or more of a say in the technologies and apps their schools and districts buy.
"At SMART, we're taking our supporting role seriously. If we can be the connector between teachers and peers across the globe to surface new insights, instigate new engaging lessons and activities teachers can use to support students' mental health, and also support administrators by providing them tools to assess their technology adoptions, then we have done our job," continued Brotto.
As part of SMART's suite of tools and products designed to help teachers and school leaders navigate the pandemic, SMART recently collaborated with GLUU, a UK mental health education organization, to create a series of free, mental wellbeing activities that teachers can integrate into their lessons.
Using the SMART Lumio platform, teachers can create interactive lessons that foster critical thinking and promote strong mental health. In addition, SMART's Funterra for grades K-6 is an online destination filled with engaging and fun games, videos, and activities designed to inspire curious minds and develop skills for life-long learning, including creativity, resourcefulness, perseverance, grit, and empathy.
"American teachers are not alone in their concern for the well-being of their students. Across the world, educators are recognizing that mental health as well as social and emotional learning must go hand in hand with academic learning as students return to the classroom," said Christine Major, CEO at GLUU. "Informed by findings like these, we have chosen to collaborate with SMART, one of the most trusted education brands globally, to get resources in the hands of teachers that can enable them to meet these concerns."
About SMART Technologies Inc.
SMART is a world leader in education technology, providing interactive solutions to help every person discover and develop the greatness within them. A consistent innovator for over 30 years, SMART is the inventor of the SMART Board® and the developer of SMART Notebook®, the world's most popular collaborative learning software and part of the award-winning SMART Learning Suite. With their full range of interconnected displays, software, and accessories, used by millions in education and business, SMART helps students, colleagues, and teams around the world create connections that matter. To learn more, visit smarttech.com.
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https://edblog.smarttech.com/students-mental-health-ranks-top-concern-for-teachers-returning-to-the-classroom
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A Semester of Improvisation
As we waited in the Mayor’s Reception Room for our guests to arrive for the #VoteThatJawn celebration, Philadelphia’s Clef Club Junior Jazz ensemble played a bouncy, traditional jazz tune, reminiscent of the swing era. The ensemble of three included two high school freshmen: Nicole Ware and Justin Griggs. Led by the steady notes of the bass played by their instructor, Richard Hill, the young musicians’ improvisation filled the room. Nicole’s black dress was peppered with large music notes and treble clefs. She sat behind a cobalt blue drum set, energetically hitting the hi-hat. Justin sat nearby, behind a keyboard, adding melody to the sound. Hill, a middle aged man with tall burnt-orange hair, stood between the two with his bass, shifting his eyes from Nicole to Justin and back again. The three played in unison, with a subtle spotlight alternating between Nicole and Justin as their improvisation broke from the background.
As his students took turns soloing, Hill offered them a small nod of encouragement. I played electric guitar in my high school’s jazz band, so the Clef Club’s lively, unpredictable sounds were familiar. They made me remember the music and my bandmates: the sounds of our seven instrument cases unlocking, music sheets opening, chairs adjusting, and the faces and instruments of my bandmates as I watched them improvise one by one. I found myself moving briskly, my head bouncing up and down, my shoulders dipping from side to side, fingers snapping. It was the day after the midterm elections, and we had lots to celebrate. #VoteThatJawn’s mission was accomplished — we’d shared information among groups who had registered new voters and gotten them to the polls the day before.
Witnessing this interaction was a moment of clarity for me. I realized that Clef Club’s Junior Jazz ensemble’s mission was no different from the youth-oriented missions of SafeKidsStories and #VoteThatJawn: to amplify youth voice. Here we were, students in a Creative Non-Fiction course, dancing to the sound of our mission, to the expression of young, inventive minds. What I hadn’t realized until this point: we college students are young people too; our voices were also amplified through #VoteThatJawn and through Lorene Cary’s guidance, a guidance similar to what Hill offered Nicole and Justin, a guidance under which we were safe and encouraged to improvise.
Just as the guitar, piano, bass and drums provide a flexible structure on which jazz soloists can venture in various directions, #VoteThatJawn and our three-hour-a-week class allowed for improvisation. Over the past several months, Ms. Cary provided a steady network of support from which she encouraged us students and the other young people behind #VoteThatJawn to shape the initiative, to change its course depending on the morning news, on the mood of the afternoon, or on whatever we, the young people that this initiative targets, believed needed attention. As an engineering student, I spend plenty of time working on projects, but never without a concrete plan, a timeline of project milestones, a list of resources needed, and a known project architecture. In my engineering courses, I am encouraged to create only after careful thought and analysis; engineers are responsible for preventing faults and failures.
The flexibility that I have felt this semester through #VoteThatJawn and through Ms. Cary’s guidance stands in refreshing contrast.
But flexibility doesn’t mean sloppiness. Being allowed and encouraged to improvise in this project reminded me of what I once knew in high school: great improvisation looks easy and natural, but improvisation is difficult and often uncomfortable to learn. To improvise, you must first master many scales, be comfortable switching back and forth between them, and know how different combinations of notes sound together. You must also know how to diverge from these scales and deviate from the beat while still maintaining some level of consistency. Then to think on your feet, you must be willing to make mistakes, and you must be okay performing a piece that has never before been practiced or performed. In this sense, #VoteThatJawn challenged us students and the other young people backing the initiative; #VoteThatJawn asked young people, like the musicians of any good jazz ensemble, to improvise, to support one another as teammates, to realize and act upon our individual ability to shape a larger group, and to give each young voice the amplification that it deserves.
Elena Tomlinson is a senior at the University of Pennsylvania studying Computer Science in the School of Engineering and Applied Science. Her greatest passion is empowering younger students with technical skills and confidence. She organizes Tech it Out Philly, a free program that teaches Philadelphia high schoolers web development and social activism.
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https://www.votethatjawn.com/post/2019/02/05/a-semester-of-improvisation
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Ximena Sariñana is Anything But ‘Mediocre’
As a precursor of what is destined to generate heat in the music business, there are few barometers more prescient than a coup at Austin’s SXSW. Ximena Sariñana was this year’s buzz act: Nominated for two Latin Grammys as well as Latin Rock/Alternative Album of the Year at the 2009 Latin Billboard Awards, with her debut solo CD, Mediocre, the 23 year-old singer/songwriter is expanding her audience far beyond the borders of her native Mexico.
The Guadalajara-born daughter of film director Fernando Sariñana and screenwriter Carolina Rivera, Sariñana, who grew up in Mexico and Los Angeles, made her first appearance in front of the camera at age four in her father’s student film project at UCLA. As a teenager, a series of telenovelas established her as a regular on Mexican television. At 17, she composed three songs for the soundtrack of the film Amar Te Duele before joining the funk/jazz/pop/rock band Feliz No Cumpleaños. At 21, she began her career as a solo artist.
Influenced by singer/songwriters including Tracy Chapman and Paul Simon — the music her parents listened to — Sariñana began writing songs. At first, her lyrics were in English, but because her previous bandmates didn’t all speak the language, she shifted to Spanish. “I discovered that Spanish is a very rich language, so beautiful sounding,” she confirms.
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https://www.bmi.com/news/entry/ximena_sarinana_is_anything_but_mediocre
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Stephany Tiernan Composer, pianist, author, teacher, educational leader and Steinway Artist, has been active in the presentation of new music since the ‘70s. She is Chair Emerita of the Piano Department and a Professor at Berklee College of Music. She has been teaching composition, analysis and piano for over 40 years and has influenced many of the successful composers and pianists of today. She is the author of a book/video on Contemporary Piano Technique, published by Berklee Press/Hal Leonard called Contemporary Technique : Coordinating Breathe, Movement and Sound, developed by Stephany as a continuation of the groundbreaking work of Mme. Margaret Chaloff. This approach to piano technique has been used by thousands of pianists worldwide.
She has performed much of the world’s greatest contemporary piano literature in many of its’ prestigious halls. Performances have included music by Charles Ives, John Cage, Henry Cowell and many others. She has performed and recorded much of her own piano music and her works are often inspired by her interest and studies in Irish culture and language. She has used visual imagery, poetry, ancient sean-nós singing, celtic symbols, festivals, holy places, etc. for her inspiration and has created pieces that connect her to her Irish roots. Her piano compositions, including a piano quintet, are featured on her CD, 'Hauntings:Scream of Consciousness'.
Dedicated to the art of improvisation, her collaborations with internationally acclaimed jazz pianist, JoAnne Brackeen, resulted in their widely acclaimed piano duet recording called 'Which is Which', which eliminates the boundaries between classical and jazz piano playing.
Background and inspiration
I grew up in the Boston suburbs in a very musical and artistic family with 4 siblings, all close in age. Everyone either sang, played an instrument, painted, sketched, sculpted or danced. There was an excess of passion and volatility that often comes with creativity, but, nevertheless, we had an ordered and ideal childhood in many ways, including a disciplined catholic education that was administered by the notoriously strict Sisters of Notre Dame. My father had the most significant musical influence on my life and he was a serious piano lover. Although he played popular tunes on the piano and sang harmony parts with my mother while they played in the evenings, his true passion was listening to me play and encouraging my musical development. I adored him and first enjoyed piano playing because it gave him so much pleasure and it came easily. I really had wanted to be a dancer. I performed in all the local community shows from age 3-7. I loved dancing, ballet, tap, acrobatics, with a passion, but a childhood illness forced me to sit at the piano and limit my dancing to the keys.
So my father took me to Constance Sylvester, my childhood piano teacher, and I happily practiced piano for the next 7 years until my father passed away and I lost my incentive to practice. At 12 years old, I was hired by Virginia Williams, the legendary founder and director of the Boston Ballet, to play for the classes in her school. Since I had a lot of dancing experience and could read anything she put in front of me, I had quite a bit of work for a few years. Later, I found more work in vocal accompanying. I was hired by the famous vocal coach, David McClosky, in downtown Boston where I worked for a while with many well known opera stars. Although, eventually, I lost interest in all the dance and vocal accompanying and took a few years vacation from playing piano to figure out how music would fit into my life!
And I did! I discovered Berklee and jazz and began my studies there in 1970, the year after my son was born. I loved jazz and was very influenced by the teachers I studied with while I was there, particularly Herb Pomeroy. But the teacher that influenced me the most was the beloved Madame Chaloff who was an independent piano teacher in Boston, mother and teacher of the legendary baritone saxophone player, Serge Chaloff and teacher of many of the legendary pianists of today! She helped rekindle my passion for music and taught me an amazing piano technique that has served as the foundation for what I teach today and for the book/video I wrote that was published by Berklee/Hal Leonard called 'Contemporary Piano Technique: coordinating breath, movement and sound'.
Musical elements: Playing the piano, versus playing on piano
The piano needs to be an extension of yourself. It must become your voice in order for you to make it sing. It should feel like the music comes from deep inside you. Not just from your head and your heart, but from your toes to the top of your head. In order to connect to the intuitive, artistic, spiritual side of your musical nature, you must learn to breathe out the music as naturally as when you speak. Every sound, inflection, dynamic, articulation, etc. is a musical manifestation of what you feel and anything that gets in the way of that, needs to be eliminated. All extra physical motions and affectations only detract from that musical expression. The only reason we need to talk about piano technique is because the music is not coming out the way we hear it and feel it. By focusing our awareness on the breath, we become more aware of what a rich and vital source of energy is always available to us and how to channel that energy through the physical movements that are necessary to make the sounds we hear. It also gets you in touch with how you feel. Then you can make the piano sing!
About your compositions Ostara and Dryadic Harmony
Much of my music has been influenced by my study of Irish language and culture. Some of the pieces have literal musical references to Gaelic songs or instrumental music, while other’s are more influenced by Celtic symbols, festivals or places. Other pieces have been influenced by certain timbrel aspects of Irish music such as the drone, while others are written to celebrate certain festivals of the ancient Celtic calendar. My piano piece called Ostara was written in 1996 to celebrate the vernal equinox, the first day of Spring. Ostara is a Celtic word for this day and this piece is one of 8 pieces written to celebrate each of the festivals of the ancient Celtic calendar.
Ostara is from these 'sun cycles' and is a musical representation of Spring. It takes countless musical, melodic fragments and spins them into a fluid fabric of pianism. The effect is of a steady stream of spiraling, energetic impressions. The piece is very pianistic, with a steady pulse and a great harmonic richness. It is a lot of fun to play, although is a bit difficult. In Ostara, I chose the simplest idea to be the seed for all of the melodic and harmonic fragments, much like a tiny side ready to sprout and burst out into a complex plant, bush, flower or tree. All the ideas are inside this seed just waiting to burst out and awaken to the warmth and light of Spring. It is just a half step and a minor third that creates everything.
Dryadic Harmony, a piano peace that is part of the 'Sun Cycles', was also written in 1996 and is a celebration of the ancient Celtic New year of Samhain (pronounced Sowen) on October 31st. It is also known as Ancestor Night or Feast of the Dead. On Samhain the veil between the worlds of spirit and matter is lifted and it is possible to hear or see a particular type of Celtic spirit, the fairies. Dryads are tree spirits or tree ladies. The are enchanting wisps of pure light, sometimes gently colored and are capricious and open to human contact. They make beautiful music with their voices, sounds which are very compelling to humans. Their songs and appearance subtly alter as they flit from tree to tree. This piece is dedicated to my sister, June Black, who was born on Halloween and is definitely a witch! A good one, of course, and a great astrologist and psychic.
There are little snippets of Irish tunes that represent the tree spirits as they flit from branch to branch and colors and textures that allow the spirits to appear and disappear at will. The sostenuto pedal is very important in this piece and is like the veil that can be lifted to hear the sound of the spirits.
Your vision on Education
It is my belief that if one is lucky enough to have the resources and time to commit to the study of music, whether it be at a school or with a private mentor or instructor, they should plummet the depths of all that is known about the subject. Dig deep and question everything. Don’t be satisfied with just learning the materials of music such as harmony, counterpoint, analysis, ear-training or history. Explore everything you have learned until all the pieces come together from having been absorbed in every pore of your body, until the subjects themselves disappear and become one thing.. music that is directly connected to your body and soul. I know that sounds lofty, but for me, music has always had a deep spiritual connection to my life and moves me in ways that language, images or other art forms do not. It has an immediacy and directness that places me in the present, the best place to be! It is also my belief that if one is lucky enough to find work as a teacher of music, they have been given an extraordinary responsibility in the shaping of a student’s relationship with music in their life. They can have a huge impact on how a student develops their gifts and must reflect carefully on every word, assignment or attitude about the world and music’s place in it.
It is a learning experience that never stops as we try new ways to inspire, encourage and deliver concrete techniques and advice with every assignment. But most importantly, we need to teach the student to teach themselves, to question the purpose of everything and to trust the beauty and gift that they have so that they are able to pursue their goal with a strong sense of purpose and determination to learn their craft the best that they can in order to serve the higher goal of musical expression.
Spiritual implication on teaching and composing music
The teacher learns from the student as each student bring new challenges. One needs to be in love with music and have a fierce desire to share that passion with a student, otherwise, teaching is too taxing and exhausting! But, even more, one has to really care about the student and their progress and be thoughtful and often courageous in telling them what they need to know about that progress and how to overcome the obstacles that are keeping them from doing their best. In other words, one has to have conviction born of serious reflection about what is right for the student. This is what brings it into the spiritual dimension.
Love of music and learning and sharing and guiding the student to experience the same dedication and passion you have for music.
Current and future projects
I am presently writing additional piano etudes (There are 9 right now) for my collection of etudes called Dynamic Etudes. They are sort of like sound choreography’s written to draw out the performer’s ability to use the piano in the most pianist and expressive way using a contemporary music language. Chopin has had a lot of influence on me, both musically and pianistically, and I am writing music that, although a little technically challenging, is a pleasure to play. Something that uses all the built in expressive devices to play music that connects to the soul, to the heart and to the mind. I am also working on an opera, but not ready to talk much about it. I am hoping that the Met performs it someday and I think it is quite unique. Maybe a secret, even. Don’t want to give away to much about it yet!
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https://moiralobianco.com/blog/vb97o1p0mpkkdz7glgqeyhh2vco2qo2018
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John Gray was born in 1987 in Phoenix, Arizona. John started playing bass when he was 10, and began playing local professional gigs in Phoenix at age 13.
In 2005, John moved to New York City, and attended Manhattan School of Music to study jazz bass. He learned a lot about jazz from Richard Sussman, Garry Dial, Larry Ridley, and Jeremy Manasia, but ultimately John wanted to seek out and play great music regardless of style. After graduation, John sought out rock and folk music at places like Bar 4 and Rockwood Music Hall, and continued playing jazz at places like Smalls and Fat Cat. He developed his sound playing at these places and met his future bandmates there as well.
John’s main artistic project, The Jazz Thieves, has played extensively at NYC venues such as Cafe Vivaldi, Rockwood Music Hall, The Bonnie, and the Bowery Electric. They can often be found headlining Saturday night bills at The Way Station in Brooklyn. Their first self-titled album was signed to Fervor Records under the name “The John Gray Band”. Their most recent release "Brooklyn Elegy" was a 4 star track of the day on AllAboutJazz.com, was featured in the Spring 2017 issue of JAZZIZ Magazine, and received international radio airplay and critical acclaim.
John also plays in many other projects outside of The Jazz Thieves. John has played jazz with jazz masters James Moody, John McNeil, and Wayne Bergeron. He has also played with Jason Trachtenburg (of the Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players) and Tim Cronin (of Camera Obscura/Freelance Whales/Los Campesinos) in his band Floating Compass. He is currently a member of Astoria folk favorite Single Girl, Married Girl, the Marvin Dolly Trio, and Lorens Chuno's Naija Rhythm Affair band. John also is the bandleader of the top 40 band, The Brooklyn Hits.
John is available for hire as a bassist for all occasions, and offers additional musical services. Please visit the other pages for demonstrations of John’s musical skills and services.
John also has a passion for education. John has taught piano, guitar, ukelele, and upright/electric bass privately, as well as in schools throughout the Tri-state area. John also specializes in working with homeschooled students, and teaches ensemble classes catered to their needs.
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https://www.johngrayjazz.com/biography
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About 200 students at Jean Childs Young Middle School received an unexpected but interesting history lesson on Wednesday, through the use of music.
The Atlanta Blues Society’s “Blues in the Schools” program paid a visit to the southwest Atlanta school, and provided students with some historical perspective on how blues music influences many of today’s popular artists in R&B and hip hop.
“If you ask an artist today who he or she was influenced by, and then ask that artist who influenced them, and follow that trail back 100 years, eventually you will end up in the Mississippi Delta where the blues was born,” said Rich L’Hommedieu, a musician and Atlanta Blues Society member.
For example, many students said their favorite artist today is rapper Kodak Black. He says he was influenced by, among many others, Notorious B.I.G., who lists Public Enemy as an influence on him. Public Enemy has said jazz trumpeter Miles Davis influenced them, while Davis said he was influenced by Louis Armstrong, who said Jelly Roll Morton – credited with creating the jazz blues genre – influenced him.
“We thought the kids deserve to be cultured in different aspects of music, especially one that is a piece of their heritage,” said Abraham Anthony, music coordinator at Young Middle. “[Blues in the Schools] contacted us at the beginning of the school year, and when we looked into what they offer, we thought this would be a great way to introduce our students to a historical genre of music that is different from what they normally listen to.”
And the students appeared to enjoy both the history lesson and the music, as they clapped and nodded their heads to a few songs performed live on stage by a band led by singer and harmonica player Carlos Capote.
When one student asked him if the band would record a ring tone for him to use, Capote said, “We would be glad to. And if you record a ringtone to one of our songs, I’ll call you every day!”
NOTE: The “Blues in the Schools” visit to Young Middle will be featured on an upcoming segment on WSB-TV.
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https://talkupaps.com/2017/09/21/young-middle-school-students-learn-about-the-blues/
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Boston-based quintet Cordelia crafts a patchwork quilt of heartfelt, emotionally-poignant, indie folk inflected with tinges of jazz, psychedelia, and global, multilingual music.
Formed in 2019 by singer-songwriter Mariam Dahbi, Cordelia have molded their sound through a focus on warm-hued expressionistic orchestration, knotty songcraft, and an improvisational ethos.
Our music and lyrics focus on claims for independence, the trials of love and relationships, and the constant self-experimentation that goes into emergent identity.
Influenced in equal parts by Norah Jones, Brandi Carlile, Cocteau Twins, and Bill Frisell, Cordelia occupies a unique space in New England’s musical landscape, equally at home at jazz clubs, folk open mics, and rock bills. Cordelia have performed at Club Passim, the Lizard Lounge, the Plough and Stars, and the Lilypad.
Mariam is a Moroccan singer, songwriter, scholar, and educator with a PhD in Education and a lifelong passion for human connection and healing through Music.
Since 2015, she’s spent her years as a Harvard graduate student developing her songwriting craft and performing at local venues in the Greater Boston Area.
Boston-based upright and electric bassist, Bob Abruzese, has been a fixture on the Boston music circuit since the 90's. He enjoys playing many styles of music and brings a tasteful mix of rock, jazz, blues, folk, soul and funk to his playing. An alumnus of Berklee College of Music,
Bob has studied privately with Bruce Gertz, Ed Friedland and others. He has had the opportunity to perform with countless talents, including Shirley Lewis, Boston Baked Blues, Amyl Justin, Jason Ricci, Jerry Portnoy, Kenwood Dennard, Herman Johnson, Portrait in Jazz, and many more. Bob has toured throughout the country and Europe playing in clubs and festivals.
Grant Smith studied drumset with Alan Dawson, Arabic drums with Jamie Haddad, tabla with Shashi Nayak, and Afro-Cuban percussion with Enrique Pla. The Boston Globe calls him a "brilliant improviser." The Boston Phoenix has noted his topflight "cross-genre " abilities. Ilene notes his sunny disposition. Grant has toured extensively, including Thailand, Australia, and both Europes. A member of the Klezmer Conservatory Band, he is also a part of many world music, jazz, classical, orthodox, deconstructed, and both free projects. Theatre and dance credits include the American Repertory Theater's production of "The King Stag," featuring a solo multi-percussion score (with staging and costumes by Julie Taymore) and movement works with Shakti Smith, Jane Wang, and Anika Tromboldt Kristensen as well as his own choreography known as hogginsho.
Despite such high profile gigs as tympani with Itzhak Perlman, borscht drums with Joel Grey, and tabla with the Violent Femmes, Grant still insists that his biggest gig was the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade with Kermit the Frog and Big Bird.
Jack is a multi-instrumentalist who has been writing and performing in Boston for the past 4 years.
He has toured numerous times across the Northeast and Midwest, playing in cities such as Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Asheville, Washington DC, and many others.
He enjoys playing a variety of genres, from jazz to folk to indie rock, and has a deep passion for all things music.
Jack received a Bachelors of Arts in Music and Physics from Wesleyan University, and is currently pursuing a Masters in Music Education at Columbia University.
Jacob Sunshine is the band's electric guitarist, and he loves adding vibe, texture, and melodic embellishment to Mariam's beautiful songs. Though influenced early on by blues, rock, and jazz virtuosos like John Frusciante, Jimi Hendrix, and Grant Green, at a certain point, Jacob became a devotee and student of the sonic, percussive, and expressive possibilities of the electric guitar. These days you're more likely to hear Jacob contributing ragged raw glory and throbbing baritone bombs to a track, creating airy loops and tremolo-drenched chords, or playing singing contrapuntal lines. In past years, Jacob's played in experimental indie rock, Neo-Soul, Americana, Ghanaian Highlife, and Metal bands at venues and festivals like the Winter Jazzfest, Montreal Jazz Festival, The Blue Note, National Sawdust, and NPR's The Greene Space.
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https://cordeliaband.com/who-we-are
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Leith O’Malley is a South Australian Visual Artist.
His youthful passion for making art and drawing in particular, was influenced by the illustrative style and cartoons of Mad Magazine, Australian newspaper cartoonists Paul Rigby, Michael Leunig, Bill Leak and the illustrations of Rick Griffin, Robert Crumb, Goya and Shaun Tan.
He has maintained a very active studio practice, presenting solo exhibitions and participating in group shows within Australia and America.
O’Malley’s practice includes working in a diversity of pictorial media (drawing, oil, acrylic, pastel and mixed media) as well as digital design, graphic design, photography and short video editing.
There is a close nexus between Leiths studio work and the many commissions he has undertaken for corporate and publishing clients in Australia, Europe, and America. A life-long love of music, particularly jazz, and blues has led to prestigious graphic art commissions for music festivals, in Australia, Russia and America along with CD/poster designs and magazine art.
Leith is also an Illustrator for popular Australian roots music magazine "Rhythms".
Leith O'Malley is represented by the following galleries:
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https://bluethumb.com.au/leithomalley
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Quinn Ramsey is currently studying Classical Percussion at The Queensland Conservatorium of Music. He has had experience playing numerous styles as a drummer and percussionist. This includes completing his 8th Grade Drumkit, drumming for a professional production of A Chorus Line, as well as playing in cover bands, orchestras and jazz bands. He has taught privately and worked at a Montessori school in their Performing Arts program. He is an incredibly positive and encouraging teacher who loves to see students enjoying drums and music in general.
Voice Teacher
ELLIE FITZGERALD
Ellie has had an interest in singing from a young age, she started voice lessons at All Hallows in year
6 and carried them all the way through to year 12 with Stephanie Taylor. She was a part of choirs
and chorales all through school and held many solo performances, and in year 12 was assistant
director to the junior choir and assisted the director of the senior choir. She competed every year in
the school’s arts festival in solos and group singing acts. When she was 13, she grew an interest for
musical theatre and joined Harvest Rain theatre company. With Harvest Rain she took part in many
productions and played many roles including Glinda in wicked, Jenna in The Waitress, Diana in A
Chorus Line and Meg in Hercules, along with many other minor lead roles as one of the Gagas in We
Will Rock you and a featured dancer and singer in Chicago, Anastasia and Joseph and the Amazing
Technicolour Dreamcoat. She aims to encourage her students to achieve any goal they may have and
to help them to be able to perform with confidence.
Voice Teacher
MELISSA CLARKE
Melissa has always had a passion for music and has had vocal training since the age of 8. She is currently in her 2nd year of studying a bachelor of Jazz Voice at the Queensland Conservatorium, where she is under the tutelage of Kristin Berardi and Dave Spicer. Melissa has had some classical training, but most of her experience lies in contemporary voice – ranging through Jazz, Pop and Musical Theatre. She has been gigging around Brisbane since the age of 16, performing original music, pop covers and jazz. Growing up she was in specialist vocal groups with the Australian Girls Choir, and has lots of experience as a backing vocalist, performing at venues such as Suncorp Stadium, QPAC and the Brisbane Powerhouse. Melissa is also passionate about song-writing and helping people develop this skill. She has had the opportunity to play her original music on ABC radio and is continuing to develop her original material which she is keen to release. Melissa loves guiding others through their musical journey and aims to pass on her passion for the voice and music to her students.
Voice Teacher
ZACK KELEHER
Zackary Keleher has been enthusiastic about music since the age of 7. As he has grown up, he has experienced many different facets and genres of music, leading to his love for Jazz. He has worked hard over the past two years to secure his enrolment in the Bachelor of Music Performance Course, in Jazz Piano at Griffith University Queensland Conservatorium. Within that time, he was awarded the role of Music Captain at St Pauls, High Distinction in Grade 8 AMEB Piano for Leisure, received Academic Gold in both Music and Music Extension and the Most Outstanding Contribution to music award. He took part in multiple school ensembles such as Big Band, Wind Ensemble, Symphony Orchestra, Audition Choir, Combined Choir and Percussion Ensemble, on Piano, Voice or Mallet Percussion. Outside of school, he was lead vocal for the Talkin' Jazz Big Band of 2018 and took part in their second workshop program, which provided him with the opportunity to learn with many of Brisbane's best Jazz musicians, culminating in a concert for the esteemed Brisbane Jazz Club. Zackary has a deep passion for music and has plans to become a working musician through finishing his degree and expanding his skills in performing, composing and teaching. He is a very attentive player, always listening and trying to reflect and become better. Zack hopes that with his teaching he can share his passion for Jazz Piano and also grow to become a more rounded musician himself.
Voice Teacher
SKY KIM
Sky has been studying voice for the past 4 years and in that time, she has gained a lot of experience in performing on stage for recitals and group performances, such as choral ensembles, musical theatre and opera. Sky has completed her studies in vocal pedagogy and is very experienced in teaching voice. She is currently a student at the Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University studying Classical Voice, and aims to inspire her students to reach their full potential.
Voice Teacher
TEAL REES
Teal has been singing for ten years, and teaching voice for five. She completed grade 8 in classical voice through AMEB, and received 100% on all performances during her HSC in 2017, as well as an Encore nomination. Teal has experience performing in and teaching jazz, musical theatre, and classical voice, as well as performance and audition coaching. She was selected to partake in several audition-based music camps throughout her schooling, including the nationwide Solo Vocal Camp. Teal fronted the Bellingen High School jazz band, and won the NSW Battle of the Bands twice, as well as multiple regional and state-wide eisteddfods and competitions, including “Best Vocalist”. As well as performing, Teal is passionate about teaching people of all ages and capabilities.
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https://www.treblenotes.com/voiceandpercussionteachers
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Jazz is not dead - and here's the proof.
Four local artists come together as one unit to showcase their individual talent, vocabulary and compositions. They call themselves 3Humans+1, but this is simply a group formed to perform four individual artists and their compositions. Their voices vary greatly, and the performances you hear will be nothing short of refreshing, but hailing back to influences of times past. The artists are:
Bob Wilson
From Honesdale PA, acoustic/electric bassist Bob Wilson has been laying down the groove with countless musicians for the last 20+ years. Currently a member of the Gypsy Jazz Quintet (1930's hot club) and the Jazz Assassins (a jazz duo specializing in instrumental jazz and pop tunes) Bob performs at a number of festivals, restaurants, art galleries and the like in NEPA and NYC. Influences include: Jaco Pastorius, Charles Mingus, Charlie Haden and James Jamerson.
Packie Cronin
Born in rural Tunkhannock PA, Packie Cronin is a multifaceted musician with a focus on jazz drumming. Throughout the years Packie has studied with the likes of professionals around the area like Tyler Dempsey and Patrick Marcinko. During his high school years Packie competed and participated in many PMEA festivals such as district jazz, district and region band, and district and region orchestra. Packie has also performed at the Delaware water gap COTA jazz festival for the past two consecutive years with the COTA jazz band. In addition to jazz drumming, Packie plays piano and writes his own original jazz and alternative music. He has been in many bands and combos as a drummer and singer. His most recent group is the 3humans trio. His original compositions are heavily influenced by jazz artists like Art Blakey, Sonny Rollins, and Cannonball Adderley. His pieces consist of interesting rhythmic patterns between the respective instruments as well as catchy melodies. Packie will be attending the Boyer school of music at temple university in the fall where he will be studying privately under Dan Monoghan on Jazz Drumset.
Bryan Cowan
Bryan Cowan is a saxophonist and multi-instrumentalist with a passion for composition and improvisation. He has studied with professionals from Scranton to Rochester, including Jim Buckley, Charles Pillow, Roxie Coss, and many others. Although Bryan's focus has been jazz for the majority of his musical career and he has performed extensively in this idiom, he has also found artistic outlet in many other ensembles spanning from classical to blues. These groups include ensembles such as the Scranton-based Gene Dempsey Orchestra, hometown favorites like the Scott Weis Band and Good Luck Hornet, and his personal 3Humans trio. Bryan has refined his musical ability and found continued inspiration from not only his regular private teachers but also from his participation in master classes by masters Phil Woods, Dave Liebman, and Donny McCaslin through NYSMF and the COTA Jazz Camp. From here Bryan will continue his studies of music as a first year student at the University of the Arts to study under saxophonist Mark Allen.
Rowan Lynch
Rowan Lynch studied at the Manhattan School of Music Precollege Jazz program, COTA, and Eastman School of Music Summer Jazz; and is currently a sophomore at Ithaca High School in NY.
Rowan's influences include Sonny Stitt, Cannonball Adderley, Sonny Rollins, Wayne Shorter, and Eric Dolphy.
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https://sonusgrey.yapsody.com/event/index/47405/original-jazz-showcase
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Twin City Teen Shares His Passion For Jazz Guitar Legend
Matthew Mullins is a 17-year-old junior at Normal Community West High School with a passion for music bordering on obsessive. He said he devours all types of music, but especially classic rock, blues, and jazz.
"I actually got into jazz in general from my teacher at Normal West, Mrs. (Sarah) Williams, who introduced me to jazz. And I had a deep appreciation for jazz around sixth grade. I listened to all the greats ... Bill Evans ... Dave Brubeck. Then I started expanding from there.
At Waiting Room Records in uptown Normal, Mullins was spinning Montgomery's classic "The Incredible Jazz Guitar of Wes Montgomery" on the turntable for WGLT's Jon Norton. He said after absorbing the music of Evans and Brubeck, he expanded into other artists, including jazz guitar legends Kenny Burrell, Charlie Christian, Django Reinhardt. And lately, Wes Montgomery has been getting in his ears.
"Montgomery actually uses his thumb to play a lot, because it gives that fatter, fuller, richer sound in the tone to the guitar, which enhances the sound. And then on this album, you have the great quartet with Tommy Flanagan on piano. You have Albert Heath laying out the rhythms and drums. And then you have Percy Heath creating those great bass lines. All this put together with Wes Montgomery's guitar and style really adds to this beautiful and progressive sound."
Mullins skipped through a number of tracks on the album, starting with "Four on Six." He said he loves the way the song begins with a basic bass line from Percy Heath.
"And it also involves a lot of intricate work on Wes' part. He plays the solos and octaves that flow very smoothly. The drum fills by Albert Heath are very present. Added to the layer is Tommy Flanagan's playing that together makes a fat rich full tone. The song has a fast hard-bop sound which flows well the whole album. This track really lays down what makes Montgomery's music so amazing."
Mullins has also delved into the Montgomery's personal story, which he finds interesting for a number of reasons. He was impressed that Montgomery got a relatively late start in jazz, getting his first six-string at age 19.
"Then he became very committed to Charlie Christian who came before him. Christian is an amazing jazz player himself, and this influenced Wes. After six months he turned professional. After playing around his native Indianapolis, Cannonball Adderley came and listened to him while he was in town for a one night performance. Wes started recording after that, and became one of the great guitarists and known for his octave playing and his very intricate and detailed solos he displays throughout this album."
After detailing Montgomery's early music history, he moved the needle to "Polka Dots and Moonbeams," which began with what Mullins called a beautiful piano part by Tommy Flanagan.
"And then you layer it with Wes, the drums, then Percy Heath on bass it becomes this beautiful big song that produced such a large and full sound."
Mullins is also an aspiring songwriter, and says jazz has helped him understand the music in a different way different than the classic rock that has also had his ear for a number of years.
"A lot of jazz is in progression such as the 12-bar blues progression. And then you have more complex stuff like complex chords, 9-11-13's. When you dwell into the theory it becomes very complex. I like how most jazz has to deal with major key as the improv. It's beautiful what you can do with music and how you can have all these different styles within jazz such as bop, hard-bop, ballads, and Latin-jazz. It all interests me because it's this progressive really complex stuff."
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https://www.wglt.org/show/wglts-sound-ideas/2016-05-09/twin-city-teen-shares-his-passion-for-jazz-guitar-legend
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By Monica Staton
Emma Dayhuff hails from Bozeman, Montana. She studied at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music in Oberlin, Ohio. After college Dayhuff moved to Chicago. Soon after her arrival she became a sought-after bassist. She’s performed with Victor Goines, Willie Pickens, Robert Irving III, and many other respected artists.
She continues to make large strides within the jazz community. Currently, Dayhuff resides in L.A. and is a student at the Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz (formerly the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz), one of the most prestigious jazz programs in the world.
I’ve been a fan of Emma for many years. She plays with passion and aims for perfection. She possesses a quiet dominance that’s resounding. She can maintain the continuity when playing with dynamic musicians, while telling her story on the double bass.
How does it feel to hold a double bass?
It feels like home, it’s my comfort blanket. It leans on me, and it holds me up sometimes; I can lean on her.
What is a day in the life of Emma Dayhuff now that you’re a student of the Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz?
It’s interesting. Every day and every week is different because the schedule changes depending on whether we have guest artists coming in that week or whether we’re just in rehearsal. If we have a guest artist in, we’ll be working with them from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on everything from talking about the history of jazz, listening to recordings, doing workshops with the group, talking about the mechanics of music, concepts etc. Artist manager Karen Kennedy comes in on a regular basis. She helps us develop skills to navigate the music business.
Who are some of the guest artist you've worked with while at the Institute?
So far we’ve had Carl Allen, Geoff Keezer, Dick Oatts, Terri Lyne Carrington, Christian McBride, Robert Hurst, Walter Smith III, and Billy Childs.
Herbie Hancock came through our classroom at the end of December for three days, for a couple of hours each day. We played some of our original music for him and he carefully gave us feedback. He understands the weight of anything that he says, so he’s careful with it. There were days we talked about life and he told stories. We talked about the scene and L.A. and how it’s growing. It was a process of us slowly becoming comfortable with one another. When he walks in a room, it’s like being in the presence of a king. He had a nice way of helping us relax; he told stories of how he felt when he met Miles Davis. He’s an amazing person.
What are your most memorable experiences?
I really connected to Christian McBride. He has passion and joyfulness he brings to learning music and playing music and living life in general. I see it in the way he interacts with people—he lifts everyone up around him. It is especially inspiring. I had a couple of lessons with him. On one occasion it was just the two of us in a room with our two double basses, just walking a bass line. I had this moment in which I thought, will this happen again—just me and Christian McBride in a room, each of us with a double bass, no one’s listening, not performing, just having a musical conversation. The experience allowed me to be completely in the moment and play as if I were eight years old in a sandbox.
There was another experience that was meaningful. Last November we performed at the final concert of the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz International Piano Competition in Washington D.C. I was on stage overwhelmed with excitement—I made sure the bass was the right height and the amp was turned on. Herbie comes on stage and introduces us each individually by name. I started looking at my bandmates and felt this sudden wave of stage fright that I hadn’t really felt in while. It was strong. We started playing and there was a moment in the performance when something unexpected happened—something unrehearsed.
Whether it was a mistake or not, it gave me the ability to let go of the idea that everything was supposed to go a certain way. I realized then that I didn’t have control. It wasn’t perfect any longer and the expectation that it would be was silly in the first place.
After the performance I sat back stage reflecting on the performance. James Genus, the bassist for Saturday Night Live Band who also has been touring with Herbie Hancock, sat next to me and asked if I was alright. I mentioned my nerves and talked to him about the experience of feeling the combined excitement and anticipation anxiety of all my other band members who were also nervous. I absorbed all their energy and just felt it as overwhelming. He explained how to take that energy, feel that energy and use it as something that stabilizes and grounds and drives the music, rather than allowing it to become something that clouds your mind. Something about that conversation shifted my mentality. I don’t think he realized it, but that was a huge moment for me.
What’s your process for preparing a performance or recording?
I’ve lived and breathed the music for the last month. I’ve been dreaming Herbie’s music. The hope is when I’m in that situation, it’s in my muscles. I can hear what comes next before it happens so that 99.9% of my focus can be what happens in the moment and what the musicians are doing around me. It’s really absorbing the music to the point at which you kind of…you shouldn't be practicing while performing it.
How do you handle constructive criticism?
It’s tricky. It’s just a matter of figuring out your own tastes—what you like—because ultimately that’s more important than what anybody else is going to tell you. If someone has a passion and they’d like to show it to you, it’s up to you decide if you it love as much as they do. It’s a process of getting to know what you like.
Was jazz the first genre you delved into?
No, I was classically trained, initially on the violin and then on the bass. I always loved the Edgar Meyer and Yo-Yo Ma collaborations. I’ve always had classical music as a part of my life—I worked as a recording engineer for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra for a few years.
While in Chicago I played in a bluegrass band for several years. I also love playing old school soul, R&B, gospel and blues. Jazz seems to be the common thread for me. It’s the most challenging, therefore, it makes playing everything else easier. I always come back to it.
What was the first song on upright bass you enjoyed playing?
I remember being insanely excited when I was asked to play with the middle-school jazz band because they were playing The Pink Panthertheme song. I got to play that iconic bass line.
Did you always know you wanted to be a professional musician?
No, I was afraid that if I pursued it as a career it would become a source of stress rather than a stress release. I was originally hesitant.
What keeps you excited about music, jazz in particular?
When you learn someone’s music you learn about who created it: where they are from, what culture they’re a part of and the rhythms that are associated with different parts of the world.
As a jazz musician you’re like an ethnomusicologist. The study of jazz is the study of music from around the world. There’s something about music that is intricately connected to people, on a cultural level and individually.
When checking out music for enjoyment, what do you listen for?
I listen for a feeling or vibe, and then, it depends on the music, sometimes music is about the individuality of the players.
How do you navigate your career as a woman in jazz?
I feel like sometimes my experiences with individuals can be different than what my male counterparts experience. Some of the more important lessons I’ve learned is that no one has more control over my career than I do, even if we claim otherwise. If someone is unwilling to help you, you can find someone else that will. Don’t take things personally. Surround yourself with people who encourage you and lift you up. Find people who believe in you more than you believe in yourself.
When did you feel you had graduated from a novice to a professional musician?
My initial reaction to that question is to say I still feel like a novice. I think when I was working with the symphony and performing, I was doing well financially. I felt for the first time that I’d had a path and could see where it was going. In some ways I abandoned that path to live in New York City. I was there for just over two years. I did well in New York if you don’t consider losing my savings. I was overwhelmed and had to decide if that was the place I wanted to be and hit the reset button. A bunch of stuff happened all at once. My car broke down and I had to move—both very expensive endeavors in New York. I returned to Chicago to get back on my feet mentally. I was welcomed with open arms. There’s a beautiful musical community. I was musically raised in Chicago, I spent my twenties in Chicago, I adore Chicago.
What does Chicago’s music scene have to offer?
I think a lot of Chicago’s uniqueness comes from the connection the city has to the development in the music itself. There’s the connection Chicago has to the avant-garde through the Art Ensemble of Chicago and the AACM—which not only is a musical aesthetic, it’s a mentality of musicians creating a self-sustaining community. In Chicago musicians have one another’s back and have an independence to create their own way of making a living so that they’re not relying on external forces—labels, venues. Something about that mentality makes the community in Chicago tight knit; it’s a family.
I always felt that people in Chicago had my back, both musically and in life. There were only so many times I could go to a jam session and fall on my face—but someone would say, “you need to come to my place and we need to work out some stuff,” and they’d help me out.
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https://www.chicagojazzmagazine.com/post/emma-dayhuff-tells-her-story
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In a world with seemingly endless options and diverse passions to pursue, Timmy Roberts, freshman in music education, said he has known since his first piano lesson in second grade that music was his calling.
Looking back at his childhood in Overland Park, Kansas, Roberts said that northeast Kansas — “a hotbed of amazing teachers” — has greatly shaped him as a musician.
After the piano lessons helped him realize his musical interest, Roberts said he joined the orchestra as a violinist in the fourth grade. Eventually, his teacher suggested he begin playing the string bass due to his unusual control as a young musician.
Jenny Klinkenberg, Roberts’ former orchestra teacher, said she began to hold events before and after school to aid him in becoming an adept bass musician. Roberts said Klinkenberg was extremely influential in the development of his love for music and his decision to pursue it as a career.
“He has always been a shining star,” Klinkenberg said. “He excels in his relationship with people and was always a student leader in our classroom.”
As a seventh-grader, Roberts said he found the style of music that impacted his life and the direction for his path as a musician.
“It’s so fun in jazz because I make everything up on the spot,” Roberts said. “I’m able to kind of create what’s in my mind, sometimes expressing myself, but often expressing what somebody else wants expressed, through sound instead of words.”
Roberts said his zest for music, specifically jazz, prompted him to participate in band, jazz band and orchestra as a student at Blue Valley Northwest High School. Being so involved in a variety of music groups and classrooms throughout his youth has shown him many different teaching strategies, Roberts said.
Because of the array of musicians he has witnessed, Roberts said the decision to pursue music education was not a hard one. This diversification helped him solidify what he hopes to eventually create for future students in a classroom of his own, he said.
“I hope to create an environment of positivity and humor … more about creating a community than a perfect group,” Roberts said.
For three years, Roberts worked as a swim instructor for middle school youth in Overland Park. Infected by their nonstop energy and humorous tendency to speak their mind, Roberts said he developed a passion for educating children of that age and finds himself called to push them to learn the information he knows.
Over the course of winter break, Roberts received the opportunity to go to his former middle school and participate in a student observation program in Klinkenberg’s classroom.
“It was rewarding and exciting to reconnect with her and take part in her classroom again,” Roberts said.
Klinkenberg said having Roberts back to observe her classroom was an excellent experience.
“When it comes down to it, he is always the hardest working kid in the room,” Klinkenberg said.
Roberts said being a music major requires you to go out on your own and find time to practice and work on honing and mastering your skills.
“Sometimes it’s so easy to not set yourself to super-high standards because you can make music that sounds good,” Roberts said. “But you know yourself, that you could push a lot harder. It requires a lot of self-discipline.”
Roberts said that if he could give advice to people who wish to pursue music, he would encourage them to avoid thinking music is just for people who have done it for a long time.
“Anyone can learn it at any time, which is one of the many beautiful things about it,” Roberts said.
Although he loves the music program, Roberts said he chose K-State because “it had the best type of people.” He said he wanted to surround himself with people who do it because they love it and people with passion and zeal for the art, like himself.
Roberts is a current member of the K-State Orchestra, as well as two jazz bands. He made the top jazz group at K-State as a freshman, which is “excellent,” Gordon Lewis, bassist and jazz instructor, said.
“The thing I like about (Roberts) is that he has a lot of different musical interests with jazz and also orchestra music,” Lewis said. “He’s a very well-rounded student. Before long, he will be playing not just locally, but around the area.”
Roberts said he is excited about continuing to pursue his mission of learning, growing and sharing through music.
“Music is my gift, but my passion is in children and in educating and teaching the next generation,” Roberts said.
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https://www.kstatecollegian.com/2016/01/29/music-education-student-strives-to-fulfill-lifelong-dream/
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Reece JenningsReece Jennings began the Equivalency in Music Therapy program in the Fall of 2015. He currently works on campus with Student Support Services and as a graduate assistant with the Music Therapy program. He graduated from Appalachian State with a BM in Music Education and the Jazz Studies Certificate in 2014, and taught in Guilford County Schools in Greensboro, NC prior to entering the Equivalency program. He enjoys teaching trombone lessons, playing bass in jazz combos, and...
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Jake KellerJacob (Jake) Keller is a board-certified music therapist who is currently a graduate student pursuing a Master of Music Therapy degree. Jake completed the equivalency in music therapy at Appalachian State University in 2017 and received his Bachelor’s degree in Music Therapy. In addition, he graduated from Gardner Webb University in 2013 with his Bachelor’s degree in Music Performance-Guitar. Other interests include being involved in church and on-campus ministries, hiking, guitar...
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Katie KomorekKatie Komorek is currently pursuing her combined Master's and Equivalency degree in Music Therapy at Appalachian State University. She completed her Bachelor of Music degree in May, 2013 from North Carolina School of the Arts in Vocal Performance. Katie is a Mezzo-soprano who is originally from Raleigh, NC. In July, 2017 she will be moving to Boston, Massachusetts to complete a music therapy internship at Seasons Hospice.
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Fidel LealFidel Leal was born in Cuba, where he started studying piano at the age of seven. He received his Bachelor of Arts summa cum laude in 2013 from the Higher Institute of Arts in Havana where he studied with pianist and composer Ulises Hernández. Leal debuted with the National Symphony Orchestra of Cuba in 2006. Since then he has performed with Cuba’s most important symphonic and chamber orchestras, such as the Eastern Symphony Orchestra, Matanzas Symphony Orchestra, Camerata Romeu, and the...
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Taylor McCullochTaylor McCulloch is pursuing a Master of Music in Piano Performance. She graduated summa cum laude from Campbell University in 2016 with a BA in Piano Pedagogy. During her time at Campbell, she served an instrumental and vocal accompanist, pianist in the jazz ensemble, cellist in the chamber strings ensemble, and performed in multiple student composition recitals. She also has experience as a solo performer, an accompanist for musical theater, and a private piano teacher. Taylor is currently a...
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Amy MercierAmy Mercier is pursuing her Equivalency and Master's Degree in Music Therapy. She graduated from High Point University in High Point, NC in 2013 with a Bachelor of Arts in Music Performance with a concentration in voice and a minor in psychology. Originally from Westfield, Massachusetts, Amy is an avid singer, songwriter and pianist and also enjoys playing the guitar and drums. She hopes to combine her passion for health, nutrition and music through her music therapy career.
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Robert NeebRobert Neeb is currently a graduate student at Appalachian State University where he is studying Music Therapy. At Appalachian State, Robert is a graduate assistant for the SDAP (Scholars with Diverse Abilities Program) and he is also a graduate assistant for the Hayes School of Music. Robert received his undergraduate degree in Music Education with a Concentration in Jazz Percussion at the University of Southern Maine where he graduated summa cum laude in the spring of 2016. Throughout his...
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Bethany PastoreBethany Pastore is a current graduate student and pursuing her Master's in Music Therapy. Bethany is from Somerset, Kentucky and graduated from the historic Berea College with her undergraduate degrees in both music and psychology. Bethany is a free-lance piano accompanist for Appalachian and the community. She has always had a passion for music therapy and is thrilled to begin her internship at Banner University Medical Center in Phoenix, AZ.
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Emily PateEmily Pate is a first-year Equivalency/Master's student in the Music Therapy program. She graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2015 with a BA in Music (Flute Performance) and Philosophy. Born and raised in North Carolina, she looks forward to continuing the trend and finding that Thoreauvian "tonic of wildness" in the mountains of Boone while combining her love for music, people, and understanding at ASU. Her primary interest is in child and adolescent mental health.
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Chris SpenceChris Spence is a board certified music therapist who entered the combined Music Therapy Equivalency and Master of Music Therapy degree program at App State in Fall 2014. He graduated from Georgia Southern University in 2013 with a Bachelor of Music degree in Composition. Two of Chris' works have been published. His passion for teaching led him to teach in various settings including private guitar lessons, group guitar classes, and university tutoring in ear training and theory. Through these...
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https://musicgraduate.appstate.edu/students/Current?page=1
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I am a graduate of Oberlin College and Wesleyan University and I am currently a PhD student at Harvard University. I received my BA in English, my BM in Jazz Studies, and my MA in Ethnomusicology. My PhD research is in West African music. I have many years of experience as a tutor, beginning as a writing tutor for a college writing center, then giving private music lessons, and working as a teaching assistant for undergraduate students in music and African studies courses. I tutor in many different areas, but my passion is in working with students in writing, literature, critical reading, music, and French. In working to prepare students for standardized tests, I can offer a wide variety of strategies for vocabulary, writing, and time management. As an educator, I am particularly interested in the transitions from high school to college, and from college into the professional world. Outside of teaching, I enjoy playing and listening to music, hiking, playing soccer, and spending time outdoors.
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https://email.varsitytutors.com/tutors/878081350
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Combined, John Spicknall, William Hughes and William Denton have nearly 120 years of experience in teaching music students at Indiana State. Teaching a variety of classes from general education courses and standards for music majors to specific instruments, they have each influenced hundreds of students. Aside from their longevity, they have a common tie that binds them together - a love of teaching and a passion for music.
Spicknall was first bitten by the music bug as a young boy living in the Washington, D.C. area.
“They had a theater orchestra, made up of 12-15 people. I remember being amazed at the sound of the instruments playing together. They would play an overture prior to the musical and would play after the show was over. Getting to hear those instruments live was a magical experience,†he recalled.
At first his mother, Stella, started out suggesting he and his siblings stay after for the music, but pretty soon it was Spicknall asking if they could stay longer.
“She started out suggesting we stay, but later on, I wanted to stay,†he said.
Spicknall started playing the clarinet in seventh grade and never looked back.
“Music chose me. It soon became central in my life,†he said.
Like Spicknall, music was a part of Hughes’ life growing up near Pittsburgh and in southern Illinois.
“My parents were not formally trained, but they were both involved in music. We did a lot of singing in the car during trips and at family gatherings - usually in parts. It was a part of our lives,†he recalled.
Hughes began his music career on the piano at age seven “because back then that was the thing to do if you were interested in music.†But the match between 88 keys and Hughes would turn into a lifetime love affair.
Growing up in a small town in western Kentucky, Denton became interested in music during elementary school, due largely to a strong music program.
“When I got to high school I decided to go into the band program. I started out on clarinet and saxophone before becoming interested in the instrument no one else wanted to play because it was challenging and different from the others. I started playing oboe as a freshman in high school and it carried through my college career to today,†he said.
Over a period of seven years, their backgrounds and musical talents would come together at Indiana State, a place they would call home for the next three to four decades.
Spicknall, a student at the University of Maryland, found himself competing with a friend for the Indiana State gig. In fact, both of them ended up at interviews here and at a college in Ohio.
“He wanted the job in Ohio and I wanted the job here, but the offers went the other way,†Spicknall recalled. “We ended up flip-flopping.â€Â
Spicknall was excited about the opportunities at ISU.
“It was a multi-faceted opportunity to do something in clarinet and jazz while teaching general education classes. I was very excited about the diversity of opportunities,†he said.
Hughes learned about Indiana State from his teacher, Claire Richards, who mentioned while walking down a hallway that Lloyd Gold was leaving ISU.
“Why don’t you apply for that job'†he remembers her saying.
Hughes applied and when he hadn’t heard anything for several weeks, he called Jim Barnes [department chair] to see where things stood.
“When do you want to come'†he was asked. “I came down for the audition and the interview. The rest is history.â€Â
Denton, fresh out of the University of Illinois with a master’s degree, wanted to teach rather than look for an orchestral position.
“I had several mentors who were coupling teaching and performing and this really appealed to me,†he explained.
At the age of 22, Indiana State was his first job.
Students have changed over the years, according to Hughes and Denton. Not in terms of musical ability, but in their ability to focus on learning.
“Life was simpler when I started teaching. Now students have to make so many choices. Students 20 years ago had to manage their time, but time management wasn’t as important as it is today. There are so many more pressures today that they have to deal with,†Denton said.
In order to adapt to the changes, Denton has had to change the way he teaches, often expending more energy than in years past.
“Their attention span is limited and they’re used to getting information in sound bytes. I find myself at a slight disadvantage because that’s not how I teach.â€Â
He’s also had to take advantage of PowerPoint and computer-assisted instruction -- “bells and whistles,†as he calls them.
On the flip side, the gains in technology have helped in the music theory/music skills classroom.
“There are so many programs dealing with aural music and written music that the students can utilize,’ Denton added.
“It’s been a great help, but it’s been a challenge for me personally. I’m not terribly technology-savvy,†he added.
Spicknall has mixed opinions concerning changing technology.
“Technology is a double-edged sword - it bites us sometimes but it also allows us to do some phenomenal things,†he lamented.
Technology came in handy when he organized a reunion of former jazz band alumni from 1972. By working through Alumni Affairs, he was able to gather emails and addresses for many of his former students.
“To imagine doing that without the technology we have today would’ve been difficult,†he concluded
Hughes has noticed students are sometimes not prepared for the individual work that goes into music at the college level.
“They think it’s going to be like high school choir or band,†Hughes said.
That’s when he steps in.
“It’s important to have good faculty role models and mentors to help them work through that. I’ve always seen that as part of what I do. I practice with my students during the early semesters,†he added.
But one thing hasn’t changed, according to Spicknall.
“The serious music students are still the same, no matter the year. When you see students who are bitten with the same bug that bit you, they have to be committed or they won’t go anyplace,†he added.
As committed educators and professional musicians, all three continue to hone their skills. For two professors, a one semester sabbatical developed into a unique learning experience.
Spicknall, with no prior formal training on the piano, wanted to learn accompaniments for clarinet so he could accompany his students during a lesson. So he sought out the expertise of Hughes.
“I signed up for the course just like any other student,†Spicknall said.
Hughes was leery of how the learning experience would pan out.
“I had a little trepidation about teaching a colleague,†Hughes said.
Both professors got something out of the experience.
Hughes wanted to learn more about jazz instruction, so they talked about the principles of fingering and touch. What he learned made him a better teacher.
“But what I learned,†Hughes said, “and what John learned, was how different the learning of jazz is from classical piano.â€Â
While it was easy for Hughes to learn from a printed score, that was not Spicknall’s learning style.
“His jazz was mostly by ear and looking at his hands on the keyboard,†Hughes said.
Spicknall, smiling, added a footnote - “He didn’t give me an A. He was very kind - I think he gave me a B+.â€Â
Regardless of the grade, the experience gave Hughes a greater understanding of his friend and colleague.
“I’m in awe of what John does. I wish I could do it. It would be so much fun to sit down at a piano with all these tunes and make challenging music on the spot,†Hughes said.
Sitting down with each of the professors provides a birds-eye view of ISU history, with each one of them making many valuable contributions.
In addition to being involved with music department curriculum changes and working with competitions and recitals highlighting student musicians, Denton was one of five founding members of the Faculty Woodwind Quintet.
It was an ensemble formed by consensus. “All five wind professors mutually agreed that this would be a good situation where we could take time from our schedules to rehearse and perform on campus and be a recruiting tool.â€Â
Years later, Denton is a strong advocate of faculty ensembles.
“It’s important for faculty to be involved in an ensemble. It’s important for students to see their teacher doing the same thing they’re being asked to do. It also creates a sense of community between the faculty and increases communication, both verbally and musically,†he said.
One of Hughes’ proudest moments was the establishment of the music department’s convocation series.
“That was my baby,†he said, smiling.
Music students have always had an 11 a.m. time slot on Tuesday and Thursdays without classes in order to attend recitals. In the past, the department had the 11 a.m. recitals at various campus venues - Heritage Ballroom, Stateroom, Tilson Auditorium and the former Elks Building.
“With the new building we had a recital hall literally in the middle of what we do - classrooms, rehearsal and studio areas.â€Â
Hughes had specific ideas on how to best utilize the new space.
“We needed to have a time where we could come together as a community during that hour. I wanted to have a time where faculty and students could come together around a guest speaker, presentation, performance or international music.â€Â
Hughes developed a proposal outlining the series in 1996; and the series was unveiled in Fall 1997.
Spicknall, together with Charlie Brown, Andre Hammond and Richard Clokey, formed ISU Friends of Jazz in the early 1980’s. The project was an outgrowth of the weekly jazz show the quartet hosted on WISU for 20 years.
“We all had different tastes, so the banter was always interesting,†Spicknall recalled.
The synergy on the airwaves translated into a collaborative effort to bring jazz acts to campus. Clokey would arrange for the funding, Brown would make the arrangements, and if possible, Spicknall would arrange classroom sessions with the artists.
Although the Friends of Jazz dissolved in the late 1990’s following Clokey’s retirement, Spicknall and Brown still collaborate to bring jazz acts in on a more frequent and smaller scale.
“We’ve had high caliber jazz musicians come in over the years. I’m proud of some of the bands I put together for performances with players such as Bobby Shew, Gary Foster, Todd Coolman and Wycliffe Gordon,†Spicknall added.
Committed educators, all three hope they have left an impression.
Spicknall, who was recently honored with the President’s Medal for his service to the University, hopes students took away from him “the joy that music can create, either as a listener or as a performer, the magic of music and music-making.â€Â
The jazz professor can be found making music at Stables, performing alongside many of his former students, something he finds very special.
“The idea of making music is more exciting when there’s someone to make music with. They were students, now they’re colleagues. It’s interesting to have the sharing that went on in the student-teacher relationship graduate to the meeting of the minds on an equal level. I have students who have exceeded my level of performance. It’s really great to see them reach such as high level.â€Â
Hughes and Denton hope students took away lessons they can apply no matter where their path in life takes them.
Denton hopes students have taken away the importance of thinking, acting and doing on their own.
“The student who mirrors the teacher is learning little. The student who thinks for themselves based on what they’ve learned from the teacher - that’s freedom,†he said.
Hughes hopes students learned more about themselves.
“I hope they have a sense of their own strengths and weaknesses so they can live a productive, joyful life,†he said.
For both Denton and Hughes, it has been a privilege to spend 40 plus years in the classroom, influencing two generations of music teachers, performers and business people.
“What I’ve done over the years has been worth it. It’s gratifying and humbling in a way. When you touch someone’s life and make it different, that’s incredible,†Denton said.
“It’s still fun,†Hughes added. “There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t learn from my students.â€Â
There is no doubt the mark each of the men has left on those who studied with them.
Peg Shaffer, a former student of Spicknall’s, credits him with making her a better musician by opening her eyes, heart and arms to all forms of music and musicians.
“The most important thing I learned from Doc was his passion and desire to share great jazz styles, musicians and groups. He was always non-judgmental; open, honest and diligent,†Shaffer said.
The experience of studying under a master was made a little sweeter with the opportunity of sharing the stage with him.
“It was an honor to have played a few gigs with him,†she added.
Denton’s influence can be found today in classrooms at Plymouth and Fountain Central high schools. Alumna Cindy Wagner uses many of his ideas and techniques when instructing her students.
“One of the reasons I decided on ISU was because of Dr. Denton. I will always be grateful to the musical and personal lessons he provided me with! I rely on his expertise to this day and still want to grow into the kind of musician and teacher he would be proud of,†she added.
Alumnus John Pinson, band director at Fountain Central, said Denton has influenced him in a number of ways.
“I aspire to teach and lead by example the way he does,†Pinson said. “He goes out of his way to better his students, no sacrifice is too great. This is a lesson all of us in education can learn from.â€Â
Keith Sorrels is following in the footsteps of his teacher, who he regards as an incredible oboist. Sorrels is a graduate student at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, pursuing a degree in oboe performance. His weekly lessons with Denton were not only educational, but inspirational.
“Dr. Denton put me on the path to being a professional oboist and helped me realize that I won't be happy doing anything else,†Sorrels said.
Dan Peo, a piano student of Hughes', appreciates the professor’s commitment to his students and holds dear time spent under his wing.
“I’ve had the chance to collaborate often with him as a student and now as a faculty member, and I will cherish many fond memories of time spent in rehearsal with him. He and I did some duet work for my senior recital, and I will often chuckle when thinking about the time we spent preparing for those performances,†Peo recalled.
With their academic careers nearing an end, comes the challenge of beginning a new chapter.
Spicknall, on retirement leave this semester, is easing into his new life.
“I’m enjoying not having the regular routine and I welcome the opportunity to practice.â€Â
In the past, “music has been all-consuming†but he’s now making family more of a priority. But he fills the need to make music by teaching jazz piano lessons a couple of hours a week at DePauw University and playing in their faculty jazz quintet.
“I’ll do a limited amount of teaching, but mostly I want to center in on the family,†he added.
Hughes takes another approach. “Life always presents opportunities, challenges and change. It’s going to be a natural process.â€Â
Aside from spending more time at the piano and visiting the Adirondack Mountains in the fall, he’s leaving his options open.
“I have a lot of interests, so I think I’ll keep plenty busy,†he concluded.
Fast Facts
William Denton
Tenure at ISU - 42 years, began in Fall 1965 as first double-reed specialist
Ensembles: Founding member of the Faculty Woodwind Quintet, Oboist for the Terre Haute Symphony Orchestra for 42 years, and member of the ISU ensemble Philharmonia A Vent
William Hughes
Tenure at ISU - 40 years, began in the Fall of 1967 Instruments played: Piano (primary), pipe organ and oboe (earlier) Ensembles: Played on numerous occasions with the Faculty Woodwind Quintet and served as keyboardist for the Terre Haute Symphony Orchestra for 25 years
John Spicknall
Years of service to ISU • 38 years, began in Sept. 1969
Instruments played - clarinet and jazz piano Ensembles: Played with numerous Indiana State faculty ensembles and the Terre Haute Symphony Orchestra
-30- Contact and writer: Paula Meyer, ISU Communications & Marketing, (812) 237-3783 or [email protected]
Combined, John Spicknall, William Hughes and William Denton have nearly 120 years of experience in teaching music students at Indiana State. Teaching a variety of classes from general education courses and standards for music majors to specific instruments, they have each influenced hundreds of students. Aside from their longevity, they have a common tie that binds them together - a love of teaching and a passion for music.
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http://www2.indstate.edu/news/news-pre2008.php?newsid=894
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What a beautiful piece of land in a Grand Ledge, Michigan. 76.24 acres in section 16 of Oneida Township. 50 acres of tillable farm land being leased at a rate of $100 per tillable acre and generating $5,000 per year in rental income. 26 acres of woods at the North end of the property, great for hunting and privacy. The property is located on St. Joe Hwy just 2. 3 miles West of M-100 on the North side of the road. The property has a rolling topography, perfect for your private estate. There is currently corn planted on the property and it is being leased on a year to year basis. The existing tenant farmer would like to continue renting the property in the future however the current lease only runs through harvest of the 2018-year crop.
Sewer: Other | Directions: M-100 to St. Joe West to property, 2.3 miles.
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https://www.citylivingdetroit.com/search-detail/vl-e-st-joe-highway-oneida-twp-michigan-48837/630000230464
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Understand These 8 Grazing Metrics to Make Better Decisions on the Ranch
As we move into the peak of the growing season, it’s time to evaluate our forage resources, rolling rainfall data and pasture utilization plans. Making those timely adjustments to our grazing management can save considerable economic and ecologic capital over the short and long term. However, in order to make those appropriate decisions, we need to fully understand grazing management metrics and how they relate to one another.
Understanding the following foundational and management metrics are key to intentionally managing any grazing enterprise. They can and will assist you in making better and more informed management decisions. Ultimately, knowing these metrics will help you better understand your operation. We cannot effectively manage what we do not measure.
Foundational Metrics
Stocking Rate
Foundational to any grazing enterprise is stocking rate — the number of specified animal units utilizing a unit of land. The unit of land is typically considered the ranch as a whole, and the rate is expressed as animal units per acre or section. Stocking rate is a function of demand and is a producer decision.
By comparison, a metric often confused with stocking rate is carrying capacity.
Carrying Capacity
This is the maximum number of animals that a unit of land/ranch can support while maintaining the management objectives of the unit. Carrying capacity is a function of supply. Each pasture will only produce so much forage. Although carrying capacity can be influenced by producer actions, it is not dependent upon a producer decision.
The other side of the forage/animal balance is animal demand.
Animal Demand and Animal Unit
Animal demand is the amount of forage required to support an animal unit based solely on animal-related factors, such as body size, percentage intake and the number of days grazing. In an effort to provide consistency, animal demand is typically calculated on the animal unit (AU) basis.
An animal unit is a 1,000-pound cow with a calf up to 6 months in age. Animal demand is generally expressed as a daily, monthly or annual forage requirement.
For instance, an annual forage requirement for one animal unit would be 1,000 pounds × 3% intake × 365 days = 10,950 pounds on an air-dry basis.
Animal demand is strongly influenced by the weight of cattle. Adjust the animal unit weight by adding in your cattle’s average weight to get a more precise animal demand for your operation (i.e., a 1,300-pound cow equals 1.3 AUs or 14,235 pounds annual forage demand).
Allowable Forage and Harvest Efficiency
When calculating the stocking rate, keen interest must also be paid to how much of the forage produced we allow to be grazed. We refer to this amount as allowable forage, and it is based on a harvest efficiency.
Most producers have heard of the “take half, leave half” rule of thumb. This rule of thumb states that if no more than 50%, or half, of the production is utilized, then the plant will remain healthy and no root growth stoppage will occur. The over-simplification of this rule of thumb has, at times, caused many operations to be overstocked. The problem arises when the decision is made to stock based on 50% of the forage produced. On rangelands, cattle are not the only forage consumers. Approximately 25% of the total annual production is utilized by other grazing (such as by grasshoppers and rabbits) or is lost to other factors such as trampling. The remaining 25% of the total annual forage is what should be used to calculate the stocking rate on rangelands. This is called a harvest efficiency and is always expressed as a percentage.
Most producers have heard of the “take half, leave half” rule of thumb. This rule of thumb states that if no more than 50%, or half, of the production is utilized, then the plant will remain healthy and no root growth stoppage will occur. The over-simplification of this rule of thumb has, at times, caused many operations to be overstocked.
Harvest efficiencies can be different rates for different forage types. For instance, we typically utilize 25% for rangelands but higher harvest efficiencies are often utilized on introduced monoculture forages like bermudagrass. Knowing the harvest efficiency, we can then calculate the allowable forage (for example, 4,000 pounds total production per acre × 25% harvest efficiency = 1,000 pounds per acre allowable forage for consumption by livestock). Multiply the allowable forage per acre by the total number of acres to get the total allowable forage for the operation. Dividing the total allowable forage by the total animal demand will give you a good estimate of carrying capacity and help you determine a proper stocking rate.
Grazable Acres
Once the carrying capacity is estimated, one more metric should be considered. A metric commonly overlooked is grazable acres. Not all of the acres on any given ranch are grazeable. Some acres have limited accessibility and lower production because of increased brush encroachment or excessive slope.
Other acreages that should be excluded due to limited or minimal production include the acres of surface water and ranch roads.
One mile of 20-foot-wide ranch road equals 2.4 acres. Adding up all the acres on the ranch that are inaccessible or are severely limited will aid in estimating a proper stocking rate. A proper stocking rate is one that has addressed grazable acres (i.e., 20 acres per AU initial carrying capacity ÷ 70% grazable acres = 28.5 acres per AU proper stocking rate).
Management Tools & Metrics
Once the overall proper stocking rate for a property has been established, several management tools and metrics can be utilized and measured to improve efficiencies, meet ecological outcomes and track progress.
Stock Density
Stock density is often confused with stocking rate. Stock density is the number of animals on a specific area for a specific length of time and is generally expressed as live weight per acre. Stock density is the concentration of animals, and that concentration can vary depending on the desired outcome.
For instance, if we have a proper stocking rate estimated at 10 acres per AU and we have a 1,000-acre property, that rate allows us 100 AUs. If those 100 cows continuously graze the 1,000 acres, we would have achieved a stock density of 100 pounds of live weight per acre (100 Cows × 1,000 pounds per cow ÷ 1,000 acres). If we were to subdivide that same 1,000 acres and we placed those same 100 cows on a 5-acre paddock, we would have increased the stock density to 20,000 pounds live weight per acre with no change to the overall stocking rate. Remember, if your cows are heavier than 1,000 pounds, adjust to their animal unit equivalent (AUE) (i.e., 100 animal units adjusted to 1,100 pound cows = 100 ÷ 1.1 AUE = 91 of the 1,100 pound cows).
Stock density can be utilized to meet ecological objectives, increase grazing utilization and increase recovery/rest periods.
Grazeable Days Per Pasture
One metric that is useful in developing a pasture utilization plan is grazeable days per pasture. This is an estimate of the number of days a particular herd can graze based on the amount of allowable forage in a given pasture.
Grazeable Days Per Pasture = (Allowable Forage Per Acre × Pasture Acres) / Daily Animal Demand # Herd AUs
Grazeable Days Per Pasture = (1,000 Pounds Per Acre × 200 Acres) / 30 Pounds Daily Demand
100 Cows
Grazeable Days Per Pasture = (200,000 / 30) / 100 = 66 Days
Ultimately when calculating the grazeable days per pasture, we will be estimating the total days each pasture can be grazed within the given year. When developing a pasture utilization plan, we will go through the process of allocating specific days to specific pastures. Given the number of times you would like to rotate through your pastures, allocate days that match the growing and dormant seasons, accordingly. Knowing the grazeable days allowable in each pasture is a key metric to understand.
Stock Days Per Acre
This is another metric useful to the intentional grazing manager. Stock days per acre can be used as a planning metric as well as a monitoring metric. Planning metrics are used to assess a resource and develop a strategic approach to utilize it. Monitoring metrics are used after a process has occurred to assess the outcome.
Although stock days per acre can be utilized to estimate production prior to a graze, I like to use stock days per acre as a tool to gauge the productivity of my individual pastures after they have been grazed. Essentially, they are an assessment of the actual productivity of each pasture given a desired utilization.
Stock Days Per Acre = Actual # Days Grazed × # Animals Grazed
# Acres in Pasture
Stock Days Per Acre = (3 Days Grazed × 100 Cows) / 25 Pasture Acres
Stock Days Per Acre = 300 / 25 = 12 stock days per acre
After each grazing year, add up the total number of stock days per acre for each individual pasture to provide an estimate of its overall value and importance to your operation. Some smaller pastures may have more stock days per acre than larger pastures; it’s simply based on the level of productivity and the ability of that pasture to recover and be utilized.
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https://www.noble.org/news/publications/ag-news-and-views/2020/june/understand-these-8-grazing-metrics-to-make-better-decisions-on-the-ranch/
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|In this Oct. 7, 2013 photo, elevator employee Dennis Black loads corn into a trailer for area farmer at the North Iowa Cooperative in Thornton, Iowa. Farmers in many states are surprised at the abundance of corn coming from their fields, and record harvests are likely in many states. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)|
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Harvest is in full swing across the country, and farmers in many states are surprised at the abundance of corn they're getting from their fields.
Dairy farmer Ben Steffen, who also grows corn, soybeans and wheat on 1,900 acres near the southeastern Nebraska town of Humboldt, said his first corn field brought in 168 bushels an acre, above the average of 140.
"I'm surprised that what I'm hearing from my neighbors there are some really outstanding yields," he said. "I don't know if I would consider it a record crop at this point, but the numbers I'm hearing are going to be right up there."
The best crops in the U.S. are in areas that received adequate rain combined with cooler temperatures at the time corn pollinated, a welcome sight after last year's dismal harvest due to the drought withering corn and soybean fields and burning up pastures. Record harvests are likely this year in many states, including Alabama, Georgia, Indiana and Ohio.
All that corn will help refill bins that had been emptied after last year's drought-reduced harvest of 10.7 billion bushels, the lowest since 2006, said Chad Hart, an agriculture economist with Iowa State University.
"We now know how good it can get and how bad it can get in just two years," said Jerry Gulke, who farms near Rockford, Ill., and runs a farm management and market advisory business based in Chicago. Gulke says this harvest, when finished, will be the best he's ever had: More than 200 bushels per acre, twice last year's result.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has estimated the 2013 corn harvest at 13.8 billion bushels, beating the 2009 record of 13.1 billion bushels. Updated harvest estimates were to be released Friday, but the partial federal government shutdown has caused the USDA to suspend reports.
In northern Alabama, Jeff Webster, 50, farms 1,700 acres with a cousin. Those fields are producing between 160 and 200 bushels per acre, a significant improvement over the average of 130 to 140 bushels.
"It's an exceptional crop for most people," said Webster, a farmer for 30 years. He attributes it to a combination of a cool summer and significantly more rainfall than average.
It's a similar story for southern Illinois farmer Steven Niedbalski, 36, who works with his parents and a brother.
Last year, he cut down dying corn stalks to feed cattle because there was nothing to harvest; the best field delivered 40 bushels an acre. This year, he's seeing 150 to 170 bushels an acre on his farm near Nashville, Ill. He chalks it up to new hybrids withstanding the dry weather better than expected and cooler weather during pollination helping fill the ears with kernels.
But in the nation's leading corn-producing state, Iowa farmers are seeing more inconsistent results because of spring's rain-delayed planting followed by a dry summer.
Wayne Humphries, who raises hogs and grows corn and soybeans on about 1,000 acres 145 miles southeast of Des Moines, said some fields are producing as much as 200 bushels an acre while others with soil types that couldn't hold moisture are at half that.
"We've only had less than an inch of rain in the last two months. That wasn't conducive to finishing our crop," Humphries, of Columbus Junction, said.
Just 60 miles to the northeast, farmers on both sides of the Mississippi River around Davenport, Iowa, and Moline, Ill., are reporting eye-popping results — as many as 260 bushels an acre.
Corn prices are significantly lower than they were a year ago, when they reached more than $8 a bushel because of the drought. Corn has been trading in recent days at just under $4.50 a bushel, lower than for much of the summer. Prices have fallen as it became clear an abundant harvest was likely.
Hart said corn's current price will maintain profitability for pork, chicken, and turkey producers who rely on corn for animal feed, thus keeping consumer meat prices stable. It also helps the ethanol industry, which largely uses corn to make the fuel additive.
More corn will likely be exported to Japan and Mexico, Hart said. China also has recently entered the U.S. corn market and is expected to further increase exports.
Although demand will increase, it will not use up all this year's ample harvest.
"We will have more in storage as we go into next summer," Hart said.
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https://www.foodmanufacturing.com/ingredients/news/13171631/corn-harvest-above-expectations-due-to-weather
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Last fall thousands of acres went unharvested because of wet conditions. How much crop was taken off between then and now is unknown, as are the number of acres still worth harvesting.
“From what we understand most producers really haven’t been able to address their unharvested acres in any fashion either to combine it, or destroy it, or whatever,” David Van Deynze, Manitoba Agricultural Services Corporation’s (MASC) vice-president of innovation and product support, said in an interview April 14.
“From what I heard there was a little bit of combining happening about 10 days ago before those blizzardy few days that we had. I think it was getting really close at that time. But since then I’m not aware of anything happening to any real extent.
“I think largely speaking the overwintered acres are still there, and by and large in the same condition they’ve been most of the winter.”
It’s likely most of what has come off has been corn and sunflowers that stand above the snow-covered fields, Van Deynze said.
Anastasia Kubinec, manager of crop industry development at Agriculture and Resource Development agrees.
“I know corn and sunflowers that were out have had quite a few acres harvested, but cannot guess on the amount and don’t know about the other crop types,” she said in an email April 15.
Why it matters: For many farmers seeding will start with harvesting the last of last year’s crop.
As of Nov. 30, 2019, Manitoba farmers enrolled in the federal-provincial crop insurance program, AgriInsurance, collectively reported 417,059 acres of annual crop had not been harvested, Van Deynze said.
About 9.5 million acres of Manitoba crops are covered by AgriInsurance.
Eventually, MASC, which administers the program in Manitoba, will learn the fate of those acres, but as of April 14 it still wasn’t clear.
“For the most part we think and hope producers will attempt to harvest what they can this spring and then they will call us when they realize they can’t… because it’s flat or still under water or whatever the case may be and then we’ll get a little more involved at that point,” he said.
“We have tried to deal with the cases where farmers say there is no way to harvest — things like edible beans.
“Some of the cereals no doubt are flat, but not impossible to recover in some situations. There are some of those we’ll have to deal with.”
Van Deynze stressed MASC needs to estimate the yield and quality of crops before farmers destroy them. After being adjusted by MASC, farmers can decide whether they want to harvest or not. If they harvest and reap less than MASC estimated, farmers’ claims are adjusted accordingly.
Moreover, if MASC adjusted a crop in the fall, but the yield and/or quality of a crop is now thought to be worse, the field should be assessed again, he added. That could result in the farmer getting more compensation.
“We’re trying to do what we can to be as ready as we can so that when weather permits we can get out there,” Van Deynze said. “It really starts for us when farmers are able to start turning wheels.”
One farmer, who asked not to be named, said he’s trying to get a jump on the process by collecting canola from his unharvested field, hand threshing it and then submitting a sample to an elevator to get a grade.
“We’re seeing a lot of white seed so I think it heated in the swath,” the farmer said in an interview April 15.
This farmer’s field had 32 per cent hail damage in the fall and the bottom of the swath is rotted to the ground.
“I think we only had about a third of a crop to start with,” he said.
The farmer said he understands MASC wants to be sure farmers get as much crop off as they can if it’s worthwhile, but there isn’t a lot of time to do it. If the field is combined by April 27 there’s still time to seed, but if delayed to May 15 “that puts us on course for another crop insurance claim this fall because of delayed seeding,” the farmer said. “It becomes a vicious circle.”
Keystone Agricultural Producers president Bill Campbell, who farms at Minto, is worried about getting the 2020 crop seeded because his area is so wet. He also has crop to take off.
“I’ve got 80 acres of wheat that I don’t think I’ll ever get and 80 acres of oats,” he said in an interview April 14. “Better than half of that’s under water right now.
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https://www.manitobacooperator.ca/news-opinion/news/what-acres-remain-from-harvest-2019-unclear/
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SMITHS GROVE, Ky. (WBKO) -- It's officially harvesting season in Warren County. The process of harvesting can be complicated if you are not a farmer. 13 News spent the day with Farmer Chad Elkins from Elkins Farms in Smith Grove. purpose of doing it might not be what you think.
"It's still got a little bit of moisture to it, but it should be ready to go in another week or so," says Elkins.
The corn is harvested with a combine right when the crops are not to dry and not too wet - harvesting when feed value is at its highest point.
"It's starting to dry down to get it to a safe moisture level,"explains Elkins.
Instead of the normal manual labor known during harvest season, machinery is helping farmers with labor and efficiency. A combine takes what multiple workers would normally do during harvest, and turns it into one process.
"(The combine) pulls it through, strip the ears from the plant, run it through, basically it's just shelling all the grain off of it," says Elkins. "We can do roughly 15-20 acres an hour"
Elkins farm in has begun harvesting but isn't done quite yet.
"We've harvested roughly, 800 acres for forage," says Elkins.
Forge (or silage) which is where farmers keep their piles where it will ferment.
Warren County harvest has begun, unlike surrounding counties.
"You'll see a weeks difference from Franklin to here, and probably at least another week from here to Glasgow," says Elkins. "I don't know if it's more so tradition or the way you've always done things or what," says Elkins.
At Elkins farm, they harvest what's called field corn.
"Any corn is predominately field corn," says Elkins.
The purpose of field corn isn't directly for humans, but instead for some farm friends - cattle.
"What they're eating right there, is everything mixed together," says Elkins, "they'll eat roughly 100 pounds at least a 100 pounds of sometimes more per day each."
If the cows don't eat at Elkins Farms, they can't produce dairy.
"We'll sell a tractor trailer load of milk a day, about eight thousand gallons a day," says Elkins.
The feed also gives nutrients to the calves.
"So these are all females. these will be replacement heifers, cows that we'll have for hopefully a long time," says Elkins.
Without field corn, calves and mamas couldn't eat, unable to produce for the community
Elkins Farms will harvest around 2,500 acres of corn for their dairy cows.
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https://www.wbko.com/content/news/Corn-harvesting-begins-in-Warren-County-and-benefits-our-farm-friends-441686213.html
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Here are indisputable facts. Corn and soybean planters are larger today compared to 25 years ago. Some farmers have invested in high-speed planting technology so they can plant at speeds of 7 or 8 miles per hour. Many have shifted from planting soybeans with a 15-foot drill to planting with a wide, split-row planter, often at the same time they’re planting corn. These facts lead to another one: An individual farmer can plant more acres per day vs. 25 years ago.
The logical conclusion is that it should be possible to plant a greater percent of all Indiana crops per week when necessary.
“As is often the case with ‘logical conclusions,’ historical data do not necessarily support the logic,” Bob Nielsen says. Nielsen, a Purdue Extension corn specialist, recently examined the maximum number of acres planted per week in Indiana from 1997 through 2021 and determined that not much has changed in terms of how many acres can be planted in a single week.
“When I looked at historical planting progress of each crop individually, the data suggests little progress in our ability to plant a lot of acres quickly,” Nielsen says. “Even when you combine corn and soybean acres to account for more people planting both crops at once, the most acres ever planted in one week, 5.25 million, was in 2001. We haven’t approached that number since then.”
What it means
The best explanation boils down to another fact: There are fewer farmers and fewer farms today.
“The number of corn and soybean growers in Indiana has decreased over time, and those remaining are farming more acres than they did 25 years ago,” Nielsen says. “So, even though equipment is larger and can cover more acres per day, fewer farmers farming more acres each means total planting progress in terms of percent of total crop acres planted per week remains fairly unchanged.”
Studies at the University of Illinois indicate there may be fewer days available for field work in any one week today compared to 25 years ago. That fits with information provided by Beth Hall, Indiana state climatologist, indicating more extremes in weather conditions today, even within one week — especially during the spring.
What to do
So, how can you accomplish more? “Perhaps it goes without saying, but as planting season approaches, make sure you have the planter in top shape and everything else ready to roll,” Nielsen says. “There won’t be any room for downtime due to breakdowns.”
Second, exercise wise judgment. “We always remind people not to plant too wet, because the risk of doing so is real,” Nielsen says. “Planting in poor conditions could lead to thin stands and/or rooting problems, which last all year and impact yields.
“However, all I can ever ask for is that you listen or read what we have to say, then factor in everything else and make your best decision. If you understand the risks of planting when it’s not ideal, then you can decide if it’s a risk you want to take.”
Which weeks are most Indiana crops planted?
Here are seven related facts that may be eye-opening:
1. The greatest number of corn acres planted in a single week in Indiana was 2.9 million in 2001. That was 50% of the total Indiana corn acreage that year.
2. The closest Indiana farmers have come to that 2001 number was in 2014, when 2.4 million acres, or 41% of the crop, was planted in one week.
3. The most soybean acres planted in one week was also in 2001. Indiana farmers planted 2.4 million acres, or 42%.
4. The second most soybean acres ever planted in a single week was 1.8 million, or 32%, in 2016.
5. The maximum week for corn planting in any one year may not be the same week when the maximum number of soybeans were planted statewide.
6. There was one year when over 5 million acres of corn and soybeans combined were planted in Indiana in one week. Yes, it was 2001. Farmers planted 5.25 million total crop acres. “Such an achievement in a week’s time borders on phenomenal,” Nielsen says.
7. In the 20 years since 2001, the record planting pace for a single week has never been threatened, Nielsen says. The maximum number of corn and soybean acres combined planted in a single week since 2001 averages 2.7 million acres.
Read Nielsen’s full report on planting progress online.
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https://mobile.farmprogress.com/planting/indiana-weekly-planting-progress-changes-little-over-25-years
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The Corn Is Not As High As An Elephant’s Eye
“There’s a bright golden haze on the meadow,
There’s a bright golden haze on the meadow,
The corn is as high as an elephant’s eye,
An’ it looks like its climbin’ clear up to the sky.
Oh what a beautiful morning,
Oh what a beautiful day,
I’ve got a wonderful feeling,
Everything’s going my way.”
Oh, What A Beautiful Morning
Oklahoma!, 1943
Music and Lyrics by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II
For the farmer, weather can play an outsize role in the outcome. Some years are perfect, with just the right amount of sun and rain. In those years, the farmer produces bumper crops. Other years are hot and dry, withering the crops in the field no matter how much the farmer waters. And in yet other years, the heavens unload, dropping copious amounts of rain on the fields, interfering with planting and literally raining disaster down on the farmer. The Year 2019 appears ready to shape up as the latter for the US farmer.
Government data indicate this year, to date, stands as the wettest on record, since records began to be kept in 1895. The following picture from NOAA demonstrates in pictorial form just how wet this year has been:
As the picture demonstrates, should precipitation continue at this rate, 2019 would become the record year for rainfall for the US as a whole. And for the farmer in the Midwest focused on planting corn and soybeans, this year will rank in one of the Top 5 in the Upper Midwest and in the Top 10 for the rest of the farm belt:
For the farmer praying for some sun to dry out his or her fields to plant crops, this stands as bad news. Crop plantings stand significantly behind normal:
As the above data demonstrate, plantings stand well behind normal. For corn, if the crop is not in the ground by June 5, then the farmer cannot obtain crop insurance. So, the 17% of corn acreage not planted yet stand at risk of never being planted with corn this year. These acres likely will transition to soybeans, which have a latter planting deadline of June 10 to June 30, depending on the location. But with the fields so wet, planting soybeans by the date needed for crop insurance stands as no sure bet. Unless the sun shines soon, a large portion of US acreage stands at risk of lying fallow this year.
For the Global Supply-Demand Balance, this possesses significant implications. The U.S. produces the largest corn crop in the world and one of the top soybean crops as well. As a result, a shortfall in the US crops will impact the globe. According to the USDA World Agricultural Supply and Demand Report (WASDE), the US farmer produced 25% of the world’s “Coarse Grains” in the 2018/2019 Crop Year, principally corn, and a little under 21% of Oilseeds, which are principally soybeans. Based on the latest USDA Yield Projections, the farmer will harvest just 166 bushels of corn per acre, the lowest since the 2013/2014 Crop Year. And if this year’s rainfall continues at the pace that currently exists, that harvest yield could shrink considerably. Already, Corn Stocks to Use are projected to end the year below 12%. (The WASDE report is available at https://www.usda.gov/oce/commodity/wasde/wasde0619.pdf .)
And while the rainfall continues to impact the farmer’s production, lower yields will meet higher prices leaving farm Corn cash receipts strong. In March, prior to the current run-up in Corn prices, the USDA forecast Corn crop receipts, as of March 6, 2019, at $50.8 billion this year compared to $48.3 billion last year. Since then, prices have gone from $3.50 to $4.50 per bushel, up 28%+, while harvested bushels are only forecast down 9%. Even should the actual harvest drop 15%, the farmer still stands 9% ahead due to the massive rise in prices. So, while pictures of soggy fields might make the evening news, corn farmers overall should do well. And even though soybean farmers are under pressure due to the dispute with China, the improvement in corn cash receipts should offset any impact on the soybean side, leaving the farm community close to the same income as last year. (Note: For this outcome, prices are assumed to stay where they are. Should the crop truly become a disaster, prices could revisit $6.00 or more, where they stood in 2011 and 2012 with a nice benefit to the farmer. And in this instance, soybean prices would recover.)
For the US farmer, the 2019/2020 crop year is shaping up to produce the most volatility in 6 or 7 years. And this volatility stands mostly as a good thing for the average farmer, assuming he or she can get their crops in the ground. And while one can picture Curly singing Oh, What A Beautiful Morning, that certainly does not fit what the torrential downpours the farmer faces this year. Instead of singing such a light and soaring song, the farmer will instead offer a serious lament titled: “The Corn Is Not As High As An Elephant’s Eye”. (Data from US Department of Agriculture coupled with Green Drake Advisors analysis.)
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https://greendrakeadvisors.com/2019/06/the-corn-is-not-as-high-as-an-elephants-eye/
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Essay #1: Agricultural Historical Statistics of the USWhen trying to come up with a good estimate for items such as total number of farms, average value of land per acre, and total farm population, the US Bureau of the Census had a rather arduous task of defining what is meant by the word farm.
The Census Bureau outlined the definition of a farm but that figure varied from year to year. Most recently though a farm was found to be any place of less than 10 acres that had estimated sales of agricultural products of at least $250 per year. Places of 10 or more acres were considered farms as long as they sold agricultural products amassing $50 or more. To me this is not an accurate measurement because they were under the assumption that households who owned land and sold goods were to be labeled as farms.
In all actuality though an elderly couple with an acre of land and a healthy garden could sell enough vegetables at their church sale to be counted as farmers and owners of a farm. This is obviously not the case. I do think that it is necessary to compromise somewhat on the definition of a farmer but still the person defined as a farmer should have his/her farm account for at least x%, perhaps 40%, of total income. This would be a more accurate measure of a typical farmer and not just a person who occasionally sells corn or strawberries. Other assumptions that the Census Bureau must have made were that the farmers would answer honestly to their questions and that they had an accurate account of their current inventory including newborns and exact acreage concerning pasture versus cropland just to name a few.
Few farmers know exactly how many acres of beans they have planted or how many sheep they have until it is time to vaccinate or sell off some of their heard. A general estimate would probably be easier for them to give and consequently that is what the bureau received. By the measures that the Census Bureau used they had to have compromised on the actual value of a typical farm. This is because by their definition a billionaire with 5 acres of land whos wife sells 50 roses every year for $20 each would count as a farmer.
His 5 acres and his $25,000,000 home would also count as a farm buildings which would is not really the case.Bibliography: .
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https://artscolumbia.org/economic-agricultural-statistics-essay-113725/
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By Ed Lentz
Finally, it is official. Hancock County soybean producers had an excellent year in 2018, breaking county records for yield, acres planted, and total production.
The official U.S. Department of Agriculture report was released a few weeks ago after being delayed a month by the government shutdown.
The report contains crops yields for each county, which are estimated from farmer surveys and other sources by the National Agricultural Statistics Service.
Even though these are estimated numbers, government and industry will use these values for historical records, and more importantly, government farm payments will be based on these values.
Hancock County farmers knew they had a good soybean crop, but were not sure how good it was across the county. However, they knew that timely rains in August generally produce high-yielding beans.
Producers consider it a great soybean crop when the county average breaks 50 bushels per acre. In 2018, producers shattered that number by reaching a county record average of 61.3 bushels per acre. That broke the previous record of 54.2 bushels, set in 2014.
County soybean yields also averaged 11.6 bushels more than the 10-year average.
It was a good year for soybeans in most Ohio counties. Ohio set a new state record average yield at 58 bushels.
Hancock County farmers planted more soybean acres in 2018 than any other year, breaking a record set in 2017. County farmers planted 143,500 acres last year, 3,500 more than in 2017.
The increased acreage ensured that Hancock would be one of top 10 producing soybean counties for Ohio. Hancock soybean production in 2018 was 8.774 million bushels — about 2 million more than 2017.
Hancock County ranked fourth in the state for soybean production last year, for the second year in a row.
Other counties in the area also did well in state rankings: Wood (second), Putnam (third), Seneca (sixth), Hardin (eighth) and Wyandot (18th).
Darke County ranked first in the state with 9.313 million bushels.
Ohio also had a record-breaking corn yield average of 187 bushels per acre last year, which broke the previous record of 177 bushels.
Corn yields were good last year in Hancock County, but not as good as the state average or the county record of 193.3 bushels set in 2014.
Hancock County corn averaged 183.9 bushels per acre — 3.1 bushels less than the state average, but 18.6 bushels better than the 10-year county average and 13.9 bushels better than 2017.
Hancock County corn producers have seen two years in a row of respectable corn yields.
County corn production in 2018, yield times the harvested acres, was 16 million bushels — 2.4 million bushels more than 2017.
Hancock County’s ranking in corn production compared to other Ohio counties remained the same in 2018 — 11th place. It is the fourth year in a row that Hancock was not in the top 10 corn-producing counties of Ohio.
Of the surrounding counties, Hardin (fourth), Wood (sixth) and Seneca (ninth) were among the top 10 producing counties in the state. Putnam and Wyandot counties ranked 14th and 17th, respectively.
Darke County was first with production of 24.3 million bushels.
Wheat yields were good in the area last year, but less than the record set in 2016. Hancock County average wheat yield was 83.1 bushels per acre, 4.1 bushels more than the previous year. County wheat yields were 5.1 bushels better than the state average yield of 78.
Hancock wheat production was 1.545 million bushels, 68,000 more bushels than 2017. Hancock still ranks in the top 10 Ohio wheat-producing counties, maintaining the sixth spot for the third year in a row.
Putnam and Wood counties were the top two wheat-producing counties in the state. Seneca was fifth.
Hancock County farmers planted 20,200 acres to wheat for the 2017-18 crop year, but only harvested 18,600 acres. Acres planted were 1,100 more than the 2016-2017 crop year, when planted wheat acres dropped below 20,000 for the first time in the county.
Wheat acres accounted for about 8% of the planted acres of grain crops in Hancock County. Soybeans had the most acres at 58%, followed by corn at 34%. The percentage of each crop planted in the county was basically the same for 2017 and 2018.
Most farmers were blessed with good crop yields this past year. They needed all the extra bushels to make up for low grain prices. Grain prices have been low to sluggish for the past five years and are projected to stay low this year, unless an unexpected grain shortage occurs in the world.
Lentz is extension educator for agriculture and natural resources for the Ohio State University Extension Service in Hancock County. He can be reached at 419-422-3851 or via email at [email protected].
Lentz can be heard with Vaun Wickerham on weekdays at 6:35 a.m. on WFIN, at 5:43 a.m. on WKXA-FM, and at 5:28 a.m. at 106.3 The Fox.
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https://thecourier.com/opinion/columns/2019/04/09/hancock-soybeans-break-records/
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The 2019 growing season will go down as one of the most challenging planting seasons on record due to spring flooding and persistent rainfall across the Midwest. Planting progress for corn and soybeans was historically delayed and current expectations are for prevent plant crop insurance claims to exceed $1 billion and reach a record-high of 10 million acres.
USDA’s June World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates recognized the challenges faced in the 2019 crop year and adjusted corn planted acreage down to 89.8 million acres, a reduction of 3 million acres from the department’s March estimate, and also reduced the crop yield from 176 bushels per acre to 166 bushels per acre.
USDA reversed course in its annual survey-based June Acreage Report. For the 2019/20 crop year, USDA indicated corn planted area at 91.7 million acres, up 3% or 2.6 million acres from prior-year levels, and down only slightly from March intentions of 92 million acres planted. Importantly, USDA’s June corn acreage estimate was up from the June WASDE projection and well above the average pre-report estimate of 86.6 million acres. Figures 1 and 2 highlight USDA’s corn acres planted or intended to be planted and the year-over-year change from 2018.
Following continued declines in new-crop soybean prices — due to substantially lower Chinese demand — USDA revealed soybean acres planted at 80 million acres, down 9.2 million acres, or 10%, from 2018 and down 4.6 million acres from March intentions. Soybean plantings in 2019 are expected to be the lowest since 2013, and plantings are expected to be lower in all 29 soybean-producing states. Figures 3 and 4 highlight USDA’s soybean acres planted or intended to be planted and the year-over-year change from 2018.
It is an understatement to say USDA’s report surprised the corn market. New-crop corn futures fell by more than 19 cents and represented a $2.6 billion-reduction in the value of new-crop corn (based on WASDE production estimates). USDA acknowledged as much, indicating that 83% of the intended corn acreage had been planted at the time of the survey — well below the 10-year average.
In order to provide a more accurate estimate of the crop size and planted area, USDA announced that it will resurvey farmers in advance of the Aug. 12 Crop Production report. Farmers in 14 states will be reinterviewed to determine their planted area of corn, soybeans and sorghum. Figure 5 identifies the states subject to acreage resurveys.
STATE PERSPECTIVE
To provide some additional perspective on corn and soybean acres planted, remaining to be planted or prevented from being planted, state Farm Bureaus in the reinterview region were contacted to get their ground-level perspective. Their responses follow.
Illinois – Corn Acres Unchanged and Soybean Acres Down 5%
A central Illinois farmer reported to me over this past weekend, that he had one field he originally planned to plant to corn, then was prevented-planting of corn on that field, and now he has just finished planting soybeans on that field. (Market Intel note: The planting of soybeans may have been motivated by the planting requirement associated with the Market Facilitation Program.)
Indiana – Corn Acres Up 3% and Soybean Acres Down 11%
Farmers in Indiana have given up on the hope of getting any more corn planted and did so several weeks ago. Prevent planted acres are all around the state, particularly in central and southern Indiana, where farmers have experienced rainfall far above normal. Corn can be seen in the state just popping out of the ground to knee high. Anticipated yields at this time will be far less than the 10-year average for farmers.
Kansas – Corn Acres Up 8% and Soybean Acres Down 1%
While a majority of intended Kansas corn acres have been planted, many of those acres went in during and after the USDA Risk Management Agency’s late planting period. In a few counties, up to 25% of the crop was either prevented from being planted or the planted corn is now under water.
The bulk of intended soybeans in Kansas are in or going in but a significant portion is later than intended; an early frost could be devastating.
Kansas grain sorghum planting is wrapping up, and it is suspected that at least in some areas of the state, forage crops may be substituted for intended grain sorghum acreage.
The Kansas cotton crop went in extremely late and estimates are that only about 50% to 60% of intended acres got planted this spring.
All crops are behind and will require near optimal temperatures and measured amounts of precipitation throughout the growing season. Again, an earlier than normal frost could be devastating.
Michigan – Corn Acres Unchanged and Soybean Acres Down 9%
There were a lot of acres planted over the weekend in central Michigan, but anything planted to corn recently will go to silage, not grain. The large dairy presence and need for forage in this area has caused a lot of farmers to keep planting corn with no intention of harvesting it for grain. Based on some informal surveys done a few weeks ago, I would estimate that around 65% of originally intended acres were planted to corn for grain.
Soybean progress is harder to estimate because there were still soybeans being planted over the weekend. It varies quite a bit across the state but the southeast and central (parts of the state) are probably the hardest-hit areas. Our media staff is creating a member survey that will go out tomorrow to help give us a better idea of actual acreage.
I think one thing that would help make USDA’s resurvey more accurate is if they give clear direction on how farmers should report prevent plant acreage, especially prevent plant land that gets planted to corn as a cover crop for silage.
Missouri – Corn Acres Down 3% and Soybean Acres Down 9%
Extreme flooding along the Mississippi, Missouri and internal state tributaries has wreaked havoc with corn planting in Missouri. Some land is still either covered or partially covered with water and will not be planted. April and the first half of May corn plantings were detrimentally impacted by frequent heavy rains causing thousands of acres to be replanted and/or forcing many farmers to leave undesirable stands due to the lateness of the season. Corn planted the last 10 days of May and into the first three weeks of June had better stands. Twenty-five to 30% of the corn is normal, 50% is intermediate with very uneven stands and 20-25% is replant.
Ohio – Corn Acres Down 6% and Soybean Acres Down 6%
It is tough to nail down how accurate the latest USDA planting report is. Some of our economists don’t believe it is super far off, but if we ask our farmers they claim much less has been planted. They are not thrilled to see the price slide with this latest report.
I was in Ottawa County in northwest Ohio yesterday and their soil and water in the county estimates that only 4% of the corn was planted and 30% of their beans. I would say that is definitely worse than most, but many of the surrounding counties experienced very serious planting issues as well. During my drive through northwest Ohio yesterday I saw a lot of weeds and barren fields.
If Ohio does not have a record for prevented plant acreage I will be surprised. And for crops that are planted, they are weeks behind, struggling to come up or already in need of replant. And how much can be replanted at this point? Probably not much.
South Dakota – Corn Acres Down 9% and Soybean Acres Down 22%
It looks like South Dakota will set the record for prevented planting acres by far. As always, there are differences around the state, but it sounds to me that on average the state will only be around 60% planted. On our farm, we were right at 50%. Some areas of the northeast part of the state are 80% to 90% percent planted. Down by Mitchell and Chamberlain areas, and between Pierre and Huron, some producers couldn’t plant anything at all. There are some areas where you can drive several miles and not see a planted field.
USDA currently projects corn acres at 91.7 million acres, up 3% from prior-year levels, and soybean acres at 80 million acres, down 10% from 2018. However, given the historical delays in planting at the time of USDA’s acreage survey, USDA announced intentions to resurvey farmers in advance of the August Crop Production report. Feedback from state Farm Bureaus confirms the need to resurvey crop acreage, points to potential yield issues due to unfavorable growing conditions and supports a more substantial reduction in corn acres planted.
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https://www.thefencepost.com/news/ground-truthing-usdas-june-acreage-report/
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Recent advances in soil moisture monitoring equipment have made it economically feasible for irrigated grain producers to utilize this technology to improve yields and utilize water more efficiently. Nineteen irrigated corn farmers expressed interest in evaluating remotely read, soil moisture monitoring equipment for the 2014 season. Each farmer was surveyed in person prior to the growing season to determine their individual growing/irrigation practices and historical yields, water and nitrogen use.
A Watermark 950T/R wireless soil moisture system was installed in each of 19 cooperator fields in late May and early June. A 20th system was planned but the failure of the modem just prior to startup and the subsequent 5 week delay for repairs made installation unpractical. One on one trainings were conducted to familiarize the farmers with the web based reporting service and how to interpret the data gleaned. The equipment was maintained by University of Delaware personnel who also kept in weekly contact with the cooperators to ensure that they could access and understand the soil moisture readings. 2014 proved to be an ideal growing season in Delaware with timely and adequate rainfall and low heat stress levels. In many cases dryland corn yields were on par with typical irrigated yields, thus minimizing the importance of irrigation for the 2014 season. The sensors were removed just prior to harvest and each cooperator was interviewed individually to determine the successes and failures of the equipment, data interpretation, ease of implementation into the irrigation schedule and overall usefulness of the project.
Of the 19 cooperator representing 8,940 irrigated acres, only 3 responded in post season survey that they planned to purchase soil moisture equipment. Another 7 responded that they were researching the costs of utilizing soil moisture equipment versus current commodity prices and might purchase equipment in the future.
Objectives/Performance Targets
1. Twenty irrigated corn and soybean producers will be selected by the project team for the demonstration of the field monitoring equipment. (May 2014)
1. Milestone achieved April 2014.
2. Each cooperator will be trained on a one on one basis to access their soil moisture status via the internet, analyze the data and modify their irrigation schedule to address crop needs. Growers will become proficient in interpreting soil moisture data into irrigation recommendations through frequent communication with the research team in the form of site visits, phone, and email contact. (May – Aug 2014)
1. Milestone achieved April – September 2014
3. Four Hundred growers will receive invitations to attend irrigation workshops at Delaware Ag Week. (November 2014)
1. Over six hundred invitations to attend the irrigation session at Delaware Ag Week were sent the week of December 8, 2014
4. Two hundred and fifty producers with center pivot irrigation will attend irrigation management workshops that discuss the findings of the 2014 field research/demonstration. (December 2014 – January 2015)
1. The Irrigation Session at Delaware Ag Week is scheduled for January 15th, 2015 where the results from the 2013 and 2014 season will be presented. Typical attendance for this session is 250-450 farmers.
5. Twenty new producers will be selected by the project team for the demonstration of the field monitoring equipment based on interest they expressed at the winter meetings. (May 2015)
1. In progress.
6. Four Hundred growers will receive invitations to attend irrigation workshops at Delaware Ag Week. (November 2015)
7. Two hundred producers per year with center pivot irrigation will attend irrigation management workshops that discuss the findings of the 2013, 2014 & 2015 field research. (December 2015 – January 2016)
8. Forty-five growers representing nine thousand acres will adopt soil moisture monitoring to manage irrigation. (2015 growing season)
Thirty-four irrigators representing sixty nine hundred acres will improve their irrigation scheduling on 6,900 acres of corn to improve yields by 15 bu/acre ($621,000/year) and increase nitrogen use efficiency from 1 lb applied per harvested bushel to 0.95 lbs/bu. An additional 14 irrigators will improve soybean irrigation on 2800 acres by 5 bu/acre ($182,000 per year)
• In 2014, 19 irrigators representing 8,940 irrigated corn acres have participated in this project, with only 2 reporting an increase in yield as a result of participating. Most growers indicated that the high dryland and irrigated yields for this season were primarily the result of mild temperatures and timely rainfall.
Twelve of these thirty four irrigators will reduce their overall irrigation application by two inches per year over twenty-five hundred acres, resulting in a five percent increase in yield (approximately $110,000/year), $20 per acre reduction in pumping costs ($50,000/year) and 135 million gallons in conserved water.
• Only 2 cooperators indicated that they used less water using the sensor data. 5 cooperators said they used more water and 5 more stated they used the same amount. The other 7 participants didn’t look at the data, didn’t trust the data or couldn’t figure out how to access the website.
Accomplishments/Milestones
Much like 2013, there was overwhelming interest in participating in this project, especially from corn producers. Most of the previous year’s cooperators requested to be involved for a 2nd year as the extremely wet 2013 season virtually eliminated any opportunity to access the value of soil moisture sensing. The initial grower interviews went smoothly and the farmer’s goals were in line with the goals of the project.
The soil moisture equipment installation went as planned, and 4 monitoring stations were installed in each field with one station in both the lightest/highest soil and the heaviest/lowest soil and 2 stations in the most predominate soil type. Each station monitored soil moisture levels at 6”, 12” and 18” below the soil surface and wirelessly transmitted the data back to a central data logging receiver approximately 10 to 15 times per day. The combined data from each of the 4 stations could be viewed real time by each cooperator on the internet.
While the equipment failure rate was extremely high in 2013 only 1 major equipment failure happened this season. One of the base modems failed and could not be repaired before the primary irrigation season had passed. The data from one field showed extremely dry soil moisture levels despite field visits showing adequate moisture. This location had a tight soil with considerable gravel, clay and silt and in hindsight required a different sensor installation method to ensure good soil contact.
Unfortunately, during the driest and most critical crop stage for corn (July 4th weekend), the reporting website was down and no one was able to access the data for 4 days. The website issues were easy to repair, but all of the employees at the hosting site were off for the holiday and unaware of the issue. 6 cooperators reported that they looked at the data every day and another 2 stated every other day. 5 growers looked at the data once per week and the remaining 6 either did not look at the data at all or had connection/equipment problems.
The equipment was removed in early September, just prior to harvest and the post season surveys of each cooperator were conducted. Several growers expressed their opinion that the sensors provided more value for determining when to start irrigating after a major rain event than for daily management.
Impacts and Contributions/Outcomes
In the post season survey, 3 of the 19 cooperators responded that they plan to purchase soil moisture equipment to help them manage their irrigation in the 2015 season. Another 7 responded that they might purchase the equipment if it is affordable and reliable. 8 farmers answered that they would not consider purchasing any soil moisture equipment.
While all 19 of the participating farmers saw increased yields, 15 of those attributed the yield increase to weather. Only 4 responded that improved management and cooperation with UD played a role in the yield increases. 8 farmers responded that they plan to make changes to their irrigation schedule as a result of this project. Overall, when asked what could be done to improve this project 8 participants responded with “nothing”; 4 answered “keep the equipment working or find better equipment”, and 4 replied “setting up the web service/ assemble a quick start guide” (it should be noted that we gave each cooperator a guide but many never read it).
The overall feeling of the 2014 cooperators was that they felt that the soil moisture monitoring added value to their operation and made the irrigation decisions less guesswork and more science based. Everyone had major concerns about the reliability, longevity and cost of the equipment. Most felt that the biggest hurdle to using soil moisture equipment is the 8 – 12 man hours required to install and setup the network during an already high work load period. One farmer commented that he thought the soil moisture monitoring should be a service provided by the University.
Collaborators:
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https://projects.sare.org/sare_project/lne12-314/?ar=2014
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Three days after a hail storm damaged wheat on 5,859 acres in Muktsar district on April 17, strong cyclonic winds and heavy showers played havoc with the crop in several districts of the state Monday. Harvesting and procurement of wheat is underway across Punjab these days, and the inclement weather conditions are expected to last another four days. The weather forecast has come as bad news for both farmers and government agencies as the state carries out a mammoth procurement operation amid the COVID crisis.
On Monday, damage to both standing and harvested wheat crop was reported from Kapurthala, Jalandhar, Patiala, Sangrur, Moga, Jalandhar’s Shahkot Area, Mansa, Ludhiana, and even Mukatsar. Experts said that Monday’s rain has come as a big set back to farmers.
“Heavy rain and hail storms are extremely damaging at this crucial stage when wheat is either being harvested or lying in mandis,” said Director Punjab Agriculture Department, Sutantra Airy. He added that the state was eyeing a bumper crop this time.
“Due to heavy rain, discolouration, fungus, overripe, dropping of grains, lodging etc. can take place and this would certainly affect the yield,” said Vice-Chancellor (VC) Punjab Agriculture University (PAU), Ludhiana, Dr B S Dhillon.
According to Director, Met Department, Chandigarh Officer, Surinder Pal, Western Disturbances from the Arabian Sea are the reasons behind this weather. He said that for the next 48 hours, the Western Disturbances would become little weak, but then again they will become strong on April 23 and 24.
A report by Muktsar’s Chief Agriculture Officer to Punjab Agriculture Department revealed that heavy rain and hail storm in the district on April 17 evening had damaged wheat on around 5,859 acres in nearly 7 villages and the damage was up to 25 per cent on 5,399 acres, up to 50 per cent on 270 acres, up to 75 per cent on 130 acres and up to 100 per cent on 60 acres across villages.
The villages that recorded this damage include Bhittiwala, Telian Wali, Kakhanwali, Vanwala, Meihina, Mitthri, Sighewal.
Two villages, Vanwala and Meihna villages, suffered the maximum damage on 3,700 acres. The report said that ready to harvest crop got hit more.
The survey of Monday’s damage will take place once the weather is clear.
Maximum damage to ready-to-harvest crop
Reports from across the state revealed that while at some places the standing crop was flattened, at others grain also fell on the ground.
“After today’s rain the chances of recovery of the green crop (late variety) are there, but there is hardly any chance of recovery in ready-to-harvest crop,” said farmer Harjinder Singh, in Malisian adding that if crop falls flat, the grain gets discolored.
Farmer Kulwinder Singh from Sultanpur Lodhi said, “We cannot harvest now for at least a week and some crop would be harvested manually due to flattening. Combine harvester will not be able to lift it.”
“After the rain, fields are not fit for mechanical harvesting and if we go for manual harvesting in such condition, it will cost us double of the amount,” said another farmer Jatinder Singh.
Punjab has 35.05 lakh hectares under wheat crop and the average yield on one hectare is 51 to 52 quintals.
Jagmohan Singh, General Secretary, Bhartiyan Kisan Union (BKU) Dakaunda, demanded full compensation as per the MSP rate for damaged crop and relaxations in the moisture and discolouring due to heavy rain during procurement.
Meanwhile, according to Punjab Mandi Board (PMB) till April 20, Punjab received 13.05 lakh metric tonnes of wheat in its grain markets across the state which is 324 per cent more than the last year’s arrival of 3.08 lakh metric tonnes during the corresponding period. The government agencies have purchased 11.34 lakh metric tonnes till date and 1.71 lakh metric of wheat is still unpurchased. Out of procured wheat, 8.20 lakh metric tonnes is still waiting for transportation from mandis to government godowns.
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https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/chandigarh/punjab-rain-damages-wheat-crop-across-state-more-showers-predicted-over-4-days-6371432/
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Armyworm, Don’t Get Unpleasantly Surprised – (John Obermeyer and Larry Bledsoe)
As previously reported, Kentucky has captured impressive moth numbers in their pheromone traps and now are seeing infestation take hold. Moths prefer to lay their eggs on dense grassy vegetation (e.g., wheat, grass hay, and grass cover crops). Initially, tiny larvae and their damage are hard to find. Larval development, especially in southern counties, should now have advanced to the point that high-risk crops should be assessed for feeding damage. To date, no reports of economic damage have been received in Indiana; indicating infestations may be typically spotty rather than widespread as in 2001.
Corn - Corn that has been no-tilled into or growing adjacent to a grass cover crop (especially rye) should be inspected immediately for armyworm feeding. Hatched larvae will move from the dying grasses to emerging/emerged corn. Armyworm feeding gives corn a ragged appearance, with feeding extending from the leaf margin toward the midrib. Damage may be so extensive that most of the plant, with the exception of the midrib and stalk, is consumed. A highly damaged plant may recover if the growing point has not been destroyed. If more than 50% of the plants show armyworm feeding and live larvae less than 1-1/4 inches long are numerous in the field, a control may be necessary. Larvae greater than 1-1/4 inches consume a large amount of leaf tissue and are more difficult to control. If armyworm are detected migrating from border areas or waterways within fields, spot treatments in these areas are possible if the problem is identified early enough. Don’t rely on Bt-corn for protection, as all are vulnerable to damage.
Armyworm feeding on 4-leaf corn
Wheat & Grass Pasture - Examine plants in different areas of a field, especially where plant growth is dense. Look for flag leaf feeding, clipped heads, and armyworm droppings on the ground. Shake the plants and count the number of armyworm larvae on the ground and under plant debris. On sunny days, the armyworm will take shelter under crop residue or soil clods. If counts average approximately 5 or more per linear foot of row, the worms are less than 1-1/4 inches long, and leaf feeding is evident, control may be justified. If a significant number of these larvae are present and they are destroying the leaves or the heads, treat immediately.
Armyworm feeding on forage grass
|Armyworm Insecticides (Read and follow ALL label rate, application, and use directions)|
|Crop||Product (Formulation||Restrictions (Days to Harvest)|
|Corn||Ambush (EC)
|
Asana XL
Baythroid CL
Cobalt
Hero
Lannate (SP)
Lorsban (4E)
Mustang Max (EC)
Penncap-M
Pounce (EC)
Sevin (4F, 80S, XLR)
|30
|
21
21
21
30
21
35
30
12
30
48
|Wheat||Baythroid XL
|
Lannate (SP)
Malathion (EC)
Mustang Max (EC)
Penncap-M
Sevin (4F, 80S, XLR)
Warrior
|30
|
7 (10 for grazing/feeding)
7
14
15 (harvest or grazing)
21 grain harvest, 7 grazing forage
30
|Grass Pasture||Malathion (EC)
|
Mustang Max (EC)
Sevin (4F, 80S, XLR)
|0
|
0 (forage and hay)
14 (harvest or grazing)
Don’t Forget About Alfalfa Insect Pests! - (Larry Bledsoe and John Obermeyer)
Normally, alfalfa weevil diminishes in importance at this time of year and we begin discussing the potato leafhopper in its place. This season is different in that the weather conditions have brought these two pests together making management of this high valued crop a little more urgent.
The generally cool and damp weather during the spring and early summer has certainly slowed planting and other farm activities, but not the activity of some alfalfa pests! Alfalfa weevil is adapted to cool weather. Its activity and crop injury are normally greatest in early spring and late fall. The arrival of warm days in early May usually mark the beginning of the end of weevil season as natural controlling agents reduce the number of weevils and the life cycle of the weevil shifts to the summer resting stage. This year, the continued cool nights and cool cloudy days have resulted in extended activity of the weevils. Some producers in southern counties have managed the weevil by taking the first cutting early. Northern producers need to assess stands to determine if early cutting or chemical applications are appropriate. It is important that producers scout new growth after cutting for new weevil injury to emerging foliage.
The potato leafhopper (PLH) is a pest that is typically carried into our state on southerly winds and storms. Although severe storm activity has been slight this season, this pest has now made its way to Indiana. PLH is normally a pest of second cutting hay, but slow development of forages this year has this pest present in first cutting hay, at least in northern counties. Now is the time to choose a dry day to sweep the standing crop. See the management guide below to determine if you need to take action. Cutting the first growth crop is a good management tool if the alfalfa is near bud stage. As with weevil, it is important to monitor the regrowth for the presence of hoppers. Remember that this is a pest in which the producer must be proactive. Management is triggered by the abundance of PLH relative to the average length if the alfalfa stems. Once the results of feeding injury is seen (V-shaped, yellow leaf tips, aka ‘hopper burn’), much of the injury has already occurred.
|Management Thresholds for Potato Leafhoppers|
|
|
(Adults/Nymphs)
Leafhoppers Per Sweep
|
|
Alfalfa Stem Height
in Inches
|
|
under 3
|
|
0.2
|
|
4 - 6
|
|
0.5
|
|
7 - 12
|
|
1.0
|
|
greater than 12
|
|
1.5
Whether you are managing alfalfa weevils, potato leafhopper or both at the same time, if you choose to apply insecticides, remember that best results from insecticides are obtained when treatment occurs while foliage is small. For recommended insecticides see Extension Publication E-220, Alfalfa Insect Control Recommendations - 2008 which canbe viewed at <http://extension.entm.purdue.edu/publications/E-220.pdf>.
More Thoughts on Late Corn Planting - (Bob Nielsen)
Completion of the 2008 corn planting season throughout Indiana remains a distant light at the end of a wet tunnel. Planting progress as of 18 May was reported to be 68% complete statewide, but only 37% complete throughout southern Indiana (USDA-NASS, 19 May). Reports are coming in that some of the earlier planted corn is being replanted or may require so in the near future because of unacceptable stand establishment due to damage from soggy soils, soil-borne insect damage, or seedling blight damage. Obviously, the calendar continues to move on or, in the memorable words of John Wayne, “we’re burnin’ daylight.”
Slow drying soils due to cool weather plus additional rainfall that spread throughout much of the state on Friday probably translate to little significant planting progress since the 18 May estimate. While we know from experience that much of the remaining corn acres could be planted in a week’s worth of good working days, the upshot is that quite a few acres will either be planted very late or those acres will be switched over to soybeans.
Yield Potential of Late-Planted Corn
Ah, yes.......the $6 per bushel question is how much yield loss should I expect if I continue to plant corn through the early weeks of June? One of the most cited references for that answer is the dataset from the Univ of Illinois that we reproduce in Purdue’s ID-179 (Corn and Soybean Guide) and is provided below. Based on that dataset, we can speculate that corn yield potential decreases significantly with late May and early June plantings. As I’ve indicated before though (Nielsen, 2008a), these estimates are relative to the yield potential of a given year. If the remainder of this growing season turns out to be fantastic for corn, the percent yields listed in the table may yet result in acceptable actual bushel yields. If, however, the remainder of this growing season continues to be a sorry mess for corn, then the percent yield losses listed in the table will translate to even sorrier actual bushel yields this fall.
Click here to see the table for "Expected Grain Yield Due to Various Planting Dates and Final Plant Populations"
Hybrid Maturity for Late-Planted Corn
Growers who intend on “sticking to their guns” with corn acres should be talking with their seed dealers now about possible switches to earlier maturity hybrids, especially those who farm in northern or eastcentral Indiana. The accompanying table lists relative hybrid maturities that could safely be planted over the next three weeks based on expected heat unit needs and a “normal” accumulation of heat units from planting to a killing fall frost date. See my earlier article (Nielsen, 2008b) for more detail on how these hybrid maturity recommendations are developed.
The good news, if there is any, is that growers in southern Indiana could continue planting adapted full-season hybrids through the middle of June with little if any risk of the crop not maturing prior to a killing fall frost. Today’s reality is that “full-season” hybrids for many southern Indiana growers are earlier maturity than those listed in the accompanying table. Plant breeders have made such improvements in the yield potential of 110 - 115 day hybrids over the past decade that many growers take advantage of their excellent yield potential and drier grain versus later maturity hybrids.
Tip: Growers who elect to switch to earlier maturity hybrids should consider using hybrids with the Bt-corn borer trait, especially in southern Indiana. European and southwestern corn borers are especially attracted to late-planted corn. See John Obermeyer’s recent newsletter article (Obermeyer, 2008).
Another Tip: Growers who elect to switch to earlier maturity hybrids should pay close attention to choosing hybrids with excellent disease resistance and general late-season plant health or standability characteristics.
|Approx. "safe" relative maturities for late planting dates in Indiana with assumption that the hybrid will mature the week of expected fall frost date.|
|
|
Crop Rpt District
|
|
"Typical" CRM
|
|
Expected Fall Frost Date
|
|
Planting Date...
|
|
31-May
|
|
7-June
|
|
14-June
|
|
Approx. "safe" relative maturity
|
|
NW
|
|
109
|
|
6-Oct
|
|
108
|
|
106
|
|
102
|
|
NC
|
|
109
|
|
6-Oct
|
|
108
|
|
105
|
|
102
|
|
NE
|
|
109
|
|
6-Oct
|
|
106
|
|
103
|
|
100
|
|
WC
|
|
112
|
|
13-Oct
|
|
118
|
|
115
|
|
112
|
|
C
|
|
112
|
|
13-Oct
|
|
116
|
|
113
|
|
109
|
|
EC
|
|
109
|
|
6-Oct
|
|
108
|
|
106
|
|
102
|
|
SW
|
|
116
|
|
20-Oct
|
|
118+
|
|
118+
|
|
118+
|
|
SC
|
|
113
|
|
13-Oct
|
|
118+
|
|
118+
|
|
116
|
|
SE
|
|
113
|
|
13-Oct
|
|
118+
|
|
118+
|
|
117
|
|
50 PCT Fall Frost Risk Date
Seeding Rates for Late-Planted Corn
The only consideration for seeding rate decisions and late planted corn is that growers may want to reduce their seeding rate just a tad. Optimal final stands for late-planted corn are similar to those for earlier-planted corn (see above planting date/population table), BUT recommended seeding rates for earlier-planted corn are calculated assuming that 5 to 10% of the seed either will not germinate or subsequent seedlings will die due to typical wet, cold, and otherwise crappy early season conditions. One of the few positive aspects of late-planted corn is that stand establishment should be more successful due to warmer soils and more rapid germination/emergence conditions. So, instead of bumping seeding rates by roughly 10% as we suggest for earlier-planted corn, growers could back off to seeding rates that are equal to or 5% above their target final populations.
Seeding Depth for Late-Planted Corn
The key factor for selecting seeding depth for late-planted corn is uniformity of seedbed moisture for germination. One of the risks of later planted corn is that the seed zone can dry out much more quickly than it usually does with earlier-planted corn. Check the seedbed moisture conditions the day you plant and give some credence to the 6 to 10 day rainfall forecast. Aim for a seeding depth that will best ensure uniform soil moisture, but do not plant any shallower than 1.5 inches.
Starter Fertilizer for Late-Planted Corn
Whether or not starter fertilizer will “pay off” with late planting is often not easy to predict. However, given that the benefits of starter fertilizer are most evident when the first 30 to 45 days after planting are wet, cold, and otherwise crappy, one could argue that there may not be much reason to use starter fertilizer for late-planted corn. The high cost of many starter fertilizer sources this year may also influence this decision.
Related References
Lee, Chad. 2008. Late Corn Planting Dates and Potential Yields. Univ. of Kentucky. [On-line]. Available at <http://www.uky.edu/Ag/GrainCrops/Briefs/Corn_LatePlanting2008.htm>. [URL accessed 5/23/08].
Nielsen, R.L. (Bob). 2008a. Corn Planting Date is Important, But.... Corny News Network, Purdue Extension. [On-line]. Available at URL: <http://www.kingcorn.org/news/articles.08/PltDate-0412.html>. [URL accessed 5/23/08].
Nielsen, R.L. (Bob). 2008b. Late Planting/Replanting & Relative Hybrid Maturity. Corny News Network, Purdue Extension. [On-line]. Available at URL: <http://www.kingcorn.org/news/articles.08/DelayedPlt_Hybrids.html>. [URL accessed 5/23/08].
Obermeyer, John. 2008. Consider Corn Borer-Bt for Late-Planted Corn in Southern Indiana Pest & Crop Newsletter (16 May), Purdue Extension. [On-line]. Available at <http://extension.entm.purdue.edu/pestcrop/
2008/issue7/index.html>. [URL accessed 5/23/08].
Thomison, Peter. 2008. Should Seeding Rates be Changed for Delayed Corn Plantings?. C.O.R.N. Newsletter (20 May), Ohio State Extension. [On-line]. Available at <http://corn.osu.edu/index.php?setissueID=229>. [URL accessed 5/23/08].
USDA-NASS. 2008. Indiana Crop & Weather Report (19 May 2008). Indiana office of USDA’s National Ag. Statistics Service. [On-line]. Available at <http://www.nass.usda.gov/Statistics_by_State/Indiana/
Publications/Crop_Progress_&_Condition/2008/wc051908.pdf>. [URL accessed 5/23/08].
|
https://extension.entm.purdue.edu/pestcrop/2008/issue9/index.html
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Which accurately describes the purpose and history of the Virginia Company? The Virginia Company was a multinational company that received a royal charter from Spanish King Ferdinand II to trade slaves with the Virginia Colony.
-
math
1. A farmer has 100 acres of land on which she plans to grow wheat and corn. Each acre of wheat requires 4 hours of labor and $20 of capital, and each acre of corn requires 16 hours of labor and $40 of capital. The farmer has at
-
Algebra
In 2000, 520,000 acres of farmland in a region were devoted to growing nuts. By 2013, the number of acres used to grow nuts had increased to 810,000. Find the average rate of change in the number of acres in a region used to
-
chemistry
A 100 w lightbulb is place in a cylinder equipped with a moveable piston. The ligshtbulb is turned on for 0.015 hours, and the assembly expands from initial volume of 0.85 L to a final volume of 5.88 L against an external pressure
-
Math
Rounding to significant figures 99.98 to 3 significant figures Can it apply to this number as if I round to 100 this is one significant figure or we keep it as 99.9. Please clarify And same number to 2 sig figure Will it be 100?
-
Social Studies
How did the Ancient Puebloans adapt to their physical environment? A. They built networks of ditches to irrigate the desert.** B. They cleared forests to make room for farmland. C. They relied on fishing and hunting for food. D.
-
Chemistry
The population of San Francisco is 750,000 in an area of 49 square miles. What is the population density in San Francisco? Express your answer in people per acre. ( 1mi(squared) = 640 acres ) 49 sq mi x (640 acres/1 sq mi) =??
-
math
A farmer planted 3 2/3 acres of oats, 5 3/4 acres of wheat, and 2 5/6 acres of barley. Compute the total number of acres planted?
-
History
Which accurately describes the purpose and history of the Virginia Company? The Virginia Company was a joint-stock company that received an English royal charter, allowing for the settlement of the Virginia Colony. The Virginia
-
Social studies
How did the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 conflict with the Missouri Compromise of 1820? 1.The Missouri Compromise would not go into effect until the Kansas-Nebraska Act was passed 2.Northerners wanted to allow popular sovereignty
-
phsics
Assuming that Albertine's mass is 60.0kg , what is μk, the coefficient of kinetic friction between the chair and the waxed floor? Use g = 9.80m/s2 for the magnitude of the acceleration due to gravity. Assume that the value of k
You can view more similar questions or ask a new question.
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|
Key Players: Decision Making in Terrorist Incidents
Decision making is defined as “simply the act of choosing among available alternatives about which uncertainty exists” (Mingst, p. 457). However, decision making is not an easy process especially with the participiation of individuals within the government. Individual elites or the “key players’” decisions and actions greatly affect the course of events as well as the situation of the country when one of various factors are present and one of which is during time of crisis like terrorist incidents (Mingst, p. 133).
The decisions made by these elite individuals are influence by politics within the government which eventually affect their actions (Mingst p. 460). The effects of the choices that they make are not always advantageous as sometimes it have its adverse consequences in the situation of the ccountry. A good example to exemplified such idea is the aftermath of President George W. Bush’s decision to attack Iraq. Three imporatnt areas were badly affected by it, the country’s domestic cohesion, the international standing of the United States of America and the insecurity felt by those immediately affected by the decision.
The domestic cohesion of the United States of America has been greatly affected by Pres. Bush’s decision . Many citizens especially the ones leaning towards the democratic side did not agree with his reasons of doing such in the name of U.S. battle against the war on terror. Moreover, the domestic consensus became much harder to achieve with the issue of personal gain.
Opening Iraq’s oil economy would greatly benefit the Bush family, being a member of one of the largest American oil company the Washington’s Carlyle Group (Chenoy, p. 23 ). A clear indication of which is the drop in the approval ratings of the president after his speech that ordered the deployment of more troops in Iraq. Sixty percent of those who were surveyed expressed their disapproval in Pres. Bush’s performance (Iraq drives Bush’s rating to new low, 2006).
Another area that is adversely afftected is the international standing of the country. Many states as well as international organizations are not in favor of the U.S. president’s course of action. This immediately put the country in a bad light especially its leader because the non-approval of these states emphasizes the illegitimacy of this action. A good example is the European Union (EU) that has been the country’s partner in economic activities but they didn’t support Bush’s action against Iraq. EU believes that America’s unilateral strategy would not benefit their multi-polar interest (Chenoy, p. 25 ).
Lastly, is the effects of this decision to the citizens of Iraq as well as to the U.S. soldiers. The war has left numerous casualties in terms of death tolls, damage to property, as well as the over all security of the country (Chenoy, p. 27). According to the Iraq Body Count Project (IBC), there were 947 civilian deaths reported between 1st and 27th of February this year (Enforced security: solution or stopgap?).
The weight of an elite individual’s decisions and actions is greatly felt in crisis situation like terrorist incidents. The choices they make could have numerous effects in the country of their leadership and to others as well. Unfortunately, the politically driven decision of these “key players” could have adverse consequences in the lives of many people.
Works Cited
Chenoy, Anuradha. Demystifying Terrorism : a War Against Terror & The Terror Of War, US Hegemony & Militarism. ARENA, 1997.
“Enforced security: solution or stopgap?”. 28 February 2008. Iraq Body Count. 12 May 2008.
<https://www.iraqbodycount.org/analysis/beyond/enforced-security/>.
“Iraq drives Bush’s ratings to a new low”. 14 March 2006. CNN. 12 May 2008. ;http://edition.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/03/13/bush.poll/;.
Mingst, Karen. Essentials of International Relations. Norton, 2001.
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- 948pts.
Waldens Ph.D. in Public Policy and Administrationprepares you to become an innovative public policy creator who can find effective solutions and make a difference in the life of communities. Prepare to meet the challenges of governance and service delivery anywhere in the world. This program is taught by a diverse faculty of scholar-practitioners, all of whom hold doctoral degrees, with experience in developing effective public policy nationally and internationally. Coursework explores public policy theory, research, and practice in a global context. Gain expertise in policy management and apply your knowledge to problems facing the world.
Attain a new level of credibility and influence in your field and benefit from exciting new career opportunities as a researcher, college-level educator, or administrative leader in the private, public, or non-profit sector. This program addresses the needs of international students looking to gain knowledge of U.S. practices as well as local students looking for a broad international perspective. Learn how to develop sustainable solutions to current pressing social issues.
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Each university in the Unites States of America sets its own admission standards so there isn't the same criteria for all the students and the university can decide which applicants meet those standards. The fee for each application is between $35 to $100.
After the selections of the universities you want to attend, the best of all would be to contact each university for an application form and more admission information for the international students. Moreover, for a graduate or postgraduate program it's necessary to verify the admission requirements. Some programs require that you send your application directly to their department.
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December 7, 2007
As part of its civil society capacity-building work, the ABA Rule of Law Initiative (ABA ROLI) recently conducted a three-day training workshop on local fundraising for Ukrainian NGOs. Thirteen representatives from ABA ROLI’s network of partner organizations participated in this training, which was developed to help local partners gain the skills necessary to recruit local donors—one of the main components of organization sustainability.
International donor organizations have been working in Ukraine since the decline of the Soviet Union. But as the volume of international financial support steadily decreases, local donations have come to play a much larger role in the life of Ukrainian NGOs. Unfortunately, fundraising is not a smooth process. While NGOs rely increasingly on local funding, prospective local donors lack confidence in the trustworthiness and value of NGOs as partners—when they think about charity at all.
That is why Yana Naralskaya, Ukraine Institution Building Advisor at ABA ROLI, invited Ruslan Kraplych, president of the board of directors of the Fund of the Philanthropist Counts of Ostroh, to lead the training. The fund is one of Ukraine’s most successful modern-day charities, working with businesses, local authorities, citizens, and international donors to raise funds. During the training, participants also visited the chair of the Rotary Club in Rivne City—where the Fund is located—to talk to the stakeholders engaged in charitable giving.
The workshop participants are now poised to begin seeking relationships with local donors. The more successful these NGOs become, the stronger their influence will be in raising the vital concerns of their communities and making citizens more responsible and socially oriented, thereby promoting the rule of law in Ukraine.
The Institution Building Program in Ukraine is funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
|
https://www.americanbar.org/advocacy/rule_of_law/where_we_work/europe_eurasia/ukraine/news/news_ukraine_ngos_leverage_local_support/
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The APECS Code of Conduct was developed during the 2017-2018 APECS term by the Executive Committee, the Council and Members of the APECS National Committee leaderships.
The code of conduct was approved unanimously by the members of the APECS 2017-2018 Executive Committee and 2017-2018 Council on 20 September 2018.
The code of conduct takes effect immediately.
APECS’ goals include creating opportunities for the development of innovative, international, and interdisciplinary collaborations among current early career polar researchers as well as recruiting, retaining and promoting the next generation of polar enthusiasts.
APECS recognises the value of voluntary contributions members make to APECS and partner organizations, and seeks to support APECS members to thrive in their professional endeavors regardless of nationality, ethnicity, religion, race, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, economic class, disability, physical appearance, age, or career status.
This Code of Conduct applies to all APECS Members and sets minimum expectations for personal and professional behavior. More stringent requirements imposed by third parties (e.g. employing organizations, vessel/station management) remain fully in effect. It helps ensure that all APECS Members can contribute to activities in a safe environment.
1. Conflicts of Interest
The APECS leadership (Executive Committee, Council members, APECS International Directorate staff) and APECS National Committee leaderships are frequently required to make decisions for APECS and its members, including but not limited to: voting on new procedures and directions for APECS; deciding on new projects; voting for winners in an APECS-organized contest; deciding on awards offered by APECS; and reviewing applications for the many international opportunities with our partners.
A conflict of interest is understood to be a) any situation in which a person is in a position to derive personal benefit from actions or decisions made in their official capacity; or b) a situation in which a person has a close relationship with, or is a close colleague of, a person that a decision is made about (e.g. in a review process).
Any potential conflicts of interest should be declared as soon as they arise and solutions to avoid them found with the APECS Executive Committee or the chair of the committee that is making the decision. Involvement in the APECS leadership does not disadvantage any Member, or preclude them from applying for opportunities offered by APECS.
If you believe you have a conflict of interest, you should contact the relevant group leader or chair, who will ultimately decide whether the supposed conflict of interest precludes your participation in the relevant activity.
The summary below of potential conflicts of interest and other circumstances that may raise questions about impartiality should be used as a guide when assessing if potential conflicts of interest exist.
- You have a conflict of interest when ...
You are directly involved in any of the submissions
- You have an institutional conflict with an applicant when you …
Hold a position, such as professor, adjunct, visiting scientist, consultant or similar within a given department or institution
Are serving on advisory bodies or a similar body of the applicant’s institution (current or past activity within the past 5 years)
- You have a financial conflict with a proposal when you …
Hold a fiduciary position (Officer, Governing Board, Councillor, Trustee…) in one of the institutions applying for funding
Gain direct or indirect benefits if the proposal is accepted
- You have an individual conflict with a proposal which involves a …
Relative, spouse or family member, or someone with which you have personal relationships or conflicts
Current business or professional partner
Former employer (within one year)
Person with whom you were involved in ongoing or recently concluded professional appointment proceedings
Present or past PhD advisor/student
Person with whom you had close scientific collaboration within the past three years (e.g. preparation of an application, publication or exploitation of results, co-publication of articles, etc.)
Person with whom you are in direct scientific competition or competition with personal projects or plans
- You may also have a conflict with a proposal involving …
A person living in your household or their employer
Your parent’s employer (except solely receipt of honoraria)
“Catch All”
- “Catch All”
Any other circumstances where your impartiality could be questioned. Use the “Reasonable Person Test” to ask: “would a reasonable person with all the relevant facts question your impartiality?” and “can you reasonably defend your action?”
An APECS member deemed to have a conflict of interest with respect to participation in a given activity will be excluded from discussions relating to the decision making process until after the public announcement of results. Members may continue to serve in other Project Groups and APECS activities where the conflict of interest is not relevant throughout this time.
2. Discrimination
APECS does not tolerate any form of discrimination within the organisation and its activities. APECS rejects discrimination by any means, based on factors including but not limited to: ethnic or national origin, race, religion, citizenship, language, political or other opinion, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, age, or economic class.
Discrimination is any unequal or unfair treatment in professional opportunities, education, benefits, evaluation, and employment (such as hiring, termination, promotion, compensation) as well as retaliation and various types of harassment. Discriminatory practices can be explicit or implicit, intentional or unconscious.
All APECS members are to be treated with respect and consideration, valuing a diversity of views, opinions, and cultures. APECS is a diverse network with many cultures and languages represented. Members may not be communicating with other members in their primary language. Certain expressions can be understood differently in other cultures. Any communication should be open and demonstrate respect for others; critique should be aimed at ideas rather than individuals.
3. Harassment
APECS is committed to providing a safe, productive, and welcoming environment for all members. Any instance of harassment within the organisation and its activities will not be tolerated, and can result in APECS Membership being revoked.
Harassment is a type of discrimination that consists of acts that are unwanted, unwelcome, demeaning, abusive, threatening, or offensive. Harassment commonly takes the form of a single intense and severe act, or of multiple persistent or pervasive acts. Examples of behaviour that constitute harassment include, but are not limited to: any form of degrading comments, verbal or otherwise, related to gender, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, religion, national origin; the inappropriate use of nudity and/or sexual images; threats; unwanted touching or other hostile acts; the circulation of written or graphic material that denigrates an individual or a group; as well as minimizing or intentionally taking actions to reduce the the credibility of a harassment victim.
4. Political Activity
Political activity is defined as activity relating to the government or the public affairs of a country. APECS defines itself as a non-partisan organization. APECS does not support or oppose any given party, candidate, campaign, or policy, and must remain impartial in all such affairs. APECS supports the use of evidence-based policy suggestions, based on the best available objective evidence from research, rather than subjective values or ideologically-driven viewpoints.
For more details on what is considered to constitute political activity for APECS, please refer to the Political Activity Statement.
5. Consequences of violating the Code of Conduct
All violations of the Code of Conduct will be addressed by the APECS leadership, and penalties relative to the infraction will be considered on a case-by-case basis. Penalties can include:
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https://www.apecs.is/who-we-are/operating-procedures/2690-appendix-4-apecs-code-of-conduct.html
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Many scientific institutions and major industrial organizations, in their keenness to benefit from the experience of internationally prestigious advisory and consultative bodies, draw up long and short-term plans for their formation. These advisory and consultative bodies comprise of elite and authoritative groups of scientific, industrial, and administrative experts. The assistance of such bodies is sought to support educational institutions' efforts to achieve quality enhancements and improvements of such credibility as to be worthy of international recognition [1–3]. Advisory boards are not, and are not intended to be, substitutes for statutory boards of directors, which are responsible for internal operational planning and implementation within the concerned institutions. Indeed, if properly constituted, advisory boards are intended to complement and strengthen existing executive boards, by offering advice and guidance to aid them in the successful performance of their tasks. Advisory boards' targets and the criteria for board members' selection have to be clearly enunciated from the very beginning, in order for maximum benefit to be obtained from such boards by concerned institutions.
The motive for following this strategy could be to ensure that concerned educational institutions receive expert advice on new high technology and scientific advances, or to enable them to gain insight into conducting business in diverse global markets. This chapter provides an overview of International Advisory Boards (IABs), consulted by a sample of universities and major organizations in the world. We have outlined the definition, objectives, composition, and meeting schedules of the IABs in such institutions and organizations.
The following section covers the definition, objectives, and function of the International Advisory Board at King Abdulaziz University. It also provides examples of other distinguished universities and organizations globally, that have established international advisory bodies.
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https://m.ebrary.net/12302/education/international_advisory_boards_world
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& Caruth, G.D. 2013, "Critical Factors in Human Resource Outsourcing", Journal of Management Research, vol. 13, no. 3, pp. 1-9. Chiu, C., Lai, C. & Chen, W. 2009, "Advantages of Computer Industry Outsourcing in Taiwan", Journal of Global Business Issues, vol.
Written Assignment Organization leaders have greater influence in transmitting and promoting moral standards, values and ethical behavior in organization. Organization leadership should pay attention to promoting positive moral values and standards, ethical behaviors that help the organization in achieving successful results and outcomes. Ebbers contentious display of destructive unethical deviant behavior set unethical standards and negative moral values for the organization which contributed tremendously to WorldCom financial scandals that resulted in the largest bankruptcy in U.S. history. According to Murphy & Enderle, 1995 descriptive business ethics literature, executive leaders set the ethical tone at the top of organization and shape
• Not investing much of the time on responsible investment could get the company through in the short run but for long run sustainability of the organization which is on social, financial, ecological and political basis responsible investment is suggestable for the organization. • With the instances of Levis, Maggi and Tata it can be clearly concluded that definitely ethical investment is major contributor for the sustainability of the organization • Changing mind set of the investors as well as the customers could also be one of the reasons why organizations are looking forward for responsible
A reward for ethical behavior The ethical behavior must be recognized and appreciated and at the time it must be awarded. So it can promote ethics in other employees. Conclusion Ethics in business and in corporate culture has become a critical issue for many companies. There is need to pay more attention to an analysis of unethical behavior in leadership and its relation to corporate culture. Ethical leadership is a growing concept and many large companies are promoting business ethics as their corporate social responsibility.
So that, international business ethics take center stage as a major concern of the modern era. The earlier opinion stated that a business cannot be ethical, but this opinion is not used anymore in the modern business. Today business has belief that they must be responsible for social since they live and operate within a social structure. The key factors that make business ethics is important at the quarter of the 20th century are corporate social responsibility, corporate governance, and globalized economy. The culture of an organization, or else we can call it as the philosophy of an organization which is related with ethics have a great relationship with the performance of a business in long and short term.
The concept of corporate culture is commonly defined as a set of values that characterize a company. The purpose of this written piece is to examine the influence that corporate culture has on personal ethics and whether or not, this type of influence is appropriate. The essay will also discuss the best possible steps to solving problems in an organisation. It has been said that a strong knowledge of the corporate stance on ethical values can lead to the creation of a strong ethical culture (Stanwick and Stanwick, 2009, p. 15). There exist many cases in which we can see that corporate culture has had a negative effect on personal ethics.
It is essential for individuals and those representing an organization to understand what is an ethical dilemma. Wells Fargo financial corporation was involved in a dramatic ethical issue due to millions of unauthorized bank account openings. As explained in The PLUS Ethical Decision-Making Model, “many organizations battle to develop a simple set of guidelines that make it easier for individual employees, regardless of position or level, to be confident that his/her decisions meet all of the competing standards for effective and ethical decision-making” (n.d). The Wells Fargo scandal is evident prove that employees lacked ethical judgment and management supervision. The seven ethical decision-making steps foster straightforward thinking that
Extending from their definition and placing it in the business context, their definition of business ethics is the application of general ethical ideas to business behaviour. This essay documents my key analysis points with regards to Carroll’s (2010) case on “Big Pharma’s Marketing Tactics”. It will provide an insight into the major issues and implications of this case that are pertinent in the business, government and society (BGS) context, particularly pertaining to business
ation for the Success of JPMorgan Company If we talk about finance, money and the economy in America, we must mention JPMorgan Chase bank. It is one of the biggest banks on America with more than 240,000 employees, 5,300 branches and 15,500 ATMs all around USA. This company is notorious for changing the business world then, and still has a footprint on the world does business today. The steps taken to build the success in this company were different, innovative, and nothing any ordinary business would do. The groundwork for JPMorgan Chase Bank’s continuing success was laid by its founder J.P. Morgan, who used his wealth to manipulate the entire American Economy.
In this Enron Scandal ,several moral issues and values are being discussed .The moral issues is the misconduct of code of ethics by management level of a corporation , violation of code of professional ,ethical dilemma that faced by a management level when involved own interest . The first moral issues that discussed in Enron Scandal is misconduct code of ethics by management level of a corporation .In this case ,the mastermind of this scandal is the company CEO , Mr . Kenneth Lay, Mr. Jeffrey Skilling and the company CFO,Mr. Andrew Fastow .The management level of Enron Corporation had misconduct the code of ethics and fail to performing the duties of a corporation which is telling the truth of the situation of a corporation .Instead , they tried try to hide the truth of their financial status and create a false prosperity situation and make the public believe on them in order to support their shares prices . The misconduct of code of ethics by the management level by Enron corporation has led to the another question – The ultimate responsibility of a corporation towards society ?
Nonprofits can effectively utilize the strategies discussed by “Making Markets Work” to bring awareness and financial stability to its social purpose. However, these organizations should be mindful of how much of their time and resources are consumed by business as to not lose perspective on their ultimate social goal. These are the fears and risks that every nonprofit grapples with, the need to provide while still working towards the organization’s mission. In the past fear was the driving factor deterring nonprofits to distance themselves from business methods. Many nonprofits fear that their engagement in business tactics may lead them astray from their intended missions or may cause others in the nonprofit sector negatively view
(n.d.). YourBusiness Azcentral. Retrieved from How Supply and Demand Impacts Decisions in Business: http://yourbusiness.azcentral.com/supply-demand-impacts-decisions-business-14047.html Douglas, E. (2012, October 31). K-12 Talent Manager. Retrieved from 7 Practices to Prevent Unethical Behavior: http://blogs.edweek.org/topschooljobs/k-12_talent_manager/2012/10/7_practices_to_prevent_unethical_behavior.html Ember, W. (2014-2015).
C., Fraedrich, J., & Ferrell, L. (2015).Business ethics: Ethical decision making & cases (10th ed.). Mason, OH: Cengage. O 'Sullivan, Arthur; Sheffrin, Steven M. (2003). Economics: Principles in Action. Upper Saddle River, New
4). Different scholars have proposed several methods to integrate the needs for profits with corporate social responsibility; in this context, John Elkington developed a new approach to measure corporate sustainability denominated the Triple Bottom Line. The new method expands the original corporate goal of focusing on profits by also including the assessment of the company 's environmental and social performance (Boswell, Davis, & Jackson, 2011).
International Journal of Information, Business and Management, 7(3), 71-90. Retrieved August 7, 2015, from ProQuest Central. Mitut, I. (2011). The Role of Leadership in the Management of Crisis Situations.
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https://www.ipl.org/essay/Ethical-Leadership-Ethics-In-Business-FKAH2NFC486
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We are often told that the role of a student officer is to be a campaigner.
We’re told that to be successful, there’s a need to be creating petitions, training activists and and making a noise on social media.
Some SUs have KPIs like “I know the campaigns the SU is running”, or “x amount of students felt the SU campaign on matters important to them” included in numerous SU impact reports each year.
But while campaigning is an important part of the toolbox – and pretty essential in the year ahead given the cost of living crisis – aren’t most officers much more about “influencing” than “campaigning”?
When I was a sabbatical officer, I was often made to feel like I was betraying “the cause” by working within existing university structures. The idea of having to “schmooze” or “play the game” felt very foreign. But once I started approaching influencing with intention, I started to achieve for students – both within the SU and across the university.
We’re all influencers now
There’s a good argument that says that officers who have the most impact are the ones who are the best influencers. That doesn’t mean they have thousands of Instagram followers full of #ads or #sponsored posts. It does mean that they are able to influence decisions and decision makers within and outside of the university to get the best outcome for students.
It also doesn’t mean that campaigning is irrelevant or unimportant, and of course it is the case that influencing can be an important tactic when working, over time, in an organised and active way towards a particular goal. But it is to say that “influencing” is a skill all of its own, has a set of techniques and tactics that are the object of academic research, and is likely to be important to more officers more of the time when trying to get things done.
We often see those who are trying to gain influence over others as a negative thing – perhaps because of potential perceptions of manipulation. Yet we are influenced and influence others everyday, whether we intend to or not. And if universities are anything, they are environments where reward and coercive power is low, but expert and referent power is high. So the more that student officers (and the staff that support them) can learn how to influence those around them, the more successful they will be.
And if nothing else, where officers used elections to campaign on pledges that involved changing the union itself, using influence internally is likely to be an important thing to do with staff, volunteers and other officers.
How to do it
The “science” of influencing and persuasion suggests there are five categories of influence norms that officers should try to adapt in order to push their agendas forward.
People don’t like feeling indebted
The old saying goes, you have to “give to get in return” – people are likely to repay what another has provided at an earlier time. This means working hard to support colleagues’ projects or goals of SU-based initiatives, as they will be more likely to support you in return.
It also means demonstrating how objectives align with or add value to the key strategic priorities at the university. That means it makes sense to look at the institution’s current strategic priorities, what the VC reported to the last meeting of university council or Board of Governors, and asking around about what the senior people are trying to achieve right now.
So if the university wants to increase international student recruitment, and the SU needs funding for a project that will help students’ sense of belonging, demonstrating how the project will help international students feel welcome and be more likely to recommend the institution to friends and relatives back home is important – they’ll be more likely to support it.
An easy way to gain influence is to share gratitude. Handwritten thank-you notes to key leaders or allies who provided great support on a project or welcomed you in your first committee meeting cost nothing and may go a long way. When we thank colleagues for offering us an opportunity, they are more likely to provide us with other such opportunities when they come up.
The same is true for complimenting others. Giving positive feedback to university people for work they have done means they are more likely to reciprocate and try to learn more about our aims for the year. Sometimes we’re pushing for things in public – but when we’re playing by their rules, “criticise with a laser but praise with a floodlight” might mean a tweet thanking staff for having us at a working group or praise for their student-focussed contributions.
People prefer similarities
It is a fact of life that people tend to say yes more to those they know and like, so it is important that we try to make connections broadly across campus. Getting to know senior management is great, but what about those who operate student services or the library on a day to day basis? The more staff from across the university we have a good rapport with, the easier it is for them to agree to any requests we have.
That might mean inviting colleagues from different schools, units or departments for lunch or a coffee every few weeks – where we put in the invite and meet on our terms. Using the summer to request catch-ups is straightforward, but can be hugely underutilised by student officers. It may feel strange and nerve-wracking to ask – but the discomfort is worth it as people tend to chat much more openly in such an informal setting.
Put simply, if our ideas and goals are going to be “difficult” to implement and there are going to be moments where our agenda provides challenge, it will help if we aren’t also “difficult to work with”. That doesn’t not mean agreeing with everything that the university says – but it does means being respectful, thoughtful and helpful even when we do disagree.
People do what they see others doing
Us humans are social creatures, we like to fit in and tend to follow the herd. When we see a restaurant with a queue out of the door, we presume the food must be good. In a university setting, this means people looking to others to validate their choices.
Getting buy-in from the important people in a room before we advance a proposal can be crucial. Often, senior leaders will ask their peers for their views when making a decision. We might show leaders examples of other universities piloting a similar initiative, and we might identify the big players in whatever meeting we are proposing an idea to to give them a heads up about our ideas and answer any queries they may have before a presentation takes place. Where we have more influential people in the room on board, others will likely follow.
We sometimes need to remind our allies of social proof theory too. Senior staff that are helpful to the union’s officers or causes in public might need to be reminded that not everyone in the university is so helpful – and it will make a real difference if they can be more public about that help.
Commitment and consistency
Individuals like to be seen as true to their word, so it’s worth making the most of.
After a meeting or a conversation we have ended, it’s useful to document the decisions and commitments made. Summary emails that outline what was discussed and any agreed-upon issues or initiatives sent to appropriate senior leaders ensure things are not forgotten. It can also be useful to get some gratitude in here and to thank them for their commitment to acting to student opinion – even if it sounded a bit flaky at the time.
If there is a problem on campus that we know would not take huge resources to solve and we know is something the university wants to tackle, it is worth suggesting some small pilot proposals of how this could be tackled. It is easier to get buy-in for a smaller project than a larger one, and, once a leader commits to a small project we suggest, they are more likely to commit to larger ones later.
Having authority
One aspect of influence where SUs tend to fall down is authority and expertise. We tend to be younger, more diverse and have less experience – so surely the value of our ideas and opinions is inherently lower?
Not necessarily. Being knowledgeable about topics isn’t as hard as it looks – a quick read of a Wonkhe article or a glance at a set of minutes can often give us more of an edge than we realise. And demonstrating expertise in understanding the student experience ought to be straightforward – we’re usually the only student rep in the room and so should make clear that through our conversations, casework and social media monitoring, we have a deep understanding of what makes students tick and what will work for them.
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https://wonkhe.com/blogs-sus/arent-we-all-influencers-now/
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MADRID — A Spanish court summoned King Juan Carlos' youngest daughter Cristina over suspected tax and money-laundering crimes Tuesday, a first for a direct relative of the monarch.
Cristina, 48, has been linked to the business affairs of her husband, former Olympic handball player Inaki Urdangarin, who is under investigation for alleged embezzlement of public funds.
The decision by a court in Majorca is a major blow to the prestige of the 76-year-old Spanish king, who became head of state after the death in 1975 of General Francisco Franco and helped guide the country's transition to democracy.
Battling scandal and ill health, Juan Carlos appeared tired as he presided over a military parade while on crutches Monday in his first public appearance since undergoing an operation to replace his left hip on November 21.
The judge in Majorca, Jose Castro, has been investigating the corruption allegations against Cristina's husband since 2010. In summoning Cristina, he overruled opposition by the public prosecutor.
In a written ruling, the judge said he had decided to hear Cristina's testimony "about alleged tax and money laundering crimes", summoning her to appear on March 8 as part of an investigation that could lead to formal charges.
A palace spokesman told AFP he wanted to express his "respect for judicial decisions". He declined further comment.
Manos Limpias, a litigious far-right pressure group, lodged the suit against Cristina alleging tax evasion and money laundering, although tax authorities have not brought any charges and public prosecutors have said there is no case to answer.
The judge in the Majorca court is investigating allegations that Urdangarin and a former business partner embezzled six million euros ($8 million) in public funds via the Noos Institute, a charitable foundation that he chaired.
Cristina was a member of the board of Noos and with her husband jointly owned another company, Aizoon, which investigators suspect served as a front for laundering the embezzled funds.
The Majorca judge had summoned Cristina on suspicion of corruption once before, in spring 2013, but that decision was overruled following an appeal by the prosecutor.
Juan Carlos is widely respected for his role in Spain's transition to democracy after the death of Franco.
But his standing among Spaniards has been damaged by the corruption scandal, and outrage over a luxury African elephant-hunting safari he took in 2012.
His health problems together with the scandals have raised speculation about the future of his reign.
The number of people with a high or very high opinion of the king fell nine points over 2013 to 41 per cent, according to a poll published on Sunday in daily newspaper El Mundo.
The number of people wanting him to abdicate in favour of Prince Felipe, 45, surged by 17 per cent to 62 per cent, according to the study by pollster Sigma Dos carried out in late December.
Sixty-six per cent had a positive view of the prince and 56 per cent thought he could improve the royals' image if he took over.
General support for the monarchy as an institution, however, fell below half to 49.9 per cent, according to the poll.
The royal palace and the king have firmly denied any thoughts of an abdication.
"I want to express to you, as king of Spain, my determination to continue the faithful fulfilment of the mandate and the powers attributed to me," the king said in his annual televised Christmas Eve address last month.
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http://www.jordantimes.com/news/world/spain-king%E2%80%99s-daughter-summoned-over-financial-crimes
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Scholars of yankee govt (especially undergraduates) frequently come upon the two-party method as a given: inevitable, immutable, American-as-apple-pie. This e-book does a superb activity of unveiling how the approach we presently have is the manufactured from a sequence of political offerings and situations, even past the influence of single-member districts and winner-take-all elections most ordinarily well-known in political technological know-how.
Representation and Misrepresentation in Later Stuart Britain: Partisanship and Political Culture
During this unique and illuminating research, Mark Knights finds how the political tradition of the eighteenth century grew out of prior developments and ideas. Arguing that the interval 1675-1720 has to be obvious because the moment degree of a seventeenth-century revolution that ran on until eventually c. 1720, the e-book strains the advance of the general public as an arbiter of politics, the expansion of a countrywide political tradition, the shift in the direction of a consultant society, a difficulty of public discourse and credibility, and a political enlightenment rooted in neighborhood and nationwide partisan clash.
Romancing the Revolution: The Myth of Soviet Democracy and the British Left
Within the years instantly following the 1st international conflict and the 1917Russian Revolution, lots of these at the British Left have been tempted, toa larger or lesser measure, by means of what Ian Bullock calls the“myth” of soviet democracy: the idea that Russia hadembarked on a courageous test in a sort of well known govt moreadvanced even than British parliamentarism.
- When Parties Fail Emerging Alternative Organizations
- Dividing Reality
- The Challenge of Legislation: Bipartisanship in a Partisan World
- Beyond Party Members: Changing Approaches to Partisan Mobilization
- Changing Party Systems in Western Europe
Extra resources for An Overview of the War on Terror
Sample text
Parties, in this view, are “institutional solutions to the instability of majority rule” (Aldrich 1995: 72). Deliberative chambers are inherently chaotic—to get a bill passed, one must cobble together a majority and hold it together over numerous votes, any one of which could doom the bill. The easiest outcome in such a chamber is for nothing to get done. Parties, however, provide a solution. As standing coalitions that don’t have to be constantly reassembled, parties make it possible for individual legislators to pass bills while providing a path for career advancement.
Why didn’t members of Congress press a party agenda? Apparently, it was a matter of choice, and they chose not to. “American congressmen,” Mayhew wrote, “could immediately and permanently array themselves in disciplined legions for the purpose of programmatic combat. They do not” (98). Any party battles that occurred were, for the most part, theater; members of Congress maintained strong friendships across party lines and hewed closely to the median voters in their districts. Reelection was far more important than the advancement of any ideological agenda.
That is, by virtual consensus, the party machines in the model of Daley’s Chicago or Tammany Hall’s New York don’t exist anymore. Why would partisanship among elected of‹cials increase as the machines go extinct? We gain some purchase on this question from a strain of literature known as conditional party government (CPG) theory, which has the virtue of focusing both on events within the legislature as well as on forces outside it. As this theory describes, legislative party leaders have an array of tools available to foster party discipline.
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http://great403b.com/kindle/an-overview-of-the-war-on-terror
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Dr. John Ong’ech has declined the role of CEO of KNH as replacement for Lily Koros. According to media reports, the senior gynecologist and obstetrician at the hospital is afraid of standing against cartels.
This is after the string of cases reported were attributed to the same. Dr. Ong’ech said he could not take up the job because the tenderpreneur cartels are interested in controlling the institution’s budget.
Dr Ong’ech was recently appointed by CS Kariuki in an acting capacity after she sent the KNH chief executive, her deputy Bernard Githae, and the director of clinical services on compulsory leave to allow for investigations into the matter.
Also read: Kenyatta National Hospital scandal; Is there more than what meets the eye?
Cartels’ influence
According to Dr. Ong’ech, previous CEOs history only served to fuel his decision. He cited an incident where a former CEO was reportedly pulled from his house at gunpoint. He also claimed that previous office holders leaving the office was often influenced by politics.
However, he was quick to add that he would still serve as a gynaecologist at the facilty.
Dr Ong’ech’s admission puts the KNH hot seat in the same league as that of the chairman of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission, as well as a number of parastatals.
In most of these, both political and commercial forces plot to sway the managements’ decisions in their favour.
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https://kenyanreport.com/politics/knh-ceo-appointee-declines-job/
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Board Governance Models: A Comprehensive List
Operating a business in today’s society is increasingly complex and full of risks. The complexity of the business world, combined with the current unstable economic climate, places elevated demands on boards of directors in the nonprofit and for-profit worlds. These are just a couple of reasons that boards need to select a board governance model that aligns their work with the goals of the organization.
Governance is an amalgamation of policies, systems, and structures, along with a strategic, operational framework that aligns organizational leadership to take action, so that they can make effective decisions with accountability. A model for governance refers to how those policies, systems, structures, and framework interface with each other and whether the responsibility for them lies with the board as a whole, or with the individual board members.
Board governance models for nonprofit and for-profit organizations are as different as the organizations that boards serve. Nonprofit organizations generally start up to serve a humanitarian or environmental need. For-profit companies generate income for the company, its employees, and its shareholders. While many board governance models can be used for either nonprofit or for-profit entities, depending upon the needs of the organization, certain types of models may be amenable to nonprofit organizations, while other models are more appropriate for for-profit organizations. It’s common for a board to adopt a combination of board governance models that caters to the feature of the organization and the composition of the board.
Nonprofit Governance Models
Nonprofit boards keep the organization’s mission at the forefront when directing the affairs of the organization. Incoming funds are used to support the organization’s work. Most board members for nonprofit organizations serve on the board because of their passion and commitment to a cause. While serving on a nonprofit board carries a certain level of honor and prestige, board members need to take an active approach to overseeing the organization to prevent problems and legal issues. Nonprofit boards hold responsibility for fiduciary matters, as well as matters that have been delegated to others.
There are five common board models for nonprofit boards:
1. Advisory Board Governance Model
A CEO who founds an organization will soon find that he needs help in running the organization. An advisory board serves as the primary resource for the CEO to turn for help and advice. Members of an advisory board are trusted advisors who offer professional skills and talents at no cost to the organization. Advisory boards may also be formed in addition to an organization’s board to help and advise the board, as a whole. Advisory board members typically have established expertise or credentials in the nonprofit’s field. An organization that is visibly connected to an advisory board’s name, can increase the organization’s credibility, fundraising efforts, or public relation efforts.
2. Patron Governance Model
The Patron Model is similar to the Advisory Board Model. The main difference between the two models is that the primary purpose of the board members under the Patron Model is to perform duties related to fundraising. Patron Model boards are typically comprised of board members who have personal wealth or influence within the field. The primary role of board members under the Patron Model is to contribute their own funds to the organization and to use their network to gain outside contributions for the organization. Under this model, the board members have less influence over the CEO or organization’s board than in the Advisory Board Model.
3. Cooperative Governance Model
A board that operates without a CEO uses a Cooperative Model. The board makes consensual decisions as a group of peers, making it the most democratic governance model. There is no hierarchy and no one individual has power over another. The board exists only because the law requires its formation. This model requires that each member be equally committed to the organization and willing to take responsibility for the actions of the whole board.
4. Management Team Model
The most popular governance model for nonprofit organizations is the Management Team Model. This model is similar to how an organization administers its duties. Rather than hiring paid employees to be responsible for human resources, fund-raising, finance, planning, and programs, the board forms committees to perform those duties.
5. Policy Board Model
John Carver, author of “Boards that Make a Difference,” developed the Policy Board Model, which quickly became a staple platform for nonprofits. The board gives a high level of trust and confidence over to the CEO. The board has regular meetings with the CEO to get updates on the organization’s activities. Under this model, there are few standing committees. Board members should have a demonstrated commitment to the organization and be willing to grow in the knowledge and abilities regarding the organization.
Many nonprofit organizations will adopt one main model, such as Carver’s Policy Board Model, and add one or more boards to round out the needs of the organization. For example, a health organization may form an advisory board to advise them and a charity board to work on fundraising. Religious organizations operate under different rules than other non-profits. Churches, faith missions, and other religious organizations may add a religious board, so that they may be better stewards of their organization’s assets.
Corporate Governance Models
Adopting an appropriate governance model is only one step in setting the stage for good governance. Organizations need to establish guiding principles and policies for the organization, delegate responsibility and authority to individuals for enacting principles and policies, and to identify a path for accountability.
There are five notable corporate governance models in today’s business establishments:
1. Traditional Model
The Traditional Model is the oldest model for corporate governance. It’s a bit outdated by today’s standards, but it includes a useful template that continues to be used for establishing articles of incorporation. The Traditional Model gives legal responsibility to the collective board and the board speaks as one voice on all matters. The model identifies the structures, but the board outlines the processes as stated in the bylaws.
2. Carver Board Governance Model
As noted in the section on nonprofit models, the Carver Model works for nonprofit and for-profit organizations. The Carver Model places its focus on the “ends” of the organization’s purpose. This means the organization actively works towards what it needs to achieve or what it needs to do to put itself out of business. Within defined limits, the board gives the CEO the bulk of the responsibility for using the means to get to the ends.
3. Cortex Board Governance Model
The Cortex Model is a model that focuses on the value that the organization brings to the community. The board defines the standards, expectations, and performance outcomes according to the aspiration of the organization. Clarifying and setting outcomes to achieve success become the primary duties of the board under this model.
4. Consensus Board Governance Model
The Consensus, or Process Model, is a form of the Cooperative Model that nonprofit organizations use. It gives all board members an equal vote, equal responsibility, and equal liability. The Consensus Model is appropriate for corporations without major shareholders.
5. Competency Board Governance Model
A corporate board that is interested in developing the knowledge and skills of the board members will benefit from the Competency Model, a model that focuses on communication, trust, and relationships to improve overall board performance. The organization’s bylaws do the work of outlining practices and strategies.
While many board governance models can be used for either nonprofit or for-profit entities, depending upon the needs of the organization, certain types of models may be amenable to nonprofit organizations, while other models are more amenable to for-profit organizations. It’s common for boards to adopt a combination of board governance models that cater to the features of the organization and the composition of the board.
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https://www.boardeffect.com/blog/board-governance-models-a-comprehensive-list/
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Guangzhou leads the country by establishing China's first independent charity watchdog to address public concerns over charity funding transparency.
The committee, comprising 15 members, was devised to supervise charity organizations in the capital city of South China's Guangdong province.
The Guo Meimei-triggered scandal, in which a young Guo Meimei bragged about her flashy lifestyle on Sina Weibo, toppled public confidence in China's Red Cross Society, and still casts a shadow over the country's charity organizations.
Tao Ziji, former deputy Party chief of the city, was selected on Wednesday to lead the 15 members who were selected from different walks of life, such as retired officials, legal experts, accountants, journalists and doctors.
"I have been retired for more than one year, and I am not affiliated with any institution," said Tao, stressing the organization's independence.
"We will make our own voice instead of being susceptible to micro-bloggers or the government," said Zhu Gangjian, one of the members.
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Lunar probe , China growth forecasts, Emission rules get tougher, China seen through 'colored lens', International board,
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http://europe.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2013-06/21/content_16644539.htm
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Britain’s treatment of the Windrush generation and attitude to its colonial past means it is struggling to retain the same influence across the African continent as China, a cross-party group of peers has said.
In a new report, sharply critical of a lack of a clear UK government strategy for Africa, the Lords International Relations and Defence Committee said the Home Office’s treatment of Africans seeking visas to the UK was close to humiliating.
Following a six month inquiry into UK relations with Africa, the peers warned that “the UK’s domestic policies affect how it is perceived in sub-Saharan Africa. The Windrush scandal and the ‘hostile environment’ have damaged the UK’s reputation”.
They also warned the UK’s historic engagement with Africa had had a lasting impact on its relationships in the region, and that it had to be more open about its negative aspects, “including ongoing tensions over the history of how it colonised many countries in Africa, and in some countries its role in the slave trade”.
The committee was told by Lady Amos, the former UN official and Labour peer, that the UK would have “an ongoing problem … in our relationship with a number of African countries” until the UK acknowledged “the important role that the slave trade played in building Britain, and its consequences for the dehumanisation of people from the African continent”.
By contrast China is seen as a partner across much of Africa, offering itself as a growth model for other sub-Saharan countries.
Overall the peers found the UK’s Africa strategy falling short, saying much of it was vague, full of jargon or part of a continuum in which the Foreign Office committed to making Africa a priority and then, in the face of competing demands, failed to do so.
Although the UK Foreign Office has increased staff serving in Africa, and has set a new priority in the Sahel, once a French preserve, the peers pointed out there had been 20 Africa ministers in the past 31 years, an average tenure of 18 months.
The peers said they were surprised to hear that no detailed work had yet been done to identify ways in which the UK could offer better access to African exporters than was possible when the UK was in the EU. The bulk of Britain’s post Brexit trade work is focussed on Asia and the US.
Plans for the UK to become the top G7 investor in Africa by 2022, a target set out by Theresa May in 2018, have been quietly dropped by the current prime minister in favour of the UK becoming Africa’s partner of choice, the committee noted.
The current Africa minister James Duddridge told the committee that the target had been crass since “as Africa expands massively, the cake expands more”. China was “eating up a lot more of that investment opportunity than before”, which made hitting such a target “harder and harder”, he said.
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https://www.newsgroove.co.uk/uks-windrush-scandal-seeing-it-lose-influence-across-african-continent/
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EDITORIAL: Can the president rewrite the corruption discourse?
The PPE debacle comes as the IMF gives SA a huge loan, but Cyril Ramaphosa heads an ANC that seems to care little about its moral standing
Speaking at an online event hosted by local fund manager Ninety One, the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) senior representative for SA, Montfort Mlachila, touched on familiar themes.
Almost a week after the lender granted SA a R70bn loan to help finance its response to the Covid-19 crisis, one can only wonder what its leaders would have made of the headlines that have since ensued, with the ANC back in self-destruct mode that has taken infighting up more than a little notch.
One TV station, eNCA, has a day of running commentary on what it calls SA’s “corruption emergency” after the explosion of scandals around the procurement of personal protective equipment that cuts to the heart of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s office.
Much has been written, including by Ramaphosa, about the corruption itself and the immorality of taking advantage of what is clearly SA’s worst humanitarian and economic crisis in about a century.
The question is what, if anything, will be done. And reports coming out of the weekend meeting of the national executive committee (NEC) are far from reassuring, despite it declaring itself “embarrassed” by members who had damaged the “moral standing of the ANC”.
What is clear is that Ramaphosa is head of a disunited party, with all indications that his opponents have the upper hand. Discussions on the scandal were said to be split along the usual factional party lines. Bloomberg reported that the president had favoured an investigation led by one of his predecessors as head of state, Kgalema Motlanthe, only to be overruled.
So if the president can’t win on what should be a clear-cut case, what are the chances that the country and wider world will see the reforms Mlachila says are needed to get the economy going and generate the kind of growth SA needs to stabilise its debt trajectory?
The IMF gets caricatured, based on its history, as being only concerned with pointless and dangerous austerity at the expense of promoting the economy.
At the Tuesday webinar, Mlachila struck a different note.
“The pay-off from growth is so much more than the pay-off from fiscal consolidation,” he said, adding that while fiscal consolidation is necessary, it isn’t sufficient — and too much of it could be harmful.
A key to growth, he said, is to revive business, which could be done by the country speaking with one voice, and delivering some concrete progress that could then change the conversation. “And once investors and consumers see things are changing, it can be a virtuous circle,” Mlachila said.
Long on ideas, longer on politics
It has already been noted that SA doesn’t have a shortage of ideas and advice on what needs to be done to get the economy going. What is holding it back is the politics, and Ramaphosa is failing to show that he has the courage to make decisive moves and wrest control from his opponents within the ANC.
Unfortunately for him, and the rest of us, time is not on his side. As we are not party to the discussions in the NEC, the cabinet or the coronavirus command council, we can’t be sure how much leadership is being shown by the man who likes to govern by committee. So it’s hard to analyse how much influence he has had on some of the strange decisions made.
One thing that is clear is they haven’t done his standing with the people of SA any good and much of the goodwill that characterised the early days of the lockdown has been eroded.
For a former businessman who was supposed to lead the country out of an era of extended underperformance, his apparent lack of care over the economic and social damage, the latest being SAB’s decision to halt R5bn of planned investment in SA, caused by these policies has been nothing short of astounding, if only because it helps his enemies and harms him.
The nature of the Nasrec contest and outcome always meant that Ramaphosa’s hold on power was going to be tenuous. It’ll be extra bad news for the country if he also loses the public.
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https://www.businesslive.co.za/bd/opinion/editorials/2020-08-04-editorial-can-the-president-rewrite-the-corruption-discourse/
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About this courseSkip About this course
Making decisions in today's world, a world increasing in complexity, with broad changes and uncertainty, creates the need of approaches that allow us to discern the real problems and the causes that create them. Identifying these problems, in most cases, requires challenging the assumptions on which we base our judgments, regarding the world and its realities.
Critical thinking could be defined, as "that way of thinking - on any subject, content or problem - in which the thinker improves the quality of his thinking by seizing the inherent structures of the act of thinking and by subjecting them to intellectual standards". Critical thinking helps making decisions within a company, selecting the best action for the organization.
In this course of critical thinking the students will learn the tendencies, approximations and assumptions on which their reflections are based, and the conditions and the outcomes derived from their ways of thinking. This reflective thought is the active, careful and persistent examination of all beliefs in the light of the fundamentals that support them and their conclusions.
The reasoned decisions that the world requires, occur in many different areas, especially in business decisions, related to strategies, in the solution of problems in organizations, in the solution of social problems and in corporations’ social and ethical responsibility. In this online course the approaches will be oriented to analyze the critical thinking required in these areas.
What you'll learnSkip What you'll learn
- Identify the theories that support critical thinking
- Employ a methodology for the application of critical thinking
- Relate the elements that make up the stages of critical thinking
- Analyze the standards of critical thinking practice
- Assess the responsibility of perpetuating the intellectual values of the resolution analysis
- Distinguish the vices of thought in decision making
- Apply critical thinking to groups
SyllabusSkip Syllabus
1. Thinking according to our times
1.1 Why critical thinking?
1.2 The exciting world of thinking and criticism
2. Evaluating our modes of thought
2.1 Intellectual values of a good thinker
2.2 Evaluating our critical thinking skills. Avoiding vices and biased thinking
3. Elements and standards of critical thinking* __ *
3.1 Elements of a critical thinking process
3.2 Standards to apply to our thinking modes
4. Articulating our decisions making process* __ *
4.1 The logic of our decisions and the behavior derived from them
4.2 How to improve our critical thinking skills and become a fair-minded thinker
Meet your instructors
Pursue a Verified Certificate to highlight the knowledge and skills you gain$149 USD
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Who can take this course?
Unfortunately, learners from one or more of the following countries or regions will not be able to register for this course: Iran, Cuba and the Crimea region of Ukraine. While edX has sought licenses from the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) to offer our courses to learners in these countries and regions, the licenses we have received are not broad enough to allow us to offer this course in all locations. edX truly regrets that U.S. sanctions prevent us from offering all of our courses to everyone, no matter where they live.
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https://www.edx.org/course/critical-thinking-reasoned-decision-making
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Would you rather act or let it pass?
Altruism and the Bystander Effect
The havoc wreaked by the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent lockdown to contain its spread led to a staggering humanitarian crisis which the state struggled to handle. As the state stumbled, citizen-led initiatives stepped in to fill the wide breach.
In a report filed with the Supreme Court in April 2020, the Central Government submitted that NGOs across the country had served 30.11 lakh meals during the first phase of lockdown – in many states, they were ahead of the government in providing this relief.
In this article, we would attempt to understand these philanthropic gestures of individuals through the perspective of altruism and related concepts. We would also try to understand the thin line that separates these good Samaritans from those who desired to mitigate the sufferings of migrants but did not step in and act.
What is Altruism?
Most dictionaries define altruism as "unselfish regard for or devotion to the welfare of the others." The word itself is derived from the French word autrui, meaning 'other people.' Altruism can be a tendency to promote someone else's welfare, even at a risk or cost to ourselves.
So, altruism is related to care about the welfare of other people, and altruistic behavior is beneficial not just to society but also to individuals. Studies have found a connection between volunteerism and current and future health and well being. We also know that adults involved in volunteering have higher life satisfaction and a decreased risk for depression and anxiety.
Still, considering that most definitions of altruism include the idea that an altruistic person is not getting anything in return, we have to wonder with that definition,
Can any behavior be truly altruistic? Is there ever an instance when we do not benefit from altruistic actions?
Keeping the question in mind, let us explore these three different theories about altruism.
1. Theory of kin selection: People tend to be more altruistic to close kin or close relative than distant kin or non-kin. Even subtle cues indicating kinship (such as sharing the last name) may unconsciously increase altruistic behavior.
2. Reciprocal altruism: People tend to be more cooperative when they are likely to interact with that person again in the future.
3. Cost Signaling: Altruism might also act as a signal to a community that a person is open to cooperation and has the resources and ability to gather resources in the future.
These three theories conclude that altruistic behavior is not really 'altruistic' in the selfless sense of the term. Other researchers have theorized that altruism is associated with empathy. The reasoning behind this theory is that knowing what it is like to be personally distressed when we see others suffering, we feel the need to step in and act.
The Bystander Effect
As the distressing images of migrants scaling national highways on a bicycle, trolley or foot reached us, most of us found ourselves in an excruciating situation. We wished to help them to alleviate their sufferings, but we held back and did not act. There can be myriad reasons for this passiveness, and one among them can be the 'bystander effect'.
Often, we cannot act in a distressing situation contrary to our perception of ourselves being morally and courageously upright. We all have found ourselves in similar cases: the times we've seen someone harassed on the street and didn't intervene; when we've driven past a car stranded by the side of the road, assuming another driver would help; even when we've noticed litter on the sidewalk and left it for someone else to pick up.
It is like witnessing a problem, contemplating some positive action, then responding by doing nothing. Something holds us back. This is precisely what being a bystander implies.
Why do we not help in these situations? Why do we sometimes put our moral instincts in shackles? These are questions that haunt all of us. Every day we serve as bystanders to the world around us- not just people in need but to more significant social, political, environmental problems that concern us, but which we feel powerless to address on our own.
Why do some people respond actively to the crisis while others do not?
--- is a question that researchers have been trying to answer in the past few decades.
Their findings reveal a valuable story about human nature. Often, only subtle differences separate the bystanders from the morally courageous people of the world. Most of us, it seems, can fall into either category. It is the slight, seemingly insignificant details in a situation that can push us one way or the other.
Researchers have identified some of the invisible forces that may fuel the 'altruistic inertia' and restrain us from acting on our moral instincts. Some of these hidden forces may take the form of:
1. Confusion of responsibility: Bystanders often fail to help someone in distress because they assume someone else may help.
2. Pluralistic ignorance: This indicates the tendency to mistake one another's calm demeanor as a sign of no-emergency.
Yet another factor influencing the bystander effect is the characteristics of the victim. People are more likely to help those they perceive to be similar to them, and in general, women tend to receive more help than men. This is why people in Rwanda or Nazi Germany did not speak against the barbaric treatment of their fellow humans.
This effect also helps us explain why most people do not raise their voices against the high-handedness of the state or authority. Afraid, confused, coerced, they convince themselves that it is not their responsibility to intervene.
The above described altruistic inertia and the acceptance that we may act as a bystander may serve as a deterrent to being a bystander by making us self-conscious when we behave like one.
Researchers have also identified actions a victim can take to minimize the possibility of those around him falling to the bystander effect. One is to make his/her need clear, and the other is to select a specific person for help. By doing this, the victim overcomes the two major altruistic obstacles to intervention.
Going a step further, researchers have found that altruistic "tendencies had been instilled in many rescuers from the time they were young children, often stemming from parents who displayed more tolerance, care and empathy." We also know that newborns tend to cry when other newborns cry. All these facts suggest that altruism might be a normal human behavior emanating from the solid linkage for our shared humanity.
So, to learn humanity and altruism, we need to unlearn our biases, boundaries, and stigmas because our core nature is loving, caring, and compassionate.
About the author
The Hundredth Monkey
The Hundredth Monkey is a weekly newsletter by National Association of Students, India.
We are a group of students who write around policy, politics, and major social issues.
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https://vocal.media/humans/would-you-rather-act-or-let-it-pass
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Synchronized behavior is impossible online, as we cannot see the other person. Other examples of nonverbal communication include artifacts, such as hairstyle, clothing, even architecture and environment where the communication takes place. When talking with your friends, chances are that you will make eye contact with them during a conversation. In this new volume of brilliant essays by internationally acclaimed researchers and theoreticians that is beautifully orchestrated by editors Aleksandra Kosti? Again, interpretations of these vary from culture to culture. Your friends may understand slang words, for instance.
Lesson Summary Communication is an important theme that intertwines throughout our daily lives, whether it is talking to friends, parents, or teachers at school. When people encounter people or things that they like, the rate of blinking increases and pupils dilate. Shifty eyes and an inability to maintain eye contact, on the other hand, is frequently seen as an indicator that someone is lying or being deceptive. . Chronemics, another example of nonverbal communication, involves the perception of time and how time is used to define identities.
The speed at which a person speaks, the length of time that someone is willing to listen to somebody, the willingness to wait, and the timing of actions are examples of how time can be perceived differently by individuals and across cultures. So, if that public speaker uses a loud or strong voice then that immediately sends across a message of authority and confidence to the entire public. Nonverbal communication always takes place when communicating with people face-to-face. Communicating through touch is another important nonverbal behavior. For example, looking at your watch repeatedly during a conversation could signal to the other person that you were in a rush or uninterested in what they were saying. Cues were grouped as follows: verbal, nonverbal visual, nonverbal touch, and nonverbal paralinguistic cues, unclassifiable behaviors, and intangible signals.
The collection presents contemporary research and theorization of the nature, functions, and modalities of nonverbal behavior in an array of circumstances, with the aim of rethinki The Social Psychology of Nonverbal Communication gathers together leading scholars of nonverbal communication from around the world to offer insight into a range of issues within the discipline. Consider all the different ways that simply changing your tone of voice might change the meaning of a sentence. Nonverbal communication plays an important role in how we convey meaning and information to others, as well as how we interpret the actions of those around us. Eye gaze is a type of nonverbal cue that can indicate a range of emotions including hostility, attraction, interest, and many other emotions. How people structure their time and react to time is a potent tool for communication. After a hard day of work.
Well, in the United States, this is true. A soldier will don fatigues, a police offers will wear a uniform, and a doctor will wear a white lab coat. However, your parents or grandparents may not be so hip as to today's slang words. Patterns of nonverbal communication and behavior are culturally defined and are part of the arbitrary selection of symbols of the culture. Some forms of nonverbal communication include gestures, body language, facial expressions, eye contact, posture, in addition to body temperature, movement, time and personal space. These are all the major types of nonverbal communication that individuals tend to use every single day of their lives from all across the globe. Retrieved December 19, 2018, from Kinds of Non-Verbal Communication.
Responsibility: edited by Aleksandra Kostic, Derek Chadee. For instance, certain disorders and medical conditions can cause individuals to struggle with social cues and interactions. Even for a long weekend. For this reason the book promises to make a strong and novel contribution to the literature. Let's examine how nonverbal cues play a part in our conversations.
A Primer on Communication Studies. Studies have found that day-to-day interactions are based almost entirely on nonverbal communication. Social media facilitates a virtual form of interaction. Effective social interaction assumes the ability to communicate one's own level of interest and to gauge the other person's state accurately. A bright, happy tone of voice will reveal that you are actually doing quite well. Retrieved December 19, 2018, from Books University of Minnesota. There are also many seminars on nonverbal skills that talk about the importance of this particular nonverbal skill.
Nonverbal Communication in Different Genders Gender differences are also observed in the use and interpretation of nonverbal communication. There are also many theories around the topic of how an individual can develop his or her nonverbal skills. The signs of were there, but could only have been interpreted through face-to-face communications and the sharing of her emotional state. Retrieved December 19, 2018, from Nonverbal Communication. Another factor that plays into nonverbal communication is culture. In courtroom settings, lawyers have been known to utilize different nonverbal signals to attempt to sway juror opinions. The collection presents contemporary research and theorization of the nature, functions, and modalities of nonverbal behavior in an array of circumstances, with the aim of rethinking current approaches to the subject.
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http://covedisa.com.ar/the-social-psychology-of-nonverbal-communication.html
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By Loh Lin (19A01D)
The study of language may seem like a perplexing choice to many who are unfamiliar with Linguistics as a subject — after all, why is there a need to focus on and examine something that serves only as a tool for communication? What can linguists do with their knowledge beyond academia? What is their role once they move beyond the classroom?
The ELL Symposium held in CJC on 28 May wryly acknowledged these questions, and forwarded a response in its overarching theme: Forging An Inclusive Community. Having conveyed a certain sense of responsibility that both linguists and linguistics students alike are due to bear, the stage was set for the two speakers, Dr Joe Bennett and Dr Gareth Carol, both lecturers in Applied Linguistics and Psycholinguistics in the University of Birmingham, to broaden the audience’s understanding of the multiple ways in which language interacts with society, and how we could use it in a way that “[betters] ourselves for the good of others”.
In their introduction, both Dr Bennett and Dr Carol explained how language can be wielded more consciously and effectively in three ways: to challenge prejudice, benefit people’s health and raise awareness of political persuasion. Before they began their respective lectures proper, they urged the audience to consider how language works in the real world — with all its social dynamics and interactions — in order to ask important questions and provoke conversations.
In his first lecture, Dr Bennett addressed the prescriptive attitude that people tend to adopt towards language. The “prescriptive approach” — a term linguistics students should be sufficiently familiar with — refers to the view that language possesses a set of rules that rigidly dictates way it is being used. For instance, Singapore’s Speak Good English movement espouses standard prescriptive grammar rules as the norm that everyone should aspire to.
However, in its dismissal of language variation that is shaped by one’s culture and social cluster, such an approach reaps social ramifications that breed greater stigma and discrimination against already marginalised groups. In other words, when people are perceived as lesser on the basis of the language they speak, they are likely to be treated as lesser. This arises because of the differences in the prestige being accorded to the standard vernacular and the variation respectively, where the prescribed language would inevitably be perceived as the ‘superior’ or ‘official’ language, and any deviation therefore implies a lack of exposure to the ‘correct’ language and by extension, a lack of education or civility.
Dr Bennett reinforced this with an example that was closer to home for him: children in Britain “learn about prescriptivism early on”, and “are aware of stigma on a fundamentally cognitive level”. They adapt to this by rejecting their local accent and trading it for the Upper Received Pronunciation, which is the favoured standard vernacular in Britain, despite there being a multitude of social groups with different backgrounds that shape their accents.
Here, it is the job of linguists to intervene and defend the use of language variation as modes of communication that are just as capable as standard vernacular in conveying complex ideas logically and effectively.
“[Language variation] is every bit as logical, every bit as rational, every bit as good.”
Admittedly, linguists are unable to entirely eradicate all prescriptive attitudes, they are still responsible for and capable of checking prescriptive arguments against their knowledge of how language works, investigating social implications and consistently challenging ill-informed attitudes. In redefining the concept of “proper” language, they challenge the harmful dictum of language as a reflection of worth, which is the first step in changing the way standard vernacular outliers are being treated by society.
Dr Carol took over from there, and introduced clinical linguistics, another branch of applied linguistics that had previously rarely been considered by most of the students present, judging from the confused murmurs that rippled through the audience when it was first mentioned.
We later find out that beyond enabling communication and acting as a social advocate, language — or more specifically, clinical linguistics in this case — can be used to better treat patients and their medical conditions.
It investigates special needs individuals’ response to the circumscribed language cues. For instance, individuals with autism interpret and respond to social cues differently, as they are cognitively unaware or unable to adapt to them. Having understood that they experience difficulty processing and adapting to the pragmatic levels of language, linguists can help parents or teachers “find other ways to support communication”.
Finally, Dr Bennett took the stage one last time to analyse politics through language, which he claimed was necessary in order to “have democracy”. Political communication is built not only on ideas alone. The identities people are invested in, who they find convincing and who they admire all have a stake in determining who they have a greater inclination to listen to.
Dr Bennett examined politicians’ employment of synthetic personalisation in relating to ground sentiment and bridging the distance between them and their audience, all of which aid in garnering political support. He raised Trump’s trademark discourse marker (“Believe me!”) as an example of how inclusive language humanises the politician, allowing him or her to be perceived as a reliable and trustworthy figure who is in touch with ground sentiment and would therefore be capable of addressing the needs of the masses.
Overall, the symposium undoubtedly addressed the queries that most linguistics students possibly had to field regarding the relevance and utility of their choice of study. Many people may write language off as a facilitator of communication and nothing else, or to dismiss linguistics as a impractical field of study, but the breadth covered is proof of the dynamic role of language in society.
After all, the social world is constructed by what we say and how we say things. By deconstructing our words and the motivations behind them, we are better equipped to challenge and raise awareness of internalised bigotry and bridge gaps between people, all of which are crucial steps towards forging a more truly inclusive community.
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https://rafflespress.com/2018/07/31/language-and-the-world-cjc-ell-symposium-2018/
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If you ever wondered what’s going on in your friends’ brains when they think about you, new research may provide a clue.
It turns out that the brain activity patterns found in your friends’ brains when they consider your personality traits may be remarkably similar to what is found in your brain when you think of yourself, the study suggests.
Those same friends will have a different brain activity pattern when they think of someone else in your group – and more in alignment with that person’s pattern, findings indicate.
It was somewhat surprising to see the close similarity in brain patterns between individuals and their friends, said Dylan Wagner, co-author of the study and assistant professor of psychology at The Ohio State University.
“It didn’t have to be that way.
We thought it was equally possible that you would think of me in the same way as I think of myself, but the way your brain encodes that information could be totally different,” Wagner said.
The study was led by Robert Chavez, an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Oregon, who did the work as a postdoctoral researcher at Ohio State.
Their research was published online recently in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology: Attitudes and Social Cognition.
Chavez and Wagner made this finding using a research design that had rarely been used in functional neuroimaging experiments before. They recruited 11 people who were all friends with each other to varying degrees.
(“They were a pretty tight-knit group from the same academic program who all spent time together at the university as well as outside of it,” Wagner said.)
The novel part is that the researchers used a round-robin design in which everyone evaluated each other – and evaluated themselves – on a variety of personality traits, Wagner said.
In one session, each participant rated each of the other 10 and themselves on a variety of personality traits in a written questionnaire.
In a separate session, the 11 participants conducted similar evaluations while in a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scanner.
The fMRI took images of each person’s brain while they completed a task similar to the one they did earlier.
They rated each of their friends and themselves on 48 traits, including lonely, sad, cold, lazy, overcritical, trustworthy, enthusiastic, clumsy, fashionable, helpful, smart, punctual and nice.
As they expected from previous research, the researchers saw activity in the medial prefrontal cortex, a part of the brain implicated in thinking about the self and close others, as the participants thought about the personality traits of themselves and their friends.
The study found that for each participant, the combined brain activity of their friends evaluating them looked a lot like their own brain activity.
This suggests that order to accurately perceive another person, your neural representation of that person – your patterns of brain activity for their identity – has to essentially match the pattern in that persons’ brain when they are thinking about themselves, Wagner said.
Those same friends will have a different brain activity pattern when they think of someone else in your group – and more in alignment with that person’s pattern, findings indicate.
The researchers note, however, that their data only suggest this in aggregate, as the analysis focused on taking the brain patterns of all a person’s friends and averaging them together, an approach commonly taken in non-fMRI personality research when comparing friends’ consensus judgments of each other.
In some ways, that is not surprising, Chavez said.
“Each one of your friends gets to see a slightly different side of you. When you put them all together, it is a better approximation of how you seen yourself than any one person individually,” Chavez said.
The researchers plan to follow up this initial study with a larger version of this round-robin design focusing on different groups of people (i.e., work friends vs. personal friends)
The notion that people tend to resemble their friends is an enduring intuition, as evidenced by the centuries-old adage, “birds of a feather flock together”1.
Research has borne out this intuition: social ties are forged at a higher-than-expected rate between individuals of the same age, gender, ethnicity, and other demographic categories2.
This assortativity in friendship networks is referred to as homophily and has been demonstrated across diverse contexts and geographic locations, including online social networks2–5.
Indeed, consistent evidence suggests that homophily is an ancient organizing principle and perhaps the most robust empirical regularity of human sociality.
Despite pressures to divide labor and otherwise organize complementary needs and roles in the kinds of social groups in which humans evolved, social ties in small hunter-gatherer bands reflect similarities, rather than differences, across a range of attributes, including age, weight, body fat, handgrip strength, and cooperative behavioral tendencies4.
Significant examples of heterophily, which refers to the tendency to associate with others who are dissimilar from oneself, are markedly rarer in such groups.
Consistent with its ancient history, homophily also characterizes the social networks of our close primate relatives6 and has been suggested to confer advantages for cohesion, collective action, and empathy4,6.
When humans do forge ties with individuals who are dissimilar from themselves, these relationships tend to be instrumental, task-oriented (e.g., professional collaborations involving people with complementary skill sets7), and short-lived, often dissolving after the individuals involved have achieved their shared goal8.
Thus, human social networks tend to be overwhelmingly homophilous8.
Despite robust evidence that homophily organizes human social networks, significant lacunae remain in our understanding of how homophily arises and functions in these networks3,6.
Prior studies of homophily have been concerned largely with physical traits and demographic variables, such as age, gender, and class. Importantly, additional research has demonstrated that homophily extends beyond overt, demographic cues, to at least some aspects of behavior and personality.
For example, behavioral tendencies (e.g., donations in public goods games) associated with altruistic behavior are more similar among individuals who are friends compared with those who are not4, consistent with suggestions from evolutionary game theory that altruistic behavior only benefits individuals if their interaction partners also behave altruistically9,10.
Remarkably, social network proximity is as important as genetic relatedness and more important than geographic proximity in predicting the similarity of two individuals’ cooperative behavioral tendencies4.
Thus, although prior research on homophily focused largely on relatively coarse variables, such as demographic categories, a growing body of evidence has begun to move beyond externally evident demographic attributes, and suggests that social network proximity can be a powerful predictor of behavioral similarity.
In addition to the cooperative behavioral tendencies described above, some personality traits may also exhibit social assortativity.
Two of the “Big Five” personality traits—extraversion11,12 and openness to experience12—appear to be more similar among friends than among individuals who are not friends with one another.
However, the remaining Big Five traits do not predict friendship formation well13. Similarities in conscientiousness and neuroticism are not associated with friendship formation12, and evidence for more similar levels of trait agreeableness among friends has been found in some studies12, but not in others11.
Thus, the extant research on homophily has recently begun to examine personality but has focused predominantly on demographic variables.
It is possible that people cluster along these dimensions because they reflect commonalities in perceiving, thinking about, and reacting to the world. Similarity in how individuals interpret and respond to their environment increases the predictability of one another’s thoughts and actions during social interactions14, since knowledge about oneself is a more valid source of information about similar others than about dissimilar others.
This increased predictability during social interactions, in turn, allows for less effortful and more confident communication, thus fostering more enjoyable social interactions, and increasing the likelihood of developing friendships14.
In the same vein, interacting with individuals who share similar values, opinions, and interests may be rewarding because it reinforces one’s own values, opinions, and interests, thus producing an implicit positive affective response, promoting attraction to similar others, and increasing the likelihood of developing friendships with individuals who see the world similarly to ourselves15.
If friends are indeed exceptionally similar to one another in terms of how they perceive, interpret, and react to their environment, then social network proximity should be associated with similarity of cognitive processes as they unfold in real time. Whether or not humans tend to associate with others who see the world similarly has yet to be tested directly.
Here we tested the proposition that neural responses to naturalistic audiovisual stimuli are more similar among friends than among individuals who are farther removed from one another in a real-world social network.
Measuring neural activity while people view naturalistic stimuli, such as movie clips, offers an unobtrusive window into individuals’ unconstrained thought processes as they unfold16.
Inter-subject correlations of neural response time series during natural viewing of complex, dynamic stimuli are associated with similarities in subjects’ interpretation and understanding of those stimuli16–19.
Thus, inter-subject similarities of neural response time series data afford insight into the similarity of individuals’ thought processes as they experience the world around them.
The current results suggest that neural response similarity decreases with increasing distance between individuals in their shared social network, such that friends have exceptionally similar neural responses.
Social network proximity appears to be significantly associated with neural response similarity in brain regions involved in attentional allocation, narrative interpretation, and affective responding, suggesting that friends may be exceptionally similar in how they attend to, interpret, and emotionally react to their surroundings.
Source:
Ohio State University
Media Contacts:
Dylan Wagner – Ohio State University
Image Source:
The image is in the public domain.
Original Research: Closed access
“The neural representation of self is recapitulated in the brains of friends: A round-robin fMRI study”. Dylan Wagner et al.
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology doi:10.1037/pspa0000178.
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https://debuglies.com/2019/11/08/researchers-found-close-similarity-in-brain-patterns-between-individuals-and-their-friends/
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To be socially responsible, an individual or a group has to take a stand and lead, along with behave with a sense of strength and caring in order to do what’s right. This entails multiple sections of individuals, such as students, companies, and communities. Each party can be socially responsible in their own way, based on how they feel and what it takes to keep what they believe in, in check. It all comes down to a balance; in order to be and act socially responsible one must strive on being positive.
An individual falls into the same category as a large group of people, because it only takes one to make a difference. That difference can be the smallest or the largest difference taking only one person to do something right for the people they care about and are surrounded by. This individual can be a man or woman, powerful or ordinary, but its who will listen and follow along that will change a situation for the better.
For example, a student has the social responsibility to behave a certain way around others without affecting anyone. Behaving with respect, will gain ones respect. This statement goes to show that a student but act with respect to gain the respect of a professor. Individuals have the choice of being socially responsible but when it comes to being a student, it’s written in the student handbook on how one should act socially.
Doing the right thing isn’t always the easiest choice to make but we as people have the social responsibility to do what’s right for those we are surrounded by. As a student goes to college and some tend to work in an office to pay off loans, they are making a social contribution to society and the company that they work for. Switching off the lights or turning off the computer when not at work, saves energy. Having that responsibility not only makes someone feel better about themselves, but about the community and environment they’re living in. This type of help towards the environment is a choice but also social responsibilities that people have committed themselves to.
Business organizations have also committed to the obligation of helping social issues, because it’s the ethical thing to do. Such responsibilities include, creating jobs, ensuring safety, producing goods, etc. Within a business there are people and organizations where everyone needs each other to rely on and help out. By helping out and counting on one another, the quality of the work is better. ...
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https://brightkite.com/essay-on/social-obligation
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Most societies and religions value altruism, caring and compassion. They stress the virtues of empathy and sympathy; of helping other people.
Yet people differ widely in when, where and why they help others. More importantly for some areas of psychology, altruism is a puzzle because it would seem much more beneficial to be selfish and self-absorbed.
Psychologists talk about pro-social behaviour, which is any act performed with the goal of helping another person. The motive may or may not be altruistic, which is the drive to help others even if there are costs to oneself.
Psychological questions about altruism are divided into two categories. Some ask the big theoretical questions: who, why and when do (or do not) people help? They also ask questions about the factors that are related to helping as well as the encouragement of helping: how to teach pro-social behaviour in communities.
THE GOOD SAMARITAN
The search for the ’altruistic personality’ has proved long and unsuccessful. There is evidence of sex differences but they seem to be related to the type rather than the amount of altruism. Males predominate in chivalrous, bold, heroic pro-social behaviours, while females are more nurturing, volunteering, caring.
People tend to help others from their own cultural group. So, we are more likely to help people from noticeably the same ethnic, religious, linguistic and demographic group than an ’obvious’ member from other groups.
We also know about the ’feel good: do good’ factor: when people are in a good mood they are much more likely to help others. Give a person a small gift, play pleasant upbeat music and compliment them and they voluntarily give more help to others. But people who are sad and distressed will help others to make themselves feel better and reduce their gloom. Equally people who feel guilty have been shown to increase their helpfulness, presumably to reduce their guilt.
SPECULATIONS
Psychoanalysts see the same altruistic behaviour as the manifestation of two very different drives. Some kind, generous, helping acts occur because of identification with the ’victim’, like helpful figures in their past such as parents or teachers. But Freudians also believe it can be a defence against a negative impulse: a neurotic syndrome to cope with anxiety, guilt or hostility. Thus, a deprived child may become a generous giver. Instead of feeling helpless around those in need, they offer help — therefore being both giver and receiver.
Others may only be able to cope with their guilt about their own greed and envy by giving. Some get into debt, due to excessive giving to assuage their guilt. Freudians also talk of hostility-based, reaction-formation giving: the giver masks an expression of aggression by being helpful.
Darwinian-inspired psychologists have tried to offer their explanations for the puzzle of altruism, which at first sight contradicted the central tenet of the theory: if a person’s prime motive is to ensure their own survival, why help others at risk and cost?
A central tenet of this approach is the concept of kin selection. The more a person (relative) shares your genes, the more likely you are to help. Therefore, you ensure survival of your own genes by helping those with them. The biological importance rule becomes ingrained into human behaviour and is not conscious. This means people do act altruistically because they do not do so with a genetic calculus formulae.
However, they do also suggest the reciprocity norm which is simply a tit-for-tat behaviour that supposes helping others will increase the likelihood that they help you in return. It has been suggested that people who learn and practice the norms and social rules of society will survive best because cultures teach survival skills and co-operative behaviours. People become genetically programmed to learn cultural norms of altruism.
Thus we seem to be genetically programmed to certain types of altruism because of two processes: Kin selection (helping relatives helps our genes survive) and reciprocal altruism (others help us to survive if we help them).
CONTEXT AND DECISIONS
It seems situational factors are more powerful in determining help than personal factors. There is a rural vs urban difference: people in small towns or the countryside are more likely to offer help. Also the longer a person has lived in an area and identifies with that community, the more he or she is likely to help. The higher the residential mobility factor, the less stable the community and the less forthcoming the help.
The most famous and counter-intuitive finding in this area is called the bystander effect. The greater the number of bystanders (or witness) to an emergency or situation requiring help, the less likely any one individual is to help. This research leads to the development of the famous five-step decision model of bystander intervention. It asserts that people must go through five steps before they offer help:
First, they must notice the event. People who are in a hurry, talking on their mobile phone or otherwise distracted might simply not notice ’an emergency’.
Second, they must interpret the scene as an emergency where help is required. Many emergencies are confusing. People look to those around them for clues. If others seem unconcerned, people are unlikely to respond.
Third, they must decide that it is their responsibility to help. The bystander effect is all about the diffusion of responsibility. Believing there are others present who can help, individuals may have no strong personal responsibility to act. The problem of course is that if everyone thinks the same way, nobody acts.
Fourth, people must feel they know how to help. Perceived ignorance about mechanical issues means people may not help a stranded motorist. The less one knows what to do, the less one does it!
Fifth, people have to decide to help. There are various reasons why people decide not to help. They may be embarrassed by memories of volunteering to help and being rebuffed because of a misinterpretation of the situation.
REFERENCES
Darley, J. M. & Latané, B. (1968). ’Bystander intervention in emergencies: Diffusion of responsibility’. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 8, 377—93.
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https://psychologic.science/general/101/5.html
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3. Social-Skills Training: A major goal of social skills training is teaching Aspergers adults about the verbal and nonverbal behaviors involved in social interactions. There are many Aspies who have never been taught such interpersonal skills (e.g., making "small talk" in social settings, the importance of good eye contact during a conversation, etc.). In addition, many of these individuals have not learned to "read" the many subtle cues contained in social interactions (e.g., how to tell when someone wants to change the topic of conversation or shift to another activity). Social skills training helps a person with Aspergers to learn to interpret these and other social signals, so that he or she can determine how to act appropriately in the company of other people in a variety of different situations.
Social skills training makes the assumption that when individuals improve their social skills or change selected behaviors, they will raise their self-esteem and increase the likelihood that others will respond favorably to them. Aspies learn to change their social behavior patterns by practicing selected behaviors in individual or group therapy sessions. Another goal of social skills training is improving the person’s ability to function in everyday social situations. Social skills training can help the person to work on specific issues (e.g., improving one's telephone manners) that may interfere with his or her job or daily life.
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https://www.adultaspergerschat.com/2012/02/correcting-social-deficits-tips-for.html
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We also communicate through eye behaviors, primarily eye contact. While eye behaviors are often studied under the category of kinesics, they have their own branch of nonverbal studies called oculesics, which comes from the Latin word oculus, meaning “eye.” The face and eyes are the main point of focus during communication, and along with our ears our eyes take in most of the communicative information around us. The saying “The eyes are the window to the soul” is actually accurate in terms of where people typically think others are “located,” which is right behind the eyes. Peter A. Andersen, Nonverbal Communication: Forms and Functions (Mountain View, CA: Mayfield, 1999), 40. Certain eye behaviors have become tied to personality traits or emotional states, as illustrated in phrases like “hungry eyes,” “evil eyes,” and “bedroom eyes.” To better understand oculesics, we will discuss the characteristics and functions of eye contact and pupil dilation.
Eye contact serves several communicative functions ranging from regulating interaction to monitoring interaction, to conveying information, to establishing interpersonal connections. In terms of regulating communication, we use eye contact to signal to others that we are ready to speak or we use it to cue others to speak. I’m sure we’ve all been in that awkward situation where a teacher asks a question, no one else offers a response, and he or she looks directly at us as if to say, “What do you think?” In that case, the teacher’s eye contact is used to cue us to respond. During an interaction, eye contact also changes as we shift from speaker to listener. US Americans typically shift eye contact while speaking—looking away from the listener and then looking back at his or her face every few seconds. Toward the end of our speaking turn, we make more direct eye contact with our listener to indicate that we are finishing up. While listening, we tend to make more sustained eye contact, not glancing away as regularly as we do while speaking. Judith N. Martin and Thomas K. Nakayama, Intercultural Communication in Contexts, 5th ed. (Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill, 2010), 276.
Aside from regulating conversations, eye contact is also used to monitor interaction by taking in feedback and other nonverbal cues and to send information. Our eyes bring in the visual information we need to interpret people’s movements, gestures, and eye contact. A speaker can use his or her eye contact to determine if an audience is engaged, confused, or bored and then adapt his or her message accordingly. Our eyes also send information to others. People know not to interrupt when we are in deep thought because we naturally look away from others when we are processing information. Making eye contact with others also communicates that we are paying attention and are interested in what another person is saying. As we will learn in Chapter 5 "Listening", eye contact is a key part of active listening.
Eye contact can also be used to intimidate others. We have social norms about how much eye contact we make with people, and those norms vary depending on the setting and the person. Staring at another person in some contexts could communicate intimidation, while in other contexts it could communicate flirtation. As we learned, eye contact is a key immediacy behavior, and it signals to others that we are available for communication. Once communication begins, if it does, eye contact helps establish rapport or connection. We can also use our eye contact to signal that we do not want to make a connection with others. For example, in a public setting like an airport or a gym where people often make small talk, we can avoid making eye contact with others to indicate that we do not want to engage in small talk with strangers. Another person could use eye contact to try to coax you into speaking, though. For example, when one person continues to stare at another person who is not reciprocating eye contact, the person avoiding eye contact might eventually give in, become curious, or become irritated and say, “Can I help you with something?” As you can see, eye contact sends and receives important communicative messages that help us interpret others’ behaviors, convey information about our thoughts and feelings, and facilitate or impede rapport or connection. This list reviews the specific functions of eye contact:
- Regulate interaction and provide turn-taking signals
- Monitor communication by receiving nonverbal communication from others
- Signal cognitive activity (we look away when processing information)
- Express engagement (we show people we are listening with our eyes)
- Convey intimidation
- Express flirtation
- Establish rapport or connection
Pupil dilation is a subtle component of oculesics that doesn’t get as much scholarly attention in communication as eye contact does. Pupil dilation refers to the expansion and contraction of the black part of the center of our eyes and is considered a biometric form of measurement; it is involuntary and therefore seen as a valid and reliable form of data collection as opposed to self-reports on surveys or interviews that can be biased or misleading. Our pupils dilate when there is a lack of lighting and contract when light is plentiful. Laura K. Guerrero and Kory Floyd, Nonverbal Communication in Close Relationships (Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum, 2006): 176. Pain, sexual attraction, general arousal, anxiety/stress, and information processing (thinking) also affect pupil dilation. Researchers measure pupil dilation for a number of reasons. For example, advertisers use pupil dilation as an indicator of consumer preferences, assuming that more dilation indicates arousal and attraction to a product. We don’t consciously read others’ pupil dilation in our everyday interactions, but experimental research has shown that we subconsciously perceive pupil dilation, which affects our impressions and communication. In general, dilated pupils increase a person’s attractiveness. Even though we may not be aware of this subtle nonverbal signal, we have social norms and practices that may be subconsciously based on pupil dilation. Take for example the notion of mood lighting and the common practice of creating a “romantic” ambiance with candlelight or the light from a fireplace. Softer and more indirect light leads to pupil dilation, and although we intentionally manipulate lighting to create a romantic ambiance, not to dilate our pupils, the dilated pupils are still subconsciously perceived, which increases perceptions of attraction. Peter A. Andersen, Nonverbal Communication: Forms and Functions (Mountain View, CA: Mayfield, 1999), 40–41.
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https://tonyarduini.gitbooks.io/test-book/content/nonverbal_communication/eye_contact.html
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Signs & Symptoms
Symptoms of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) vary from one child to the next, but in general, they fall into two areas:
- Social impairment, including difficulties with social communication
- Repetitive and stereotyped behaviors.
Children with ASD do not follow typical patterns when developing social and communication skills. Parents are usually the first to notice unusual behaviors in their child. Often, certain behaviors become more noticeable when comparing children of the same age.
In some cases, babies with ASD may seem different very early in their development. Even before their first birthday, some babies become overly focused on certain objects, rarely make eye contact, and fail to engage in typical back-and-forth play and babbling with their parents. Other children may develop normally until the second or even third year of life, but then start to lose interest in others and become silent, withdrawn, or indifferent to social signals. Loss or reversal of normal development is called regression and occurs in some children with ASD.
Social impairment
Most children with ASD have trouble engaging in everyday social interactions. For example, some children with ASD may:
- Make little eye contact
- Tend to look and listen less to people in their environment or fail to respond to other people
- Rarely seek to share their enjoyment of toys or activities by pointing or showing things to others
- Respond unusually when others show anger, distress, or affection
Recent research suggests that children with ASD do not respond to emotional cues in human social interactions because they may not pay attention to the social cues that others typically notice. For example, one study found that children with ASD focus on the mouth of the person speaking to them instead of on the eyes, which is where children with typical development tend to focus. A relatedstudy showed that children with ASD appear to be drawn to repetitive movements linked to a sound, such as hand-clapping during a game of pat-a-cake. More research is needed to confirm these findings, but such studies suggest that children with ASD may misread or not notice subtle social cues-a smile, a wink, or a grimace-that could help them understand social relationships and interactions. For these children, a question such as, "Can you wait a minute?" always means the same thing, whether the speaker is joking, asking a real question, or issuing a firm request. Without the ability to interpret another person's tone of voice as well as gestures, facial expressions, and other nonverbal communications, children with ASD may not properly respond.
Likewise, it can be hard for others to understand the body language of children with ASD. Their facial expressions, movements, and gestures are often vague or do not match what they are saying. Their tone of voice may not reflect their actual feelings either. Many older children with ASD speak with an unusual tone of voice and may sound sing-song or flat and robotlike.
Children with ASD also may have trouble understanding another person's point of view. For example, by school age, most children understand that other people have different information, feelings, and goals than they have. Children with ASD may lack this understanding, leaving them unable to predict or understand other people's actions.
Communication issues
According to the American Academy of Pediatrics' developmental milestones, by the first birthday, typical toddlers can say one or two words, turn when they hear their name, and point when they want a toy. When offered something they do not want, toddlers make it clear with words, gestures, or facial expressions that the answer is "no."
For children with ASD, reaching such milestones may not be so straightforward. For example, some children with autism may:
- Fail or be slow to respond to their name or other verbal attempts to gain their attention
- Fail or be slow to develop gestures, such as pointing and showing things to others
- Coo and babble in the first year of life, but then stop doing so
- Develop language at a delayed pace
- Learn to communicate using pictures or their own sign language
- Speak only in single words or repeat certain phrases over and over, seeming unable to combine words into meaningful sentences
- Repeat words or phrases that they hear, a condition called echolalia
- Use words that seem odd, out of place, or have a special meaning known only to those familiar with the child's way of communicating
Even children with ASD who have relatively good language skills often have difficulties with the back and forth of conversations. For example, because they find it difficult to understand and react to social cues, some highly verbal children with ASD often talk at length about a favorite subject, but they won't allow anyone else a chance to respond or notice when others react indifferently.
Children with ASD who have not yet developed meaningful gestures or language may simply scream or grab or otherwise act out until they are taught better ways to express their needs. As these children grow up, they can become aware of their difficulty in understanding others and in being understood. This awareness may cause them to become anxious or depressed.
Repetitive and stereotyped behaviors
Children with ASD often have repetitive motions or unusual behaviors. These behaviors may be extreme and very noticeable, or they can be mild and discreet. For example, some children may repeatedly flap their arms or walk in specific patterns, while others may subtly move their fingers by their eyes in what looks to be a gesture. These repetitive actions are sometimes called "stereotypy" or "stereotyped behaviors."
Children with ASD also tend to have overly focused interests. Children with ASD may become fascinated with moving objects or parts of objects, like the wheels on a moving car. They might spend a long time lining up toys in a certain way, rather than playing with them. They may also become very upset if someone accidentally moves one of the toys. Repetitive behavior can also take the form of a persistent, intense preoccupation. For example, they might be obsessed with learning all about vacuum cleaners, train schedules, or lighthouses. Children with ASD often have great interest in numbers, symbols, or science topics.
While children with ASD often do best with routine in their daily activities and surroundings, inflexibility may often be extreme and cause serious difficulties. They may insist on eating the same exact meals every day or taking the same exact route to school. A slight change in a specific routine can be extremely upsetting. Some children may even have emotional outbursts, especially when feeling angry or frustrated or when placed in a new or stimulating environment.
No two children express exactly the same types and severity of symptoms. In fact, many typically developing children occasionally display some of the behaviors common to children with ASD. However, if you notice your child has several ASD-related symptoms, have your child screened and evaluated by a health professional experienced with ASD.
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https://www.webpsychology.com/autism-signs-symptoms
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- Jason Brumback
What If Your Loved One Isn't Ready To Get Sober?
You know that your loved one is struggling. Maybe they have opened up to you about their fears and problems, and maybe they have even tried to get help in the past.
But as it stands right now, your loved one isn't showing any signs of being ready to get sober. If this is the case, what are you supposed to do? How can you help them? What are the best steps you can take to ensure their safety- and yours as well?
Remember That You Can't Control Anyone Else
You can't control anyone else's actions, thoughts, or feelings. You can't control if they continue using or if they feel ready to get sober and change their life.
Remembering your locus of control hard, especially if you tend to blame yourself for how other people behave. Many loved ones hold disproportionate guilt and responsibility for the addiction. They assume that if they had something different, it would have made the situation better.
When you try to control someone else, you risk falling into a codependent pattern with them. In doing this, you may enable their behavior, avoid setting boundaries or simply spend all your time and energy focusing on their addiction. These efforts can be exhausting, and they can also be woefully unsuccessful. The more you try to control your loved one, the more they may resist your efforts.
Instead, it's important to focus on what you can control. You can control your responses and actions. You can control your mindset and how you cope with your loved one's behavior. You can control prioritizing self-care and seeking support for yourself.
See If They're Willing To Talk To Someone
Sometimes, people aren't ready to get help for their addiction. However, they might be willing to get help for another issue like depression, anxiety, or relationship problems.
If that's the case, therapy may help your loved one gain more insight into their addiction. This isn't a backhanded way to trick someone into seeking treatment. Instead, it's about honoring your loved one's process. Therapy isn't a cure, and it's not a guarantee they will want to be sober, but it can be an excellent starting point.
You can start this conversation with your loved one by acknowledging that you know they're struggling. Ask if they have considered individual therapy or support groups. If they show interest in getting help, you can support them in finding referrals and treatment options.
Remember to let them have their personal space in therapy. It's not your job to investigate what they're discussing during each session. Instead, continue demonstrating that you're there for them unconditionally. If they want to talk to you about what they're learning, they will.
Consider Staging An Intervention
In some cases, it may be appropriate to intervene with your loved one. Planned interventions can be powerful, as they demonstrate how much the addiction has impacted you and other people's lives.
That said, interventions often require some kind of ultimatum. Therefore, you should only do an intervention if you can identify your boundaries and follow through with them. It's not enough to tell your loved one about your feelings. You need to set concrete rules for how you expect them to behave moving forward.
Successful interventions require planning and attention to detail. Ideally, you want to intervene with the loved one when they're sober. You also want to host it in a neutral location.
If you're thinking about staging an intervention, it might be worth consulting with a professional interventionist. They can help you assemble your team, coach you through the process, and locate the best treatment for your loved one.
Get Your Own Support
Even if you know your loved one needs help, that doesn't mean you should suffer alone. Addiction takes a serious toll on family and friends. It can be exhausting, confusing, and downright frustrating.
Therefore, it's important that you prioritize reaching out for your own support. Reach out and conect with your friends and family. Consider going to therapy yourself. You can also try a peer-led support group like Al-Anon, Codependents Anonymous, or NAMI.
Remember that it's okay to ask for help. It's also okay to share what's on your mind, even if you feel ashamed over your thoughts. Processing these thoughts and feelings with people you trust allows you to heal.
What If Your Loved One Is Ready To Get Sober?
If your loved one is ready to get sober, don't hesitate to move forward in getting them the help they need. Motivation can fluctuate, and it's important to act immediately when someone expresses an interest in recovery.
At The Resurface Group, we can help. Our team supports individuals and their families on their journeys towards wellness. Contact us today to learn more.
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https://www.resurfacegroup.com/post/loved-one-isn-t-ready-to-get-sober
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I study human relationships from the perspective of Social Neuroscience. For the past twenty years, I’ve watched people navigate their sometimes quite troubled social environments, looking for clues about what makes some relationships successful while others flounder toward conflict.
This has led me to a deep understanding of how people behave with one another when goals are shared and, perhaps more importantly, when goals are not shared—when conflict arises and solutions have to be negotiated. What is clear is that the best relationships are those whose inhabitants are skilled at managing their own emotions and the emotions of others. Skilled emotion managers are skilled cooperators.
Note that I have not said that the best relationships are those whose inhabitants have managed to avoid emotional behavior. Quite the opposite is true, in fact. Emotions happen. The most skilled cooperators use this to their advantage.
How do they do that? By learning about, and paying attention to, the emotional and social behavior of the people in their environment.
Simple, right? Not so fast. Although most of us are good enough at this, a relatively small number of people are excellent at it. And the number of us who aren’t very good at it is rather larger than we’d like.
But new research shows that when groups of individuals get together for a common purpose—as happens in business at all levels—the number of individuals in those groups who are insensitive to emotional and social cues is inversely proportional to what we now call “collective IQ” (as measured by how well and quickly they solve difficult problems). Groups with members who are better at ‘reading’ social and emotional cues in one another achieve better outcomes in problem solving challenges.
Moreover, researchers have found that 1) groups with a mixture of men and women have the highest group IQs; 2) the IQ of a group will typically be higher than the IQ of its smartest member; and 3) when one member of the group is viewed as exceptionally smart, the group can get dumber if the super smart person dominates, because the other members of the group don’t try as hard.
How does sensitivity to emotional and social cues contribute to the collective IQ of a group? Recent work in my laboratory suggests this rather provocative possibility: Individuals who are more socially sensitive are better at forging trust, and when two or more individuals trust each other their brains work more efficiently in each others’ presence.
It turns out that the regions of your brain that are essential for contributing to the collective IQ of your group are also responsible for the effortful control of your own emotions, and there isn’t enough blood in your brain at any one time to run all that ‘software’ simultaneously at optimal levels. When groups cooperate effectively, there is less need for self-management. When the need for self-management decreases, the neural contributors to collective IQ are more free to do their work.
Cooperation is an effective way to foster adaptability and creativity. And that adaptability and creativity has allowed us to dominate the planet. Smarter groups contain members who are more sensitive to social cues because individuals who are sensitive to social cues foster trust in those with whom they interact, and with increased trust comes increased neural efficiency.
Indeed, mounting evidence suggests that our genes passed through a “population bottleneck”—a period of great hardship that nearly wiped us off the terrestrial map. At that time, our species was probably reduced to something between 2,000 and 30,000 individuals. (If that seems like a large range, consider that today the human population is more than 7 billion.) Some think that during those dark days, the greatest protective factor possessed by those humans who survived was the ability to cooperate. If true, then our ability to cooperate may be firmly embedded in our genes—genes that may provide the foundation for our most important adaptation: adaptability itself.
Hal Movius and I are working on understanding the implications of all this as we advise groups and companies on effective communication, negotiation and leadership practices. Our collaboration promises to lead to powerful new insights into how leaders and teams can communicate, collaborate and manage conflict more effectively. Stay tuned.
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https://halmovius.com/2012/10/30/want-supercharge-teams-iq/
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In the world of psychology, mental health and relationship boundaries are a hot topic today. We often hear about how we need to set physical and emotional boundaries to preserve our relationships and our peace of mind. It could be with an overbearing mother-in-law, a houseguest who has overstayed his welcome, or anyone else in your life who is sapping your energy or leaving you feeling disrespected, ignored, or underappreciated.
Considering how broad the topic of boundaries is, it may be difficult to know how exactly to figure out what our boundaries are. In our interactions with others, what will we permit for ourselves, and when will we draw the line? Though situations may differ, there are a few key indicators to look for when setting boundaries:
The first thing to do is to tune in to your emotions (I’ve suggested to my clients that they consider emotions as energy in motion or cues to our internal experiences). Be honest with yourself about how you feel when you’re with certain people. Do you feel energized, motivated, and loved, or do you find yourself feeling avoidant, indifferent, or overly inconvenienced by individuals that you spend time with? If the latter sounds true to you, don’t ignore those pesky, nagging feelings, but instead use them as a signal to help you set boundaries.
I’ve often touted the benefits of what I call the gift of resentment. As much as I try to be forgiving, when I find myself harboring a grudge against someone or something, I consider the resentment I feel to be an amazing gift that lets me know I need to make a change. For example, a few years after I got started as a therapist, I began to resent my private practice. This led to me taking a good, hard look at some of my business policies, and I ended up making some significant changes that have benefitted my clients and my professional life.
Another source to look for in help setting boundaries is to become aware of what your body is telling you. What physical signs or symptoms do you experience that indicate you’re not emotionally comfortable or happy? Are you often exhausted, stressed, or perhaps even in pain? Do you get headaches when dealing with a particular person or problem? Our bodies are very good at sensing (literally!) when something is not right. Pay attention to what yours may be trying to tell you. If you’re often tired or physically not at ease you may need to set a (stronger) boundary or reinforce an existing one.
I know a young woman who was happy to assist a friend in her church group who often needed rides and help with other errands. Eventually, however, the favors started getting so cumbersome that she sometimes missed sleep or work hours to accommodate her friend. This young woman was exhausted and feeling resentful. She realized she needed to step back and set boundaries so that she didn’t deplete her emotional energy or become completely burned out.
Another important step in determining your boundaries is to examine your values and what you want for your life. What are your personal goals? How are the people in your life helping or hindering your goals? Asking this will help you determine what matters most to you, what things are a priority, and what things are not. As far as boundaries go, this may mean limiting the amount of time you spend with individuals who are downers or bring unnecessary criticism and cynicism to your life.
Finally, when we think of boundaries in relationships we often think of boundaries with others, but it’s also important to look at boundaries with yourself. If you struggle with negative self-talk and often belittle yourself, perhaps you have a goal to engender positive thoughts and energy. If you really want to go on a trip next year, work on setting boundaries related to your spending habits. If you’re a student and you want to get better grades, set boundaries around how much social time and study time you want each week.
Tuning into your emotional and physical signals and figuring out what you want and value in life can help you set appropriate and tailored boundaries, find fulfillment and peace in your relationships, and be wise about how you spend your time and energy.
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https://www.healthyway.com/content/how-to-determine-your-relationship-boundaries/
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It’s all about the non-verbal cues.
You’ve heard the Dr. Mehrabian quote, right? “Communication is only 7 percent verbal and 93 percent non-verbal.”. Well, according to his work, there’s a lot to be said about what goes unsaid. Out of that 93%, 55% is body language, and the other 38% is tone of voice. The funny thing is; we’re already doing it all the time. We pick up on these cues without even being aware of it. Think about your text conversations versus speaking to someone in person. Is it the same? Do you get the same depth of understanding? Probably not! [1,2]
We give off cues, or hints, during our interactions that act in the same way as verbal communication. We are constantly showing, or in some cases hiding, behavioral representations of our internal states (like emotion), that give a wealth of context and information that could be better used in understanding a speaker.
The possible historical and evolutionary reasons for it.
Evolutionary theory has a big role in psychology. When people are born with innate abilities to understand one another, we want to understand why, and where it came from, right? If we look at this through an evolutionary theory lens, let’s take in to account all the other creatures on this planet that communicate to one another. Do they have as complex a language system as we do? No. Then how do they do it? Non-verbals. Body language and tone. [1,2]
Take other primates for example. A sneer, a lifting of the lip, narrowing of the eyes, and baring of the edges of the teeth is a universal signal. It’s a gesture of aggression, or defensive posturing. One way or another, persisting with a creature that’s sneering is likely to go bad. What about cats? Have you seen them pull their ears back, bare their teeth, and hiss? It’s another non-verbal gesture that tells us the same signal: back off.
Now back to us. Think about our expressions. There are many of them, and not only that; these expressions are innate. In 1966, Dr. Paul Ekman did a study across the world to compare the uniformity of expressions across humans and cultures that had never met or been introduced to one another. Even distant tribes (The Fore) in Papua New Guinea. His findings showed that there were facial expressions, universal ones, that had the same meanings in every single society and people studied; “Anger, Disgust, Fear, Happiness, Sadness, and Surprise.” . When showed pictures with these facial expressions, people were able to identify each of those expressions with emotions, without being taught their meaning. It’s innate to us humans to be able to read the faces of others, regardless of what language they speak. [1,3]
That being said, there are some non-verbal gestures that are learned as well, and have different meanings across countries and cultures. The raising of certain fingers, for example, could have harmless connotations in one place, and be seen as vastly rude in another. Keep culture in mind. [1,3]
How Body Language and Cues Work
Let’s preface this. Reading body language and cues follows the same rules as communication with language; sometimes you can interpret them correctly, and sometimes you can interpret them incorrectly. Non-verbal cues take both listening for tone, and visual contact with the communicator in order to piece together the broader picture. Research and experts on the topic, have given us some simple ground rules that can help minimize these misinterpretations. [1,2]
- Look at the Gestures and Cues in Clusters- Think about it this way. One word can convey a small amount of meaning, but a sentence can convey much more. It’s context and finding how it all fits together. When reading gestures and cues, you need that same amount of context. If cues are data, you want as much as you can get before jumping to conclusions.
Misinterpreting Clusters: “Oh! They looked at me from across the room! This must mean that they are secretly interested!”.
Does it? Could one glance, which may have been accidental, be a certain sign? Maybe it’s best to get a broader picture of more non-verbal behavior that follows. [1,2]
- Congruence with Words.- When what someone is saying is not matching their body language; it’s a much better bet to go with the body language (clusters, not single movements/tones).
Misinterpreting Congruence: “They said they were ‘Fine’, but then ignored me for 2 weeks! I wonder what I missed?”.
Are the words congruent (fitting/matching) with tone, or gestures? An angry face and tone of voice can say much more about a situation than a single word. [1,2]
- Context, Context, Context- Take the context in to consideration. Some gestures and motions are brought about by external/environmental stimuli as well, and may not be what you initially interpret them to be.
Misinterpreting Context: “I see that they crossed their arms over their chest. Clear sign of defensive posturing! I’d better not talk to them… Gee, it sure is snowing pretty hard today.”
One behavior that could be used to warm yourself in a snow storm could be another non-verbal cue during conversation. It is always important to take context in to consideration, because gestures/non-verbal are not mutually exclusive. [1,2]
Working Examples
The number of gestures we could cover here could cover entire volumes, but here are a few that you can take and use without much practice.
Facial Expressions:
Facial expressions are easy for some people to pick up on, but deciding when to check in on the facial expression of your partner is much more important than simply being accurate when you try. Checking in often gives you the chance to gauge changes in non-verbal cues. Let’s look at some facial expressions below.
Can you discern the message that each expression above is trying to convey? Probably very easily! But let’s focus again on checking in. What would happen if during the course of your conversation, the person’s expression goes from the first expression on the Top Row, to the first expression on the Bottom Row? It may not be as big a difference as Happiness to Anger, but there may be signs of disapproval.
How might you use that observation in your conversation? Change tone? Change topic? Inquire about their opinion? One simple check-in on their facial expression could turn the tide of your engagement with them. What about if they went from the last image on the Top Row to the last image on the Bottom Row? What you might have just said, or a change in a setting stimulus, may have turned a situation of low positive engagement, to a much more open opportunity to engage. [1,2]
Open vs. Closed Postures
Take a look at this image above. This has some key components of what is called an “Open Posture”. An Open Posture is a posture in which the vulnerable parts of the body are exposed. The chest is uncovered by the arms, the palms are out, and there is no tensing or covering of the neck. Feet are facing forward and there is also a gap between the legs and a wider stance. Open posture is often perceived as communicating a positive attitude, agreement, or engagement. When someone is poised like this and showing these types of non-verbal cues, you can likely infer interest in their current engagement and their cues of willingness to receive interaction. [1,2]
Using the 3 Rules on an Open Posture:
- Are you looking at the cues in clusters? An open posture, with a high rate of speaking, and positive/affable tone is a good sign that you are interpreting this posture correctly.
- Is there congruence? Does the person exhibiting this open posture have the speaking style to match it?
- What about context? Are there any other environmental factors going on that could be causing these cues to appear outside of the role of communication? Culture may also play a role in how often these gestures are exhibited.
What about this picture above? This has some key components of what might be called a Closed Posture. Notice that the expression on the face is not holding direct engagement with any speaker, the arms are crossed protectively across the chest, and the legs/feet are also crossed. As opposed to the Open Posture, which bares “vital areas” to others, the closed posture is protecting and shielding them. Closed posture often gives off impressions of social detachment, disinterest in speakers, and possible hostility. [1,2]
Using the 3 Rules on a Closed Posture:
- Are you looking at the cues in clusters? Closed posture, like the picture above, shows a collection of these features and lends to a higher degree of validity about what it might mean. One crossed arm, or half a crossed leg, may demonstrate uncertainty, rather than anger.
- Is there congruence? Does the person exhibiting this closed posture have the speaking style to match it? Are they speaking at all to the person/people in front of them?
- What about context? Are there any other environmental factors going on that could be causing these cues to appear outside of the role of communication? (Cold, for example.). Culture may also play a role in how often these gestures are exhibited.
Nodding
Nodding is something that most people interpret fairly easily, and in most cultures (but not all) demonstrates agreement. There is a second use to nodding, though. Research has shown that nodding is also used to encourage further interaction. When one person hears something they like, they may engage in repeated nodding in order to encourage the person they are speaking with to continue.
Specifics of the gesture are important, however. Curt (quick and sudden) nodding, may encourage a faster rate of speaking for the purpose of ascertaining a point quicker. Slow nodding with a smile, may simply be encouraging the conversation to continue longer based on the enjoyment of the interaction.
Using the 3 Rules on Nodding:
- Are you looking at the cues in clusters? Could a single nod tell you much of anything? It may be affirmation, encouragement, or rushing a conversation. Other cues could help differentiate this.
- Is there congruence? Does the person exhibiting nodding speak, or not? Do they withhold their words while the other person speaks? This may be agreement. Do they nod and interject? This may be rushing the conversation. Two very different purposes.
- What about context? Could someone in a group be nodding to just one specific person, over another speaking at the same time?
Proximity
Proximity, or closeness between communicators is important. When we say closeness here, we are not speaking of emotional closeness, but rather actual distance between people when engaging. Have you heard the term “personal space” or “personal bubble”? In general, there is an area of distance between speakers that “feels comfortable”. When people engage comfortably, it is generally at arms length, without that distance becoming a factor to interrupt the conversation.
Experience with the speaker is also an important factor here. People who know each other longer can be comfortable in closer proximity, than say someone they had just met. Longer distances (2 arms length or more) may show signs of uncertainty or a factor of group dynamics (avoiding intrusion). Crossing into people’s personal space by reaching, is often done briefly, as to avoid a negative reaction. People also may use closing proximity to test the comfort of their speaking partner with their presence (although this is often seen as impolite and may further distance the speaker).
Consider the following situations of proximity/closeness: Shoulder to shoulder sitting beside a friend, and shoulder to shoulder with a stranger in the elevator. These two very different scenarios have two very different outcomes in terms of what interactions might occur between these individuals. Closing proximity may also even be used in threatening gestures or posturing. Judging distance and proximity relies judging other social cues and mediating a safe and comfortable middle ground for both speakers.
Using the 3 Rules on Proximity:
- Are you looking at the cues in clusters? Someone brushing by another person while walking does close proximity, but there is no sustaining of that proximity. Judging the intention of proximity with other cues is important.
- Is there congruence? Is a person crossing the room to speak in a positive and open tone, or aggressive and hostile? Wording may give more information of intent with proximity.
- What about context? Proximity is often mediated by crowds, or availability of space. A tight fit in a room may not suggest the person engaging in closer proximity has any intention of gauging closeness, interest, or hostility; it is simply happenstance of the environmental condition.
Let’s get Behavior Analytical.
When you look at behavior, you can not try and study it in a vacuum. Behavior is something that is ongoing, and goes through the processes of reinforcement (strengthening that behavior’s use in the future) or punishment (reducing that behavior’s in the future). Non-verbal behavior follows this same type of adaptation.
When we engage a person, or observe them, their non-verbal cues are both reactions to the environment/speaker, and also operant behaviors (behaviors that act to change or get something) on the environment/speaker. A smile after a compliment is both a reaction to the compliment, and a non-verbal communication to reward that compliment (intentional or not). It creates a chain of reactions and responses that lead in to longer and longer chains. Observing how one stimulus (cue, word) precedes a response (reaction, cue, etc), and then becomes the very stimulus that leads to a response from the original speaker shows us that it is a constant back and forth, each link in the chain both reinforcing and being reinforced (or punishing and being punished), as the conversation or interaction continues. .
Keeping that in mind, let’s also talk on what might modify the meaning of some of the cues above.
- Frequency/Rate- What is the rate of interaction? Is a person engaging in these cues consistently, and how often are they responding to the speaker/situation? A person engaging quickly with another person, both communicating in cues and words, may show greater interest. Higher rate means more engagement, which leads to higher rates of that interaction being reinforced (or punished, in some cases).
- Extent in time- How long is the engagement going on? Let’s say you walked up to someone, spoke with them for 20 seconds, then moved on. Do you think that would be enough time to get a broad idea of their communication cues? How about 20 minutes? How might that give us a better idea and practice on picking up on this person’s cues?
- Locus in time- This is both a factor of time (when), but also latency (how long it takes to get a reply). You might see this phenomenon more in texting, but it also may appear in group conversations. Imagine you speak to a person, and it takes them 5 minutes to get back to you; (assuming your follow the rules and take context into the picture) how might that effect your assessment of their interest?
- Baseline- This is a very important factor in reading non-verbal communcation, or any communication in general. What information above is consistent with the individual? Do they talk often or less? Do they engage often or rarely? Do they speak slowly or quickly? Changes in these cues can be more important in determining non-verbal factors than the cues themselves. A person who appears calm and confident in posture, suddenly losing composure, gives us emphasis that a person who is erratic in their postures/expressions might not.
Taking all these things in to consideration can give a much broader and more accurate depiction of the people you engage with (or watch), and with a little practice, can improve observation skills in and out of conversations.
Questions, comments, thoughts? Leave them below!
References:
1. Mehrabian, A., & Ferris, S. R. (1967). Inference of attitudes from nonverbal communication in two channels. Journal of Consulting Psychology, 31(3), 248-252. doi:10.1037/h0024648
2. Pease, A., & Pease, B. (2006). The definitive book of body language. New York: Bantam Books.
3. Ekman, P. (1980). The face of man: expressions of universal emotions in a New Guinea village. New York: Garland STPM Press.
4. Cooper, J. O., Heron, T. E., & Heward, W. L. (1987). Applied behavior analysis. Columbus: Merrill Pub. Co.
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https://behavioralinquiry.com/2017/01/25/up-your-people-watching-game-with-science/
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The lack of demonstrated empathy is possibly the most dysfunctional aspect of Aspergers and High Functioning Autism. Children, teens, and even adults with this disorder experience difficulties in basic elements of social interaction, which may include:
- impaired nonverbal behaviors (e.g., eye contact, facial expression, posture, gesture)
- lack of social or emotional reciprocity (e.g., social "games," give-and-take dynamics)
- failure to seek shared enjoyments or achievements with others (e.g., showing others objects of interest)
- failure to develop friendships
Empathy is one of the foundational moral emotions. It is linked to moral action. It’s a feeling that compels individuals to act compassionately while reasoning alone might not. Kids who don’t develop empathy can become callous grown-ups, oblivious to the hurt and pain they leave in their wake.
Empathy is not something that matures on its own—it must be learned. Moms and dads play an important role in helping their Aspergers kids acquire empathy by guiding them toward it from infancy, by acting as an “emotion coach,” and by setting an example of empathetic behavior.
While some Aspergers kids seem to develop empathy more naturally than others, all young people with this disorder need help for this skill to grow. Moms and dads should begin teaching them as early as possible. Kids as young as 18 months can be taught empathy. In fact, some experts say that kids display empathetic responses as early as infancy. Although it may take many years for a youngster’s empathy to mature, starting “empathy training” early does two important things: (a) it creates a seamless transition from understanding verbal instructions to later being able to act, and (b) it gets moms and dads into the habit of noticing teaching moments and seizing them.
Parents with children on the spectrum will need to teach them to “put themselves in some else’s shoes” (so to speak), because this is not a skill that comes naturally to them. Below are the methods to employ in order to achieve this task:
1. Aspergers children are more likely to show empathic concern for others if they have moms and dads who help them cope with negative emotions in an empathetic, problem-solving-oriented way.
2. Aspergers children may benefit from explicit coaching. In one study, three autistic children watched a grown-up describe how he figured out what another character would think and do next (e.g., “These footprints are a clue. He’ll follow these footprints to the treasure chest and open it up”). The strategy helped these children solve similar problems on their own.
3. Be empathetic yourself in your parenting. While having patience with small kids can be difficult, it’s important to stay as calm as you can when they misbehave. If your youngster does something you don’t like, it’s not helpful to yell. That teaches them that yelling is an acceptable way to handle feelings.
4. Create an open atmosphere in your home so that your kids feel welcome to talk about their experiences, both positive and negative. As they talk to you, behave empathetically by working to understand their feelings, expressing that understanding to them, and by giving them nonverbal cues (e.g., leaning in and nodding) that say you are actively listening.
5. Employ role-playing games. In one study, researchers asked young medical students to simulate the difficulties of old age. For example, students wore goggles covered with transparent tape to simulate the effects of cataracts. To experience poor motor control, the students wore heavy rubber gloves. After the experiment, the students showed greater empathy towards the elderly.
6. Encourage older kids to become tutors or mentors. Tutors learn that they can’t help very well unless they first learn about the needs and feelings of those they tutor.
7. Help your Aspergers son or daughter to learn about emotions in general. Young kids feel all of the emotions that grown-ups feel (e.g., frustration, disappointment, sadness, etc.), but they lack experience identifying, labeling, and managing those feelings. When moms and dads help their Aspergers kids name what they feel, these kids can more easily make sense of their emotional world.
8. Help children develop a sense of morality that depends on internal self-control, not on rewards or punishments. Aspergers children are capable of being spontaneously helpful and empathetic. But studies have shown that children become less likely to help others if they are given material rewards for doing so. Other studies have shown that children are more likely to develop an internal sense of right and wrong if they are raised with authoritative discipline (i.e., an approach that emphasizes rational explanations and moral consequences, not arbitrary rules and heavy-handed punishments).
9. Help children explore other roles and perspectives. Empathy involves “perspective-taking” (i.e., what the world is like when experienced from another person’s point of view). Stories from books or television are opportunities for children to practice perspective-taking skills. What do the characters think, believe, want, or feel? And how do we know it? When parent and child discuss these questions, children may learn a lot about the way that other people’s minds work. Studies show a link between such family conversations and kid’s performance on perspective-taking tasks.
10. Helping kids develop empathy through service. Through bringing relief to someone who is suffering, kids can come to understand the depths of that suffering. For example, they can hand out blankets and hot tea to homeless families on a particularly cold winter's day, or they can help a recently widowed neighbor by raking her yard or taking her trashcans out. By performing acts of kindness, whether at school, in the family or in the community, kids can't help but think about the hard luck of those they help. When they do, they're sure to think about how it would feel to be in a similar situation.
11. Moms and dads who are “mind-minded” treat their children as individuals with minds of their own. They also talk to their kids about emotional and mental states, and discuss the ways that our beliefs, desires, and emotions motivate behavior.
12. Point out to your Aspergers youngster both similarities and differences between him and other kids. Understanding the ways that others are like him can help him behave empathetically. Knowing that others are different helps him perceive that what helps one person feel better might not help another person.
13. Remember that Aspergers children are more likely to develop a strong sense of empathy when their own emotional needs are being met at home.
14. Search for opportunities to model empathetic feelings for other people. By modeling empathic behavior and pointing out situations that call for empathy, moms and dads can generate empathetic responses in their children (e.g., if you and your youngster see someone being victimized on a television show, talk with your youngster about how that person must feel).
15. Show children how to “make a face” while they try to imagine how someone else feels. Studies show that simply “going through the motions” of making a facial expression can make us experience the associated emotion. We can “boost” our empathic powers by imitating the facial expressions of people we want to empathize with.
16. Teach children to follow the motto, "If it feels wrong inside, it's good for no one." This helps them keep their motives sincere and pure.
17. Teach your kids about people who are models of empathy (e.g., Mother Teresa, Mahatma Gandhi, etc.).
18. Teaching kids empathy by not criticizing the unfortunate. Criticizing people with imperfections sends our kids a message that the shortcomings of others are intentional and exclusive to everyone else but us. They learn to criticize others for not correcting those flaws, even when the flaws can't be changed, and to react negatively to imperfect people rather than respond with empathy and compassion.
19. Use "I messages" to teach empathy. When we use "I messages," we send a loud and clear signal: "Understand how I'm feeling right now, please!" For example, a comment like, "I get frustrated when someone walks on my freshly mopped floor with muddy shoes," may jump-start some internal dialogue that makes our kids consider what we are going through and what they should do to make things better.
20. When Aspergers children have secure attachment relationships (i.e., they can count on their caregivers for emotional and physical support), they are more likely to show empathy and offer help to other children in distress.
Empathy is one of the greatest lessons we can teach to our Aspergers kids, because it helps them see the good in those around them. If we work hard to raise empathetic kids, they'll develop a sense of inner strength that will protect them against outside influences that pressure them to make the wrong choices.
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http://www.myaspergerschild.com/2012/10/helping-aspergers-children-overcome.html
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Everyone watches the boss. People take their emotional cues from the top. Even when the boss isn’t highly visible—for example, the CEO who works behind closed doors on an upper floor—his attitude affects the moods of his direct reports, and a domino effect ripples throughout the company’s emotional climate. Careful observations of working groups in action revealed several ways the leader plays such a pivotal role in determining the shared emotions. Leaders typically talked more than anyone else, and what they said was listened to more carefully. Leaders were also usually the first to speak out on a subject, and when others made comments, their remarks most often referred to what the leader had said than to anyone else’s comments. Because the leader’s way of seeing things has special weight, leaders “manage meaning” for a group, offering a way to interpret, and so react emotionally to, a given situation.
But the impact on emotions goes beyond what a leader says. In these studies, even when leaders were not talking, they were watched more carefully than anyone else in the group. When people raised a question for the group as a whole, they would keep their eyes on the leader to see his or her response. Indeed, group members generally see the leader’s emotional reaction as the most valid response, and so model their own on it—particularly in an ambiguous situation, where various members react differently. In a sense, the leader sets the emotional standard.
Direct Effects Of Leaders Emotion-Based Decisions
Leaders give praise or withhold it, criticize well or destructively, offer support or turn a blind eye to people’s needs. They can frame the group’s mission in ways that give more meaning to each person’s contribution—or not. They can guide in ways that give people a sense of clarity and direction in their work and that encourage flexibility, setting people free to use their best sense of how to get the job done. All these acts help determine a leader’s primal emotional impact.
Still, not all “official” leaders in a group are necessarily the emotional leaders. When the designated leader lacks credibility for some reason, people may turn for emotional guidance to someone else who they trust and respect. This de facto leader then becomes the one who molds others’ emotional reactions. For instance, a well-known jazz group that was named for its formal leader and founder actually took its emotional cues from a different musician. The founder continued to manage bookings and logistics, but when it came time to decide what tune the group would play next or how the sound system should be adjusted, all eyes turned to the dominant member—the emotional leader.
People Magnets
Regardless of who the emotional leader might be, however, she’s likely to have a knack for acting as a limbic “attractor,” exerting a palpable force on the emotional brains of people around her. Watch a gifted actor at work, for example, and observe how easily she draws an audience into her emotional orbit. Whether she’s conveying the agony of a betrayal or a joyous triumph, the audience feels those things too.
How easily we catch leaders’ emotional states, then, has to do with how expressively their faces, voices, and gestures convey their feelings. The greater a leader’s skill at transmitting emotions, the more forcefully the emotions will spread. Such transmission does not depend on theatrics, of course; since people pay close attention to a leader, even subtle expressions of emotion can have great impact. Even so, the more open leaders are—how well they express their own enthusiasm, for example—the more readily others will feel that same contagious passion.
Leaders with that kind of talent are emotional magnets; people naturally gravitate to them. If you think about the leaders with whom people most want to work in an organization, they probably have this ability to exude upbeat feelings. It’s one reason emotionally intelligent leaders attract talented people—for the pleasure of working in their presence. Conversely, leaders who emit the negative register—who are irritable, touchy, domineering, cold—repel people. No one wants to work for a grouch. Research has proven it: Optimistic, enthusiastic leaders more easily retain their people, compared with those bosses who tend toward negative moods.
How Moods Impact Results
Emotions are highly intense, fleeting, and sometimes disruptive to work; moods tend to be less intense, longer-lasting feelings that typically don’t interfere with the job at hand. Yet an emotional episode usually leaves a corresponding lingering mood: a low-key, continual flow of feeling throughout the group.
Although emotions and moods may seem trivial from a business point of view, they have real consequences for getting work done. A leader’s mild anxiety can act as a signal that something needs more attention and careful thought. In fact, a sober mood can help immensely when considering a risky situation—and too much optimism can lead to ignoring dangers. A sudden flood of anger can rivet a leader’s attention on an urgent problem—such as the revelation that a senior executive has engaged in sexual harassment—redirecting the leader’s energies from the normal round of concerns toward finding a solution, such as improving the organization’s efforts to eliminate harassment.
While mild anxiety (such as over a looming deadline) can focus attention and energy, prolonged distress can sabotage a leader’s relationships and also hamper work performance by diminishing the brain’s ability to process information and respond effectively. A good laugh or an upbeat mood, on the other hand, more often enhances the neural abilities crucial for doing good work.
You Deserve to Be Happy at Work
Based on extensive research and decades of experience with leaders, How to Be Happy at Work deepens our understanding of what it means to be truly fulfilled and effective at work and provides clear, practical advice and instruction on how to get there―no matter what job you have.
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http://www.anniemckee.com/leaders-moods-emotions-impact-companies/
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A new study just released by the University of Bath reports women are much better than men at “mind-reading.”
To be clear, we’re not actually talking about telepathy here. Study authors explain that women are much more adept than men at inferring and understanding what others are thinking – without that person having to say it out loud. Mind-reading, as defined by researchers, isn’t necessarily empathy either.
“To understand this psychological process, we needed to separate mind-reading from empathy. Mind-reading refers to understanding what other people are thinking, whereas empathy is all about understanding what others are feeling. The difference might seem subtle but is critically important and involves very different brain networks,” explains senior study author Dr. Punit Shah, leading expert on social cognitive processing at the University of Bath’s Department of Psychology, in a release.
“By focusing carefully on measuring mind-reading, without confusing it with empathy, we are confident that we have just measured mind-reading. And, when doing this, we consistently find that females reported greater mind-reading abilities than their male counterparts,” he adds.
It isn’t something we all consciously consider very often, but picking up on subtle behavioral cues such as changes in tone of voice or eye movements is a pretty standard aspect of social interactions. We’ve all left a conversation feeling like more is going on than what was actually said. Sometimes those inclinations are accurate and other times we’re way off base. This research indicates women are right in these instances much more often than men.
Even before gender differences come into play, “mind-reading” efficiency varies greatly from person to person. While you may immediately think someone is lying to you, someone else may interpret those words as genuine. Similarly, sarcastic comments often go right over certain peoples’ heads.
“Much of how we communicate relies on our understanding of what others are thinking, yet this is a surprisingly complex process that not everyone can do,” Dr. Shah notes.
A real lack of thought-inferring abilities can make everyday life much more challenging. On that note, one of the main factors that motivated researchers to conduct this research was how much trouble many people with autism have with mind-reading. Autistic individuals usually don’t pick up on subtle behavioral changes very well, which makes navigating social situations that much harder.
So, to recognize individuals in need of help in this area more quickly the research team developed a simple, four-step test using data on both autistic and non-autistic individuals living in the United States and the United Kingdom. Subsequent trials held using that test led to two main conclusions. The first was that women are better at mind-reading than men, and the second was a confirmation that the majority of autistic individuals struggle with this skill.
“This new test, which takes under a minute to complete, has important utility in clinical settings. It is not always obvious if someone is experiencing difficulties understanding and responding to others – and many people have learnt techniques which can reduce the appearance of social difficulties, even though these remain,” comments lead study researcher Rachel Clutterbuck.
The full study can be found here, published in Psychological Assessment.
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https://www.theladders.com/career-advice/women-are-better-at-this-important-social-skill-than-men
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During Financial Capability Week last November, the CIPD joined employers across the UK in encouraging employers to take greater responsibility for the financial well-being of their workforce. New research from the CIPD this week added weight to the argument: one in four UK employees report that money worries are affecting their ability to do their job.
To combat this, the CIPD - in partnership with Close Brothers - has issued new guidance to help employers implement a financial well-being strategy. There are some simple and inexpensive steps organisations can take to raise awareness and levels of financial capability amongst their workforce, but voluntary participation in financial well-being programmes can be hard to achieve - and individuals who are most in need of these programmes may also be most likely to avoid taking them up and completing them. One of the four new resources the CIPD has published this week, Employee financial well-being: Behavioural insights, is therefore encouraging HR professionals to use their insights into what makes their workforce tick in order to increase the take-up, effectiveness and staying power of financial well-being programmes.
The report explains how understanding your workforce and what influences their behaviour can go a long way to increasing the effectiveness of financial well-being programmes. Behavioural insights combine psychology and economics to investigate how individuals actually behave in real-world situations. This enables us to understand the hooks and triggers that influence employees to make the best long-term decisions and employers can therefore design information, advice and support accordingly. Lessons from behavioural insights can be used to:
Research shows that we make many of our decisions in life by short cuts or rules of thumb known as heuristics, particularly when we have a lot on our minds. For example, people are more likely to follow the status quo and, when presented with a series of options, choose the default or simplest option - which isn’t necessarily the best option. Employers can capitalise on this inertia and turn inaction into positive action by designing sign-up procedures where the default options encourage the most positive types of behaviour - such as defaulting to the level of pension contribution considered to be optimum for a given segment of the workforce, or by automatically enrolling people into schemes and giving them the opportunity to opt out, rather than putting the onus on them to opt in. Similarly, because most people have a tendency towards loss aversion, employers could give employees the option to agree in advance to automatically allocate a substantial part of their future pay rises to savings, overcoming the perceived loss of income associated with savings.
There’s also evidence that our actions are influenced by sub-conscious cues such as the deliverer of the message, or the channel or format used. Employers should therefore pay close attention to the look and feel of their programmes, the vividness of promotional materials and how interventions are delivered. All of this should be designed with the target employee segment in mind. Knowing your workforce, and understanding the characteristics of different segments, is crucial too. It’s effective to target employees at critical ‘teachable’ moments by linking financial well-being messages to HR systems in order to harness significant life events in employee lifecycles - such as returning from maternity leave, receiving a bonus or being promoted. However, it’s not just about recognising the different life stages people go through, but also about understanding that we don’t all make decisions in the same way. For example, research suggests that young people may have a tendency to be overconfident in their financial skills. In this case, asking employees to take part in a quiz that will help bust some of the myths and misperceptions they hold, can be an effective way of priming an over-confident audience before offering information and advice. In contrast, employees with low confidence may respond better to information that emphasises self-efficacy and a ‘can do’ message, as well as the reassurance that there is support available to them. Employers should also recognise that it’s not just those on the lowest salaries who suffer from money worries. In fact the higher up the pay scale, the more likely it is that discussing money worries is a social taboo, potentially leaving these employees feeling isolated. What’s more, even highly educated individuals demonstrate flaws in their ability to estimate risk and accurately interpret probability and percentages. Visual and verbal explanations can therefore be far more powerful than overwhelming people with figures.
Finally, employers should not underestimate the power of the ego. Emotional associations can powerfully shape our actions, so demonstrating how small steps towards financial independence are both desirable and ego enhancing can be really effective. Similarly, ‘gamifying’ financial well-being programmes, for example by adding lotteries that give people a chance to win randomly allocated prizes when they participate, combines the emotional thrill of winning with the logical notion of saving and can thus encourage take-up.
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https://www.cipd.co.uk/news-views/news-articles/know-your-workforce-wellbeing
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I’ve always considered myself an anxious person. I get easily overwhelmed by events that might not faze someone else. A change in life circumstances tends to send me into a spiral of panic and overthinking.
On the flip side, my partner is the most laid-back person I know. I’ve never seen him freak out or get stressed when life hands him one of its little curveballs.
This is just one example of how people often react very differently to the same circumstances, but look around, and you’ll likely see examples of it everywhere.
You might feel excited and enthusiastic when you’re offered a new job, but notice that your friend is panicked and nervous when experiencing the same. Perhaps you’ve witnessed a family member thrive during an unexpected challenge, but noticed a similar setback brought out the worst in you.
The good news is, it’s perfectly normal that different personality types respond in different ways when encountering a problem or stressor. With the right knowledge, you can use your unique strengths to overcome difficulties.
First things first: What personality camp do you fall into?
“Psychologists are very interested in our individual differences and look at these through something called the biosocial model, which is essentially the idea that some of who we are is biological, innate, and in our genes,” says Honey Langcaster-James, psychologist and founder of On Set Welfare.
“For example, some aspects of our personality are genetic, whether you are extroverted or introverted, whether you like to talk about your thoughts and feelings, or whether you prefer to retreat,” Langcaster-James says.
It might help to look at how close relatives react to difficulties to determine where your personality traits lie.
It can be helpful to dig deep into your past too.
As humans, we tend to interpret events according to our past experiences and learning. Our responses are typically in line with what we have experienced before, explains Langcaster-James.
“We know that someone who has experienced stressful events in the past is more likely to anticipate stressful events in the future,” she says. “When an event happens, they may interpret it as having more possibility for risk.”
If you’re still looking to identify your type, Langcaster-James advises looking at the Big Five.
“There are certain personality traits that are related to life stressors in particular. For example, there’s a well-known model of personality that’s called the Big Five Personality factors, also known by the acronym OCEAN,” she says.
- Openness refers to how open to experiences someone is.
- Conscientiousness refers to how careful and detail-oriented someone is.
- Extroversion (sometimes spelled extraversion) refers to how much an individual draws energy from social interactions.
- Agreeableness refers to how helpful and cooperative a person might be.
- Neuroticism refers to how prone to anxiety or moodiness someone is.
The traits above exist along a continuum. It’s not so much a black-or-white, either-or phenomenon, but a matter of degree.
Those who score high on the openness scale tend to have the following characteristics:
- readily embrace life’s changes and novelties
- curiosity
- flexibility
- easily adapt to change
- a desire for experiences
- good problem-solvers
“Those who tend to present high levels of openness are curious and immerse themselves in new experiences regularly,” says Lee Chambers, an environmental psychologist and well-being consultant.
Open types are able to adapt to change more easily.
“Their more flexible nature helps them to absorb an element of instability,” says Chambers. “Their desire to experience and learn often gives them insights on navigating difficulty.”
According to Chambers, open types tend to turn difficulties into an exercise in problem-solving. This means they already have a toolkit for navigating difficulty.
“Their experiential intelligence helps them reflect on previous challenges and find potential insights to utilize. They are also the most likely to be creative and generate inventive solutions, seeing difficulties as challenges and problems as opportunities to excel,” Chambers explains.
Conscientious individuals often show the following characteristics:
- long-term focus when facing difficulties
- responsibility for what they can influence
- a sense that they can impact situations
- flexible and comprehensive planning
“Conscientious individuals are likely to control their impulse to see the worst in difficulties, keeping a longer-term focus while also taking responsibility for the factors they can influence in the present moment,” says Chambers.
They are likely to cautiously navigate their way to stable solutions and have a sense of agency when it comes to tackling difficulties.
Chambers says proactive decision-making can help conscientious types.
“Conscientious individuals are master planners,” he says. “Flexible planning is excellent in challenging times, where when plan A doesn’t work, a cool head executes plans B through to Z until a viable solution is found.
Extroverted characteristics include:
- thriving by connecting socially
- effective at engaging others
- gather a variety of viewpoints to create a well-rounded action plan
- able to share their thoughts and feelings easily
Chambers says extroverted individuals are likely to react to challenges by sharing ideas. They also tend to prefer to express their difficulties to others rather than solo reflection.
In difficult times, they need to recharge and socially connect. They also want to tackle problems energetically or emotionally rather than intellectually.
“Extroverts can play to their strengths by engaging others, getting a variety of viewpoints and opinions to craft a well-rounded action plan to move forward, and be able to share their thoughts and feelings, so they feel supported through the process,” says Chambers.
Their optimism and adaptability are useful in seeing the small wins and making course corrections as they navigate difficulty, he adds.
Agreeable characteristics include:
- focus on shared values and concerns
- considering personal and collective impact
- natural empathy
- emphasizing collaboration
- expressing negative emotions in a healthy way
“Those who are agreeable are likely to respond in a measured way in difficult times,” says Chambers. “Their focus on shared values and concern for others means they are often likely to consider the personal impact and look at how it has impacted others.”
Their natural empathy means that agreeable types are great at using collaboration as a solution. This results in avoiding unnecessary conflict and a healthy expression of negative feelings.
“Agreeable people shine in bringing people together to solve problems and navigate difficulties,” Chambers says. “Their flexibility is a real boon, and with no time spent complaining, blaming, and trying to be perfect, there is more time to be resourceful, plan, and find a way to bring hope for the future.”
Characteristics of those higher on the neuroticism scale include:
- variable mood
- sensitive to threats
- high level of preparedness
- strong self-awareness and reflection
- less likely to take risks
- quirky, creative problem-solving
According to Langcaster-James, these types are more affected by challenges and stresses than the other types.
“People [higher on the neuroticism scale] are naturally more sensitive to threats,” says Chambers. “They are likely to see difficulties as a sign that their emotional balance is under threat, and find themselves struggling to see the possibilities and opportunities to tackle the challenge as they think and worry about the present conundrum.”
A high neuroticism score is often seen as a negative, but it can have plenty of benefits.
These include a decreased tendency to take risks that can exacerbate problems, self-awareness that can be used for reflection, and a healthy balance of realism and humor.
“They are likely to come up with quirky solutions that can be effective,” says Chambers.
When it comes to modifying how you overcome difficulties, Lancaster-James says therapy may be a useful tool.
“Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) [is] all about creating change from looking at your thought processes and understanding how they link with your behavior,” Langcaster-James says. “If you begin to understand what triggers your thought processes, you can begin to interpret the process and learn to challenge those thought processes.”
The good news is that accepting our responses is something that can become easier as we age.
“We tend to accept ourselves more and become more settled in ourselves as we get older,” says Langcaster-James.
This means we’re less likely to beat ourselves up and more likely to adapt instead.
“Psychology can help you understand who you are, why you think what you think and behave the way you do,” says Langcaster-James. “Once you can start to understand those things, you can interrupt your typical process and responses and go down a different path.”
All of us manage difficulty in our lives in different ways.
Over time, you can learn to accept and maximize the potential of your response to challenges. By understanding your personality type, you can learn to overcome difficulties by playing to your strengths.
Victoria Stokes is a writer from the United Kingdom. When she’s not writing about her favorite topics, personal development, and well-being, she usually has her nose stuck in a good book. Victoria lists coffee, cocktails, and the color pink among some of her favorite things. Find her on Instagram.
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https://www.healthline.com/health/mental-health/resilience-for-every-type-how-to-play-to-your-strengths-to-overcome-difficulty
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In social communication, the ability to appropriately recognize and process facial expressions is critical to understanding others' emotional and mental state. People can often "read" emotions on someone's face, including happiness, sadness, fear, surprise and anger. Scientifcally, this is called facial processing, and it's an important component of communication. Often, individuals with developmental or cognitive impairments also have deficits in social communication, which can stem from poor facial processing.
Research on Social Communication in PWS
Using a technology called eye-tracking, researchers in Toulouse, France, are working to gain a better understanding of how individuals with PWS may process facial cues differently from those without PWS. Using a series of photographs and pictures, eye-tracking quantifies gaze behavior — where an individual looks, and for how long. The research has been funded by a 2015 FPWR grant, The ComuFaces: The perception of communicative faces by infants with Prader-Willi syndrome.
The group presented some of their work at the IPWSO conference in Toronto last month. They reported on a study of 28 young adults (14 with PWS and 14 without), showing that when exploring someone's face, individuals with PWS have a different gaze pattern than those without PWS. Specifically, individuals with PWS tend to pay more attention to the mouth, whereas those without PWS pay more attention to the eyes. The eyes contain the greatest amount of social communication on the face. Therefore, this altered gaze pattern may contribute to deficits in recognition of emotion and social communication in PWS. The group will be continuing this work in infants with PWS, to better understand how early these differences in facial processing arise, and whether they can be improved through early intervention.
Interpreting and Responding to Social Cues
In addition to facial processing, Drs. Tauber and Barone are exploring other ways that individuals with PWS may differently interpret and respond to social cues. They recently published a paper on Deficits in Voice and Multisensory Processing in Patients with PWS. Multisensory processing is how information from our different senses are integrated by our nervous system — information from sight, sound, touch, smell, taste, etc. For this study, a variety of tests were used including reaction time to visual stimuli, reaction time to auditory stimuli, and the ability to recognize a human voice among other environmental noises. The results showed that individuals with PWS react to sight and sound stimuli significantly more slowly, and have more difficulty recognizing human voices among enviromental sounds. Consistent with previous studies that suggest the uniparental disomy (UPD) form of PWS is associated with a higher risk of autistic behaviors, the difficulties in sensory processing were more challenging for those individuals with who had PWS by UPD.
Altogether, the work from Drs. Tauber and Barone suggests that individuals with PWS are more likely to have an impaired ability to gain information from voice and face signals. This likely contributes to issues with social communication. Continuing to gain a better understanding of how these abilities develop in PWS will help inform clinical therapies and interventions with the goal of improving social communication in PWS.
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https://www.fpwr.org/blog/social-communication-its-role-in-behavior-and-cognitive-development-in-pws
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Consider a university freshman, attempting to navigate the adult world for the first time. They are convinced that all the other students around them somehow know more about adulthood. Perhaps they imagine that everyone else was handed a manual they somehow missed. Everyone else seems to know where to go, how to make new friends, what to do. Except, of course, the majority of their peers feel equally unsure and are doing the exact same. We never quite leave behind that tendency to look at others for clues.
When we feel uncertain, we all tend to look to others for answers as to how we should behave, what we should think and what we should do. This psychological concept is known as social proof. It occurs as a result of our natural desire to behave in the correct manner and fit in with others. It can be easy to assume that everyone else has a better grasp of what to do in a given situation. Social proof is especially prevalent in ambiguous or unfamiliar conditions, or in big groups. It affects us both in public and in private.
In The Power of Positive Deviance, Richard Pascale explains social proof:
A well-known principle of chemistry establishes that active ingredients can be mixed together with little effect until a third ingredient- often an innocuous catalyst- triggers a chemical synthesis. Analogously, the social system is the catalyst between all the stuff we know versus what actually alters our behavior and mental maps. Social proof? Simple idea, really: it boils down to ‘seeing is believing.’… We use social proof to decide how to dispose of an empty popcorn box in a movie theater, how fast to drive on a highway, or whether to tackle that fried chicken or corn on the cob with our hands at a dinner party. At the more consequential end of the spectrum, we rely on social proof to inform moral choices- whether to assist an inebriated football enthusiast who falls on the sidewalk or step forward as a whistleblower.
No one likes to be confused about what to do in a situation where other people are around to witness any blunders. The more uncertain we feel, the more susceptible we are to social proof.
A further key factor is the similarity we see between ourselves and the people around us. When people relate to those around them (due to gender, class, race, shared interests, and other commonalities) they mimic each other’s behavior with greater care. This is known as implicit egotism and linked to the mirror neurons in our brains.
In one study, researchers from New York City university planted a man on a busy sidewalk. Amongst crowds of people, he stopped and looked upwards for a minute. The experiment by social psychologists Milgram, Bickman, and Berkowitz was designed to test the power of social proof. When just one man gazed at the sky, just 4% of passersby also looked up. When the experiment was repeated with five men looking upwards, 18% of passersby followed suit, and for 15 the figure was 40%. This experiment is cited by Cialdini as an illustration of how social proof persuades people to behave in certain ways.
Another study cited by Cialdini concerned charitable donations, finding that showing people a list of their neighbours who had donated to a charity led to a substantial increase in funds raised. The more names on the list, the more people donated. Cialdini also explains how the use of social proof can backfire. Campaigns to reduce drug and alcohol consumption which cite high rates of abuse can have the opposite effect. People subconsciously seek to comply with the many others who are engaging in this behaviour.
Cialdini writes:
The principle of social proof says so: The greater the number of people who find any idea correct, the more the idea will be correct…We will use the actions of others to decide on proper behaviour for ourselves, especially when we view those others as similar to ourselves…When we are uncertain, we are willing to place an enormous amount of trust in the collective knowledge of the crowd…First, we seem to assume that if a lot of people are doing the same thing, they must know something we don’t…Social proof is most powerful for those who feel unfamiliar or unsure in a specific situation and who, consequently, must look outside themselves for evidence of how best to behave there… Since 95 percent of the people are imitators and only 5 percent initiators, people are persuaded more by the actions of others than by any proof we can offer.
An unfortunate fact of life is that some people desperately seek opportunities, while others are bombarded with them. One person struggles to find a job, sending their CV everywhere. Another person has an impressive role already and yet is constantly offered others. One book proposal is fought over by publishers. Another is relegated straight to the bin. One person never manages to find anyone willing to go on a date, while another receives non-stop propositions despite being in a relationship. Why does this happen? The answer is social proof.
When someone is regarded as successful, talented, or attractive that view spreads. When social proof is absent, others are more dismissive and attentive to flaws. Two people could be equally qualified, but the one with a high-ranking job already seems like a fail-safe choice for a key role. Two writers could be equally talented, but the one whose previous book was a bestseller will have much less trouble getting their next published. And so on.
How marketers use social proof
Marketers love using social proof to encourage people to spend more money. If you ever feel the strange urge to buy something you don’t need, this could be down to social proof.
Marketers achieve this in a number of ways:
- Using influencers and famous people. A phenomenon known by psychologists as the ‘halo and horns effect’ means we see a product/service as more desirable if it is associated with someone we like. On a subconscious level, we imagine their good qualities rubbing off on the item advertised. Likewise, if we wish to be like someone, we may think anything they endorse will make us more like them.
- Implying popularity. Night clubs and bars often make patrons wait outside, even when the venues are not full. This creates an aura of desirability
- Reviews/ratings. 70% of people look at these before making a purchase, to see what others think about a product or service. Even though these can be biased, anecdotal or even fake, we judge people ‘like us’ as more trustworthy than the companies. For example, if someone is planning on buying a certain vacuum cleaner, just one negative review can sway them away from it- never mind that said reviewer may have used it incorrectly.
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https://gosocialproof.com/social-proof-why-we-look-to-others-for-what-we-should-think-and-do/
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The projects in the lab are focused on making healthy foods more palatable and on decreasing the intake of energy-dense food.
Current eating habits have led to a worldwide obesity epidemic. Obesity has been attributed to many causes and our preferences for high-fat, high-carbohydrate foods are among those. In omnivores, such as rats and humans, most food preferences are produced by experience. This research aims to understand the learning processes that produce conditioned food preferences. The research concerns how flavors come to be preferred by being associated with already preferred flavors (i.e., sweet) or with nutrients (i.e., calories). We are also concerned with whether merely being exposed to foods increases preference for them and whether subjects learn about taste (i.e., salty, sour, bitter, sweet) and odor stimuli (i.e., flavor extracts) by the same learning processes. These types of learning processes may give insight into the reason why certain foods are more palatable than others which may directly lead to increased energy intake. We are also currently undertaking projects aimed at understanding how foods presented in different ways can affect food intake. In addition, we are exploring the various factors that make vegetables more palatable.
Understanding how food preferences are learned can lead to strategies aimed at changing food preferences towards more healthy foods, which could prevent obesity, diabetes and other health problems related to types of food consumed. Similarly, understanding how food aversions are learned can assist in the development of behavioral modification strategies aimed at eliminating food aversions to healthy and beneficial foods.
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https://psychology.asu.edu/content/conditioned-food-preferences-lab
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After earning a degree in food science at Kyung Hee University in Seoul, South Korea, Junghyun Park took off far and wide. He began his globetrotting odyssey in Finland, on a chance exchange program, and then took a deep dive into European food culture. Park eventually traveled to more than 30 countries.
From Europe, he headed to Melbourne, Australia, where he ended up working at Andrew McConnell’s Cutler and Co. for nearly three years before returning to Seoul to work in Chef Jung Sik Yim’s newly opened, fine-dining establishment, Jungsik. When a satellite of Jungsik opened in New York City, Park led the American team as chef de cuisine, turning it into one of the best reviewed restaurants of 2011 and earning two Michelin stars.
In 2016, Park and his wife Ellia opened Atoboy, a casual, progressive Korean restaurant just off the 32nd Street hub for Korean dining in Manhattan. Where Jungsik presented Korean flavors using French technique, Atoboy (ato meaning gift in Korean) makes greater use of Korean technique and focuses on banchan—sort of a Korean answer to tapas. Also breaking from the Jungsik model, the format at Atoboy is pre-fixe only at a steal-of-a-price: $36 for three courses. With more “Ato” concepts in the works, Park is working toward reconfiguring and redefining modern Korean food in America.
Interview with New York City Rising Star Junghyun Park of Atoboy
Caroline Hatchett: How did you get your start?
Junghyun Park: I graduated with a food science degree in Korea, and always loved cooking. I wanted to learn more about cooking, and had a chance to be an exhange student Finald, learned about food culture in Europe. Interned at The Ledbury in London for five months. After that, I didn’t need to go to culinary school. I moved to Melbourne, worked for three years under Andrew Macono.
I went back to Seoul, worked at Jungsik, and presented new Korean food into the U.S. market. I
wanted something smaller, more easy meals, less expensive. This is my cusine. We opened four months ago. It’s more casual, but the food is in step with fine dining flavors and techniques.
CH: Where do you draw influences from?
JP: I’ve been to 30 countries, and draw from that experience, from Mexico, Europe, Australia. But
I care about traditional food too. I conceptualize on ingredients first. I find something at market, and go into my taste memory. I try to match with other ingredients, textures, flavors, then come up with a recipe. I use traditional Korean cookbooks. Michelin went to Korea, now with stars they may do some publishing, and next year you may see different ypes of Korean cuisine in the media. New York is trendy, but Korean food is stuck in K-town. It’s been the same menu for ten years.
CH: How are you involved in the local community?
JP: I hire CIA grads and prefer to teach them before they pick up other habits at other restuarants.
Our aprons and plates are made by a Korean designer– our goal is to promote our culture to younger Koreans. The name “Atoboy,” ato means gift, giving the gift of Korean food to American dining.
CH: What's the biggest challenge facing your restaurant?
JP: Spreading the word, different kind of food compared to what people expect. The expectations of Korean food is a lot different – people think of Flushing, and Korean Bar-be-que. But the people who complain the most are Koreans!
CH: What's your five year plan?
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https://www.starchefs.com/cook/events/rising-stars/2017/new-york-city/junghyun-park
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Self-healing Coatings: Opportunity Analysis
Automotive, Aerospace, and Oil & Gas Industries Drive Adoption of Self-healing Coatings
The research service titled, “Self-healing Coatings: Opportunity Analysis” provides an overview of self-healing coatings, its need, different mechanisms for achieving self-healing action as well as the key differentiating factors compared to other protective coatings. It also covers the key drivers and challenges of the sector as well as the me...
28 Sep 2018 | Global
Emerging Opportunities for Materials Derived from Crude Oil in a Decarbonized and Circular World
Oil and Gas Companies with Integrated Downstream Capabilities Re-align Their Businesses to Benefit From Emerging Opportunities in Circular Economy
Population growth and rising demand for energy creates an increasing pressure on industries reliant on material resources to find effective means to extend the lifetime of finite resources in the value chain and thereby reduce their use in single-use products. In 2017, the global primary energy consumption grew by 2.2% as compared to 2016 which was...
27 Sep 2018 | Global
Growth Opportunities in the Global Aerospace Adhesives and Coatings Market, Forecast to 2024
Market is Driven by High Growth in the End-use Aerospace Industry and Stringent Regulations Demanding More Specific and Higher-priced Products
Aerospace is one of the key industries of leading economies and supplies to markets such as commercial aviation, defense aviation, and general aviation. Aircraft and related components and products that are in operation or are being manufactured require a variety of highly specific and durable adhesives and coatings for various applications on part...
10 Aug 2018 | Global
High Performance Plastics (HPP) Market in Automotive and Aerospace Industries, Forecast to 2024
The Ever-increasing Need for Lightweighting, Along with Engine Downsizing and Vehicle Electrification Trends is Likely to Drive the Demand for HPPs
This research study analyses the penetration of High Performance Plastics (HPPs) in automotive and aerospace applications across the globe. This global deliverable covers 4 key regions that include North America, Europe, Asia-pacific (APAC), and rest of the World (ROW) markets and regional analysis is presented at the segment level in order to illu...
USD 4,950.00
USD 3,712.50 save 25 %
25 Jul 2018 | Global
Breakthrough Innovations in Natural Flavors
Customer Preferences and Increasing Regulatory Pressure Driving Adoption of Naturally Derived Flavors
Consumer demand for naturally derived ingredients and raw materials have led to the increasing demand for naturally derived flavor compounds that can act as a viable alternative for synthetic ones. Currently, using the natural label tag is one of the important tactic that is used by product developers to help consumers understand the perceived pur...
USD 4,950.00
USD 3,712.50 save 25 %
Thur, March 26, 2020
WEBINAR
What Now? Fill Your Lost Tradeshow Pipeline
11:00AM EST | 8:00AM PST
ONLINE
GROWTH PIPELINE DIAGNOSTIC™
In less than 15 minutes, you will be provided insight to more accurately assess your company.
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https://store.frost.com/search?dir=desc&fq%5Bindustry%5D=Chemicals+and+Materials&fq%5Bprice%5D=4200+TO+4399&order=published_date
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At Callaloo, our passion is to create delicious food through chef-driven creativity and authentic Trinidadian flavor. As a colonial-Caribbean island nation, Trinidad & Tobago’s cuisine is a rich fusion of many traditions and cultures. Pair the south-Asian and African-creole influences with the availability of unique tropical ingredients, and you get an unforgettable and inspiring range of flavors and combinations.
More Lancaster City Dining
Lancaster Central Market
Meet me at Lancaster Central Market to enjoy shopping at America's longest continuously operating public market.
Issei Noodle
A new and exciting Asian dining experience that is perfect for the whole family to enjoy.
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https://visitlancastercity.com/business-directory/category/international/callaloo-trinidadian-kitchen/
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A financial advisory and corporate finance company needed market research support for a prospective client specializing in hazardous medical equipment and safety support services within the oil and gas industry. This company attributed much of its growth to acquisition and was looking for opportunities to swiftly and strategically expand its business portfolio. In addition to acquisition advice, the client required fundraising expertise as part of a broader investment strategy.
The Satori Solution
We met with the client to fully understand the crucial operating and business parameters required to conduct the acquisition research. This discussion revealed the client’s strategic direction, geographic preferences, and business and service offering deficiencies. Based on the research criteria provided, we designed a data collection framework and a scoring algorithm to guide the research process. With a research structure in place, our team identified potential acquisition targets by conducting a robust research exercise across multiple resources and documented these results in a comprehensive acquisition target database. We used key insights about the competitive landscape obtained in the research process and applied the scoring algorithm to analyze and prioritize the set of selected service companies from the database. We also continuously engaged the client to ensure alignment of selected companies to the overall investment advisory strategy and pitch.
The Results
We offered detailed profile descriptions of prioritized potential acquisition targets and outlined the associated benefits to the client, enabling the client to make a well-informed decision on acquisition.
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https://www.satoriconsulting.com/providing-acquisition-research-support/
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The 22-Day Revolution to Get Back in Shape
Follow the same plan used by Beyoncé, created by exercise physiologist Marco Borges to get in great shape.
Ever wondered how Beyoncé gets in such good shape? Now you can find out! Marco Borges has revealed some of the secrets he used to help her reshape her life and he wants you to use them, too!
Aim for 22 Days
Some psychologists say that habits take about 21 days to make or break a habit, which makes 22 days the optimal amount of time to break old food habits and create new ones. Since you’ll be trying to switch over to a new palette of flavors and ingredients, you’ll want to keep yourself on the bandwagon for at least three weeks to give yourself time to adjust.
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https://www.drozshow.com/gallery/22-day-revolution-get-back-shape/aim-for-22-days
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Consumer Insights Planning Program
Technomic’s Consumer Insights Planning Program is a membership-based program for suppliers and operators that provides cutting-edge research on consumer interactions with brands, menus, ingredients and dining experiences.
2019 Studies Include
Understand how the delivery boom is impacting the foodservice industry and what’s next as operational strategies shift to create new occasions and provide added convenience for consumers through takeout and off-premise offerings.Healthy Eating & Plant-Based Alternatives
Explore when and why consumers choose to eat healthfully, how they define healthy eating, and what the introduction of alternative proteins means for future healthy eating behaviors.
Discover which menu items and flavors are trending so far this year along with real-world menu examples that bring to life how operators are taking advantage of these trends.Gen Z Deep Dive
Uncover Gen Z consumption and foodservice usage behaviors and examine how this up-and-coming generation is evolving and what makes them different from their millennial cohorts.
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https://www.technomic.com/membership-programs/planning-insights-programs/consumer-insights-planning-program
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Last two weeks have seen the people from Bengaluru delight their taste buds with the complexity of flavors from Chettinad and there is just one name to thank – Shangri-La’s all-day dining restaurant, b Café. The thirteen-day long food festival, which ends on Independence Day, have highlighted the flavourful spirit of Chettiars with spices and flavors taking the center stage.
The Chettinad festival at B Café witnessed the traditional showcase of delicacies with an elaborate menu celebrating the cuisine. Award-winning Chef, Prabhakaran’s prowess lies in his research capabilities, which he have employed to bring forth the best from the region. The authenticity of taste at this festival reflects the three-day journey he undertook to Chettinad to understand the use of regionally differentiated ingredients and spices that lends an authentic taste to the menu. He also met some of the local folks who shared their insights to craft the perfect Chettinad meal.
The menu was different throughout the two weeks. Listing down the highlights from what was served on the 8th day of the festival.
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http://www.effectivebakwaas.com/2018/08/shangri-la-hits-right-note-with.html
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GRANDVILLE, Mich - If you're trying to stay on track with your health goals, eating out usually doesn't fit the bill.
Olive Garden is making it easy for you to enjoy dining out with their all new Mediterranean dishes, now a permanent part of their menu.
The fresh ingredients highlight all the flavors from the Mediterranean, including fresh vegetables, herbs, spices, proteins, and pastas.
Visit the Grandville location at 4499 Potomac Ave.
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https://fox17online.com/2017/02/11/olive-gardens-new-mediterranean-menu-is-here-to-stay/
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A&F peaked in popularity during the early 2000s, but now the brand seems deeply dated.
The following strategy is designed to help A&F understand current attitudes and preferences of the target market they are trying to reach today. The presentation also offers recommendations to increase awareness for new product offerings and an updated brand image.
For a self-guided tour, navigate to the title page and press pause. Then use the arrow keys to continue at your own pace.
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https://jennieleegruber.com/2014/11/21/abercrombie-fitch-repositioning/
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The Futurist art movement, founded by F.T. Marinetti in 1909, had a worldwide impact and made important contributions to avant-garde movements in many countries and artistic genres. This yearbook is designed to act as a medium of communication amongst a global community of Futurism scholars. It has an interdisciplinary orientation and presents new research on Futurism across national borders in fields such as literature, fine arts, music, theatre, design, etc.
Vol. 1 (2011): Special Issue, Futurism in Eastern and Central Europe
Vol. 2 (2012): Open Issue
Vol. 3 (2013): Special Issue, Iberian Futurism
Vol. 4 (2014): Open Issue
Vol. 5 (2015): Special Issue, Women Futurists
Vol. 6 (2016): Open Issue
Vol. 7 (2017): Special Issue, Futurism in Latin America
Vol. 8 (2018): Open Issue
The last twenty years has seen some major advances in the field of Futurism Studies. What in the first decades after WW II was frowned upon and regarded with political suspicion, has subsequently made a remarkable development, both in academia and on the art/publication market. Futurism has now come to be regarded as Italy’s most important contribution to modern art and is considered to have left a lasting mark on Italian literature. Consequently, in the 1980s and 90s, a pool of more than 500 artists and writers has been rediscovered, presented to the public by means of exhibitions and publications, and dozens of them promoted to an elevated status in the national pantheon. Every history of art and literature of the past twenty years has accorded Futurism a prominent position in the cultural history of the country.
Outside Italy, the development has been similar. Following a small trickle of publications in the years 1945 and 1970, a long series of international exhibitions raised Futurism to a status on a par with Expressionism, Dadaism and Surrealism. Consequently, it entered the syllabus in academic institutions and became a standard topic, not only in courses of fine art, design and architecture, but also Italian Studies, Hispanic Studies, Slavonic Studies, Cultural Studies, Theatre History, Music History etc.
This development found a peak in the 2009 centenary of the foundation of Futurism. Over 300 exhibitions, 50 international conferences and innumerable theatre and musical performances, radio and TV broadcasts gave Futurism an unprecedented prominence in the cultural calendar. Futurism Studies as an academic discipline is now firmly established and produces some 100-150 monographs annually (more than half of them outside Italy), tendency still rising. Many of these studies are focussed on Italy. However, Futurism had also a world-wide impact and generated many international Futurisms. It made important contributions to numerous avant-garde movements, despite the fact that their agendas only partially overlapped with Marinetti’s aesthetic and political programme.
Futurism was never a coherent style but an interdisciplinary laboratory. It had “elective affinities” with Symbolism, Cubism, Dada, Constructivism, Surrealism, etc. The groups and individuals outside Italy who declared themselves to be “Futurists” were anything but satellites of Marinetti’s movement. They borrowed from the Italians what fitted into their local agendas and, more often than not, were equally inspired by other avant-garde schools.
Therefore, when analysing and assessing Futurist ‘influences’, one needs to consider the manner in which Futurist ideas were conveyed from one culture to another. Many of these routes would sometimes better be called absorption, assimilation, adaptation, osmosis, or similar. There was a fluidity of adaptations and creative modifications, leading to original aesthetics and highly individual, para-Futurist solutions.
It is the aim of the International Yearbook of Futurism Studies to publish original research on the global ramifications of Futurism, on the intercultural flow of avant-garde ideas across national borders, on artistic movements inspired by Futurism across continents, and on artists operating in the international sphere with close contacts to Marinetti or other Futurists. It is particularly interested in heterodox forms of Futurism and in artists who were only periodically involved with Futurism or were inspired only by certain aspects of the Italian movement. The Yearbook has a truly comparative perspective and facilitates contacts across academia such as literature, fine arts, music, theatre, dance, architecture, decorative arts, graphic design, fashion etc.
The International Yearbook of Futurism Studies seeks to provide a counterbalance to the Italian bias in Futurism Studies. It therefore does not publish essays that focus exclusively on Italian Futurism, but only those concerned with the relations between Italian Futurism and other Futurisms worldwide, or on artistic movements inspired by Futurism, or on artists operating in the international sphere with close contacts to Italian, Russian or other Futurists.
Each issue contains an average of 15 essays, 3-5 reviews of books and exhibitions, archive reports, country surveys, a visual section on Futurism in the contemporary press. Each volume has a 30-50 page annual bibliography of recent exhibition catalogues, monographs, special issues of periodicals, academic theses, sound and film recordings. Contents are made accessible by way of name, subject and geographical indexes and regularly published accumulative indexes.
For more information contact Günter Berghaus at [email protected], or visit the website guenter-berghaus.com or http://www.degruyter.com/view/j/futur.
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http://guenter-berghaus.com/?page_id=555
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Art History is the study of aesthetic objects and visual expression in historical and stylistic context. This is a discipline where you can learn more about the various art forms of various times of history. It gives you an opportunity to look into the form of art and bring out fine inferences as who created it, why was it created, what was the cultural background and belief of people of that particular era, what drove the society then, who were the leaders and who were the followers.
It is very aptly said “A picture speaks thousand words” and it will not be wrong to state that “So does any other form of art”. The only skill required to do it is have a keen eye and a sound knowledge of the form of
Studying Art History also greatly depends on what are your references. Which time you are studying and what is your personal mind-set or what your beliefs are, as that helps you to draw a particular conclusion from the live piece of art whose creator is non-existent to give you the details of his own thoughts and views.
There are many art movements historically like Medieval art, Renaissance, Baroque, Rococo, Neoclassicism, Romanticism, Impressionism, Post-impressionism, Expressionism, Cubism, Futurism, Art Deco, Abstract Expressionism, Contemporary art. These are some of the great historical Art movements in the Art History each having a particular style of its own.
Few questions one might think of to answer while studying art history looking at any art firm (like Mona Lisa, The girl with the Pear Earring, The Great Wave of Kanagawa, School of Athens to name a few paintings or Mannequin Pis, Bronze of Nefertiti, Capitoline Wolf to name a few sculptures) are:
- What was the main thought the creator of art had at that time?
- Was there an event in the society which triggered her/him to make this piece, an event like a war or a revolution or an upsurge, or a drought?
- Was it only the influence of his social company and not a replica of society’s feelings and emotions?
- Is it, that the art form in itself was created to bring a movement and inspire the people?
- Was the form of art long forgotten or has been recorded with its details by its creator for reference to the people who want to know when the artist is no more to give the insights in person?
- Was the art form created as a result of influence from some other art from of same time or in history?
- What was used to create it and how it was preserved?
- Was it excavated or was it from recent historical times?
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http://oxak.ru/art-history/
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In the early 1900s, following in the footsteps of impressionism, fauvism, expressionism, and cubism, came the futurist movement. Unsurprisingly focused on looking to the future, like all modern artists they sought the reject the traditional styles and subjects on the walls of art galleries and find something new. The first manifesto for futurism came from a poet, but its ideas quickly got into the minds of painters as well, who began to explore subjects like technology, science, industrial cities and aeroplanes.
A core concept of futurism was not just new depictions of new things, but the search for a universal dynamism in artwork; a clear inter-relationship between objects, figures, and backgrounds. This perhaps mirrored their love for the modern city, seen almost as a single organism or an entity acting as one, rather than millions of individual entities.
It took time for these ideas to form into a cohesive style; for a while futurism blended with divisionism, and then found a more useful starting point in cubism, which offered a way to explore energy and dynamics within a painting. Umberto Boccioni’s States of Mind panels offered one of the first recognisable futurist artworks, expressing the experience of the modern world with techniques like lines of force conveying movement and direction. This aesthetic focus on movement would become fundamental, the lines borrowed something from cubism, but was nevertheless something new.
Futurism, dynamism, and portraying movement in a still image
Things continued to develop, with many artists exploring a style of original painting that looked similar to contemporary multiple-exposure photography; a painting of a dog walking depicted a multitude of legs and wagging tail, and other pieces worked with divisionist and cubist ideas to create similar effects.
Futurism finally exhibited beyond it’s birthplace in Italy at the Bernheim-Jeune art gallery in France, as artists also began exploring futurist sculpture, and a Russian futurist movement more rooted in cubist ideas also emerged. The politics of futurism was also developing and, unusually for art, it directed towards many right-wing and nationalistic ideals, even praising war as “the world’s only hygiene”. Many of them joined the army in WW1, and this enthusiasm for war appeared to mark the end of the movement; soon anti-war ideals such as dadaism took the reins of the art world.
But it wasn’t over; as the war ended, many Italians began to support fascism. Amongst futurists they did so to the extent of forming a Futurist Political Party which absorbed into Mussolini’s Fascist party. Mussolini attempted to control artists by expressing support for all forms of art rather than fighting against it, and a second wave of futurism became important in Italian art, particularly within architecture. This second wave also saw an interesting new development; aeropainting, a response to the most exciting new technology of flight.
The last days of futurism and the road back to war
Flight was in it’s infancy during the first wave of futurism, but by the second wave it had become an exciting new boom technology and mode of travel; two of the futurist’s favourite subject areas. Many artists sought to depict aeroplanes, and also the view and perspective provided by an aeroplane, with many in-flight perspectives of cities and industry becoming popular.
As the second World War loomed, things began to shift again, and this time against the futurists; hard right wingers began to see modern art as degenerate, artists began to move out of the country, left leaning futurists also began to speak out, and various new movements and styles were taking up the useful parts of futurism and implanting them into new movements.
Art deco, vorticism, constructivism, surrealism, dada, and neo-futurism all drew on the legacy of the movement, keeping many of it’s ideas in galleries and art prints produced around the world, and it can still be seen in contemporary Cyberpunk films, Japanese Manga, and utopian science fiction. Futurism has a difficult past, but played an important role in moving forward the ideas and boundaries of modern art.
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https://blog.thelenticulargallery.com/futurism-a-modern-art-movement/
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This Art Appreciation Talk focuses on the historical development of abstract art in the context of modernism in Western art.Several important Modernist Movements in Europe such as Impressionism, Expressionism and Cubism leading to the Abstract Expressionism movement will be explored.The impact of Abstract Expressionism movement in America and its key figures such as Jackson Pollock, De Kooning and Rothko will be highlighted as well.Let’s explore the most advanced yet the most misunderstood art form ‘Abstract art’ together through this Art Appreciation talk!
Participate to listen, to think, to engage and yes to understand ‘Abstract Art’.
Date: 11 th August, 2019 (Sunday)
Timings: 11 am to 1:30 pm
Age Group: All age groups are welcome
Fees: Rs 2050 per participant
Venue: The Matchbox Cowork
Address: 901 Gazdhar Enclave Near Fun Republic Mall,
Off, New Link Rd, Andheri
West, Mumbai, Maharashtra 400053s
For registrations please contact Hooted1ce on 07045011032.
Last day for registrations is 10 th August, 2019.
Registrations will be on first come first serve basis.The workshop will be conducted by Trishna Patnaik.
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https://www.eventshigh.com/detail/mumbai/bca8f9879b0f5d536bad92f86d5be983-%E2%80%98an-abstract-art-workshop%E2%80%99?src=ecbox&cmode=override
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Cubism was one of the most influential art movements of the 20th century. It took place between 1907 and about 1914. The innovators of the Cubist movement were Pablo Picasso (Spanish, 1881 1973) and Georges Braque (French, 1882 1963). Cubism was one of the most significant changes in ideas in the history of art. It allowed for the development of many of the abstract modern art movements in areas such as Futurism and Constructivism.
The one of the main characteristics of Cubism would be the presenting of a three dimensional object as an abstract form on a two dimensional surface. In order to achieve this, objects are defragmented, analysed, and reconstructed in an abstract form. The shapes are flattened onto the two dimensional surface of the canvas so that different angles of the object can be seen at the same time. Another distinct feature of Cubist paintings would be the breaking up and interlocking of background and object in geometric arrangement, creating a shallow sense of space.
Both Picasso and Braque, who were living in Paris at the time, began the Cubist movement. They met in late 1907 and began developing the idea of Cubism in their works by using complex patterns of defragmented objects, continuous outlines, and a monochromatic colour scheme.
The term Cubism can be sourced back to a conversation between French art critic Louis Vauxcelles and Henri Matisse in 1908. Matisse described Braque s paintings, which he had submitted to the Salon d Automne, to have little cubes . However, it was Vauxcelles who coined the term Cubism in a review about the Salon des Independants just a few months later.
Cubism can be divided into two phases: Analytical Cubism and Synthetical Cubism. In the early phase, starting in 1907, objects were broken up, analysed, and put back together in an abstracted form. The use of the technique of representing various sides of an object at one time defined the work as Analytical Cubism. In 1912, the second phase came about, when Picasso and Braque began creating papiers colles. The technique involved pasting various types of paper in their work, which characterised Synthetic Cubism.
The prominent influences on the development of Cubism were Cezanne’s later work and African sculptures. In Cezanne’s later work, Picasso and Braque admired his concept of simplifying objects by seeing them as basic shapes such as cylinders, spheres, and cones. By exploring these concepts further, representing objects various viewpoints at the same time, they revolutionised how objects could be visualised in art.
In the beginning of the 20th century, Europe was discovering art from exotic continents such as Africa and Asia. Artists, such as Picasso, were inspired by the primitive and simplistic styles of the foreign cultures. Picasso had first seen African art when he visited the ethnographic museum in Paris in 1907. We can see its influence clearly in Les Demoiselles d’Avignon (1907), the precursor to Cubism. In his painting, he deconstructed and rearranged the faces of two of women in his painting to appear like African masks. In doing this he created a direct link between the movement and its inspiration.
The Cubist artists developed on the ideas of fauvism, the art movement that had gone before it. The Fauvists wanted to simplify art by going back to basics. They did this by using distorted images, bright sections of colour and flat patterns. Their name Les Fauves means wild beasts in French, referring to their violent approach to their compositions. Cubists took this idea a step further by using straight lines and geometric patterns.
Analytical Cubism is one of the two main parts of Cubism. It was developed between 1908 and 1912 by Picasso and Braque. During this time they studied natural forms and deconstructed the forms into basic geometric parts on the two-dimensional plane of the canvas. Their only use of colour was a monochromatic scheme of greys and ochre. Many of their compositions by neutral colours that had no relations to the colour of the object they were depicting. Instead of focusing of colour, they concentrated on representing the natural world with shapes such as cylinders, spheres and cones. They used varying shades to create light and dark sections of their works to give their works a three dimensional quality. Examples of the early analytic phase would be Braque’s Houses at L’Estaque (1908) and Picasso s Girl with a Mandolin.
Synthetic Cubism was the second part of Cubism. It was developed by Picasso, Braque, and other cubist artists between 1912 and 1919. There was a noticeable change in the works of the Cubist artists in the second phase of the movement. Synthetic cubism is characterised by the introduction of collage and papier coll , which allowed them to explore the new effects of depth. The technique of pasting coloured or printed paper fragments, usually newspaper clippings or sheet music, in the paintings of the Cubists marked the first use of collage in fine art, and the basis for all subsequent collage techniques in the years that followed. The use of collage refined the idea of using found objects , objects artists came across by chance, and making them part of their compositions. The idea behind it was that art could be found in the chaos of everyday modern life. Examples of the synthetic phase would be Picasso s Still Life with Chair Caning (1912), and his piece entitled Pipe, Glass, Bottle of Vieux Marc (1914).
However, it is important to note that dividing of the Cubist movement into analytic and synthetic phases were not used by the artists at the time. The terms were coined by critics of the period. By categorising the Cubist works, it imposes rigid distinctions in the method of the Cubists. However, their techniques used in each phase can be seen throughout Cubist art.
Braque was initially involved in the Fauvist art movement, but he moved away from this style in 1908 when he rediscovered Paul Cezanne and met Picasso. Braque responded to Picasso’s Les Demoiselles D’Avignon by painting his Grand Nude in the cubist style of geometrisation of form and new spatial relationships . In 1909 Braque and Picasso started working together, using their various influences to develop a whole new way of depicting form and space. Although Braque started out painting landscapes with Picasso, they soon found the advantages of painting still-life s instead, such as them being able to see multiple views of an object as opposed to a landscape. They became close friends and worked closely together up until the First World War in 1914. The outbreak of war broke up their artistic collaboration as Braque was enlisted in the French Army and had to leave Paris. In the period between World War I and World War II, Braque adapted a more relaxed and open approach to Cubism. He was bolder in his use of colour and was less calculating in his depiction of objects. However, he was still powerfully dedicated to using the cubist techniques of fragmentation and simultaneous perspective.
Before beginning the Cubist period of his art, Picasso became interested in African art, which was currently being brought into Paris museums due to the expanding of the French empire. These exotic artefacts inspired his work during his African-influenced period (1908-1909) and into his Analytic Cubism (1909-1912). During this time, Picasso was also inspired by the works of Cezanne.
Towards the end of the nineteenth century, Cezanne developed the idea of painting a painting for what it was a two dimensional flat surface. From the Renaissance up until this point, artists had been trying to create the illusion of three dimensions within a painting, as if it were a window. Another technique of his, that greatly inspired Picasso, was to present multiple angles of an object all at once in a painting. His idea behind it was that the eye viewing the object does not stay fixed on one angle of the object, but instead moves around and receives various perspectives.
When Picasso and Braque were introduced in late 1907, they formed a close bond due to their shared interests in Cezanne and the Cubist techniques Picasso was experimenting with in his painting Les Demoiselles d’Avignon . In the painting, Picasso depicted the faces of the five women to resemble Iberian masks. The bodies of the women are angular and not in proportion. The changing perspectives, unnatural proportions and flat, mask-like faces in the painting shocked and confused it s viewers at first. However, these motifs were explored and developed by Picasso and Braque throughout the Cubist movement and a new style was born. At times during this period, the work of Picasso and Braque was so similar that they themselves could not tell them apart.
Picasso, in his examination of primitive sculpture and masks, arrived at the conclusion that the faces consisted of a quantity of clear shapes placed side by side. He figured that the features of the face that divide up the face should be seen as distinct sections. As Picasso progressed through the Cubism movement, he began to paint just one object at a time, painting it from several different perspectives at the same time. Picasso was successful in keeping a balance between naturalism and abstraction in his work. Before his cubist phase, he painted predominantly natural compositions, but as he explored his Cubist ideas, his work became more abstract. The objects he depicted during the period were of distorted proportions and broken into fragments, but because he used simple objects, they were generally recognisable.
Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler was a gallery owner and art critic during the Cubist movement and was largely responsible for the broadcasting of Cubism as a style of art. When Picasso and Braque were producing their Cubist works in Paris, there were but a few opportunities for their works to be shown, usually the spring and autumn salon exhibitions. However, in 1910, Kahnweiler who was also an art dealer sent works by Picasso and Braque to avant-garde exhibitions outside of France. This began a growing acceptance for Cubist art around Europe at the time.
To conclude, the main features of the Cubist art movement are displaying objects from multiple viewpoints at the same time and intersecting the surfaces to create a shallow space. The Cubist art movement revolutionalised how space and form could be visualised in art. The movement, created by Picasso and Braque, paved the way for future art movements to be abstract and began the re-examination of how space and form interact that changed the course of Western art.
Exploring The Concept Of Cubism Art Essay
Cubism was one of the most influential art movements of the 20th century. It took place between 1907 and about 1914. The innovators of the Cubist movement were Pablo Picasso (Spanish, 1881 1973) and Georges Braque (French, 1882 1963). Cubism was one of the most significant changes in ideas in the history of art. It allowed for the development of many of the abstract modern art movements in areas such as Futurism and Constructivism.
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http://au.studybay.net/exploring-the-concept-of-cubism-art-essay/
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This is a 53 slide powerpoint jeopardy game of art styles and movements from the twentieth century.
These include the following: Fauvism, Cubism, Futurism, Expressionism, Dadaism, Surrealism, Abstract Expressionism, Pop Art. You can run the game so as they only have to give the style e.g. Pop Art. OR you can run it so they have to give the artist's name, e.g. Dali. OR you can run it so that they have to give the title of the painting, e.g "Portrait of Picasso." I also give the year for each painting
This has the usual escalating difficulty of questions which is the basis for the Jeopardy show.
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https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/jeopardy-game-20th-century-art-history-and-artists-11380804
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FUTURISM (1909 – late 1920’s)
The most important Italian avant-garde art movement of the 20th century, Futurism celebrated advanced technology and urban modernity. Committed to the new, its members wished to destroy older forms of culture and to demonstrate the beauty of modern life – the beauty of the machine, speed, violence and change. Although the movement did foster some architecture, most of its adherents were artists who worked in traditional media such as painting and sculpture, and in an eclectic range of styles inspired by Post-Impressionism. Nevertheless, they were interested in embracing popular media and new technologies to communicate their ideas. Their enthusiasm for modernity and the machine ultimately led them to celebrate the arrival of the First World War. By its end the group was largely spent as an important avant-garde, though it continued through the 1920s, and, during that time several of its members went on to embrace Fascism, making Futurism the only twentieth century avant-garde to have embraced far right politics.
Source: The Art Story – Modern Art Insight. www.theartstory.org
DADA (1916-1924)
Dada was an artistic and literary movement that began in 1916 in Zurich, Switzerland. It arose as a reaction to World War I, and the nationalism, and rationalism, which many thought had brought war about. Influenced by ideas and innovations from several early avant-gardes – Cubism, Futurism, Constructivism, and Expressionism – its output was wildly diverse, ranging from performance art to poetry, photography, sculpture, painting and collage. Dada’s aesthetic, marked by its mockery of materialistic and nationalistic attitudes, proved a powerful influence on artists in many cities, including Berlin, Hanover, Paris, New York and Cologne, all of which generated their own groups. The movement is believed to have dissipated with the arrival of Surrealist in France.
Source: www.theartstory.org
SURREALISM (1924-1966)
The Surrealist movement was founded in Paris by a small group of writers and artists who sought to channel the unconscious as a means to unlock the power of the imagination. Disdaining rationalism and literary realism, and powerfully influenced by psychoanalysis, the Surrealists believed the conscious mind repressed the power of the imagination, weighting it down with taboos. Influenced also by Karl Marx, they hoped that the psyche had the power to reveal the contradictions in the everyday world and spur on revolution. Their emphasis on the power of the imagination puts them in the tradition of Romanticism, but unlike their forbears, they believed that revelations could be found on the street and in everyday life. The Surrealist impulse to tap the unconscious mind, and their interests in myth and primitivism, went on to shape many later movements, and the style remains influential to this today.
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https://kontemporaryart.com/futurism-dada-surrealism
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Impressionists, Realists and Romantics were the pioneers of modern art. the Impressionists emphasised only on the work done outdoors rather than the work in the studios. The late 19th century innovators such as Pablo Picasso used cubes cone and sphere showing that nature can be divided into three solids. Salon Des Refuses was an exhibition held by Napoleon III to showcase the rejected paintings by the Paris Salon. Expressionism, Abstract Art, Cubism, Futurism and Fauvism were some of the other movements the world noticed.
During the early 20th century a new art style emerged. Being the first abstract style of modern art, and which term “Cubism” now describes the revolutionary style of painting. Pablo Picassso and Georges Braques developed Cubism in Paris during the period of 1907 and 1914. This new style was initially influenced by the geometric motifs in the landscape compositions of the Post-Impressionist painter Paul Cezanne. This revolutionary style marked the end of the Renaissance dominated era, and the beginning of the modern art.
European art has been prevalent in their culture since the Middle Ages. Throughout the French Revolution and Napoleonic Era, the concepts of art shifted greatly from what they had been before hand. Before the Revolution, artists focused on creating Greek and Roman like paintings and sculptures, also while expressing humanism and individualism. This art was called classicism and used throughout the middle ages up until the eighteenth century revolution in France. During the French Revolution, art took a shift towards neoclassicism.
Professor Abrams in his book illustrates the transition of the perspective of the theorists on the artist from one to the other and the ramifications of the latter in aesthetics, poetics and practical criticism. The essay “Orientation of critical theories” is the first chapter of this book. It provides a condensed history of the evolution of critical theories and discriminates between them with the aid of a simple diagram. The essay begins with the definition of modern criticism which is to exhibit “the relation of art to the artist, rather than to external nature, or to the audience, or to the internal requirements of the work itself”. This one and a half century old theory of art competed against innumerable theories such as the mimetic theory, the pragmatic theory, etc., all of which have been thoroughly discussed in the essay.
Another unique characteristic of Whiteread's artwork is that she works with the objects which are familiar to human touch, which they can hold or inhabit. With her sculptures, she tries to represent objects which had a life before they were casted in to her desired form. Artistic practice of Claude Monet Claude Monet is a French artist born in 1840, in Paris. His greatest contribution to art is the cultivation of the modern art concept, known as 'impressionism'(Claude Monet, 2004). It is an artistic philosophy which changed the then accepted perception of color and light.His artistic style is characterized by the use of feathery strokes of the paint brush to depict the play of light with respect to the time.
Painting and photography are media used by artists and they affect the outcome of artwork. Artists who were influenced by this new media are, Degas, Toulouse Lautrec, Whistler and Munch. Chapter one: The History During the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, even before the invention of cameras, artists painted portraits. However once photography became a mainstream tools for artists, they
Born May 13, 1882 in Argenteuil, France, Georges Braque, along with his close friend Picasso would go on to revolutionize painting with his deep investigation into perspective, shape, texture and line that would ultimately form the movement known as cubism. This exploration foreshadowed and greatly influenced later art, specifically the pop art movement. Due to the invention of photography in the mid-19th century, several artists struggled to determine the purpose of art if not to depict reality. Photography could capture and present an exact moment in time; therefore, the public did not need art to do the same. So, what is art?
Intro Neoclassicism is an imperative period in history of craftsmanship amid which particular sorts of art including painting, architecture, music, basically upgraded, reflecting the belief systems and masterful methods of insight amid that time. All through the development of Neoclassicism in the second half of eighteenth century, it had turned out to be common for painters to lean toward the very much portrayed frame, clear illustration and displaying. The Neoclassical surface needed to look flawlessly smooth, no confirmation of brush-strokes ought to be discernible to the bare eye. France was on the very edge of its first unrest in 1789, and the Neoclassicists needed to express a discernment and reality that was fitting for their circumstances. Artists like Jacques Louis David upheld the renegades through an art that requested perceptive reasoning, selflessness to the State and a sombreness reminiscent of Republican Rome.
The Reina Sofia museum in Madrid is the home to contemporary art. When the building was first founded it was an old hospital that was then transformed into a contemporary building, mixing the old with the new. King Felipe II first founded San Carlos Hospital in the sixteenth century and architects José de Hermosilla and Francisco Sabatini manly constructed the building that stands there today. Today you can find works from artists anywhere from Picasso’s cubism to Salvador Dali’s surrealism and many more. Unlike the Prado museum, the Reina Sofia museum demonstrates the changes in the ways in which art had developed in its styles, painting techniques, and interpretation.
In the late 18th and early 19th century, the practice, understanding and meaning-making of art completely shifted. It no longer only served churches, aristocrats and history— instead, it now included secular emotions and individual thought. This was partly what gave way to the advent of such styles as neoclassicism and romanticism, which each got rid of at least some aspect of ‘traditional’ painting and embraced new ideas and perceptions regarding art. Neoclassicism arose, borrowing from Roman and Greek figures of antiquity, and remolding those values to become deeply engaged with the ethical, the central, the simple, the clear—which if situated against or compared to its predecessor, the Rococo style, one is able to clearly distinguish the difference between both. However, when romanticism appeared as a stylistic movement, it became quite the contrary to that as it was difficult to distinguish the differences between this style and its precursor, neoclassicism.
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https://www.ipl.org/essay/Examples-Of-Current-Trends-In-Modern-Art-P3WCTR7EACPR
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Some organizations rely on OKRs for goal attainment, while others swear by the agile methodology for continuous progress toward a desired outcome. However, OKR and agile don’t have to be mutually exclusive — the best results come from using them together. Combining OKR and agile can foster a purpose-driven, streamlined, and effective way of achieving desired goals. To understand why these two frameworks work so well together, we must first take a look at how these two frameworks function individually.
What are OKRs?
Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) is a goal-setting methodology used by organizations to set ambitious and time-based goals with measurable results. Objectives refer to a short, qualitative description of what you’re looking to achieve. Each objective is accompanied by 3-5 key results, which measure progress toward objectives. A simple formula for writing OKRs is:
The 5 stages of the OKR cycle
The OKR framework consists of five cyclical steps. These are:
- Define objectives: Create a list of the qualitative goals you’re looking to achieve over a certain period
- Create key results: Write out 3-5 key results for each objective to help you measure progress and define goal attainment
- Align: Communicate your OKRs to relevant teams to reorient efforts, resources, and direction toward OKRs
- Track: Establish regular check-ins to monitor OKR progress, anticipate obstacles, collect feedback, and ensure continuous learning
- Retrospective: Once the OKR cycle is complete, hold retrospective meetings to create, improve, or scrap OKRs for the next cycle
A brief history of OKRs
OKRs stemmed from the theory of Management by Objectives (MBO), which was coined in 1954 by Peter Drucker in his book The Practice on Management. MBO was the first theory to highlight the importance of improving organizational performance, employee participation, and alignment using defined goals and objectives. Expanding on MBOs, Andy Grove — CEO of Intel at the time — created OKRs as a measurable approach to goal achievement. The OKR methodology was further popularized by John Doerr, who introduced it to Google in 1999.
What is the agile methodology?
The agile methodology is an overarching project management philosophy initially created for software development, which other industries have since adopted. It uses a collaborative and iterative approach to project development, where an initial version of a product is developed and then continuously improved during sprints (i.e., short-term phases where teams work together to complete tasks). As such, improvements, updates, and fixes under the agile umbrella are made quickly, with value-added activities being prioritized.
A brief history of the agile methodology
The agile methodology was made to overcome the shortcomings of traditional project management methods (e.g., the waterfall methodology). In 2001, 17 software developers — including Kent Beck, Ron Jeffries, Ken Schwaber, Martin Fowler, and Jeff Sutherland — formally wrote the Agile Manifesto. This documented a set of guiding principles and values for efficient software development, paving the way for the widespread use of agile methodologies.
The agile manifesto
The Agile Manifesto outlines 12 principles and four core values for the agile methodology. The 12 principles are:
- Satisfy customers through the early and continuous delivery of valuable software
- Welcome changing requirements, even in late development
- Deliver working software frequently, with a preference for shorter timescales
- Daily collaboration between businesspeople and developers during the project
- Build projects around motivated and trusted individuals
- Face-to-face conversations are the most effective methods of communication
- Working software is the primary measure of progress
- Sponsors, developers, and users should maintain a constant pace
- Continuous attention to technical excellence and good design
- Simplicity — the art of maximizing the amount of work not done — is essential
- The best architectures, requirements, and designs emerge from autonomous teams
- The team regularly reflects on how to become more effective and adjusts their behavior accordingly
And its four core values propose:
- Individuals and interactions over processes and tools
- Working software over comprehensive documentation
- Customer collaboration over contract negotiation
- Responding to change over following a plan
The 5 phases of the agile development lifecycle
The five stages of the agile development cycle work together to create a continuous feedback loop (aka sprint):
- Concept: The team discusses with stakeholders to define the scope, objectives, and priorities of the project
- Design: Team members, tools, and resources are arranged to ensure optimal production
- Development or iteration: The team works on the development (or iteration) of the product based on the discussed priorities and requirements
- Release: The product is tested, finalized, and deployed into production
- Review and monitor: Once the product is released, teams monitor its performance and solicit feedback from stakeholders to update the next sprint’s backlog
Types of agile methodologies
There are several agile frameworks under the agile umbrella, with Scrum, Kanban, SAFe agile, Lean agile, and Crystal being the most popular.
Scrum
Adaptability and reprioritization are the basis of the Scrum framework. In Scrum teams, product owners collaborate with team members continuously, where a hypothesis is established, tested, reflected upon, and improved based on circumstances. Therefore, Scrum heavily emphasizes sprints, with solidified roles, responsibilities, and meeting cadences.
Kanban
Kanban visually depicts the agile methodology to make completing tasks more effective. This is done using a collective Kanban board that segments tasks under “To do,” “Doing,” and “Done.” In Kanban boards, a specific number of tasks are allocated to each segment, meaning new tasks can’t begin until previous tasks have been completed. This transparency helps teams understand which parts of the projects are stuck or moving forward.
SAFe agile
SAFe Agile (aka Scaled Agile Framework) focuses on implementing agile principles at an enterprise scale, with the coordination of large numbers of teams using agile being a priority.
Lean agile
Lean agile combines lean and agile principles: it removes waste while ensuring continuous product improvement. This helps organizations maximize value by removing activities and tasks that are ineffective, wasteful, or futile.
OKR and agile: Differences and similarities
Understanding how these two frameworks compare can help us visualize their complementary nature. As such, this section covers the differences and similarities between OKR and agile.
Differences
- Focus: Agile is used to direct project management, while OKRs establish action-oriented goals for employees, teams, and wider organizations
- Time frame: OKR goals are typically set per quarter or year, while agile teams work in short sprints (1-4 weeks) to deliver product iterations continuously
- End goal: The agile process doesn’t have a defined end goal, while OKRs do
- Size: OKRs can be adopted by individuals, groups, and entire businesses, while the agile framework recommends team sizes of at least three members
Similarities
- Transparency: Agile teams ensure visibility across the agile development lifecycle, while those using OKRs require transparency to see how their work contributes to broader goals
- Frequent monitoring: Both OKR and agile teams need regular monitoring and check-in meetings to function effectively
- Collaboration: Collaboration is at the forefront of OKR and agile, with goal setting and product development requiring a coordinated approach
- Cyclical nature: OKR and agile involve cyclical processes, with agile focused on ongoing improvement and OKRs continuously updated at the end of (or during) the OKR cycle
- Flexible: Both OKR and agile methodologies are adaptable to change, where they embrace shifting circumstances and encourage the reprioritization of tasks and goals
How can OKRs support agile?
OKRs can fortify the agile process. They enhance the ‘how’ of each sprint, decentralizing decision-making and boosting accountability by focusing the backlog on a specific end goal. Therefore, using both OKR and agile can create complementary synergies, as the advantages of one methodology compensate for the pitfalls of the other.
The 5 benefits of combining OKR and agile
Not convinced about the power of using OKR and agile together? Check out the following benefits.
Improved business outcomes
OKR and agile can work together to create superior outcomes. While agile achieves this by frequently testing products and improving them using feedback, OKRs do this by encouraging goal flexibility and the continuous measurement of progress.
A focused backlog
Solely relying on agile can make prioritizing backlog tasks difficult, as the agile methodology’s end goal of value generation is subjective. By using OKRs to supplement the agile process, you can help your development team prioritize tasks, enabling it to see which tasks contribute to key results and which ones are irrelevant.
More effective meetings
Coupling agile with OKRs improves the efficiency of your meetings. While both methodologies involve consistent meetings, agile has a short-term scope, while OKR focuses on more extended periods. As such, combining the two frameworks avoids meeting fatigue by ensuring all short-term activities are aligned with long-term objectives.
Create measurable product iterations
OKRs can add measurability to each product iteration, making it an effective way to depict value throughout the agile development lifecycle. This way, your business can avoid making product improvements that are perceived as valuable but don’t necessarily yield results.
Create self-organized teams
OKRs act as a North Star for your organization, ensuring teams work toward overarching objectives. Teams are encouraged to ask themselves if the value created during each iteration brings the organization closer to company-wide goals. As such, combining OKR and agile can improve team autonomy, as OKRs remove ambiguities surrounding the end goal of the agile product lifecycle.
How OKR and agile can work together
You can make OKR and agile work for you in multiple ways, either by nesting one methodology into the other or giving both equal weights in the process. Here are a few ways of combining OKR and agile:
Creating agile OKRs
One way to integrate OKR and agile is by building OKRs using agile principles. This involves using an adapted sprint cycle to create your OKRs, such as:
- Planning: Identify your main OKRs for the coming period, appointing OKR product owners, scrum masters, and team members
- Strategy: Weave your OKRs into existing strategies and highlight critical performance nodes that need to be addressed
- Design: Prioritize OKRs and restructure to-do lists to accommodate these, weighing each component
- Systemize: Integrate and solidify OKRs into existing processes
- Meetings: Make OKRs a typical part of your meeting agenda, nesting these into each other
- Launching: Spearhead your OKRs using an initial performance management meeting and begin the process of continuous improvement
Integrate OKRs into your agile routine
Another way of making OKR and agile work is to integrate OKRs into your agile routine by, for example:
- Regularly aligning OKR and agile, allowing you to assess progress quantitatively and reprioritize goals from one sprint to another
- Splitting sprints into two sections, with teams working toward OKRs for the first half and responding to stakeholder feedback in the second half
- Incorporating OKRs into agile sprints for transparency
Use OKRs tools for daily agile operations
The agile methodology requires constant visibility. While some businesses use tools such as Slack for this, these can breed miscommunications and errors as teams and individuals on these platforms tend to be disjointed. Therefore, specialized tools such as OKR software tools can act as a centralized hub for outlining progress, confidence, and updates — with ownership visible throughout the entire organization.
Align OKR and agile roles
OKR and agile teams have similar roles and levels of ownership. For agile, these roles consist of:
- A product owner: Who’s responsible for setting the direction of the agile cycle
- A team lead: Who instills agile principles
- An extended agile team: Who takes on the other aspects of the agile process
While the OKR process includes:
- An OKR champion: Who is an expert on OKRs and establishes the OKR cadence
- The product/project owner: Who sets the overarching focus and target of OKRs
- An extended team of KR owners: Who manage the tasks and actions required to fulfill OKRs
As the roles in both frameworks are similar, aligning the two can enhance ownership, collaboration, and cross-functional success, where progress is visible and steady across teams.
Conclusion
OKR and agile are compatible methodologies that allow businesses to achieve alignment, establish measurability, facilitate continuous improvement, and orient day-to-day operations toward long-term goals. Therefore, combining OKR and agile philosophies is a great way to improve your business’s operations and adaptive capabilities.
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https://quantive.com/resources/articles/okr-and-agile
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Last editedOct 20212 min read
Management by objectives (MBO) is a technique companies use to boost employee morale and drive business performance. It’s a strategic goal-driven approach which aims to align an employee’s objectives with overall business goals. Managers and employees sit down together to outline individual objectives and tasks, and progress is tracked on a regular basis. In this post, we’ll aim to explain management by objectives and outline the key benefits of using a management by objectives model.
Steps to creating a management by objectives approach
Management by objectives is generally carried out as part of a company-wide initiative where managers at all levels meet with team members to hammer out goals that make sense in terms of the team’s and company’s assigned objectives.
Creating a management by objectives model generally involves the following five steps:
Setting of organisation-wide goals: These are strategic goals set by senior managers based on the overall organisational vision.
Setting of departmental goals: Goals need to be set for each level of the organisation. Managers set specific objectives for their individual departments and create an action plan for achieving these goals.
Discussion of departmental goals: One of the characteristics of management by objectives is transparency around goal setting, especially in terms of how goals align with the company vision. Managers need to explain management by objectives clearly, so employees understand what’s expected of them.
Setting individual goals: Managers and employees determine the individual tasks for each employee which can be done on a one-to-one basis. Employees discuss which goals they can achieve in a given time frame and with which resources.
Providing feedback: As part of an effective employee management process reviews are carried out to ensure plans are being implemented correctly. If necessary, goals can be changed in order to fit with the plan. Employees are appraised on the performance regarding individual goals to prevent them from falling into difficulties.
Characteristics of management by objectives
The following are characteristics of a management by objectives approach:
All contributors can see how their individual work accomplishments are connected to the company’s top priorities.
A management by objectives management style is a useful way of building self-leadership skills and enables employees to tap into their creative sides.
A management by objectives (MBO) approach offers companies a way to allocate rewards based on an individual employee’s progress towards their objectives. Management by objectives is therefore useful when it comes to motivating individuals on the basis of their performance and encouraging them to succeed.
MBO is a working arrangement that enables companies to break down overall goals into actionable objectives for departments and team members. This approach should lead to improved productivity and reduced operating costs for a business.
Benefits of a management by objectives model
Management by objectives (MBO) is a strategic approach to boosting organisational performance. An important aspect of the MBO approach is the monitoring and evaluation of each employee’s performance. The idea is that if individual employees are themselves involved in the setting of their own goals they’ll be more likely to fulfil their obligations. Key benefits include:
Employees are better able to appreciate their roles and responsibilities.
Key result areas (KRAs) can be planned for each employee depending on their interests, skills and specialities.
Management by objectives often results in better teamwork, engagement, and communication.
Each employee feels they are playing a valuable part in helping the company achieve overall goals, which instils a sense of loyalty.
Managers are tasked with ensuring their subordinates attain their goals.
Employees are invested in the process and have a clear understanding of their roles and responsibilities. To ensure success with management by objectives it’s essential that the initial objectives are adequately designed. Then management by objectives (MBO) will help ensure concrete goals are implemented and acted upon.
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https://gocardless.com/en-au/guides/posts/management-by-objectives-explained/
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Two months in, and well ensconced into the New Year, how many of your best intentions to turn over a new leaf and perform better at work have you honoured? Is there a disconnect between your ambition and your performance?
One of the most common obstacles to peak performance is lack of clarity about your role, putting your energy into low-value activities because you are unclear of where your work can have a real impact. If you are interested in working smarter and not harder at achieving peak performance, read on and discover four action points that will make a significant difference if you apply them.
Clarify your role; what do you need to deliver?
“The things that matter most, must never be at the mercy of the things that matter least.” Goethe
Most of us who have a job description, have a respectable few pages of tasks and responsibilities that is viewed at the beginning of the role and then dusted off again just before an appraisal.
There will never be enough time to focus on everything outlined in your job description – let’s face it, most of these are ‘catch all’ documents that place no emphasis on priority areas for any given time. But often, key areas where performance is essential above other designated tasks on your job description are not obvious. This is a classic ’deal breaker’ in reaching peak performance levels at work.
Capitalise on high-value tasks
Pareto’s well known 80-20 rule applied to work performance means just 20 percent of our tasks (job description) is responsible for 80 percent of our results. So 20 percent of your tasks will account for 80 percent of the value of what you do.
To improve performance, focus on the 20 percent that of tasks that are most important and will give you the highest return. If you are not sure about which parts are more important, discuss this with your boss and your colleagues. Find out the key result areas; they are usually tasks that feed into the wider company vision and targets, so make sure you know what they are and how they apply to your role.
“Our work is the presentation of our capabilities. Spend your time on trivial tasks, and you’ll produce trivial results.” Simmons-Lewis
Resist the temptation to clear up small things first, or busy yourself with low value trivial tasks that contribute very little results and can normally be delegated. You won’t get noticed or promoted for the things nobody recognises. Putting your best efforts into these can sap your energy because you’ll spend the day with a deep sense of foreboding about the big tasks that you haven’t got started.
Set clear goals
“A wise man will make more opportunities than he finds.” Francis Bacon
The next step is to develop clear goals around your 20 percent high value tasks, and align them as closely as possible with your personal career goals.
As you make plans to be more discriminating in your quest to improve your performance and benefit the company’s bottom line; make these improvements work harder for you on an individual level. Think about the personal goals you hope to achieve in your current role and career path. What will you contribute and learn? What do you want to experience? What will give you energy? What results are you looking for?
Use these answers to help you create win-win solutions for how to approach your choice of high value projects and activities. Then ask yourself:
- What one career accomplishment would have the greatest impact on my work life?
- How can this benefit my current high value tasks?
Get out of your comfort zone find a challenge
To stay motivated and productive, focus on putting your energy into high-value tasks that you enjoy and are effective in. Find more opportunities to get out of your comfort zone; put yourself forward for activities that stretch you and get your head above the parapet. For example, volunteer to work on project that will achieve significant results for the company while developing your desired skills and experience. There are rich learning and networking opportunities to be gained from working in a project team of new people from different professional backgrounds.
And remember: “The man who does not take pride in his own performance performs nothing in which to take pride.” Thomas J. Watson
RECAP: ACTION POINTS
- Look at your job description and work out your 20 percent high-value tasks
- Make a list of key goals, activities and projects which are in the top 20 percent of tasks that could represent 80 percent of results
- Set clear goals to spend more time working in these few areas, and less time on lower value tasks. Ask yourself:
- What are my highest value activities? What will make the biggest contribution to my company?
- What can I and only I do, that if do well will make a real difference? (something that you can’t delegate that would make a real difference)
- What is the most valuable use of my time right now?
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http://www.suzannesimmonslewis.com/2012/02/24/peak-performance-at-work/
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