Netherlands :: essays research papers

The Netherlands   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Netherlands, officially Kingdom of the Netherlands, is a constitutional monarchy located in Northwest Europe. The Netherlands Antilles is part of the state and consists of islands in the Caribbean. The Netherlands is often called Holland after a historic region, part of the present day nation. The country is bounded on the North and West by the North Sea, on the East by Germany, and on the South by Belgium. Land is scarce in the Netherlands and is fully exploited. The natural landscapes have been altered over the centuries. The average January temperature is 35 degrees F and the mean July temperature is 63 degrees F. The Netherlands was considered to be lacking in natural resources. Salt is produced and in the 1950’s and 60’s, great natural gas reserves were discovered in Groningen Province. The Netherlands is one of the most densely populated countries of the world. The Dutch make up the great majority of the nation’s inhabitants. They are mostly descended from the Franks, Frisians, and Saxons. According to a 1994 estimate, the Netherlands had a population of 15,401,000, an increase of about 17.9% over the 1971 census total. The overall population was about 961 persons per sq. mile. The nation is heavily urbanized; about 27% of the people live in cities of more than 100,000 inhabitants, and another 62% inhabit smaller cities and towns. The largest cities are, the capital, Amsterdam; one of the worlds leading seaports, Rotterdam; the nation’s administrative center, The Hague; and a manufacturing hub, Utretch. The official language of the Netherlands is Dutch, which is spoken throughout the country. Roman Catholics constitute about 33% and Protestants about 25% of the Dutch population. From the time of the reformation the 16th century, the Netherlands has ha d a high level of basic education and comparatively high literacy rates.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Netherlands has played a major role in the European economy for many centuries. Since the 16th century, shipping, fishing, trade, and banking have been leading sectors of the Dutch economy. A diversified manufacturing base was created as employment in agriculture fell and the country became a major energy exporter as large deposits of natural gas were discovered. Most firms are privately owned even though the government distributes about 40% of the Dutch national income. From 1965 to 1980, the gross domestic product of the Netherlands grew at an average yearly rate of 3.8%, about equal to that of neighboring countries of continental Europe.

Public Schools vs Private Schools Essay

Introduction Are private school students better than those in public schools? What are some of the factors that separate the quality of education received by the two groups of students? Controversy has in the past brewed over studies that have indicated that students in private schools perform better than those in public schools. This paper is therefore meant at an in-depth analysis of both the public and private stakeholders in the education system. The paper will focus on a study that reveals the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats experienced by students going through both systems. The study employs a unique selection model that involve religious and non-religious in comparison to public schools. The study focuses on how these factors affect the selection of schools by individuals and what exactly make private schools attractive. The paper also evaluates measures that can be taken to ensure that both the public schools and the private schools offer the same quality of education. R esearch problem The competition between private and public schools has been ongoing for a long time. It is only with determining which one is better that we can establish who is better between private school students and public school students. Although research has been continuous for quite some time, it is impossible for anyway to state empirically that one system is better than the other. Similarly, there hasn’t been enough improvement in the educational sector despite the fact that recommendations have been made constantly as to how to try and equalize these systems. This therefore begs the question. How can the research be carried out in such a way that it highlights major issues in the educational sector that need to be addressed? The research is also supposed to bring to light an empirical way through which the quality of public school students can be measured against that of private school students. Human beings tend to be proud of institutions that they are affiliate to. That being said, conduction of an analysis of the system could be hindered by exaggeration or even false witness statements. Research questions and variables The study should allow for the comprehension of issues that lead to the rift between public and private schools. It should also allow for the answering of questions such as are private school students better than public school students? If so how different are they from public school student? Or rather, in what aspects do these students differ? The paper should also address the possibility of an intervention in the education sector so as to address the issues that demarcate the two institutions in terms of quality education. This should be able to create a lasting solution to the quality issue. Variables involved in this study include socioeconomic status, parental education, peer group characteristics and community support. Socioeconomic status This is commonly referred to as SES. This could affect education at the home level as well as the attitude towards education. The materials read at home could be very resourceful in improving the student’s intake of knowledge. Similarly, a good environment, one without parental quarrels, where all the basic human needs are met can ensure that the student can focus more on education. Availability of books and access to the internet is a major contributor to the learning process. These facilities are not available to all though and this could affect the quality of education. Socioeconomic status could also affect the attitude towards education making data collection during the research rather difficult. Parental education The level of education of the parents is also a variable in this study. Parents could influence their children to either, study hard and achieve as much as they did or to disregard education all the same. Parents with a lower education level are not able to monitor their children’s progress in school or even to determine if they are receiving quality education. This may lead to reduced standards in education. Parental education could affect the quality of a students work at school as well. Peer group characteristics The company that is to be found at a prospective school may without a doubt determine whether a parent considers the school for his/her child. Parents always want what is best for their children. The thought that negative behavior is quite common in public schools could be a negative aspect. This study should however establish whether this is true and find ways to mitigate the same. Community support The community does in a way regulate the activities of a learning institution. The community influences discipline and behavioral mannerism that are acceptable. This is a major variable since different communities could prefer different behavior. Importance and benefits of research This research could without a doubt be the elusive solution to the issues surrounding equality and equity in the educational sector. The research will also answer the unanswered questions like what factors make private and public school students different, whether the students are different or not as well as the question as to what can be done to ensure that there is a lasting solution to these issues. Research objectives The study and subsequently the research process, is meant to highlight issues that separate quality education provision between the public and private schools. It should also establish if at all public schools are better than private schools and vice versa. The research process will highlight areas where these two differ and find ways to resolve these issues creating a lasting solution to the issues that have plagued the educational sector for a very long time. This paper, with the focus on past studies, will also look at past recommendations and what has been done to put them into effect not to mention the results they have achieved so far. What challenges have been faced during the implementation process and how they can be remedied in the future are also questions meant to be answered in the study. Literature review The literature reviews in this paper has paid special emphasis on the choice of schools. The academic article has been tackled by David N. Figlio and Joe A. Stone. The ideas and measures stipulated in this article are as per stipulated by the two researchers. Their study is mainly aimed at comparing private and public schools. Several factors have been put into consideration. They include the performance, management of the school, the quality of the teaching process, class size and the facilities offered by the school. The writer of this article argue that private schools are more superior than public schools because the learners in private schools are more likely to successfully graduate from high school and get chances in colleges or universities. The proponents of this article can be criticized by the fact that public schools offer comparatively equal quality education. Also this article has used data from different private and public schools to understand the best school between private and public schools. This article has also placed a special emphasis on the unique difference that occurs between the public schools and private schools sponsored by the church. Reality stipulates that other factors apart from religion can influence the quality of education that can be provided. For example the writers of this research article should have considered factors such as the selection process. Perhaps the selection process used during the intake of private schools mainly focuses on bright students. The second article that has been tackled in this literature review a research that was done by The Center of Educational policy. The most unique thing with this research is that it recognizes that factors such as family background and the level of the school should be considered before making a comparison between any public and private schools. Also, a lot of studies that have been done in the past by scholars such as Hoffer, Coleman and Kilgore(1982) made conclusions th at private schools are incomparably better than public schools. It is important to consider other important aspects of family life during any study. The good thing about this research is that it did appreciate the fact that the difference in issues such as the family of origin can make a great difference in the performance of different students. Although this study has considered these factors, it is still vivid that there are other issues within their methodology that have made their conclusion that those public schools are better and private schools appear lame. They argue that public schools improve the value of students and help them to continue maintaining the spirit of their private school performance, but there are still others who whose performance indicate a dropping graph. The other article dealt with in the literature review is the comparison made between private schools, public schools and market schools done by Andrew J. Coulson. His paper focused on informally collected information and this is likely to be biased. Sometimes, the media can encode information that private schools are better than public schools so that they can only create a public opinion that private schools should be preferred to public schools. The strength found in this article is that the information used is data that has been collected from various parts of this world such as Chile, Thailand, India, Nigeria and Indonesia among other countries. The Educational Next JournaL IS the last article of the literature review in this proposal. The author of this articl e is known as Elena Llaudet and Paul E. Peterson. This journal was written on winter 2007. They used NCES model that used to infer to a student’s background during the study and comparison of family backgrounds to identify incidences of poverty in families. They argued that the use of this model would help to identify the strengths of both private and public schools considering that the factor of poverty should be held constant. They also analyzed the number of students who had language difficulties and researched to see the language used in their homes. The writers of this article should have considered to analyze other factors that are likely to affect a student’s performance apart from their backgrounds. Research design The research design of this particular study is mainly based on the understanding that a lot of comparison and analysis should be done in order to be able to answer the research problem. This research will be carried out by the use of field interviews, questionnaires and other methods that will be found workable at that time. To ensure that all possible comparison is made, the researcher will ensure that they make a list of Ten public school and ten Private schools to compare several variables about them. The main area of comparison is the academic performance, but other factors that are likely to affect academic performance will also be considered. These factors include; facilities, human resource, discipline and the environment among other vital factors. Data collection methodology The data collection methodology of this research proposal is aimed at collecting data from students, teachers, the ministry of education and its departments together with youth correction institutions. Correctional Institutions for the youth will be very resourceful to help us to understand the rate of school truancy between the population from the public and the private schools. The data should be collected by means of questionnaires, interviews, as well as hypothesis. The questionnaire should also be aimed at helping the researcher to understand how students feel about being in a public or private schools. Other possible questions include; Do you think you would perform better if you were in a private school? Or Do you think that you would add more value in private or public school? If you were given a chance to rate the facilities of your school out of ten, what value would you give? Also, the interviews will be conducted to students in school (both private and public), teachers, Heads of various school departments and the parents too. Expected results When family background is taken into account, the following results are expected from the research; First and foremost, young adults whose education was at private schools are likely no to be engaged in civic activities compared to young adults whose education was at public schools that are known to have limited resources and traditional ways of education. Also, when the population of young adults who schooled in private schools is compared to those who schooled in public schools, it is clear and vivid that those people who attended traditional public high schools are more satisfied with their jobs compared to the others who schooled in private schools. The performance of students in public schools is also expected to be better than those in private schools considering that they are trained to be more independent. Finally the people who are more likely to attend college are those in public schools and not private schools. Generally, these expectations are meant to reveal that the peo ple in private schools neither receive short term nor long-term academic advantages. Conclusion In conclusion, it is unequivocally vivid that to understand the differences and uniqueness of both public and private schools, a lot of analysis has to be done. This research is only a proposal of a lot of work which is in the offing to try and answer the research question. Public schools have various shortcomings and strengths at the same time. In the same way, private schools also have their uniqueness and shortcomings too. References Andrew J. Coulson, Routledge Taylor and Francis Group, (2009) Comparing Public, Private, and Market Schools: The International Evidence, Journal of School Choice Coleman, J. S., Hoffer, T., & Kilgore, S. (1981). Public and private schools. Washington, D.C.?: National Center for Education Statistics :. Coleman, J. S., Hoffer, T., & Kilgore, S. (1982). High school achievement: public, Catholic, and private schools compared. New York: Basic Books. David N. Figlio, School Choice and Student Performance: Are Private Schools Really Better?, , September 1997 Elena Llaudet, Paul E. Peterson, The NCES Private-Public School Study, Winter 2007/Vol. 7/NO.1 Hoxby, C. M. (1994). Do private schools provide competition for public schools?. Cambridge, MA: National Bureau of Economic Research. Mendelssohn, J. (2007). Which school?: beyond public vs private. North Melbourne: Pluto Press.

“A Dream Deferred” by Langston Hughes Essay

The poem A Dream Deferred by Langston Hughes basically describes what happens to dreams when they are put on hold. The speaker in the poem originally entitled it Harlem, which is the capital of African-American life in the United States. The title was changed to accommodate all dreams in general, and what happens when people postpone making them come true. The speakers attitude toward the poem is an advice-giving attitude. The poet doesnt want people to postpone getting what they want. The poem is written in an informative/caring tone to help people live the lives they dream of having. In the opening of the poem, the poet uses a visual image, which is a simile, to compare a deferred dream to a raisin. The speaker asks the question Does it dry up/like a raisin in the sun? (2-3) This phrase creates the image of a raisin that used to be a firm, moist, and healthy-looking grape that has become shriveled up into a raisin. The speaker doesnt emphasize the appearance of the raisin, so it isnt as good of an image as the simile. This image gives an emotional effect of a dream deferred shriveling up and turning dark because the sun has baked it. The words and phrases, Or fester like a sore(4), and Or crust and sugar over(7) are both symbolic of the hard manual labor that African-Americans had during the early 1900s. Maybe it just sags / like a heavy load(9-10) is a great picture of a dream that sits within a person and weighs there making everything else one does never enough. As the reader puts all of these illusions together, ones own dreams and ideals are brought to the surface just as Hughes brings his poem to a close with style. Or does it explode (11) is the most powerful line of the poem. It is separated from the other lines of the poem and italicized, adding emphasis to it visually. The concept of a dream exploding is a powerful conclusion of what could happen to the poet’s or reader’s dreams if they are pushed aside or unable to be pursued. All in all, this poem is a very universal poem as far as advocating for all types of people. This poem uses no forms of rhyme or meter, but it does use one form of a sound effect. The one example is the line Or does it explode? (11), in which the word explode gives a strong meaning of sound. The sound affects the  sense of the poem by showing that it could all end in a big disastrous bang. The elements that are most important to the poem are the quotes Does it dry up/like a raisin in the sun? (2-3) and Or fester like a sore(4). The elements that contribute least to the poems effectiveness are the quotes And then run? (5) and like a heavy load (10). The poems title means that people have dreams that they would like to pursue, but obstacles make them keep procrastinating and/or putting them off. The poem means that many people, no matter what race, all have dreams that they would like to have come true, but they just linger around in the back of their minds. I responded to it by agreeing to the whole concept. I have many dreams that I would like to of had come true, but there have been certain obstacles that have gotten in the way. It doesnt remind me of anything in particular, but there are some instances that are similar, such as wanting to drive when I turned 16, but because I took drivers training late, I couldnt. This poem tells me to pursue the dreams that I have if at all possible. A Dream DeferredBy: Langston HughesWhat happens to a dream deferred?Does it dry uplike a raisin in the sun?Or fester like a sore–And then run?Does it stink like rotten meat?Or crust and sugar over–like a syrupy sweet?Maybe it just sagslike a heavy load. Or does it explode? â€Å"A Dream Deferred by Langston Hughes.† CSWNET. 25 June 1996. 25 April 2008 .