The purpose of a Dream: Hispanic and African Americans adult students :: essays research papers

The purpose of a Dream: Hispanic and African Americans adult students within a Multicultural Environment.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  An analysis of this problem is due to such issues as age, gender and power. In working with adult students and multicultural groups as a teacher ¡Ã‚ ¦s assistant (which consist of related factors such as teaching along with instructor and applying knowledge and promoting learning skills in away to help older students learn and help to apply a technique of understanding (which motivate students in a way to learn. It been claimed that adult aged student ¡Ã‚ ¦s accounts for problems in the classroom, especially ethnic groups as Hispanic and African Americans. As an observer, I have encountered such an environment of students, returning to school after being away for many years. These students are back again willing to take on classes which will further Their education and prepare them for better jobs. In an environment of culture differences, these students are not only focusing on learning but engaged in grouping whether with their own culture or others. Much of the problems as I had observed, stems from the categories as was mentioned. The semester working with this group was challenging and yet what took place was a learning experience with a diverse group. These people will eventually express a form of a new beginning of affliction in the classroom. We as educators have struggled throughout the times. Our cohorts, and this adult community manner of relating within the classroom shows that there lies a division of differences that needed to be mended.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  This class was held at a high school for evening students. The students were African Americans and Asian Americans and Hispanics. I observed the relationship between African-Americans and Hispanics. Communication was dealt with uncertainty. Many students grouped with people of their own culture , although the class was constructed to teach these students skills that would help both into the work place, no concern for communicating was seen between this group. It was observed as cultural conflict in the classroom among adults. There were no confrontations but nonverbal oppositions were there. The Asian American s did not respond yet, kept their distant- another form of not accepting change in a diverse community.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Multi-cultural citizens soon learn to recognizing limitations and the meaning of what white norms and practices of dominancy. Ruth Frankenburg (1993) speaks of three meanings of such. She names them as; race cognizance  ¡Vcultural practices seen as different but the same in value ; (2) essential racism, races are seen as different and unequal within the systems of White superiority; (3) this is called a discourse of power evasiveness which is called color blindness, or essential

Elliot Company Essay

The Elliot Company was established in the early 1950’s and has been a profitable greeting card company. It had always been a pioneer in developing creative means to attract its target group, in spite of which the group’s market share has been limited to merely 4% in the industry. Industry leader Hallmark has the lion’s share of about 41%, American Greetings about 30%, followed by over 300 companies, including   Elliot Company that account for the remaining share. Technological advancements in the telephone industry and the advent of the internet have pushed most greeting card companies against a wall, with flat sales, diminishing margins and a threat of decimation. The way forward is to identify means of generating sales by entering newer markets and the company has identified two markets that remain unexplored for Elliot Company American Hispanic market Overseas English speaking market Problem Statement Elliot Company had never ventured into unchartered territories, and finds both these markets intricate. The American Hispanic market is unique and has different sensitivities than the dominant white and black market that Elliot Company has been catering to. Meeting the needs of the overseas market is even more complicated as the company would need to study several cultures and meet their respective needs. Marketing the product to both these unique markets is the challenge that Elliot Company faces, for which a solution is required. The company cannot enter both the markets at once, and hence an ideal market should be identified that would suit the interests of the company. There are about 30 million Hispanics in America, who predominantly come from Mexico, Cuba and other Spanish dominated countries. The interesting facts about this population are: The Hispanic population has the highest growing population in the country with almost 40% of population growth between the years 1985 to 2010, coming from this community. The Hispanic population can be broadly divided into three groups, the native Spanish people who speak and follow Spanish culture alone; the assimilated Spanish, who cannot be distinguished from the Americans; and the Accultured Spanish, who are about 57% of the Hispanic population. (Arjona, Shah, Tinivelli & Weiss, 1998) The Hispanic community prefer significant influence of their culture in the marketing process, even if the communication occurred in English. Price conscious audience that chooses price over value Just like the Hispanic community, the overseas market has different sensitivities that make it an equally tough opportunity to expand into. Also, there are certain problems the company faces when entering these markets, which are listed below. Existence of multiple cultures in each country Semantic barriers that can prevent communication as anticipated Cultural perceptions about greeting cards, as customers in some countries prefer customized and hand written communication to pre-printed cards. Huge costs of research & development, product and distribution.   List of Critical factors The management if Elliot Company is apprehensive with both the solutions provided by the consultants, as each of them has their own concerns, which are listed above. A study shows that more than eighty percent of greeting cards customers, the world over are women. Hence, whichever strategy adopted by Elliot Company, would need to target the women predominantly. Which group of women, overseas women or Hispanic American women, can be targeted easily is one critical factor of success.   While venturing into foreign markets like UK, Australia, Canada and New Zealand would be good option for the penetration of the company into newer markets, it would expose the company to the competition of each market. While Canada is a market that Elliot Company should find easy to understand with its proximity to the American culture, each of the other markets is complex in their own ways. Hallmark has already made preparations to launch Spanish greeting cards by including several Spanglish messages (The Washington Times, 2002), and would aggressively market its brand when compared to Elliot Company. Hence, which market is less competitive and can easily be penetrated becomes the second critical factor. The third critical factor is the consumer’s buying behavior in both these markets. Hispanic customers have a buying behavior that is strongly influenced by culture and cultural cues, which include importance for family, formality and status. (Haegele, 2000 in Lynn Brandon, Judith C. Forney, 2002) The above three factors can contribute greatly to the success of Elliot greeting cards in this target group, the company can focus the marketing strategy on how to express emotions to its family, how to upkeep formalities and use greeting cards as a status symbol for greeting someone. On the contrary, some of the overseas markets are less liberal and more demanding. The culture of Australia and New Zealand is strongly influenced from the English, and the English culture finds it more appropriate to send a personalized letter than a pre-designed and pre-printed greeting card. The success of the company is dependent on how well it breaks this cultural barrier. Recommended Solution In spite of the advantages of a larger market that the company can cater to when it reaches out to the overseas market, it is recommended that Elliot Company focus on reaching out to the Hispanic American community, by offering customized greeting cards. Justification The biggest factor that justifies the above recommendation is the huge costs involved in establishing a brand and a business overseas, in multiple markets. To reach out to the overseas English market also would require significant investments in research about respective cultures, making the cost of research irrelevant for the decision making process for either decisions. A third of the Hispanic community would identify themselves with the rest of the Americans, and no special campaigns need to be done for them. However, the accultured Hispanics and the native Spanish speakers prefer a brand that they can identify with their ethnic group, to a business that seems very un-ethnic. (Dyer & Ross, 2000) Elliot Company should reach to the Hispanic community with a brand that they can identify with, design greeting cards based on their preferences and deliver the same as per their needs. Mere translations from the exhaustive designs that Elliot owns might not be as helpful, as designing cards that meet the needs of the Hispanic customers. References Luis D. Arjona, Rajesh Shah, Alejandro Tinivelli & Adam Weiss (1998) Marketing to the Hispanic Consumer,   Journal Title: The McKinsey Quarterly. Volume: 1. Issue: 3. Publication Year: 1998. Page Number: 106+ Lynn Brandon, Judith C. Forney (2002), Influences on Female Purchase Motivations and Product Satisfaction: a Comparison of Casual and Formal Lifestyles and Anglo and Hispanic Ethnicity, Journal Title: Journal of Family and Consumer Sciences. Volume: 94. Issue: 1. Publication Year: 2002. Page Number: 54+ Linda M. Dyer, Christopher A. Ross (2000), Ethnic Enterprises and Their Clientele, Journal Title: Journal of Small Business Management. Volume: 38. Issue: 2, Page Number: 48 ‘Spanglish’ Speakers Mix Home Languages; Popular Trend Seen as Obstacle. Newspaper Title: The Washington Times. Publication Date: November 21, 2002. Page Number: A01

My Philosophy Of Education My Worldview - 1192 Words

My philosophy of education is very much a reflection of my worldview. Although I wrote my philosophy of education over a year ago, I never had to write or even think about my worldview. When I started my Christian Worldview class and was introduced to what a worldview was. I had to think long and hard about my worldview and what is important to me, what influences me in the way I live, and how I look at life. This would come together as my worldview. My worldview impacts everything I do in my life. It is my guide and a reflection of where I came from, who I want to be, and where I want my future to go. It’s my commitment to my values, morals, and beliefs that I hold dear to me and motivates me to be the best person possible. It took many years to discover who I am, what I want to be, and what to do with my life. I have had many careers and different paths that I have been on, but I was never really satisfied. However, I never gave up. I knew I would eventually disco ver my true calling of what was meant to be. Five years ago when the job market was low and I found myself once again looking for a job. I have family and friends that are teachers or work in school, but I always thought wow they’re insane or why in the world would they want to do that. It wasn’t until one day that I was approached with a job offer to be a tutor at a school and I figured why not. I accepted the challenge and my life changed forever. This opportunity shown me what I could forShow MoreRelatedMy Education Philosophy 1511 Words   |  6 PagesPersonal Mission Statement Education is the imparting and acquiring of knowledge and skills through teaching and learning. As an educator, my personal mission statement is to master my subject area in order to serve as a role model for my students thereby producing students who thoroughly understand the subject matter, and who develop holistically. 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