...SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP When I was a kid, I could have been what people would now call a social entrepreneur or socialpreneur. A lot of people would have fallen into this category. To help your school or church or youth group, you may have sold chocolate bars door-to-door. People bought them, even if they didn't like chocolate; because they knew the money would go to support a worthy cause. Both the seller and purchaser are examples of social consciousness in action. Now my own children, bring home their school fundraisers from school and we too buy the over priced products, not because they are great products, but because it supports their school, a good cause. Today's socially conscious entrepreneurs, socialpreneurs, are elevating that door-to-door fund raising spirit into full time business. Some of their businesses are created specifically to put unemployed, disadvantaged and underemployed individuals to work. Some sell merchandise designating disadvantaged groups as beneficiaries of their profits. Others market goods to supplement the budgets of existing social service programs. Entrepreneurs are innovative, highly-motivated, and critical thinkers. When these attributes are combined with the drive to solve social problems, a Social Entrepreneur is born. Social entrepreneurs are defined by Ashoka those who “act as the change agents for society, seizing opportunities others miss and improving systems, inventing new approaches...
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...Wendy Kopp is the founder and CEO of Teach for America. Teach for America is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to reduce or eliminate the educational inequity in the United States. Educational inequity could be describes as the lack of equal opportunities that individuals have as a result of differences in quality education. Wendy Kopp has been recognized as one of Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People and has received numerous honorary degrees and awards for public service. (Teach for All) She is the author of A Chance to Make History: What Works and What Doesn’t in Providing an Excellent Education for All, and One Day, All Children: The Unlikely Triumph of Teach For America and What I Learned Along the Way. Wendy Kopp also serves as the chief executive of Teach for All, which supports the development of Teach for America’s model in other countries. Wendy Kopp shows all characteristics of an entrepreneurial leader: cognitive ambidexterity with her creation of Teach for America, self-awareness and context awareness with knowing her desire to meet a need in society, social, environmental, and economic responsible (SEERS) helping to make educational change. Wendy Kopp is also shows characteristics of an Ethical entrepreneur by increased happiness and reduced suffering. Wendy Kopp shows cognitive ambidexterity in her creation of her organization Teach for America, by showing both the creation and prediction aspects of cognitive ambidexterity. For individuals to...
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...apply to or join Teach for America, my focus (in my opinion, of course) was concentrated on that first word: teach. Before I thought about anything else, I forget about helping people, forget about meeting other corps members, forget about politics and community service and grad school and whatever else may have been factoring into my decision, and I asked myself this one question: Do I want to be a teacher? Our world today is filled with chaos and hate emerging from ignorance. I feel we have to take personal responsibility to foster peace and nurture harmony to make the world a more hospitable place. Our society has failed schools by permitting the middle class to shrink. It's not the other way around. Economic inequality and insecurity produces ineffective public schools. It's not the other way around. I wish to make a change that would impact our future. I believe that education is one of the most important tools required to accomplish this. An educated mind would certainly be better equipped to make the right decision when faced with a moral conflict. People have to understand that we are all the same, irrespective of how we appear on the outside. Education would help a person understand the world better and could eradicate intolerance. Hence, I consider an opportunity to work in a diverse environment with people from different cultures and socio-economic backgrounds to be a life-changing experience. I hope being a corps member in `Teach for America ' would give me...
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...teaching is best learned on the job and does not require extensive study beforehand. Teach for America is an organization that does just that. The organization recruits college graduates from a variety of academic backgrounds and career interests, not just education majors. After five weeks of summer preparation the recruits commit to teach for two years in low-income urban and rural public schools. Some educators believe Teach for America makes teaching appealing for a group of people whom teaching would not ordinarily be appealing to. It encourages attention to data, assertiveness and self-confidence in pushing through whatever challenges arise. It has been shown that students taught by Teach for America recruits topped their peers in math and equaled them in reading. Those opposed to Teach for America argue that five weeks training is not enough, nor adequate to know the subject matter. They feel as though the students are at a disadvantage having a teacher who does not know how to teach. Even if the teachers rapidly improve, they often leave the profession before the benefits of their experience can make an impact in the classroom. It has been shown that almost half of Teach for America instructors leave the profession after their two-year commitment. Such a turnover results in a continuous array of rookies. School districts must also spend more money on recruiting as a result of Teach for America. The organization charges school districts per teacher it provides, and districts...
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...Training the Next Teachers for America Megan Hopkins talks about these changes in this article. The first change would be extending the program’s two year commitment to three years is one change. Secondly, require all first year members to complete a residency year in an experienced teacher’s classroom within their placement district at placement grade level. Thirdly, cluster Teach for America residents at higher performing urban schools so they are still in urban settings but in a school community that provides a positive culture and support. Fourthly, offer courses through a university partner for first year cops members to obtain certification and a master’s degree. Fifthly, provide incentives to teach longer than three years. The incentives could be a range of things but corps members should really stay involved longer than two years. I think staying more than two years will allow time to get in the groove of teaching, allow for more experience, learning, growing, and perhaps falling in love with teaching and wanting teaching to be their profession. I think Teach for America would benefit from these changes greatly. These changes would make it more like the regency model and would allow for higher quality in teachers. I sincerely do not believe that Teach for America is doing anything good for our students at this current time with the low quality education they are providing our schools. It is not these teachers’ faults however. They are doing the best they can with what...
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...As a young citizen in the United States of America, my responsibility is to learn the history of my country throughout the many years of education I am provided. And as I become an adult, I will be responsible to be the one to teach others my experiences in life, to teach what experiences worked out and what experiences failed horribly . My responsibility is to learn how to apply what I learned in school and what I was taught at home to better my chances with success in the future, to have more knowledge and create my own opinion as I work through the industrious life of adulthood. You learn a lot of things in school that you believe that are useless to you in your adult life. That is where you and so many people are wrong. Because, whether you know it or not, you use most of everything you remember in school, everyday in your life. In the case that I am talking about, is the fact that when we learn about the history of America and what had to be done to get here, is very important to know because it shows you what worked then and how their seemingly small decisions, led to monumental changes. The past is only a guide to aid in a better future that I hope we will bring....
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...Rizwan Khimani Ms. Huson Eng. 1-1 9 March 09 Blackbeard’s Life as a Pirate Edward Teach alias Blackbeard, was a privateer gone pirate of Shakespeare’s time. Teach was probably born somewhere near Bristol, England. On the Biographical Essay of Blackbeard; on paragraph 1 it says, “As a privateer during the war of the Spanish Succession, he robbed ships in the West Indies.” As a privateer, he had to share his loot with the government. Also he can rob loot freely without the fear of getting in trouble. On the Biographical Essay of Blackbeard; on paragraph 1 it says, “When the war ended in 1713, he turned to Piracy, like other former privateers.” He did that because after the war, there wouldn’t be many ships to rob and as a pirate he can rob anyone anywhere. By 1716, He was serving inder the command of Thornigold. Thornigold and his men started to rob ships in the Americas. On the Biographical Essay of Blackbeard; on paragraph 2 it says, “On Thornigold’s ship, he sailed from New Providence in the West Indies, to the American mainland.” In America, there were many ships to rob. Also many trade ships entered and left the Americas. They attacked a French trade ship in 1717, which Teach took over as the ship’s captain. On the Biographical essay of Blackbeard; on paragraph 2 it says, “In 1717, after the pirate crew attacked a large merchant ship headed for France, Teach took over the captured vessel’s captain.” Now they can rob more with two ships. It will also be...
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...Political Socialization The process in how a person forms their political ideals and values by taking in what is around them. People are politically socialized by different agents of socialization. These agents include a person’s family, the media, where they have received their education, their peers, religion, faith, geography, age, and gender. This definition holds true in America and in different countries as well.. Everyone is politically socialized in some manner. The importance of age in the process of political socialization is rather important. Young or old, the ideals of how the government is seen by someone has a direct effect on what their age is. The agent of age is unique because some agents of political socialization turn into factors of age in political socialization. These factors include family, school, media, and religion. Why do young people older citizens’ majority of the time seem to have different political outlook from each other? Anja Neundorf gives a three part answer to contribute a reason to this question. The first part of an answer to why older and younger people differ in political views states “So-called age effects refer to changes that are associated with basic biological processes or progression through the life-cycle as social roles change with age or as the accumulation of social experience increases” (Neundorf 2). In other words as an individual gets older their behavior changes according to where they are in the life cycle. Political...
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...America: Dumbing Down Our Students Back in the day, school was a place to learn. It was a place to get smart. Now it has turned into a psychological headquarters. It is like America is saying, “Who cares, as long as our students feel good about themselves.” Schools have stopped teaching important facts. Some teachers do not feel their students need to know what was taught back in the day. According to Charles J. Sykes, “In a 1990 survey of college seniors, 42 percent couldn’t name the dates of the War Between the States within half a century” ( Sykes, 4). Why don’t our teachers care anymore about teaching about important events or even science? Many of them have said it is because they just are not useful facts. I would have to disagree. I believe that you should know the background of this country you live in. I think students need to be taught about our founding fathers. I fear for our future generations. The school systems are dumbing our students down and they are too worried about how the students are feeling than what they are learning. So the question we are all asking teachers along with the school system is, “Why are we allowing students to be dumbed down?” How are we going to elect a president in the future who never had a background in math, science, or most importantly, history? Our future generation does not know what we were taught when we were in school. Some public schools have even removed certain subjects because they are not necessary or the school cannot...
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...Education in Colonial America Marjorie Waloski Introduction to Elementary Education Professor Susan Bridges Abstract The education system in Colonial America is very different from the education system of modern times. Education usually began in the home and in the fields. Lower class students only received an elementary education while upper class students went on to higher education. Native American and African American children received little to no education at all. Students were not required to be educated until 1642. Teachers were known as schoolmasters and were not regarded as highly as teachers are today and the profession required very little education. The education system in Colonial America In Colonial America education got its roots from English culture. The main reason for basic elementary education was to teach the male children how to read and write so they could study verses from the bible. Female children also received elementary education that was geared towards the work they would eventually have to do in the home. Secondary schooling was offered to upper class families where the male children would learn subjects like Latin and Greek (Parkay & Stanford, 2009, p. 143 & 144). According to Peterson (1983) “Education in early America began in the home at the mother’s knee, and often ended in the cornfield or barn by the father’s side” (Education began in the homes and the fields section, para. 1). Standards and styles of education...
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...I served as a Teach for America corps member in one of the poorest communities in the entire county. I learned how to think holistically when factoring in student environments into how I planned lessons. This holistic philosophy served me well, and the osteopathic philosophy resonates well with this. Given my desire to serve low income patient populations, I know that being trained to think like an osteopathic physician will allow me to better serve my patients as a whole. I have had the pleasure of speaking with alumni and current students. Most recently I spoke with Shoaib Rasheed and he discussed his clinical experience being placed in Bridgeport and compared the patients he often sees from Bridgeport and Clarksburg. Given my strong desire...
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...A few solutions people are trying to implement to bring more males in the education field are the CallMeMister program, Teach For America program, and the Children’s Defense Fund’s Freedom School. Other programs that were trying to get implemented did not have a chance to succeed because they were not able to provide certain opportunity for development. The CallMeMister program serves as program geared to only African American males seeking a college degree in any sort of education whether it’s early childhood or secondary education. According to the Coastal Carolina website, the purpose of the CallMeMister program is to assist with the recruitment, training, and certification of elementary teachers from disadvantaged communities who are planning to teach in South Carolina schools, especially in the lowest performing elementary schools. The CallMeMister program provides students the opportunity to obtain professional practice, tuition assistance, and social support form others in the program. In this program, students are able converse with others to hear their viewpoint on different things when it comes to the education field. Providing the students tuition assistance gives them the opportunity to engage in something that either he may one day love or love already without worry about how their education is going to be paid for. The Teach for America program has been around for a couple of years and recently has partnered with Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Incorporated to...
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...We are not our statistics, we are not our violence, our poverty, we are not invisible […] Your silence…is your consent to the demise of a people […] We need you, you need you…Be idle no more.” -Nina Wilson, Co-founder of the Idle No More protest movement In November of 2012, four women organized a mass teach-in at Station 20 West in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. The purpose of this teach in was to bring awareness to a piece of legislation called the omnibus Bill C-45. The first teach-in in Saskatoon promptly led to more teach-ins, rallies and protests across Saskatchewan and eventually spread to Winnipeg, Manitoba and Edmonton, Alberta, culminating in a national day of action on December 10th, 2012 which quickly became “one of the largest Indigenous...
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...05/13/ 2013 If I had a dream…. There would not only be peace in the Middle East, but around the world as well. America would no longer have to battle terrorist cells and other such evils in or outside of America. It would be like every day on the news we would hear only about the positive, and not news we're hearing how rampant violence is in our communities, both here in America and around the world. There is so much going on for a better world all around us that the mainstream media never shares with us. What actions can we take as a nation to make this dream come true? We can create harmonious relationships with our family, friends, coworkers and community members. We all can learn how to forgive people who have harmed you in the past. Everyone can learn how to forgive yourself for harm you have inflicted on others. Also we can heal painful wounds within you, family, community and nation. We can work on always being honest. We all can help protect the earth and teach peace to children. We can teach non-violence by example. We all can be leaders in the struggle for human decency. We all can respect the dignity of each person. We can express your views on peace to government officials. We can change a potential enemy into a friend. Everyone can help someone and be more loving and fair. Everyone can commit themselves to nonviolence, support nonviolent solutions to global issues. Everyone can speak out for a nuclear-free world. What actions can...
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...passionate advocate for the deaf and impaired; someone who helped progress educational reform all across America during the 19th century. Gallaudet also had a son, Edward Miner Gallaudet, who followed in his footsteps and helped fight for educational equality. Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet was born on December 10, 1787 in Philadelphia. Thomas Gallaudet did exceptional in school, graduating from Yale in 1805 at the top of class at just 17 years old. Thomas would then continue to further his education in graduate school, where he got his master’s degree in 1808. Thomas then became an ordained Congregational Minister in 1814 (Bayton, Gannon, and Bergey, p.11). Thomas Gallaudet was born to become...
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