Assignment 2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 6

Assignment 2 - Essay Example They roughly run towards each other to grab the ball and throw it to a teammate. One or two boys fall to the ground, with one shedding copious tears, but their daddies merely tell them to stand up and run again. The crying boy’s father approaches him, pats him at the back and instructs him to play ball again as if nothing happened. My observations made me reflect on the kinds of play these children engage in. I thought Barbie dolls are considered a representation of the American ideal of beauty – sexy, thin and stylish, given to little girls like a torch passed on from one generation of women. It is but expected by society for a girl to achieve the much coveted beauty and grace exemplified by Barbie dolls, as looks matter terribly in this society. That is why the older ladies seemed to be guiding the little girls on how to make their dolls more beautiful, in the hopes that these girls will do so for themselves. On the other hand, boys are encouraged to engage in contact sports. Mothers endure the mess and stench of sweaty jerseys and hold their hearts in their throats as they witness their little boys being roughed up in the playing field all because of the image boys need to project as being manly. The fathers proudly motivate their sons to go for a goal or to brush of simple accidents of tripping to the ground as trivial. It seemed that expressing pain by crying in such accidents is not encouraged. Boys and girls are treated differently from the time they are born. Baby girls are considered fragile and they are exposed to delicate language and handled very gently. Boys, on the other hand, are exposed to strong tones and power-filled language and are handled less gently as they are tossed in the air and held upright from a younger age to demonstrate their power and strength (Rasquinha & Mouly, 2005). Chodorow (1978) posits that after birth, the infant unconsciously sees himself/ herself as merged with

Learner-to-Educator Ratio and its Impact on the Quality of Education Thesis

Learner-to-Educator Ratio and its Impact on the Quality of Education in South African Primary Schools - Thesis Example Though the number of educators has also increased but not at the rate desired to keep pace with student enrolment. Presently there are some 400,000 teachers employed in primary schools. The success of the primary school system is judged by academic performance based mainly on the level of passes in the systemic evaluations that take place in Grade 3 and 6. In 2001 the learner achievement results showed low achievement in numeracy and literacy. There are a number of determinants of academic success such as socioeconomic background of learners, learning facilities, resources, quality of the teachers and learner-to-educator ratio. In 2004 the grade 6 national systemic evaluation indicated that although a new curriculum and learning materials was developed and instituted throughout the primary school system learning achievement was still below par. A great majority of learners scored at the ‘non-achieved’ level (lower than 40% overall) with 41% in natural sciences, 38% in languages and some 27% in mathematics. Only 31% in natural sciences, 28% in languages and 12% in mathematics were functioning at or above the required grade 6 level (scores above 50%) and outstanding (scores over 70%) combined (Bulunga, Daniel, Southall, Lutchman (2006). With the increasing number of learners entering primary school and the low rate of increase of the number of educators it is prudent to note that the disparity between the two will eventually become large and its effects far reaching. As one of the determinants of academic performance the learner-to-educator ratio defined as the average number of pupils per educator at a particular level of education in a given school year becomes important to the delivery of high educational standards. There is a view amongst some researchers and educators suggesting that smaller classes has the benefit of allowing teachers to have the opportunity to devote much more time to every student in an effort