Student Unions: Equality of Opportunity is Crucial for Learners
It should be stressed that education systems can often judged in terms of equality of opportunity. This equality can be achieved through joining students’ unions where students will have a chance to keep abreast of the recent events taking place at college. More importantly, a matter of equality is revealed through voting during the elections where everyone has the right to introduce some changes and reform in an educational process. How can a student benefit from voting? 1.Student will have an opportunity to participate in the process of decision making. They should keep in mind that elections are necessary for sustaining democracy and freedom of choice. 2.Elections provide people with a possibility to complain if there is something that does not coincide with their own views on educational policies. 3.Regular elections motivate the government to be more active and do everything possible for achieving an excellent standard of education. 4.Students should vote in case they care for the future of their establishment and for next generation that is going to study here. 5.Now, when there is a gender and racial equality, women, and national minorities have a brilliant opportunity to protect their rights and freedoms. 6.Finally, elections contribute to the rise of awareness among both students and teachers. Moreover, students unions working on the basis of elections. 7.Considering this question more globally, students’ union elections can provide an example for other educational institutions and impel them improve their election system. So, voting is a brilliant chance for self-determination and self-assertion. In case you have to say something, or are keen on introducing some amendments to the academic process, do not be afraid of making the first step and expressing your attitude. This will surely be of great use for other generations.
How to Run a Leadership Activity
The big buzz in the Learning and Development community is about Leadership development. “If only we could train good leaders,” goes the argument, “we could be beat the world”
This belief is so well ingrained that hardly anyone stops to question it. But when you step back for a second, there are a number of huge questions. For example:
1. If leaders need training, who trained Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin?
2. If leaders can be easily trained, why are there any followers (which begs the question 
3. What is so great about being a leader anyway?
4. If everyone understands how to lead, doesn’t that cause a problem when followers are led badly?
We all know good leaders. We knew them when we were in the playground; and when they conceived a mischief, we followed. We probably tried our first clandestine cigarette at the behest of a leader and pursued our childhood interests at their bidding too. So it is clear that leadership qualities are not only apparent from a young age but are an important part of our development.
So why do we think that we need to train leaders? Well for several reasons. Firstly, although leadership may be an innate talent, like all natural gifts, if it is not channelled correctly, bad habits develop and blossoming potential can go unrealized. Secondly, there is more need for leadership than there are candidates. Playground leaders may go on to military careers or become high flyers in the world of big business, but they are not likely to end up running a small social services unit in an out of the way provincial town.
Finally, leaders need to be part of a team, and for the team to function efficiently, the led need to know the ground rules so that they can serve effectively. So having concluded that leadership training is both necessary and desirable, how can it be organized?
The jumping off point for any training course is, and has to be, formal instruction in the theory and principles of leadership. There are just three ways of doing this.
1. Books. There are literally hundred of texts on leadership. Most of the business schools also provide free podcasts and webinars. The eager student can soak up any number of treatises on various leadership systems and processes but be cautious.
Some of the best writing is outdated and doesn’t meet with modern management ideas. Many of the academic pieces are useful but based on case studies at the very peak of leadership experience and thus divorced from practical reality. While books are an essential resource, they are only satisfactory as a reference and as part of more focussed study.
2. Courses. There may not be as many courses as there are books but it feels that way. Regardless of your discipline, geography academic background or vocational sector, there willbe a leadership course bespoked to your needs and packaged to meet your requirements. Although many of these courses will be tailored to your industry by an experienced practitioner; in the end, the leadership system, process or methodology taught will be as much a matter of personal preference of the trainer as it will be reflective of any best practice. In reality there are hundreds of leadership models.
All will be based on observation and research and will have some applicability, but there is no “right” or “wrong” system. All a course does is highlight one particular approach and provide the basis for consistency amongst those that attend.
3. Practical Experience. The sure fire way of developing leadership skills is to practice. If under the leader’s leadership, the outcome is “success” then he or she needs to capture the behaviours that led to that success. And if it was failure, then behaviours need to be modified and tried again. Which is why coaching and mentoring are so effective.
But of course, while practical experience may be very desirable, it can also be expensive and risky. So how can organizations who want to imbue leadership qualities provide the opportunity to practice in a safe environment which allows emerging leaders to make their mistakes and learn from them?
Although I tire of hearing clients say that their business is “different”, the truth is that no enterprise is identical to any other. Just as every person is an individual, so every organization reflects the individuals in it in terms of history, culture, systems, processes and resources. There may be common characteristics that may mark out a leader in a company but there is no absolute answer.
Organizations have to develop training regimes that suit their own purpose. Regardless of how this is achieved, the starting point will nearly always be a process, model or philosophy that expresses the culture of “how ‘leadership’ gets done around here.”
Whilst there is no doubt that formal courses have an important role to play in defining a common understanding of, and approach to leadership, in the final analysis, the practical element of developing leadership skills must be an internal process. Although not necessarily universally recognized or accepted, many leadership approaches are based on a six stage model:
1. History: How did we get to where we are?
2. Situation: What’s going on right now?
3. Forecast: What will happen if we don’t change?
4. Vision: Where do we want to go?
5. Strategy: How do we use our resources to meet our objectives?
6. Implementation: Timetable, actions & responsibilities
This model suggests that in order to be successful, the leader has to ask six basic questions:
A. Where do we want to be?
B. Where are we coming from?
C. Where are we heading if we keep going as now?
D. Where are we now?
E. By when do we want to be there?
F. How will we get there and what do we need?
By following this approach the leader can structure his team, deploy his resources and provide support, guidance and information that will get the team there.
Although the model itself is fairly simple, fitting it into a course is slightly more problematic. The content is simple, straightforward and easily understood. With a senior group, a competent trainer can usually get through the theory comfortably in a morning. The issue is with the practical sessions. Most courses have ten to fifteen delegates although six or seven is not uncommon.
To practice leadership skills effectively, the team needs to consist of at least four members. Thus with every delegate getting a chance to lead and assuming that several teams can practice in parallel, this is a full day especially when allowing for quality feedback and consolidation. To provide the practical experience, I use tools such as Super Tanker, Westrek, Viking Attack! and Terra Nova. These are self contained packs which contain everything needed to run a session. For additional “spice” the activities can be run competitively between groups with a prize for the winning team. This puts additional pressure on the leader and can be a useful device for creating tension within the teams.
The following structure is very tight, but by limiting the practice sessions to 45 minutes with 15 minutes for feedback, you could get 16 delegates through the programme in a (very full) day. Ideally of course you would spread the course over two days and allow much more time for the exercises and feedback. This would also allow more time for consolidation and action planning after the delegates return to the workplace.
Time(mins) – Topic
10 -Introduction and domestics
35 -Objectives of the course, delegates experiences
15 – Overview of Leadership (Group / Breakout Discussion on characteristics and qualities of outstanding national, political religious leaders etc)
15 -Leadership Plenum
15 -Introduction to the Leadership Model
15 -Coffee
105 -Leadership Model Continued (Breakout sessions & handouts on Asking questions, Vision, Strategy, Objective setting, Providing feedback)
60 -Lunch (Leaders issued with the brief for the exercise they are to run in the afternoon)
30 -Summary: What does leadership mean (Breakouts & Group session )
45 -Super Tanker Exercise (3 or 4 groups in parallel)
15 -Super Tanker feedback to leaders (Followers give feedback)
45 -West Trek exercise(3 or 4 groups in parallel)
15 -West Trek feedback to leaders(Followers give feedback)
45 -Murphy exercise(3 or 4 groups in parallel)
15 -Murphy feedback to leaders(Followers give feedback)
45 -Terra Nova exercise(3 or 4 groups in parallel)
15 -Terra Nova feedback to leaders(Followers give feedback)
45 -Action plans and evaluation
An alternative structure would to be to break the sessions into logical components and then run them in a series of 2 – 3 hour development classes over a three or four week period. For a really successful session it is important that the leadership lessons learned are aligned with the needs of the organization and that the delegates leave the course with a clear action plan for improving their own performance.
The importance of the feedback sessions cannot be overstressed. A non disclosure covenant should be obtained from all participants, and the followers must feedback to the leader how they felt during the exercise. This can be a brutal lesson but it is vital if the delegates are to get full value from the session.
In summary, every enterprise needs leaders at all levels throughout the organization. With some careful planning, a clear learning outcome and the right tools, almost anyone can structure a highly successful programme that will have dramatic and long lasting results.
Sony Ericsson ? Leader of Walkman & Cybershot Mobile Phones
Sony Ericsson, one of the largest developers of high end mobile phones and world’s fastest growing mobile phone manufacturer company. Everyone loves Sony Ericsson phones not because of its popularity but it gives us some finest handsets including CyberShot & Walkman phones. At present, Sony Ericsson is the second largest mobile vendor over the globe.
Now, a question arises in our mind that Why Sony Ericsson mobiles are most popular among the users? It is just because of the exceptional use of mobile phone technologies in their latest phones. Presently, Sony Ericsson is the most famous leader of developing CyberShot & Walkman mobile phones. If you look at their latest releases like Sony Ericsson C902, C905, W980i, Xperia X1 and W910i then you get the answer of the first question why they are best among the rest. All of these latest Sony Ericsson handsets are most demanded yet just because of their unique design and features.
The use of high resolution megapixel camera’s in their latest phones makes it well performed CyberShot handset. Their CyberShot phones always give high quality videos as well as images. So, you don’t need to buy any digital camera after purchasing their Cyber-Shot phones. Currently, two of their handsets are more popular CyberShot handset and they are C902 & C905. It’s a rumor that may be they are going to release 10 megapixel camera phones very soon. Now imagine the clarity of pictures taken by 10 megapixel camera handset.
Devising Walkman phones are the most innovative idea of Sony Ericsson engineers because it creates a revolution in music series handsets. Their Walkman series phones are the most successful handsets ever. No other mobile phone manufacturer compete their Walkman phones. This is only because they have some extra ordinary technology which they use in their latest Sony Ericsson Walkman phones. These finest series of phones basically creates an unforgettable impact on the young generation who loves music. After buying their phones you must love with them.
Sony Ericsson also has some other series of phones like K-series, P-Series and M-Series. So, they offer you variety of phones to choose from. Apart from their successful music phones they have some top smart phones & business handsets too. Sony Ericsson handsets may be the perfect Christmas gift for your dear ones. Some online phone shop offers these latest phones at very affordable rates along with some exclusive gifts. Connect with them and buy the most popular phone for your beloved one on this Christmas. I wish Merry Christmas in advance to everyone.