Personal Narrative - Football...and Musicals? :: Personal Narrative Essays

My Love of Football...and Musicals? I am first in my class, an all-state football player, weigh 220 pounds, and can lift up small cars, yet I have a secret which I have kept hidden for years. It rages within me, yearning to break free and reveal itself in both shame and splendor. I can contain it no longer. I must shed my inhibitions and proclaim aloud, "So help me God, I love musicals!" Until now, only my family and those who have had the experience of calling my house in the midst of one of my renditions of the confrontation scene between Javert and Valjean from Les Misérables knew about my passion for musical theater. For years I have endured ridicule from my sisters and their friends who have overheard me belting out the lyrics to "Sunrise, Sunset" from Fiddler on the Roof while in the shower. Ever since my first musical, Jesus Christ Superstar, seven years ago, I have been obsessed with the telling of stories through melody and verse. My heart leaps when I see that Phantom of the Opera is coming to the local theater, or when Guys and Dolls is appearing on television at one in the morning. Music is the most beautiful and powerful way to relate emotion. Thus, the entire structure of a story is enhanced by presenting action and dialogue through song. The topic of a story can deal with anything from religion, such as in Godspell, to a ravenous man-eating plant (Audrey II in Little Shop of Horrors), but no matter which, music brings to life a storyline and places a production forever in one's head by providing a harmony to be continually associated with it. Musicals also provide me with an emotional outlet. When enthralled by a member of the opposite sex, I am wont to burst into a performance of "Maria" from West Side Story. After an exhaustive football practice, my lips chant "I'm Free" from the rock opera Tommy; and at my desk, feeling haughty after getting the highest grade on a calculus test, I sing quietly, "I am the very model of a modern Major-General," from The Pirates of Penzance. I can delve into the recesses of my mind and produce a piece fitting for any occasion, and I take pride in this ability. While preparing this confession, a less musically inclined friend of mine happened upon a rough draft of the revelation.

Robert Martinson

Indeed, the article written by Robert Martinson entitled â€Å"What Works? Questions and Answers About Prison Reform† has given much controversy to the application of rehabilitation in relation to recidivism. The claims of the article written by the team of Martinson, which includes Dr. Doug Lipton as the senior author and Judith Wilks as the co-author, centered on the theme that there is no significant improvement with rehabilitation strategies. This has been widely accepted by both the Left and the Right and became popular as the â€Å"Nothing Works!† (Sarre 2). Both people and institutions have come to think that the findings provided that nothing works for the crime offenders are something that should be accepted and is a fact (Sarre 2). Thus, it is until now that the claims of Martinson, despite two decades have passed is something that has been held by public agencies involved (Sarre 5). Despite the fact that people have already taken this fact with open arms, there are things which might have been left before Martinson and the authors could speak to clarify the findings further. The conclusions may be of significance but to every research, there are limitations and problems that should be realized together with this. Indeed, the conclusions of Martinson that strategies of rehabilitation employed are not as effective would require a deeper understanding that it may be for a particular group of people and that the limitations would have to be considered for the conclusions rendered. It could be said that the phrase â€Å"nothing works† is not the conclusion that the authors would want to convey for their study. It is not in its entirety that they would want this to be the message. In fact, it is only a partial of this because as they mentioned â€Å"†¦ with few and isolated exceptions, the rehabilitative efforts that have been reported so far have had no appreciable effect on recidivism† and â€Å"our present strategies †¦ cannot overcome, or even appreciably reduce, the powerful tendencies of offenders to continue in criminal behavior† (as qtd in Sarre 2). It is to be noted that there is the phrase â€Å"few and isolated exceptions† and â€Å"our present strategies† which would require some note that there is a hope that rehabilitation is concluded to be still there, just have to be improved or searched. Before Martinson passed away, he claimed that the some treatment programs do have an effect and these are on â€Å"individual psychotherapy, group counseling, intensive supervision, and what we have called individual/help (aid, advice, counseling)† (as qtd in Sarre 4). This could be seen as a parallel point to the phrases â€Å"few and isolated exceptions† and â€Å"our present strategies.† A possible explanation that may be given for such is a phrase written by Sarre as â€Å"the burial of rehabilitation as an aim of sentencing appears to have occurred before its death had even been announced† (5). People have rushed into conclusions before the authors were given the chance to explain further the study or to conduct several researches more to confirm if this is for the general population. The negative picture associated with the criminal offenders would likewise give further strength to the ideas received by the population. The careful publication of researches should be made in the future should be observed and the constant challenge to ideas presented with a critical mind and eyes should be maintained. Work Cited Sarre, Rick. Beyond â€Å"What Works?† A 25 Year Jubilee Retrospective of Robert Martinson. Paper presented at the History of Crime, Policing and Punishment Conference convened by the Australian Institute of Criminology in conjunction with Charles Sturt University and held in Canberra, 9-10 December 1999. 8 April 2008 [http://www.aic.gov.au/conferences/hcpp/sarre.pdf].

Inclusion Of Children With Disabilities - 1979 Words

Inclusion means that every child regardless of their abilities or background are able to play, interact, connect and learn as one. Every single child is valued, supported and provided access to equal opportunities like any other child as well as being involved in learning experiences. The label ‘inclusion’ has traditionally been used to describe bringing children with disabilities into regular settings rather than placing them in ‘special’ facilities’ (Connor, 2006, p8). Inclusion of children who have a disability is essentially about educators recognising that all children have the right to be engaged and valued participants in and contributors to the curriculum. Current policies and legislation in regards to inclusion include Australian†¦show more content†¦The Early Childhood Education and Care come under the Education and Care Services National Law 2010 and Education and Care Services National Regulations 2011 (ACECQA) 2010. The National Quality Framework provides educators with vital importance of inclusion with a number of components. Together with our personal and the services philosophy our perspectives can be affected by the way we approach our working lives with the children, the community and the families. Many educators have their own theories, some will be based by Montessori (Developmental), Piaget and Vygotsky (Psychosocial Developmental), Steiner (Developmental), Bowlby, Erikson (Cognitive) Bronfenbrenner (Socio-cultural), Rogoff (Socio-Cultural), Skinner (Socio-Behaviourist), Habermas (Critical) or Focault (Post-Structuralist). All of the mentioned above theorists have a different outlook or meaning on the same topic or issue. For example, many of them have a different perspective on the value of play or the way children learn. â€Å"Different theories about early childhood inform approaches to children’s learning and development. Early childhood educators draw upon a range of perspectives in their work †¦Ã¢â‚¬  (EYLF p.11). One of the challenges for most services is trying to make these connections with the Early Years Learning Framework and the above mentioned theories.