Personal Development and Careers Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words - 1

Personal Development and Careers - Assignment Example This is as it should be. Knowledge for the sake of knowledge is useless; it is the application of knowledge to everyday situations after sizing them up in an intelligent manner is what should be the objective of learning. The result of learning should be the outcomes it produces in the real world. The Relationship between Learning and Development From the above, it is clear that book knowledge is not what we are after, rather the knowledge that we get from books should be applied to real world problems connected to that branch of knowledge so that solutions are made possible. Experience is the result of having applied that knowledge in a certain way and seeing the outcome. If by a process of trial and error, we can eliminate what does not work and distill that which does, we have reached the path of self development. For learning is a path to self development. The knowledge translated into skill resides in the mind and body of man- it becomes an inseparable part of him. This is how t he continual development of skills leads to personal development. Discussion of a Learning Theory: Kolb’s Learning Circle When it comes to theories of learning, there has been a lot of work produced by different authors and thinkers over the ages. However I regard the work of David A. Kolb and his Learning Circle to be a good explanation of what occurs during the process of learning. It is a good expose into the way we learn. Kolb outlined his theory in a book called ‘Experiential Learning: Experience as the Source of Learning and Development’ published in 1984. Kolb’s Learning Circle (developed in coordination with Roger Fry) consists of four steps: (1) concrete experience (2) concrete and abstract experience (3) forming abstract concepts and (4) applying to new situations. According to Kolb, humans basically learn to understand and process two different types of information- concrete and abstract. Our learning vocabulary is therefore filled with either C oncrete Experience or Abstract Conceptualization. Kolb maintains that following a learning session, if we want to capitalize on it, we convert our experience into either Reflective Observation or Active Experimentation. Kolb’s model indicates that we could use all four of these approaches in a learning experience, depending upon the situation we are confronted with. Over time however, Kolb maintains that individuals tend to prefer one experience grasping approach and one experience transforming approach. Kolb has mentioned four learning styles and these are to be regarded as created by the learner during the process of learning. The four styles are (1) Converger (2) Diverger (3) Assimilator and (4) Accommodator (Kolb, 1984). Convergers are characterized by abstract conceptualization and active experimentation. They are good at making practical applications of ideas and using deductive reasoning to solve problems. According to Kolb, divergers are geared toward getting concrete experiences and making reflective observations. Divergers are also imaginative and will be good at coming up with ideas or in seeing things from different perspectives. Most of our theorists and social thinkers would fit in this category (Houle, 1980). Kolb writes that assimilators can be singled out by their preference for abstract

Knowledge in American History Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Knowledge in American History - Term Paper Example These amendments were pivotal in the history of African Americans and along with the 20th century Civil Rights movement constitute the most crucial periods in terms of freedom for African Americans. Even as the Constitution guaranteed rights to African Americans there was still a substantial amount of resistance, particularly at the hands of Southern states. This era saw the rise of the Ku Klux Klan as a means of oppressing African Americans. The Klan would engage in acts of terrorism, including house burnings and murder, as a means of intimidating African Americans. The Civil Rights Act of 1871 was put in place to restrict ethnic violence in response to the Ku Klux Klan movement (Stevens, 2001). During this period ‘black codes’ were also enacted as a means of attempting to oppress the recently freed African Americans. These acts were enacted by some Southern states as a means of continuing to restrict the rights of African Americans through controlling employment, their right to own firearms, or act as jurors in trials of white individuals. With the Civil Rights Act of 1866 these acts were repealed (Stevens, 2001). With the added control over employment and the plentiful agricultural land in the Southern regions, African Americans began engaging in sharecropping activities. Sharecropping occurred on land that was previously used as a plantation. In these instances, African Americans would rent small plots of land from the plantation owner to harvest their own crops. During this period there were also extraordinarily high illiteracy rates among African Americans, with a reported 70% illiteracy rate in the Southern states (Stevens, 2001). In response, this era also witnessed the emergence of some of the first schools for black... This term paper mostly focuses on the period of American history, in which African Americans led their fight for equality in civil rights, in knowledge and opportunities. The researcher follows and examines the historical progression of African Americans throughout five distinct periods in American history spanning from 1865 through the present era. In the term paper, it’s clear that throughout the eras examined by the researcher the United States experienced significant historical progress in regards to the social and cultural position of African Americans. Unit One examines the Reconstruction period and how African Americans fought to achieve rights and prosperity in the wake of the Civil War. Unit Two of this term paper follows this progression as Southern states attempted to counteract black progress through enacting Jim Crow laws that would remain in place until the second half of the twentieth century. Unit Three explores the continued oppression of blacks through Jim Cr ow laws, as well as the Great Migration wherein great amounts of individuals migrated north to escape this oppression. The Great Migration consisted of the migration of over five million African Americans from the Southern to Northern States. Unit Four of the term paper examines the substantial progress made during the Civil Rights Movement. Finally, Unit Five examines this progress as African Americans made gains in achieving political office and experiencing employment gains. President Kennedy and Martin Luther King were mentioned in this part.