The Big Society Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Big Society - Essay Example The Big Society program is pertinent to England’s domestic policy alone. However, these policy areas are passed on to the governments of Scotland, Northern Ireland, and Wales. The beginning The idea of Big Society, initiated in the Conservative manifesto was depicted in rather glowing terms by The Times in these words as an "an impressive attempt (The Times, 2010). To counsel the British Government on the proposed program, David Cameron employed Nat Wei, a founder-member of the well-known Teach First charity. The program envisages the establishment of a Big Society Bank and introduction of a national citizen service (Wiggins, 2010). The main characteristics of the same are as follows: More power to the communities (devolution). Transferring power from the central to the local government. Encouraging individuals to take an active part in their respective communities (volunteerism). Support to co-ops, charities, mutuals as well as social enterprises. Publish pertinent government data (transparent government). Measures to implement the program In 2011, major banks in the U.K. consented to provide ?200million as funds to the Big Society Bank (Giotis, 2011), apart from the funds to be utilized from those bank accounts that are lying dormant (Prince, 2010). It is reported that the British government has plans to release ?78billion in charitable assets to big society and accord up to 25 per cent of public service contracts to the voluntary as well as the private sector (Wintour, 2011). Discussions on the program Positive According to Simon Parker, who is the Director of New Local Government Network what is new about Big Society is that it spells out the extent of change required and it is a whole system shift (Parker, 2011).Ben Rogers of the Financial Times opined that the most remarkable factor about Cameron's address delivered at the Conservative Party Conference was on his notion, the Big Society. The speech signified that many of the political tribulations that confronts Mr. Cameron can be dealt with only if citizens are willing to play their part. According to the right wing newspaper The Spectator, it was Cameron’s hope to minimize fiscal shortfalls by dipping into bank accounts lying dormant and it is a bright idea in theory (Blackburn, 2010). Benedict Brogan in The Telegraph’s wrote that people expect their would-be leaders, to have vision and the PM offers a really big one, of a society re-erected from the ground up (Brogan, 2010). Negative To Labor MP, Ed Miliband, the Conservatives were "cynically attempting to dignify its cuts agenda, by dressing up the withdrawal of support with the language of reinvigorating civic society"(Watt, 2010). The Liverpool City Council of late pulled out of a pilot scheme, stating that the government’s current spending cuts is undermining the very future of volunteer groups. A former executive director of Community Service Volunteers, Dame Elisabeth Hoodless has expressed the s ame opinion. According to a recent independent audit report Cameron’s "big society" scheme is in danger of getting derailed by cruel cuts to grassroots voluntary organizations. It is also threatened by a breakdown in trust amid the very people that the administration is supposed to deliver its promising vision. The ?3.3 billion cut in government spending earmarked for the voluntary sector for three forthcoming years is said to be a body blow to the whole project (Butler, 2012). To this criticism Cameron counters by

Modern Education Thought Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Modern Education Thought - Essay Example Little (1995), believes that the main aim of â€Å"the autonomy is to equip learners to play an active role in participatory democracy† (p. 176). Benson (2008) agrees with Little when he says, â€Å"because the concept of autonomy in learning draws its meaning from the concept of personal autonomy, it is centrally concerned with the kind of learning that best helps people to lead autonomous lives† (p. 4). Here it confirms that autonomy revolves round individual freedom and human rights to facilitate him/her for making their choices and it is a lifelong process. In the broader sense the learner autonomy enable the person to lead autonomous life. The prominence of autonomy is to create a sense of human dignity. We should be autonomous individuals and autonomy for learning is an essential part of attaining our personal autonomy. An autonomous individual rely on himself/herself while living an independent life which is responsible for his or her own actions rather than blam ing others. To give support to our understanding it is important to know the aims and purpose of education. The main aim of education can be achieved if the person follows the autonomy of learning. According to aim of education envisioned by Piaget, ‘children acquire moral values in the same way they acquire knowledge--by constructing beliefs internally through interaction with the environment.’(Constance, 1982).He pointed out the importance of mutual respect to develop autonomy. The Piaget’s theory postulates as how the cognitive development of an individual focuses on the surroundings and the concepts that are conceived from these factors directly impacts ones learning. It brings in the thought to change... Paul Friere is the famous literacy educationist from Brazil who came up with the principles of critical pedagogy.He referred to the cycle of bringing the issues of the daily life, involving the knowledgeable level of the student and moving to action and then leading to reflection. The students shall know to â€Å"read the world through the word†. The Critical pedagogy is the study of oppression in education based on the issues and questions rose in sexuality, colonialism and how it will shape in nature and the purpose of education. In simple terms critical pedagogy is the way, how teacher asking ‘why’ is simple and the students freely asking the same way as ‘why am I learning this’ has to be executed. â€Å"Revolutionary critical pedagogy operates from an understanding that the basis of education is political and that spaces need to be created where the students can imagine a different world outside of capitalism’s law of value†¦where pat riarchal hierarchies of oppression can be ended†. The idea of autonomy is to understand the responsibility and be judgmental while taking the decision and development of rationality according to the changing situation. Marxism has made a mark on its own all over the world. Marxism was followed by the Brazilian Educator Paulo Freire. In his book of Pedagogy of Oppressed mentioned that â€Å"education makes sense because women and men learn that through learning they can make and remake themselves.