Category: Uncategorized

Introduction

Financial support for science, technology, and innovation is becoming increasingly relevant and changing its meaning. There are also the latest, complex funding mechanisms that are designed to influence the conduct of scientific research. When discussing the applied nature of some scientific research, it frequently refers to business involvement in the financing of science. There are still a small number of companies investing in science, creating units responsible for research and development, and placing orders for scientific investigation. Science and business have long been interconnected institutions. Therefore, scientists work on disruptive technologies and new advances, and business often sponsors this forward movement and organizes scientific prizes and acceleration centers.

This is not a temporary advantage, which is provided, for instance, by marketing campaigns, but a large-scale strategy for the long term. At the same time, major technology companies today know how to resolve simple problems on their own. The business contacts scientists when it cannot or does not consider it profitable to address the issue within its own structure. This class of challenges can be described as rocket science: such work requires large steep teams, training, new laboratories, and investment in equipment. In these cases, it is more profitable for businesses to invest in science. Research offers the company a competitive advantage, which means that the business turns to it exclusively to solve practical problems. Thus, the question point is that private funding can shape the way academic research is conducted and is one of the reasons for the commodification of science. Executives at large companies are interested in conducting academic studies before introducing a new outcome to customers. Accordingly, it is essential to establish how private funding affects the commodification of science and consider this with the example of the sugar industry.

The Literature Review

Academics argue that the advancement of science is due to the close interaction between sponsors and researchers. They trace the stages of such collaboration and prove that the Internet and digital communication positively influence the exchange of a lot of data necessary for scientific research. At the same time, the authors focus on the strategies and values pursued by private and public funders. They conclude that public financing of science contributes to its development and progress, while private sponsorship is aimed more at benefiting companies.¹ The scholar observed that critics often view science as commercial and a commodity to be traded. He argues that this is due to private investment in science, which is needed to promote the economy.

Although this frequently affects the perception of science as fraudulent and not valid for scientific research, the confidence of ordinary people in it declines accordingly. At the same time, the author views the commodification of science as an economic endowment that is a natural aspect of the market economy. He maintains that the social use of science contributes to the evolution of society.² According to Marcos Barbosa De Oliveiras article, which is part of a research project, the commodification of science is interpreted as the possible spread of the popularity of science and its advancement, that is, neoliberalism. It argues that, despite popular opinion, science is not a commodity but a social tool for the dissemination of a product.³. In order to use science profitably, reform is needed to diminish the harmful effects of commodification.

Manuela Fernández Pinto mentions that there are cases of scientific fraud and insufficient research due to legal restrictions concerning intellectual property. Thus, the funding of science by industry has a negative impact on peoples perception of its validity. The shortage of government funding facilitates additional financing from private investors; accordingly, the openness of science promotes its commercialization.⁴ Radder notes that the commodification of academic research is a complex phenomenon; in the narrow sense, commodification is identified with commercialization; in the broad sense, academic commodification is part of social evolution. The author maintains that this phenomenon must be considered holistically, and different factors need to be addressed.

Accordingly, he argues that all types of academic research should be evaluated based on economic criteria. At the same time, for the sufficiency of scientific research, it is required to involve a large number of specialists and representatives of different disciplines.⁵ The author observes that additional funding enhances the quality of the result obtained, which is a positive phenomenon. It is essential to include a study describing a Foundation Sugar Research Foundation review in the New England Journal of Medicine that rejected evidence linking sucrose intake to blood lipid levels.⁶ The authors examined the purpose of the funding, structure, and steps. Significantly, the negative health effects of sugar influenced the closure of the project. Therefore, this explains the dependence of scientific discoveries on funding.⁷ As a consequence, Policymaking committees should consider giving less weight to research funded by the food industry.

Under the Nestle article, all studies, nevertheless of industry-sponsored by private investors, may show different results if their variables are the same. This is because certain sponsors can influence the research process, most often by affecting the interpretation of the data. However, investors usually sign documents where they note that they do not take any role in the research other than funding⁸. The author examines cases of research investment and observes that there are cases of misuse of the financing for research projects in the food industry.

Researchers note that there is no systematic study that has consistently described the impact of sponsoring on research in the nutritional industry. They found that funding for nutrition-related research articles can skew conclusions in favor of sponsors products, which can have significant public health implications. Although the authors note that the grant also supported their research, it did not affect the collection and interpretation of the results. Accordingly, the researchers allow for the possibility of falsification of the study results. ⁹ Still, they do not specify that there is any way to reduce the risks of sponsors power on the publication of the articles.

Krimsky states that the public is concerned about conflicts of interest caused by sponsorship in biomedical science and medical practice. Therefore, there are ethical problems and loss of credibility of research, but there are ways to solve them. This includes, for example, attracting multiple sources of funding or expanding the transparency of studies.¹⁰ Thus, these actions aim to restore trust in scientific research and the commodification of science.

The Commodification of Science

There are two definitions commonly used to explain science commodification. If only the narrow meaning is considered, commodification is closely related to commercialization, which manifests itself in the desire of researchers and organizations engaged in science to make a profit. Such returns can be made through commissioning research to be performed by the organizations staff or by selling expertise already held by the scientist or institution.¹¹ This explanation of the phenomenon is relevant because it covers the commercial aspect of commodification and highlights the significant role of scientific organizations or individual researchers in the process.

It is important to note that the commodification of science is also viewed in a broader sense. That is, it is understood as comprehensive and long-term social development. Like the previous definition, it also uses an economic tool, but it is intended to affect people and society. Thus, it becomes clear that academic commodification means that types of scientific activity and its results are predominantly interpreted and evaluated based on economic criteria.¹²At the same time, it should be emphasized that commodification does not consist only of economic parts but implies their leading role.

It should be stressed that the term academic commodification also requires clarification from the academic communitys perspective. Academics means understanding those universities that public tax funds fully or primarily fund. Although, this explanation does not provide a detailed answer and is too narrow. Nowadays, one needs to supplement public funding with basic research and scholarship provided by private investors and donors. Interestingly, the shift in priorities of considering science not as research but as a commodity is explained broadly. For example, researchers often understand it as corruption, conflicts of interest, or even fraud. ¹³At the same time, commodification is closely related to the free market and commercialization, which involves technology transfer, patenting, and other characteristics. Therefore, this affects the complexity of scientific commodification and its ambiguous explanation.

It is important to remember that the development of science in general and its commodification are influenced by technological progress. It facilitates the exchange of information and has come to stifle scientific research. Moreover, the Internet and the rapid exchange of big data enable the search for private sponsors for study. Thus, most current projects are funded by large corporations, which is why the problem of negative commodification of science arises. Moreover, it should be noted that scientists emphasize conducting research through the provision of public funds.¹⁴ This is because it is precisely this commodification of science that is justified and designed to mark answers to questions significant to the industry.¹⁵ At the same time, as a provider of tools, as opposed to scientists, it is motivated by the instrumental value of science, not by the donors economic interests.

Therefore, it needs to be remarked that commodity production, which expends human labor to produce objects or services for sale, certainly existed even before capitalism. However, under capitalism, the marketable form of economic activity became increasingly pervasive in all aspects of human life. Consequently, the commodification of science is not a unique transformation but an integral part of capitalist development. Commodification also means a huge step in the development of abstract thinking. The commodification becomes more profound when investors can invest their money in those companies that promise the most significant benefits.¹⁶ Hence, company executives turn to scientific research to foresee profitability or other factors that may affect the business.

Thus, investors finance the research they need to justify their products or services profitability, safety, or validity. Accordingly, public and private funding of research projects contributes to the commodification of science. Scientists have become scientific personnel; as such, they are interchangeable, subject to the costs of production and managerial control. The division of labor in science and the creation of specialties and titles are progressively rationalized. ¹⁷ The creative side of scientific work is growing the privilege of a small fraction of employed scientists while the others are increasingly proletarianized.

Private Funding

The expansion of globalization extends the role of science in the development of the economy and international competition. Without the direct influence of science, it is not only impossible to advance but also to manage the modern economy. Science has been a critical factor in the evolution of the economy for more than two hundred years. However, science, similarly to other sectors of the economy, cannot progress without funding. The financing of science or academic research is a problem that is extremely difficult for every country. The main challenge is the question of who should finance academic studies. Everyone is interested in the development of science, including the state, business structures, the population, individuals, and civil society. Nonetheless, among these above, there are only two primary ones, that is, the state and business structures that have the finances to invest in scientific research. Therefore, funding is the allocation of funds or resources to achieve the intended objectives. ¹⁸Accordingly, private finance of science indicates that individuals or companies financially support and sponsor certain types of investigations that are within their field of interest.

It is significant to emphasize that a large amount of scientific research has recently been conducted in the private sector. This has certain advantages; for example, a large number of funds for studies can be obtained in a relatively short time. Resources directed to scientific research are of an investment nature; therefore, it is impossible to secure large volumes of resources and use these funds efficiently without the extensive involvement of the private sector. Consequently, this leads to intensive work by scientists and contributes to the plausibility of a new scientific discovery. Indeed, private financing enables researchers to provide the latest work and materials instruments. Nevertheless, negative factors increasingly arise with private funding of scientific projects.¹⁹ For example, there is an assumption that privately sponsored research negatively affects scientists. Academics who are highly paid may fabricate the result of scientific research to fit the sponsors desires. Hence, it is a falsified outcome without scientific value or quality. At the same time, publishing such a study will contribute to deceiving ordinary people who will buy the product because of the positive test results.

Thus, the commercialization of science is considered a significant threat to scientific rationality because it probably threatens the normative standards of the scientific enterprise. Recently, the attention of public advocates has been focused on private funding because a growing number of scandals have been reported. For example, there was hidden harm from smoking in the Vioxx case, and a private company funded the study. Therefore, private financing encourages funders to want the outcomes, not the truthful ones. It is significant to mention that when research is privately funded, there may be a financial conflict of interest.

Consequently, design bias and unreliability of publications on the research topic are identified. Moreover, recent meta-analyses suggest that industry bias can affect the outcomes of investigations, even when standardized statistical instruments assess the quality of the research. ²⁰Although these data focus on medical research, conflicts of interest have also been recognized as deeply problematic for scientific research in general.

Another aspect to consider when funding research is intellectual property rights. For example, the precise regulation and protection of patent law can be an obstacle to conducting a research project. This is because intellectual property rights provide private companies with control of the research they sponsor. As a consequence, such influence leads to the concealment of socially significant research results and the restriction of scientific exploration initiatives.²¹ Hence, it can be noted that research sponsored by private investors raises many questions about its quality and validity.

Furthermore, the concealment of authentic results can cause damage to people and the environment, as has been the case in the tobacco industry. These concerns become even more prominent considering that most research today is funded and performed in the private sector. It is essential to mention that recent figures show that 72% of R&D in the U.S. is done in the business sector, and the business sector funds 67%. ²² The primary source of research funding in developed countries is private businesses. Accordingly, private investment is the principal in the science industry and has positive and negative effects on it. Private financing of scientific research responds positively to the liberalization of the economy and provides researchers with many tools and opportunities for study. At the same time, it generates many debates about the outputs accuracy and validity.

The Sugar Industry

It is significant to mention that funding for scientific nutrition research is as popular as the tobacco and pharmaceutical industries. Scientific projects frequently have implications for consumer perceptions of products. It should be noted that scientific research on the same issue can reach different conclusions. However, considerable evidence suggests that these fields have deliberately influenced the design, results, and interpretation of the research they have paid into the pharmaceutical industries.²³ Nevertheless, there is no significant evidence about the influence of investors on sugar industry research.

Moreover, sponsorship documents indicate that investors do not influence scientific studies. However, there is proof of such impact on academic research. For example, in the 1950s and 1960s, the Sugar Trade Association not only sponsored but also initiated and impacted research to exclude sugar as a significant risk factor for coronary heart disease. ²⁴ These cases concerned the fact that findings demonstrated the effect of sugar on the risk of developing heart disease.

There is evidence that the association changed the study design and suggested consideration of dietary fats and cholesterol. The redesign of the study was supported by additional payment to scientists, more than $48,000 to three nutrition professors at Harvard. Accordingly, a review was published that refuted the connection between heart disease and the effect of sugar on it. Thus, proof exists that the sugar industry is funding research that should produce the desired outcomes. From this example, it is clear that the scientists article was about more saturated fats than sugar. It is worth noting that there is no definitive evidence of whether the additional funding affected their results, which is bribery, or whether they chose to reward the sponsors themselves.²⁵ Independent of the scientists motives, their conclusions have negative implications for science.

It should be mentioned that the use of science is designed to influence consumers, not to provide genuine scientific testimony. Accordingly, private funding of research in the sugar industry is intended in large part to manipulate clients. Further demonstration of this is the case of Coca-Cola, the letters made public explaining the private relationships of sponsors and researchers. They were focused on conducting studies that concluded that the drinks effect on obesity was minimal. ²⁶Therefore, private financing impacted the outcome of the study in order to reduce the adverse effects of sugar on human health.

The commodification of science is entrenched in modern academia, especially in the sugar industry. It is worth mentioning that the Associated Press has been informed that the candy trade association has funded and influenced studies that show that children who eat candy have a higher body weight than those who do not. Other scientific studies, on the contrary, find negative associations between obesity and eating foods containing sugar. Consequently, it can be deduced that the sugar industrys private funding of scientific research impacts the commodification of science. The results of such a study have consequences for public health, primarily if the outcomes of scientific projects are based only on the needs of the sponsors. ²⁷ The society of science explains why the food industry actively funds scientific projects and engages scholars to promote their products.

The commodification of science caused by private funding does not always have a negative outcome. For instance, Project 259 connects sucrose intake with cancer and is funded by private donors. Scientists have found that beta-glucuronidase has an effect on the development of bladder cancer. Therefore, the published study demonstrates that the consumption of sugar and sucrose has an impact on metabolic effects.²⁸ Consequently, the public has received truthful and valid information on an under-researched problem. This case illustrates that private investment in science can instigate its development. Thus, these examples relate to the commodification of science, but this is not the central concern. Private funding of science can promote it and conceal genuine data in the sugar industry. In order to minimize the harmful effects of the commodification of science, it is imperative to increase control over the transparency of research.

The Impact of Private Funding and Implications for Science

It is important to note that the cases discussed above indicate that private funding is often attracted to research in the sugar industry. Investors fund investigations on the effects of sugary drinks and other products on the human body. On the one hand, the attraction of private financing has a positive effect on the development of science, but on the other hand, there can be negative consequences. For example, substantial funds allow research on urgent problems to be conducted quickly and solutions to them to be identified. At the same time, private science funding stimulates new inventions in various fields, especially pharmaceuticals. It should be noted that the concept of conflict of interest covers certain threats. In the cases cited, one can observe how private finance has adversely affected the quality of research. Independent of whether the sponsors offer specific guidance on study design, sampling, or results, there is a risk of falsification of the outcome. ²⁹ That is because scientists often endeavor to reach the conclusions that their sponsors demand, even if they have not been instructed to do it.

This is because private research grants are directed at issues that are significant to the company. Accordingly, scientists who receive research grants do not want to reach and demonstrate results that might negatively affect the source of their funding. However, it is also possible for sponsors to control the stages of research. For instance, they change the research questions, conditions, and design to obtain scientific proof of the human health benefits of their products. Thus, they can delay the publication of data that negatively affects the companys image. Consequently, falsification or concealment of results occurs; due to the fact that the sugar industry attempts to explain the effects of sugar on human health, hiding accurate results can have a negative influence on humans. ³⁰ Therefore, the interpretation of scientific studies concerning the source of funding further leads to a decrease in the credibility of science

Once the studies demonstrate the impact of private funding on science has been conducted, the question of ethical implications arises. In order to restore trust in science, it is necessary to ensure that the research is transparent and that the sponsors are published publicly. This will permit the target audience to evaluate the results of the research and decide on its authenticity. At the same time, for science to be objective even when commoditized, evidence of the validity and reliability of project results must be provided. Hence, even with private funding, science will not become a collection of falsified studies. ³¹ Otherwise, the influence of conflicts of interest will have an adverse effect not only on the credibility of science but also on its value.

Conclusion

Scientific research requires support for conducting scientific research revealing results. In this case, there is already a private interest, which is manifested in the involvement of not only public but also non-public funds in the process of funding applied research. Hence, questions arise about the commodification of science and its impact on science. This is because private sponsors fund only those projects that relate to their sphere of interest. For example, the sugar industry supports research on the effects of sugar on the human body. Accordingly, there are cases where sponsors affect the validity and truthfulness of the results. However, private funding has a positive effect on the development of science if non-interference rules for researchers are followed. In this way, it is imperative to create rules that are enforced by private investors and researchers.

Thus, future research must consider research transparency and sponsors involvement. At the same time, an essential recommendation for future projects is to develop workable rules that government agencies will monitor. This will minimize the negative impact of the commodification of science. Another recommendation is a study of the credibility of science following the disclosure of data on the falsification of research results. This will make it possible to determine the level of trust in science and search for ways to enhance credibility. It is also essential to examine the conditions of scientific research that raise doubts about the authenticity of the outcome. This will highlight the key points that need to be addressed. In this way, future research can address the problems posed by the commodification of science.

Bibliography

De Oliveira, Marcos Barbosa. On the Commodification of Science: The Programmatic Dimension. Science & Education 22, no. 10 (2013): 2463-2483.

Fernández Pinto, Manuela. Open Science for Private Interests? How the Logic of Open Science Contributes to The Commercialization of Research. Frontiers in Research Metrics and Analytics 5, (2020): 1-10.

Kearns, Cristin, Dorie Apollonio, and Stanton Glantz. Sugar Industry Sponsorship of Germ-Free Rodent Studies Linking Sucrose to Hyperlipidemia and Cancer: Fn Historical Fnalysis of Internal Documents. PLoS Biology 15, no. 11 (2017): e2003460.

Kearns, Cristin, Laura Schmidt, and Stanton Glantz. Sugar Industry and Coronary Heart Disease Research: A Historical Analysis of Internal Industry Documents. JAMA Internal Medicine 176, no.11 (2016): 1680-1685.

Krimsky, Sheldon. Combating The Funding Effect in Science: Whats Beyond Transparency. Stan. L. & Poly Rev 21: (2010): 101-123.

Lesser, Lenard, Cara Ebbeling, Merrill Goozner, David Wypij and David Ludwig. Relationship Between Funding Source and Conclusion Among Nutrition-Related Scientific Articles. PLoS Medicine 4, no. 1 (2007): e5.

Nestle, Marion. Food Industry Funding of Nutrition Research: The Relevance of History for Current Debates. JAMA Internal Medicine 176, no.11 (2016): 1685-1686.

Nordmann, Alfred, Hans Radder, and Gregor Schiemann. Science Transformed?: Debating Claims of An Epochal Break. Pennsylvania: University of Pittsburgh Press, 2011

Radder, Hans. The Commodification of Academic Research: Science and The Modern University. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 2010.

Vermeir, Koen. Scientific Research: Commodities or Commons?. Science & Education 22, no. 10 (2013): 2485-2510.

Footnotes

• 1 Alfred Nordmann, Hans Radder and Gregor Schiemann, Science Transformed?: Debating Claims of An Epochal Break (Pennsylvania: University of Pittsburgh Press, 2011), 2.
• 2 Koen Vermeir, Scientific Research: Commodities or Commons?, Science & Education 22, no. 10 (2013): 2485.
• 3 Marcos Barbosa De Oliveira, On the Commodification of Science: The Programmatic Dimension, Science & Education 22, no. 10 (2013): 2463.
• 4 Manuela Fernández Pinto, Open Science for Private Interests? How the Logic of Open Science Contributes to The Commercialization of Research, Frontiers in Research Metrics and Analytics 5, (2020): 7.
• 5 Hans Radder, The Commodification of Academic Research: Science and The Modern University (Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 2010), 2.
• 6 Cristin Kearns, Dorie Apollonio, and Stanton Glantz, Sugar Industry Sponsorship of Germ-Free Rodent Studies Linking Sucrose to Hyperlipidemia and Cancer: Fn Historical Fnalysis of Internal Documents, PLoS Biology 15, no. 11 (2017): e2003460.
• 7 Cristin Kearns, Laura Schmidt, and Stanton Glantz, Sugar Industry and Coronary Heart Disease Research: A Historical Analysis of Internal Industry Documents, JAMA internal medicine 176, no.11 (2016): 1680.
• 8 Marion Nestle, Food Industry Funding of Nutrition Research: The Relevance of History for Current Debates, JAMA internal medicine 176, no.11 (2016): 1685.
• 9 Lenard Lesser, Cara Ebbeling, Merrill Goozner, David Wypij and David Ludwig, Relationship Between Funding Source and Conclusion Among Nutrition-Related Scientific Articles, PLoS Medicine 4, no. 1 (2007): e5.
• 10 Sheldon Krimsky, Combating The Funding Effect in Science: Whats Beyond Transparency, Stan. L. & Poly Rev 2

Abstract

The field of special education continues to attract research due to the nature of diversities that are involved in the discharge of activities in special education. The aim of this paper is to investigate the factors that press for changes in the field of special education. The paper explores the critical developments in special education, which denote the press for reforming the field.

The findings in the paper point at two critical aspects of development in special education; the need to reform special education by encouraging the development of general learning for children with disabilities and the volatile debate about the modalities of attaining full inclusion for children with disability, considering the high level of support for inclusive learning for such students.

Therefore, the future of special education lies in the manner in which the education sector will be restructured to incorporate most of the critical models of learning that eliminate the exclusion for children with disabilities. This is facilitated by the development of policies and laws that guide the identification of the needs of children with special needs and the restructuring of general education so as to support learning competencies for disabled children.

Introduction

A substantial number of people group the organization of education into two streams, one is based on a number of psychological and the other is based on social models of learning. These are normal students and students with special needs. The central question here is whether special education promotes aspects of cohesion for students with disabilities, considering the fact that it encourages the separation of students according to their learning needs. However, the argument about the separation of students with special needs from normal students impedes learning for students with disabilities.

Can special education be abolished based on the calls for the establishment of inclusive classrooms for students with disabilities? At what level can general curriculums be developed in inclusive learning? These are other critical questions when it comes to the debate about restructuring the field of special education in contemporary society. The calls for embracing inclusion in the learning environment in favor of students with disabilities is desirable, owing to theories and models of learning that show the potential for improved learning capability for both the students with special needs and for the students with disabilities.

However, it is imperative to note that a lot of restructuring is required if the inclusion of students with disabilities in the learning environment is to be attained. This paper explores the forces that drive the need for change in special education. The paper is divided into three main parts. The first part of the paper presents an analytical review of the critical area in special education that requires policy change. The second section of the paper explores the aspects of teacher competencies and how they are enshrined in the dynamics of special education. The last part of the paper explores the modalities of embracing inclusion for students with special needs.Activation of current policies and

Establishing new effective laws

Eligibility and Determination for Special Education Services

Cushing, Clark, Carter, and Kennedy (2005) bring in another issue in the special education policy arena, which is the enhancement of legislation on inclusion. It is easy to derive policy goals and objectives in special education development from the general legislation on discrimination. Merging the legislations on the social aspect of life at the state and country-level is a first step in the development of policies and educational legislation that support the inclusion of students with disabilities; not merely as a process of eliminating discrimination in education, but also by enhancing learning competencies for children with disabilities.

Contemporary legislative reforms are adapted to enhance the provision of education services to the children with special needs through the provision of an environment that supports their accommodation in general learning environments. Future developments in special education legislation show that policies in special education have close links with the general social policies, thus there should be a rationalization of legal aspects from both the educational and social angles to attain a high degree of inclusion (Cushing, Clark, Carter and Kennedy, 2005).

According to Moores-Abdool (2010, 166), very little information is picked by the audience when it comes to what is being done for children with autism in special education. Similar sentiments are replicated in other categories of children with special needs, now that most of the initiatives are centered on learning within the confines of special education.

Questions are raised about the ability of accommodating children with special needs in general classrooms, where they get attention from the regular teachers and regular students. Putting children with disabilities in general classrooms is one of the most desirable ways through which the needs of these students can be understood clearly by the education specialists, thereby giving them a chance to tailor policies that meet the learning needs of the students with special needs. (Loiacono & Valenti, 2010, 25-30).

Early Identification and Intervention

Owing to the continued press for the consideration and embracing of equality and equal rights for people with disabilities in the society, governments keep providing reforms through laws and policies that are adjusted to promote equal rights for children with disabilities. The most resounding thing is the development of a policy framework in the social environment that requires parents to bring out children who either directly or indirectly portray signs of disability (Proctor & Niemeyer, 2001, 55-60). This is regarded as a desirable step when it comes to the grouping of these children and the identification of the best modalities of learning and delivery for all children with special needs (IDEA Partnership. (2007, 5-10).

Special Education Services

A review of the progress in special education shows that more emphasis is devoted to the delivery of services to children with special needs. According to DEA Partnership (2007, 4-6), the education databases in countries across the world have inadequate information concerning the benefits and dangers of special education and regular education when compared to inclusive learning. Therefore, most of the factors of inclusive learning for students with special needs are based on a few evidence-based practice cases available in the already established inclusive classrooms.

The detection of the services that are required to enhance learning for children with disabilities is determined by a deep look into the current systems of special education. With this kind of a situation, it is imperative to observe that there is a likelihood of over-representing the needs of the students with disabilities and then overlooking the needs of regular students.

Transition Services and Related Supports

According to DEA Partnership (2007, 4-6), the transformation in special education is a policy issue that requires policy considerations to enhance incremental progress for the regular students and the students with special needs. One of the main considerations that receive a lot of attention from researchers is the need to transform special education through the introductory systems that ensure that children with special needs interact with normal students.

Thus, it can be argued that the attainment of effective learning for children with special needs requires the preparation of special teachers and the offering of adequate support in terms of technical and material support for learning. According to Forlin, Keen and Barrett (2008, 251-252) and Proctor and Niemeyer (200, 56), the problem of exclusion in special education is more serious for mainstream teachers, whose attitudes also inhibit the attainment of learning and communication abilities of children with special needs.

Teacher Preparation Program on Special Education

Preparation Programs for Future Special and General Education Teachers

The dilemma in education today concerns the ability of fostering an environment that supports the collaboration in leaning when it comes to the general schools and the special schools. This sentiment comes from one of the most critical factors in the field of special education, which is, the recommendation that points at the need for developing programs of inclusion in special education.

Thus, most of the programs in education in the United States and other countries across the world depict the invention of programs that focus on preparing teachers for attending to the needs of normal students and students with special needs. This is a pointer at the development of schooling environments that support both the students with special needs and the regular students (Johnson & Merrill, 2000, 3-5).

Preparation Programs for Current Special and General Education Teachers

Forlina and Chambers (2011, 17) observe that one of the challenges in the advancement of special education is to prepare teachers to deal with students with special needs. The question here is whether the teachers in the normal learning environment can be deployed in the collective learning environment. Preparing teachers for inclusion is a comprehensive activity that requires an understanding of the nature of disabilities that are inherent in a given learning environment. While it is difficult to incorporate teachers from the general learning environment in an inclusive learning environment, it is easy for teachers in the inclusive learning environment to fit in the collective learning environment (van Laarhoven et al., 2007, 440).

The shortage of teachers is one of the main problems that are inherent in special education. According to Brownell, Ross, Colón, and McCallum (2005, 242-245), the competency of teachers is one of the prerequisites for the attainment of success in special education. Looking at this development from the policy perspective, the authors argue that the policies that appertain to special teacher education have to be developed in a manner that is consistent with the progress in health in society.

This denotes the emergence of some complex forms of disability that require certain competencies on the side of the teachers. The complex nature of special education depicts a lot of challenges appertaining to the development of highly skilled teachers. This leaves the critical question of the ability to develop teacher competencies highly important. (Brownell, Ross, Colón & McCallum (2005, 249).

Preparation Programs for Current Education and Schooling Professionals

Riveros (2012, 603-605) ascertain the worth of professional models of learning that embrace the collaborative model in teacher practice. Again, this denotes the need in the education sector, where exclusion is not desirable, especially when it comes to the development of effective policies for the support of education. Based on the model of professional learning communities, Riveros (2012, 605) argues that teachers in special education can become effective if they engage in a learning cycle that promotes deep learning.

The definition of achievement under such a learning environment is measured in terms of the achievement that is made by the students. Learning outcomes are enhanced when students participate more in learning, instead of being passive participants in the process. Rethinking the development of professionalism among teachers requires the consideration of students, where they are put in the center of learning. Besides the teachers, the students and other people that support learning have also been considered as far as the development of competencies and skills that support learning for special children is concerned (Riveros, 2012, 605).

Enhancement Inclusion of Students with Disabilities into General Classrooms

Implementation of Individual Educational Plans

Idol, (2006, 77), observe that the concept of inclusionary schools has gained support from the research that indicates the probability of improving the learning abilities through the inclusion. According to Cross, Traub, Hutter-Pishgahi and Shelton (2004, 170), inclusion as a process of learning for children with special needs can be seen as a practice that enhances therapeutic processes in the learning cycle of the students with disabilities. Together with adaptations, therapeutic processes are important in promoting competencies for children with disabilities. The ability of the disabled children to develop skills that would help in the general classrooms is enhanced by improved collaboration in learning environments (Johnson & Merrill, 2000, 3).

Moore, Gilbreath, and Maiuri (1998, 8), illustrated in their article that the therapy through the inclusion of children with disabilities enhances the socialization opportunities for the students with disabilities.

According to Idol (2006, 77), an evaluation of the special education denotes mounting support for the deployment of the students with special needs in general classrooms, pointing that the only area of difficulty is the ability to develop competencies among the teachers to effectively instruct students in collective classrooms. However, there is a lot of optimism about inclusive learning, especially about the raising of the communication competencies of the students with special needs through peer-tutoring models that are 54applied in inclusive classes.

According to Spooner, Dymond, Smith and Kennedy (2006), the enhancement of inclusive education through the merging of the special classes with normal classes requires the development of curricula that match the merging of the students. The improvement of instructional methods that are used in teaching to foster learning abilities goes hand in hand with changes in the curriculum (Wehmeyer & Agran, 2001, 327).

According to Dettmer, Thurston, and Dyck (2005, 38), the developments in the field of special education focus on three key issues. The first one is the merging of general and special education into a single system. The second point is the incorporation of students with special needs in mainstream classrooms. The third point concerns the efforts to strengthen the learning abilities of students with moderate and mild disabilities, as well as boosting the learning abilities of students who underachieve, yet they are not disabled. Students with learning difficulties often gain certain competencies from their peers when placed in inclusive classrooms.

Hart and Malian (2013, 4-7), ascertained that the teaching of students with disabilities goes far much behind the development of learning competencies, but it involves the development of several competencies like communication and behavior. When it comes to students with mental disorders, there is a need for the development of learning models that shape behavior and the communication competencies of the students, which enable them to gain the relevant learning skills.

Therefore, research denotes the need for the development and enforcement of policies that can support the establishment of collective classrooms that can accommodate students with special needs. Such policies have to be developed in such a way that they can encourage the development of technical competencies that are critical in encouraging collaboration in inclusive classrooms (Leonard & Leonard, 2001, 384). According to Wehmeyer (2003, 271), recent developments in special education show a shift in how people view students with mental disabilities. Mental disability is seen from the perspective of enhancing their interactional competencies.

Idol (2006, 77-93) conducted an evaluation of special education from the perspective of including students with special needs in general classrooms. The overall findings of the evaluation pointed to the support for incorporating the students with special needs in general classrooms, with only a few areas of training and development that required restructuring to support inclusive learning.

While there is massive support for inclusion, there are still differences between researchers in the field of special education on how to go about the preparation of the inclusive classrooms so that all the students in the classrooms can benefit from such a learning environment. As it is today, a lot of mechanisms of inclusion for students with disabilities are still at what can be described as the pioneering stages. It means that there are a lot of loopholes as far as the attainment of an efficient, inclusive learning environment for students with special needs and the normal students are concerned (Morrier, Hess & Heflin, 2011, 119-120).

It is worthwhile observing that the field of special education within the entire educational sector is one of the most complex fields of education, moreover when it comes to addressing the critical issue of learning and education development. The research conducted in the paper highlights a number of issues that need to be properly addressed to attain a unidirectional approach to improving learning and learning competencies in special education.

The first thing as far as the discussion of emerging issues in the field of education is concerned is the probability of embracing continued exclusion of children with special needs by virtue of placing them in separate learning environments. Based on the historical perspective of events in the field of special education, it is observed that special education was developed as a result of the increase in the number of children with special needs and the difficulties that were involved in the attempt to attend to the needs of such students in regular classrooms. Just as the name suggests, children with special needs required a special kind of skills and support tools to enhance their learning by boosting their learning abilities.

Now, it is important to observe that there are two broad categories of students with special needs, with the various subcategories listed under each of the two broad categories. The two broad categories are students with mental disabilities and students with physical disabilities. Before elaborating on the categorization, it is imperative to observe that the burden of accommodating children with special needs in regular learning environments was deemed an issue of paramount importance.

This can be elaborated on in two points. The first one concerns the difficulty of enhancing the pace of learning for children with special needs, meaning that they were often lost when placed in general classrooms. The second point is that the normal students had problems with accommodating the disabled children. In most cases, aspects of exclusion were inherent in the learning environment.

Implementation of General and Special Education Teachers Collaboration

According to Idol (2006, 77), inclusion means 100 percent incorporation of students with special needs in general classrooms. An observation that comes from the assertion is that general classrooms have to be developed in order to accommodate the students with special needs. At this point, it is imperative to observe that there are still a considerable number of challenges as far as the achievement of full inclusion is concerned. Most of the challenges revolve around the variations in the level and prevalence of special needs, as well as the competency and skill requirements for teachers who are supposed to enhance learning in the general classrooms (Hart & Malian, 2013, 4-10).

According to Dettmer, Thurston, and Dyck (2005, 37-39), students with disabilities learn better when placed in a collaborative learning environment. There are a lot of critical things that support learning for students with disabilities when they are placed in a collaborative environment, rather than placing them in separate classrooms. Taking it from the analogy of the traditional learning environment, instruction is only meaningful when it is advanced within groups. One of the important things as far as a collective learning environment is concerned is the development of certain patterns of relations that allow people to acquire skills and competencies from each other.

Parent Involvement

Resch et al. (2010, 139-140) ascertain the validity of engaging the parents in the enhancement of learning for students with disabilities. Parents occupy the center stage in the development of children, thus one of the elements of inclusion for children with disabilities is the involvement of parents in modeling learning for children with disabilities.

According to Worcester et al. (2008, 509-510), parents have a role of enhancing the acceptance of children with disabilities in the society through the development of a landscape that supports interaction between the normal and the disabled students. At this level, it is worth to adapt a quote from Will (1986), who asserted that An appropriate mechanism for assuring the parental involvement would be parent advisory boards to assist schools in determining ways to more effectively involve parents in their childrens education (414).

A high level of interaction between the normal and the disabled children denotes acceptance, forming a basis on which the peer models of learning can be established. The level of acceptance attained in the realms of disability acceptance in the society plays a vital role in the attendance of the goals of inclusion as most of these goals are modeled based on the social aspects of development and coexistence in the society. According to Smith (2006, 331-332), peer interactions combine with parental advocacies to increase the level at which inclusive learning is done in schools that embrace inclusion for children with special needs.

Analyzing the developments in special education based on the earlier findings, one can easily note that a substantial number of specialists in the education and social sectors support the idea of inclusion for children with disabilities. They often base their rationale on the various social and psychological theories and models of development. These models and theories often point to the critical aspects of learning and competency development for students with special needs when placed in a learning environment that includes normal students.

In addition, the rationale extends to the issue of the linkage of academics to other aspects of development in society, like social development. Here, the students are supposed to understand the society from the broader lenses of variations and the development of accommodating behaviors towards all people in society. Now, it makes sense to point out that the subject of inclusion in special education is broader than it is considered by people in society. This argument comes from the observation that the idea of inclusive learning is based on the improvement of learning competencies, as well as shaping the manner in which students socialize in society.

The support for inclusive learning finds roots in the development of different models of learning through research. These models are deemed supportive of learning and behavior development for both the normal students and students with special needs. However, questions are still raised by researchers concerning the development of inclusive classrooms that fully support learning and character development for the normal students and students with disabilities.

Implementation of Assistive Technology

Russel, Bebell, ODwyer, and OConnor (2003, 297) recommended the use of technology as a tool for improving learning when used in the educational environment. To what level new or modern computer technology can be deployed in a system of education that embraces inclusive learning? An assessment of the models of technology deployment in education denotes the prevalence of challenges in technology adoption. This applies to learn environments that are not inclusive. Thus, the development of learning competencies might become a difficult thing to attain when deployed in a learning environment that is collective.

As such, there is a need to tailor technology in an intense way to make it applicable in an inclusive learning environment, owing to the fact that learning in such an environment cannot be easily attained when the aspects of technology are not deployed appropriately. Wong, Li, Choi, and Lee (2008) observed that technology, when applied in education, can only be meaningful when it enhances the competency levels of the learners and the teachers. The other observation is that technology results in the attainment of educational goals when it is deployed based on the social models that support learning and learning competencies (Alquraini & Gut, 2012, 42-49).

Implementation Transition Related Services

Lee, Wehmeyer, Soukup and Palmer (2010, 213-220) found out that there is a resounding level of variability between the teachers and the students in special education and regular education, which calls for the merging of these variables for the sake of developing highly functional curricula. According to Agran, Alper and Wehmeyer (2002, 123-130), performance standards in the general curricula that are developed with the purpose of inclusive learning should be developed based on the level of disability. Again, this reiterates the complexity of inclusion for special education, where needs vary based on the category of disability and the severity of the disability (Hitchcock, Meyer, Rose & Jackson, 2002, 8-10).

The development of special education was accompanied by the need to embrace the training of special teachers who can effectively address the educational needs of the students with disabilities. According to Florida and Chambers (2011, 17-20), the competency required for the development of an inclusive learning environment is the facilitation of training that embraces peer learning. This is favorable for students, considering the fact that incorporating them in a collective learning environment promotes their learning abilities.

Scheuermann, Webber, Boutot, and Goodwin (2003, 197-206) observed that one of the main challenges in special education is the increase in the level of competency among the teachers who instruct students with disabilities. There are different forms of pieces of training that teachers undergo in special education. However, none of the models of training have proven to be fully effective in special or exclusive classrooms. An example that is given here is the training of teachers for students who have autism, as well as the students with Asperger Syndrome Disorders (Renzaglia, Karvonen, Drasgow & Stoxen, 2003, 140).

Implementation Accommodation and Modification on General Education Curriculum and Setting

One common thing about the students with disabilities is that their conditions make it quite daunting to acquire and develop learning competencies, thus the need for special support. The support is the virtue of using physical tools to enhance learning or the modeling of behavior through the deployment of social and psychological models. The application of these models of learning requires special training for the trainers of students with disabilities, thereby promoting the development of special education training.

However, the establishment of schools for children with special needs has kept resulting in questions of modeling the required social attributes that are supposed to be enhanced through education. Such questions have resulted in the calls for the development of models of learning that can enhance the establishment of general learning environments for both the students with disabilities and normal students.

It is common to come across the term inclusion when talking about special education in the contemporary education environment. Inclusion, as used in special education, refers to the establishment of a learning environment that accommodates the normal students and the students with special needs at the same time. This brings out two vital questions, which are:

1. Why should inclusive learning environments be developed?
2. How inclusive learning environments can be fully developed?

It is vital to introduce the two main objectives of inclusion for students with disabilities before analyzing these two questions. These goals include the increase of learning and behavioral competencies for the students with disabilities and the heightening of the real meaning of education by presenting learning from the perspective of responsibility on the side of the students. This enables students to develop accommodating behaviors in society.

According to Johnson and Merrill (2000, 11), the right curricula in inclusive learning can be attained when collaboration between the regular teachers and the special teachers is enhanced, where each side learns from the other. In other words, inclusive learning can be achieved through the development of a continuous process of curriculum development, where best attributes of learning are extracted from the regular classrooms and the special classrooms and the establishment of complete and efficient curricula for inclusive learning is achieved.

Whether the full incorporation of students with special needs in inclusive learning classrooms can be attained is an area of research that still poses a lot of questions for researchers. A critical look at the issues presented in the paper depicts the incremental efforts to establish learning environments that meet the needs and expectations of the normal students, and most importantly the students with special needs who are supposed to enhance their learning competencies from the normal students. However, research still points to the need for educational infrastructure to develop supportive learning models for inclusive learning.

The most resounding challenge when it comes to the establishment of inclusive learning environments is the ability of developing classrooms that cater to most, if not all the learning needs of the normal students and the students with special needs. This is a broad challenge for researchers, who still find that most of the models of learning that have been advanced, like peer-tutoring, support learning and behavioral competencies for the students with special needs, instead of supporting the learning competencies for the two categories of students in the general classrooms.

Conclusion and Recommendations

Conclusion

Several things can be outlined based on the points presented in the paper. First is the pressure to review special education because of the supposed weaknesses in promoting learning in special classrooms. Following this point is the increased calls for enhancing inclusion as one of the modalities of embracing non-discriminatory trends against the students with disabilities. The last point is that inclusion finds a lot of support; however, there are a lot of infrastructural issues in education that need to be dealt with to enable full inclusion to take place. These include the preparation of students for inclusion, as well as addressing the technical competencies on the side of the teachers and the general classrooms in which the children with disabilities have to be deployed.

Recommendations

A number of recommendations can be derived as critical pointers to areas and paths that need to be pursued in special education, based on the analysis made here on the issue of promoting inclusion for students with disabilities. The first thing when it comes to inclusive learning is the need to review special education, according to the technical needs of the students with disabilities. This observation finds support in the developments in special education, which denote the pre

Introduction

Peer victimization, also known as bullying, comprises commonly recurring, unsolicited, hostile behavior among school-aged children involving a real or perceived power imbalance. Bullying that takes place in educational settings is a relevant and critical global issue, and while it affects all children regardless of culture, ethnicity, gender, or race, some groups may experience various disparities and increased exposure to bullying. Parents, educational institutions, and government entities alike have recognized the harmful, long-term effects of bullying in all its forms. Although the scenarios and unique circumstances of affected students may vary, it is possible for institutions to take a number of general actions to prevent or deal with bullying.

Definition of Bullying

In the 1980s, prominent researchers on the topic of bullying in education developed a definition that scholars have since generally recognized. According to this definition, A student is being bullied or victimized when he or she is exposed, repeatedly and over time, to negative actions on the part of one or more other students (Olweus & Limber, 2010, p. 124). These negative actions can vary significantly, ranging from physical contact to verbal abuse or emotional exclusion.

However, the key characteristics of bullying are that the behavior is intentional, repeated, and negative towards the victims who are the target of the bullying and who are also commonly helpless to defend themselves. Aggressive actions and even harm are likely to be an ongoing occurrence in an interpersonal relationship that suffers from a lack of actual or perceived balance of power or strength (Olweus & Limber, 2010, p. 125).

These traits are essential to defining the elements of bullying in the social behavior of children. Consistent and repeated negative behavior leads to bullying interactions and patterns, which this paper seeks to address.

Todays educational institutions and entities actively recognize bullying as a behavior pattern that has severe implications but can also be prevented. The debate amongst educational scholars has focused on the impact of the school environment on bullying, including whether certain policies foster or buffer such behaviors amongst youth. Research has examined various factors ranging from budgets to class sizes and demographic distributions. Over the course of identifying the psychology and patterns behind bullying, scholars have studied broader constructs such as school policy, instructor attitudes, and peer interaction as indicators of potentially problematic behaviors (Swearer, Espelage, Vaillancourt & Hymel, 2010).

Cyberbullying

Developing technological capabilities and widening the availability of internet access have lent themselves to the rise of cyberbullying. The number of adolescents actively using internet-based services continues to rapidly increase; an estimated 66% of teens have access to the internet from the privacy of their bedrooms (Tokunaga, 2010). Cyberbullying is a general term that describes bullying behaviors, such as online harassment, that take place in the digital realm. This virtual form of bullying, which offers the possibility of anonymity, is unique in the protection it may potentially provide the bully. Furthermore, unlike the physical spheres of traditional bullying, cyberspace lacks the strict supervision of parents and teachers that may be present to some extent in real-world peer interactions.

Although popular media and tragic incidents have exposed the dangers and various issues related to adolescent interaction with the World Wide Web, the popularity of this technological communication medium continues to grow without adequate safety measures in place. Students face cyberstalking and public abuse that exerts negative psychological effects on their mental health (Tokunaga, 2010).

The discussion of cyberbullying is becoming ever more relevant as a significant portion of peer social interaction is transitioning online, hosted by various social media platforms. Schools lack online authority over children, highlighting the importance of anti-bullying strategies that will encourage positive behavior and establish social foundations in lieu of disciplinary punishment that cannot be enforced outside school hours.

Example of Bullying

Those affected by bullying are usually members of a group that is marginalized by some unique characteristic that makes them stand out. This will be analyzed more deeply later in the report, but it is vital to describe an example of the bullying process in a commonly affected group. As bullying is generating headlines with anecdotal evidence of extreme abuse and subsequent consequences, the negative impact on self-worth is growing, a reflection of humiliating experiences and students feeling unsafe.

One marginalized group, highly vulnerable to bullying, includes students with learning disabilities and autism, who have particular needs that peers, teachers, and communities should consider. Statistics indicate that 63% of victimized students are identified as having Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and are bullied more often than students with other disabilities (Espelage & Swearer, 2008).

The nature of ASD creates social difficulties for students, hindering their understanding of the emotions, intentions, social cues, and nonliteral speech of their peers. Researchers are unclear as to whether ASD students perceive bullying as others do. Nevertheless, observation dictates that ASD students do experience higher rates of this negative behavior. Their difficulties in social interaction and communication may also hinder youth with ASD from reporting incidents.

In addition, issues affecting abstract thought and generalization can cause ASD students to inadequately relate the victimization experience to concrete examples. For this population, bullying can take unconventional forms including a less direct form than that typically established among developing adolescents (Zweers, Scholte & Didden, 2017).

However, ASD can also exert a positive role in a bullying situation. Male students with ASD are more likely than regular children to avoid bullying or interfere when witnessing such behavior towards others. This is likely due to the values instilled by special education that explicitly support prosocial behavior. However, assuming the role of defender or outsider may alternatively result from role distributions based on social difficulties. ASD students who adopt these roles may struggle with understanding how to act in bullying situations. Furthermore, ASD students requiring special education tend to be victimized more commonly than those in regular classrooms.

Emotional dysregulation and a lack of social understanding by ASD adolescents can act as a catalyst for misinterpreting the behavior cues of their normally developing counterparts (Zweers et al., 2017). This creates the paradox that ASD students are more likely to stand out and be subject to bullying if they are in special education, yet despite the heterogeneity of unique needs and difficulties that the students demonstrate, special education provides necessary vital support.

Effects of Victimisation

Bullying can have a range of consequences for both the victim and the bully. This negative interaction with peers leads to both short- and long-term effects. A large body of research has demonstrated that both the perpetrator and the victim suffer from adjustment difficulties affecting academic or professional success and the ability to form healthy social relationships as well as leading to psychological issues.

Findings showed that bullies exhibited aggressive behaviors, tendencies towards violence, hyperactivity, and externalization, many of which characteristics lead to delinquency in later years. Meanwhile, those experiencing victimization displayed instances of illness, truancy, school avoidance, fear, and anxiety as well as suicidal tendencies in the short term. In the long term, these students demonstrated low self-esteem, depression, and anxiety that affected academic performance and quality of life. Both groups showed suicidal ideation, worrisome for parents and educators (Swearer et al., 2010).

It should be noted that although evidence supports these findings, the nature of some of the connections between the act of bullying, victimization, and psychosocial consequences are unclear as to whether they are causative, correlated, or reflective aspects of bullying.

Psycho-Social Foundations of Bullying

Bullying occurs within complex frameworks of social relationships that are affected by individual, environmental, and comparative defining traits. Each can be influenced by economic, cultural, and political factors. Settings that demonstrate increased risks of school bullying often share similar characteristics. In terms of institutional parameters, findings have been inconsistent in determining how class and school size, sociodemographic distribution, and social inequality may correlate to bullying rates.

Moreover, various perspectives view these social characteristics in differing ways. For example, while income inequality was shown to result in instances of bullying in one study, poverty levels represented by average familial income was not found to be directly associated with peer victimization (Azeredo, Rinaldi, de Moraes, Levy & Menezes, 2015). Therefore, it can be argued that the socioeconomic foundations for bullying are based not on the possession of certain characteristics but rather on a significant difference between population groups present within an institutional setting.

Morality and human understanding of social relationships are based on social, cultural, and collective perceptions constructed as a result of individual interpretation and interactions with peers. Shared social expectations inherently guide behavior and actions.

Childhood sociology maintains that children construct and actively participate in unique peer cultures that appropriate information and social norms from adults and reconstruct them within the context of their own reality and interaction. The identity that each person forms are part of a social process, not a fixed aspect, which is built through interpersonal interactions. Most commonly, individuals visualize themselves from the perspective of others and evaluate potential reactions to any actions (Thornberg & Jungert, 2013).

Therefore, social constructs and categories are formed as part of a collective process, creating each persons unique identity. Since research indicates that bullying affects victims that share a common characteristic of odd social constructs and identities  not fitting in  how this characteristic correlates with peer victimization should be examined in terms of how socially constructed differences are used to justify bullying.

Anecdotal evidence suggests that in peer victimization situations, bullies often regard their actions as ordinary and rational, claiming that they are targeting the victim as a violator of socially acceptable norms. This sort of decision-making and peer interaction can be identified as stigma and labeling, defining an individual based on a characteristic while producing a perspective guided by social opinion. Therefore, a label that identifies someone as abnormal essentially stigmatizes the individual as a violator of the socially accepted standards of a social or cultural group.

Stigma serves as the primary consequence of labeling, affecting the social relationships of the victim, and constructing the individuals social identity at school (Thornberg & Jungert, 2013). This phenomenon provides power and support for the bully, allowing atrocious actions to become more socially acceptable as the initial labeling of the victim is psychologically seen as the result of a transgression. The bully dominates the social identity of the victim, and the latters negative reputation is spread within peer circles. Even those not actively participating in bullying will tend to avoid socializing with victims. Meanwhile, stigmatized individuals are trapped in a vicious cycle that makes it all but impossible to improve their social situation.

The conflict inherent to bullying is that victimization is both a consequence of adjustment difficulties as well as their cause. Researchers have generally accepted this fact and have traced the direction of effect through longitudinal studies.

For example, students with low self-esteem are at an increased risk for bullying, but the victimization itself impacts self-esteem levels for the remainder of the academic year and the likelihood of maladjustment in consequent semesters (Fox & Boulton, 2006). Similar trends impact ASD students who experience bullying. Their psychological and educational differences place them at risk of bullying, but they can also experience significant setbacks as a result of aggressive behaviors.

An additional psychosocial explanation for bullying behaviors may be related to familial relationships. Although no direct correlation has been identified, participants in bullying may become juvenile offenders. Steinberg, Blatt-Eisengart, and Cauffman (2006) attempted to draw a relationship between patterns of relations with parents and the consequent characterization of social competence and adjustment.

The researchers results proved similar in both poor, minority groups and affluent, mostly white communities. Authoritative parental styles are associated with psychological maturity, academic competence, and the ability to maintain emotional stability, common to individuals who are less prone to problematic behaviors. Meanwhile, neglectful and indulgent parental styles have been shown to lead to troublesome behavior and immaturity (Steinberg et al., 2006). Although most students fall somewhere between the two extremes, this suggests that both parental influences and institutional strategies can be used to control bullying and promote competence and maturity.

Thus, the socio-ecological framework appears the most appropriate approach in identifying psycho-social foundations of bullying. Adolescent behavior is strongly influenced by individual characteristics that are constructed within the contexts of schools, communities, and institutions. Social influences affect behavioral development over the years as a number of systems such as families, peers, schools, culture, and communities establish pre-established beliefs, perceptions, and standards in the mind of a child.

While further research is necessary, the socio-ecological framework seems to offer the most holistic perspective on the issue. Behavioral change in children is based on situational process-oriented contexts (Swearer et al., 2010). Therefore, positive peer influences or supportive institutional climates can have a significantly beneficial impact on deterring bullying as well as employing adequate school strategies.

School Strategies

Schools that implement rules and regulations against bullying, adopt anti-bullying attitudes, and actively intervene against violence demonstrate lower rates of peer victimization. Commonly, anti-bullying efforts in educational institutions include comprehensive programs administered to the general school population. The primary objective of these is to spread awareness about the negative effects of bullying, identify bullying behaviors, and offer strategies for peers and instructors to prevent negative interactions (Azeredo et al., 2015).

Although such programs demonstrate improvements in bullying rates in general, the effectiveness of prevention efforts is not always successful or consistent. The following subsections will explore various approaches and strategies that schools can implement in pursuing anti-bullying efforts.

Recognizing and Addressing Gateway Behaviours

As discussed, bullying takes varied shapes and forms, many of which may not be evident or may not directly violate school policy. This is particularly true in the early stages of child development and evolving bullying situations, wherein these can be termed as gateway behaviors. In such cases, although school rules that prevent bullying are being obeyed, actions demonstrate tendencies of social maladjustment and repeated negativity or hostility. Often these behaviors, consisting of mean comments or teasing, are performed without fear of punishment. Formal discipline cannot be applied in such cases, nor would it be appropriate or realistic (Englander, 2017).

However, on a consistent basis, gateway behaviors can easily transition to violent bullying. It is the goal of educators and schools to respond to such behaviors in a manner that ensures civilized and socially acceptable interaction amongst peers.

It is important to offer guidance to students who are demonstrating gateway behaviors. This can be done both collectively through class discussions and individually in the form of a personalized approach. However, it is vital to avoid drawing attention to the target or the targets feelings in the discussion as well as to prevent the bully from shifting any responsibility to the victim. Instead, the approach should focus on emphasizing how such actions are toxic to the school and the community environment.

The primary lesson should highlight the impacts of socially cruel behaviors on the climate and relationships within the school, thus negatively affecting bullies themselves. It is critical that a bully should gain an understanding of the reasons why society and schools prohibit peer victimization as the outcome for both individuals and the broader community can be consequential (Englander, 2017). Although the gateway behavior approach does not rule out formal discipline, it offers a chance for early recognition and rehabilitation, particularly in younger students that may not benefit from strict punishment at first offense.

Fostering Positive Social Relationships and Peer Support

Interactionism implies that people behave in terms of collective action, fitting personal behaviors to match those of others. Bullying is a phenomenon based largely on fitting in; victimized children will desperately attempt to become accepted members of society to avoid the general situation in which misfits (those who express or communicate sentiments different from the societal status quo) are faced with exclusion or violence (Thornberg & Jungert, 2013).

Based on the socio-ecological model for bullying, research suggests that positive social relationships can offer significant benefits in terms of preventing bullying. For example, families can play a role in providing emotional support and helping individuals develop coping skills. With adequate training, parents can address concerns about bullying with children, communicating the consequences of this behavior, and becoming actively involved in a childs life (Bradshaw, 2015).

Meanwhile, schools can emphasize traditional methods of bullying prevention by introducing aspects such as Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning (SEAL), which promote teaching emotional and social skills to students. Behaviors such as respect for others (particularly marginalized groups), empathy, cooperation, and coping are some of the many positive attitudes that can be taught to improve collective cohesiveness and harmony (Rigby, 2017).

The primary factors that put children at risk for bullying are maladjustment and poor social skills. Lack of social competency results in traits such as submissiveness and non-assertiveness. In combination, social risk factors such as lack of friendship or acceptance by peers act as potential catalysts for bullying. While research has not established a direct correlation between the number of friends and rates of bullying, the quality of friendships and social identity of peers have been identified as factors. Friends are able to provide an extensive range of social support behaviors that prevent bullying or provide comfort for the victim after it occurs. In bullying scenarios, friends have been observed to assume a defenders role, using verbal and physical actions in an attempt to repel attack (Fox & Boulton, 2006).

Educational institutions have the ability to foster social groups  and potentially friendship  as a preventive measure for bullying. Both schools and parents can foster these friendships by offering group activities, play dates, participation in sports, and social interactions that will lead to cooperation. This strategy is particularly helpful in the early developmental years as primary school children are more open to social participation in activities necessary for forming close relationships (Bayer et al., 2018).

As a result, friendships formed in the early years are more likely to lead to healthy social relationships in the adolescent years when bullying becomes prevalent. Even when students are unable to maintain a friendship for an extended time, the experience of forming social relationships and cooperation will contribute to social adjustment and potentially lessen the risk of bullying.

Comprehensive Programs

School-wide anti-bullying programs have undergone a significant evolution as more information has become available regarding the psychology of bullying and decades of observation and experience have been systematically and competently integrated into school programs. The essential goals of an anti-bullying campaign are to increase awareness and prevent such behaviors through a combination of measures. These goals are best achieved by actively changing the school social environment, reducing opportunities for bullying, limiting the potential benefits of such behavior, and creating the sense of a tight-knit community for students and teachers.

One of the best-known approaches to school-wide bullying prevention is the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program (OBPP), based on four essential principles that adults in schools and homes should demonstrate. These include showing warmth and interest, establishing strict limits to negative behaviors, using consistent and non-hostile methods of punishment, and maintaining the role of authority and positive role models (Olweus & Limber, 2010). These principles are effectively implemented within specific interventions targeted at all levels ranging from the community and the school to individuals.

At the school level, the OBPP establishes a Bullying Prevention Coordinating Committee (BPCC) that implements staff training, evaluates levels of bullying in the institution, and develops tools to measure bullying rates and the effectiveness of interventions. The committee holds extensive authority, allowing the introduction of school policies, initiating staff meetings, and reforming the schools supervisory and disciplinary systems.

They can also modify the curriculum and implement student-based programs that introduce anti-bullying initiatives. Furthermore, the committee can establish partnerships at the community level to ensure similar values are emphasized at after-school events as well as address individual student concerns and bullying situations (Olweus & Limber, 2010). As a program, the OBPP has been developed on the principle that bullying should not be a common experience for youth.

Research indicates that bullying decreases exponentially with comprehensive, school-wide efforts that target every aspect of the institutions function while implementing anti-bullying measures. In order to reduce opportunities for bullying and increase rewards for building a strong community, significant effort is required on the part of staff and administrators. However, the cultural shift that emerges, as a result, provides long-term benefits for everyone (Olweus & Limber, 2010).

As discussed, bullying exerts prolonged social consequences for both bully and victim, impacting their well-being, health, and level of success. Therefore, favorable outcomes for school-wide programs can have a significant positive impact on society in terms of economic savings, public health, citizen satisfaction, and the general community consensus.

However, some comprehensive school-wide programs may suffer significant setbacks, failing to produce the desired effect. One limitation may be found in evidence-based support. Many interventions heavily rely on student questionnaires and self-reported measures that are potentially invalid and may represent unreliable indicators of bullying. The stigma surrounding bullying often leads to underreporting.

In addition, programs may not be developed properly under a focused and evidence-based theoretical framework to guide development, implementation, and evaluation. Another cause of failure is a lack of intervention aimed at the sociological and psychological causes of bullying, instead of introducing preventive or punitive measures. Finally, some programs are unable to reach students effectively, which can result from poor consideration of demographics, failing to incorporate radical factors such as race, disability, and sexual orientation into marginalized groups affected by bullying.

Also, programs aimed at the general population may fail to focus on the small group of students responsible for initiating bullying behaviors and who require prosocial behavior lessons (Swearer et al., 2010). These issues in school-wide programs should be considered and eliminated through a competent approach to program development. Comprehensive preparation and research can create a precedent to avoid such errors in the future.

School-wide programs should focus on influencing the school environment through a supportive response to victims. These children should be protected from harm at the same time the attempt is made to reduce the incidence of bullying. It is warranted to introduce secondary preventive efforts to increase competence and support from teachers and peers. As a result, victims will experience a favorable environment and be subject to less emotional distress (Juvonen, Schacter, Sainio & Salmivalli, 2016).

A primary objective of comprehensive programs, school administration, and government ministries should be to establish a safer learning environment for students, a vital characteristic for parents and students who see schooling as a necessary aspect of daily life and future development. Bullying poses a significant challenge to safety due to distorted social power dynamics. As a result, comprehensive school programs can address the issue through a multifaceted approach and reduce the occurrence of adverse incidents.

Public Health Approach

Research supports adopting the public health model as a recommended method to address bullying and behavioral issues amongst students. This three-tiered model is increasing in popularity in education, correctional facilities, and public health. In special education, the model is also known as the response-to-intervention framework. Following this approach, an intervention is introduced to the general population of a particular group or class.

If students do not respond to the tier 1 intervention, they progress to the next tier interventions, which are more intensive and targeted. While offering an entire range of psychological support, the process continues until symptoms or behavior patterns are resolved (Bradshaw, 2015). As mentioned, anti-bullying programs in schools that influence the educational environment, shift social norms, and introduce bystander pressure are universal in nature, aimed at the majority of students. Although potentially appropriate, this approach fails to target the participants in bullying, the perpetrator and the victim, individuals who may often be socially maladjusted or do not respond well to universal systems of support and intervention.

In a public health approach, next-tier intervention may introduce targeted means that focus on comprehensive social skills training, emotional regulation, and conflict resolution techniques. This is particularly beneficial for students at risk who may be involved in bullying. The final tier of intervention focuses on strong support programs and oversight for both bullies and victims who may demonstrate at-risk behavior for juvenile delinquency.

Such targeted interventions attempt to pinpoint mental and social health issues as part of preventive measures. If possible, the families of the children are involved, and a support system is created and tailored to the individual needs of students who exemplify negative bullying actions (Bradshaw, 2015). The three-tiered system should be developed into a coherent and intermittent framework that can be applied to various bullying situations and used to meet the correctional needs of youth that are not adequately responding to universal interventions.

Conclusion

School bullying is a systemic and relevant issue in modern-day education. This negative social phenomenon is growing and extending into new areas, such as cyberspace, and taking on new forms. Bullying can affect anyone, but certain groups, such as students with ASD, are marginalized and targeted due to their lack of social adaptivity. Psycho-social theories state that bullying is a complex issue, based on maladjustment and socio-ecological influences, and can be driven by a wide variety of factors.

Taking the available comprehensive research into account, schools should develop effective and multicomponent strategies to address bullying. Fostering positive social relationships and peer support through friendship can prevent incidents of bullying. Meanwhile, comprehensive programs and a public health approach are vital to introducing both institutional and individual-level interventions to deter peer victimization. In conclusion, the field requires extensive research on the long-term impacts of such strategies as well as their effectiveness on a large scale.

References

Azeredo, C. M., Rinaldi, A. E. M., de Moraes, C. L., Levy, R. B., & Menezes, P. R. (2015). School bullying: A systematic review of contextual-level risk factors in observational studies. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 22, 6576. Web.

Bayer, J. K., Mundy, L., Stokes, I., Hearps, S., Allen, N., & Patton, G. (2018). Bullying, mental health and friendship in Australian primary school children. Child and Adolescent Mental Health, 23(4), 334-340. Web.

Bradshaw, C. P. (2015). Translating research to practice in bullying prevention. American Psychologist, 70(4), 322332. Web.

Englander, E. K. (2017). Understanding bullying behavior: What educators should know and can do. American Educator, 40(4), 24-29. Web.

Espelage, D. L., & Swearer, S. M. (2008). Current perspectives on linking school bullying research to effective prevention strategies. School Violence and Primary Prevention, 11, 335-353.

Fox, C. L., & Boulton, M. J. (2006). Friendship as a moderator of the relationship between social skills problems and peer victimisation. Aggressive Behavior, 32(2), 110121. Web.

Juvonen, J., Schacter, H. L., Sainio, M., & Salmivalli, C. (2016). Can a school-wide bullying prevention program improve the plight of victims? Evidence for risk × intervention effects. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 84(4), 334344. Web.

Olweus, D., & Limber, S. P. (2010). Bullying in school: Evaluation and dissemination of the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 80(1), 124134. Web.

Rigby, K. (2017). School perspectives on bullying and preventative strategies: An exploratory study. Australian Journal of Education, 61(1), 2439. Web.

Steinberg, L., Blatt-Eisengart, I., & Cauffman, E. (2006). Patterns of competence and adjustment among adolescents from authoritative, authoritarian, indulgent, an

Introduction

Reading exercises are unanimously believed to be one of the most important tasks required in ESL classes. It enhances the vocabulary power of the students as well as improves the ability to write and enhances general language competence. Teaching literature to ESL students has been a topic of debate over the last decade. Some believe that even though there is a hazard of introducing literature to second language English students, it helps in the expansion of the linguistic knowledge of the students.

Most importantly, it helps to bridge the cultural gap present between non-English speaking students and the English speaking culture. However, using literary works for classroom teaching for ESL students may be disadvantageous as some of the topics discussed in such books/stories are controversial and students may feel uncomfortable discussing them in the classroom (Obeidat 37). Due to the difference in the cultures of the students native country and that of the English speaking world, there arise problems of identifying with certain social norms mentioned in the text which are unfamiliar to the students and at times difficult to accept. As social norms different between nations and the degree of social acceptance also differ greatly, it becomes imperative for many to accept the customs presented in the books and openly accepting them.

The increased inclusion of literature in the curriculum of ESL students has shown that the inclusion of traditional texts into the curriculum has lead to the belief that the syllabus should be heavily drawn on the authentic stories that provide motivational insights and facilitates learning the language which is essentially important for L2 learning. It is believed that teaching literature to second language English students fosters the development of the students intercultural ability and hence, helps increase acceptance of the cultural discourses through language. Thus, it helps in nurturing an understanding of other cultures as well as cultivating the intellectual ability of the students (Ghosn 172). As students are introduced to different cultural norms, societies, and social mores, they develop greater acceptance for foreign cultures. They do not feel alienated from a custom that is not prevalent in their society, which increases their acceptance power. Hence, the students learn to adjust to other cultures through their study of the literature.

Many scholars have forwarded arguments against teaching of literature to ESL students. The argument against the use of literature mostly rests on the complex structure of the texts (Traore and Kyei-Blankson 561). Most commonly, critics believe such literature is difficult to understand. There are other disadvantages to the use of English literary works. Some topics and concepts utilized may be controversial, and students may feel uneasy and hostile to discuss them (Obeidat 37). Hence, it has been acknowledged that educators have to be careful when using literary works, as they have to take into account the diversity of their classes (Vandrick 253). Hence, many believe that literature is ineffective in teaching grammar and syntax in ESL classes.

Many scholars have either argued for or against the use of literature in ESL programs. Arguments forwarded against its use include the fact that the language used in the literature is structurally complex, conceptually difficult to understand, and is unique to a particular culture or authentic situation, therefore does not support the goals of teaching grammar in a language classroom and helping students meet their academic and occupational needs. (Traore and Kyei-Blankson 561)

The present research aims at understanding the effect of inclusion of detective stories in the curriculum, which is believed to be less complex and exceedingly interesting for intermediate level ESL students. The study will focus on the use of detective stories of the twentieth century, such as short stories by Conan Doyle in ESL classes. The research will try to understand the effectiveness of using detective stories as a curriculum in the ESL classes. The present paper will evaluate the use of these texts that will be applicable to various levels and groups. My working argument of this research can be formulated as follows: Detective stories of the 20^th and 21^st centuries can develop the English language skills of ESL students.

The research employs a qualitative research methodology to garner support for the argument presented. The first part of the paper will demonstrate the literature review of literary works that will show the background on the work done on this area and the effectiveness of the use of literature and more specifically detective stories in ESL curriculum. The research will employ grounded theory that uses data collection will be employed to identify major features of the literary texts that should be used in language classes with intermediate and upper-intermediate ESL students. The paper poses special attention to the benefits (and disadvantages if any) of the use of detective stories (written by renowned writers in the twentieth century) in ESL classes. Literature introduces the students to various cultural facets of the English speaking countries. The present research aimed at understanding the acceptability of ESL students of literature and the kind of literature they were comfortable to appreciate.

An experiment was designed where two groups of students were given two different kinds of stories  first a short story by OHenry and the second a detective story by Conan Doyle. Our research has shown that students could easily understand the detective stories and identify with it as opposed to the other literary text. The reason being they found reading the detective story more enjoyable, which helped them to understand the stories increasing the degree of comprehension. Second language students find it difficult to identify with the other stories they read, as they are more inclined towards the social drama of western life they find alienating. The advantage of detective stories is that they do not stress strongly on the political, social norms of the western world but on the particular crime that is talked about. They use simple language and literary tropes to structure their stories, which are easily understood by students new to the language.

Apart from the literature review, the paper will present a clear understanding of the effectiveness of using detective stories in TESOL training classes in which I participated at the CELTA Centre in New York City. As a part of their training program, all participants have to take up mandatory teaching session and try to understand how ESL students adapt to reading and comprehending detective stories and if it facilities in their learning experience. As part of the program, the participants are required to teach a class of 12 to 13 students. I introduced the students to a set of texts written by Arthur Conan Doyle and assigned it to several groups of ESL learners. When the project terminated, the students were asked to complete questionnaires where they reflected on the use of literary works. The questionnaires were prepared based on the grounded theory that helps to motivate students thinking and analyse students perceptions, evaluations, and concerns.

This research paper is divided into three sections. The first is the literature review that will help us to understand the state and nature of previous scholarly works on the effectiveness of the use of literature in an ESL class. The methodology section will delineate the process adopted for the research, how the data is collected, and the way it will be analysed. The analysis is done in the final section where the paper discusses how literature, especially detective stories, can help in improving the knowledge of English of ESL students.

Literature Review

The literature review reviews literature that shows how literature is an essential and helpful tool for teaching a language. Further, the discussion of previous scholarly works has shown that literature is an essential tool to demonstrate the cultural, social, and linguistic pattern of a language to the students. The review is furthered through a discussion of some literature being taught to comprehend for second language English learners and hence the importance of choosing the right kind of literature to be taught in class. This discussion leads to the importance of detective stories which are believed to be easy and simple to understand, can become a vehicle for teaching language to ESL students.

According to researchers, language acquisition is a process of gradual acclimatization with the process of building vocabulary gathered through communication and reading and the ability to use the language (Li 56). Li points out that perceptive understanding of the language is essential to facilitate successful learning.

The teacher is responsible for providing the understandable language (comprehensible input), along with whatever supports are necessary for the students to understand the message. Using approaches and materials that add content to the language such as props, gestures, and pictures, all contribute to the students acquisition and eventual verbal production of language (Li 56).

Hence, usage of props for educating the students is believed to be an essential method for enhancing the pedagogical skills of the second language English learners.

Recent research has shown that various methods of creating interactive conceptualizations while reading a story in the classroom that can enhance the grammatical learning of a language (Ripley and Blair 209). The intent to teach literature in class is to make the students aware of the text and narration structure. The process of reading and conceptualizing a story is a mutual interaction of ideas between the reader and the text (Harris 203). Some believe that the combined teaching method of reading and writing helps in enhancing grammar understanding in students to a greater extent than the grammar drills taught in ESL classes (Fox 73). Teaching English through the study of literature helps bridge the gap that ESL students face in terms of narrative English and the basic language learned in ESL intermediate classes.

As acquiring vocabulary is an essential step in the learning process of a language, it is essential to understand that the vocabulary can be most successfully built through studying and reading of literature (Fox 73). Previous researches have shown that there is a tendency among second language English teachers to put greater stress on teaching language and grammar to students. They even use simplified reading material to enhance the vocabulary skill, which Fox believes, only partially helps the students (71). They acquire a very basic understanding of the English language that does not help them in understanding the essentials of the language. A gap remains in the simplified English taught to the students and the more sophisticated language used in literature and books. Hence, the simplified teaching of English to the second language students leaves them ill-equipped to handle the intrinsic sophistication required for using the language competently.

A recent study has shown that the background of the reader has a strong influence on the comprehension of a text by the reader. In other words, prior knowledge present in the mind of the reader, created through previous discourses, helps them to understand the text based on the schemata present in their mind (Mihara 52).

Literature for Teaching English

The use of literature entails discussion and reflection on various topics revealed in the texts. Literature used for teaching ESL students and more specifically teaching English has been discussed widely in the scholarly literature. Literature is believed to be essential in teaching English to an ESL class because of four reasons: authentic material, enhancement of cultural knowledge, language improvement, and personal association (His’manoglu 54). Literature taught in class are the source of demonstration of the culture and society of the English speaking country. They present the linguistic and narrative style that can help students to learn to write intuitively. American and British literature has been used to teach non-English speaking students for more than a century; however, the advent of the twentieth century saw a rejection by academicians of literature as a tool for teaching English in foreign countries. The reason is believed to be the inadequacies found in the traditional teaching methods. Thus, literature has lost its primacy as a language-teaching tool globally, and few believe that the use of English literature as a teaching tool has declined considerably (Gilroy-Scott 1).

Less attention is given to teaching literature in the early intermediate level, with greater concentration on teaching language skills and mainly reading, writing, and speaking (Dalmau, Fernández and Bobkina 218). In many countries like Spain, there is any uncertainty regarding the use of literature in the curriculum of foreign language courses (Dalmau et al. 219). The importance of literature in teaching languages to ESL students, as pointed by Dalmau et al. are of five perspectives  cultural heritage, language skills, personal growth, fundamental, and critical literary perspective (220-221). Literature is the storehouse of culture, linguistic and narrative style, grammar, literary styles, and individual personality. ESL students get to learn about these perspectives when they study literature. These points are discussed in detail in the later section. The main aim of teaching English to second language learners is that they can learn to speak, read, write, and understand the language as well as acclimatise them with the cultural mores of the English speaking world.

A literary piece is not an end in itself, but the means of beginning a creative process in the minds and emotions of the students. Placing themselves in that particular literary world, students relate imaginary contexts with real-life situations, feeling the power and possibility of contributing positively to a larger world than just their own. (Dalmau et al. 235)

Literature targeted for young adults is believed to be a rich source for teaching advanced ESL students in classrooms (Wu 2). Young adult literature is believed to be a rich source for teaching language development, diction, sentence structures, and writing narratives (Wu 1). Wu (1) also points out that studying this literature enhances the cultural understanding of the students, especially for immigrant students who face a cultural difference. He points out that young adult literature deal with stories that relate to self-discovery, growth, and development of the characters, which are non-complicated and ESL students can easily associate with them. The subjects that are usually dealt with in young adult literature are related to growing up, coming of age, relationships, and self-discovery (Wu 1).

The most important reason for easy understanding and acceptance of such literature by the students as they use contemporary language, and following linear storylines (Wu 1). As the stories are easy to read and follow a linear structure, are easy to understand, help the ESL students to grasp the content of the stories easily. As the understanding of the narration is easy, they associate with the stories and understand the stories of the young adult literature. The benefit of using young adult literature in teaching ESL students lies in their acceptability of the content and grasping of the language and grammatical structure of the language. Easy understanding of the literature helps in the development of the language skills of the students and helps them to ascertain the way they can use the language.

A study conducted by Mokharti and Sheorey (2) shows how the reading strategies and cognition of ESL students are for academic and textual literature. The study used the Survey of Reading Strategies (SORS) measure to understand the metacognitive awareness of the adolescent ESL students in reading academic material and texts. Their sample for the research was the ESL students from high school and colleges to provide recommendations in the development of reading curriculum for the ESL students based on their findings of the reading cognition of the ESL students. One of the most prevalent impediments for second language English learners is reading of the text, and researchers believe the language proficiency of the students may be gauged through their ability to read a text fluently (Mokharti and Sheorey 3). Reading becomes an integral part of the learning strategy for second language English learners as it helps to enhance their reading comprehension. Reading of literature is an important part of ESL learning, as it is believed that it enhances the proficiency of the students to grasp the language.

A review of literature conducted by Mokharti and Sheorey (3) points out that in the recent years there was a considerable increase in the proficiency of skilled ESL readers and the researches have successfully helped the L1 and L2 learners and teachers to helps students become strategic readers. Strategic readers imply students who have metacognitive awareness or metacognitive control-that is, planning and consciously executing appropriate actions to achieve a particular goal-to be a critical element of proficient, strategic reading (Mokharti and Sheorey 3). Metacognitive reading implies understanding of ones understanding of the text. Their research indicates that the students ability to read is directly related to the awareness and use of reading strategies of academic materials than the ones who have a higher ability to read (Mokharti and Sheorey 6). This study helps us to ascertain that the ESL students who usually have a lower ability to read should be taught by the teachers to become active readers. This study indicates the importance of effective reading required for learning. The importance is to learn to what extent the students can comprehend the material to them.

Another research into the reading skills development of ESL students conducted by Grabe (375) demonstrates that the interactive approaches in reading skill development for L1 and L2 students require a higher level and degree of reading capability that the prevalent ESL pedagogy equips them with. The researches of the reading ability of the ESL students demonstrate that the ESL students reading abilities have considerably developed when they have concentrated on reading literature (Grabe 378). Reading of literature is therefore found to be an essential part of teaching English to ESL students. The ability to read fluently has been defined by Grabe as follows.

Research has argued that fluent reading is rapid; the reader needs to maintain the flow of information at a sufficient rate to make connections and inferences vital to comprehension. Reading is purposeful; the reader has a purpose for reading, whether it is for entertainment, information, research, and so on. Reading for a purpose provides motivationan important aspect of being a good reader. Reading is interactive; the reader makes use of information from his/her background knowledge as well as information from the printed page. Reading is also interactive in the sense that many skills work together simultaneously in the process. Reading is comprehending; the reader typically expects to understand what s/he is reading.

Unlike many ESL students, the fluent reader does not begin to read, wondering whether or not s/he will understand the text. Reading is flexible; the reader employs a range of strategies to read efficiently. These strategies include adjusting the reading speed, skimming ahead, considering titles, headings, pictures and text structure information, anticipating information to come, and so on. Finally, reading develops gradually; the reader does not become fluent suddenly, or immediately following a reading development course. Rather, fluent reading is the product of long-term effort and gradual improvement. (378-9)

The general description of fluent reading, therefore, presents that the ESL students must be able to read any form of material without any metacognitive difficulty and comprehend the meaning of the text through contextualization and not necessarily with the aid of a dictionary.

Given the importance of reading established by researchers, the other important factor that emerges is the content of the reading text that is used for ESL students. Research shows that ESL students when they are given a known format with organized structure find it easier to understand and comprehend the text (P. L. Carrell 461). The study conducted shows that ESL students more easily adapt and understand the texts with material that are well structures and less non-linear with content that they can easily relate to.

The overall finding of this study seems to be that when both content and rhetorical form are factors in ESL reading comprehension, content is generally more important than form. When both form and content are familiar, the reading is relatively easy; when both form and content are unfamiliar, the reading is relatively difficult. When either form or content is unfamiliar, unfamiliar content poses more difficulties for the reader than an unfamiliar form. However, perhaps not too surprisingly, the rhetorical form is a significant factor, more important than content, in the comprehension of the top-level episodic structure of a text and the comprehension of event sequences and temporal relationships among events. In other words, each componentcontent and formplays a significant, but different, role in the comprehension of text. (P. L. Carrell 467)

Reading a text becomes easier when the readers are familiar with the content of the text and can easily identify with it. Familiar content eases the difficulty of reading, thereby helping students to learn English.

Block (463) studied the ESL students who had failed the college reading test and were the essential targets of the college reading programs. The study showed that the students who failed the reading proficiency test lacked the comprehending skills that were automatically found in proficient readers. Thus, their aim was more inclined towards solving the problems as they went on reading the text. The research aimed to understand the description of the comprehension strategies used by ESL students who failed the proficiency test. The research found out that various patters indicated the capacity of the reader, which were integrated, depended on the text structure, use of personal experiences in the text, and response to extensive mode (Block 482). In other words, the study implied that the second language English speakers belonging to different ethnic background employed a different strategy to comprehend and read a text. For instance, a Chinese English learner will employ a different set of strategies to read and understand the text as compared to a Spanish learner:

This suggests that strategy use is a stable phenomenon, which is not tied to specific language features. In this way, learning to read in a second language may differ from learning to read in a first. When people first learn to read, they must learn how to read the language in print and the appropriate strategies to use for comprehension. When people learn to read in a second language, they need only be concerned with understanding specific language features in print. (Block 484-485)

Thus, reading is a process of continuous construction wherein the reader is responsible for the construction of the active participant. Active reading enables the students to read and interpret the text the way ascertain its meaning. Thus, the reading ability of the students and comprehension power of the students determines their ability to learn and use the language (Block 485).

Similarly, some researchers have concentrated on determining the pedagogy for the ESL reading development but with the aid of schema theory. Carrell and Eisterhold (553) studied the importance of the background knowledge of the readers about the content of the text that helps in understanding and comprehension of the text. According to them, reading and comprehension process involves the knowledge of the readers of the content of the text and their worldly knowledge with which they can relate the text. The underlying assumption of the researchers was that the perceived meaning is often embedded in the utterance or text which has a separate and independent existence different from the speaker or the writer of the text (Carrell and Eisterhold 554). The researchers use schema theory, which is based on the belief that the text itself does not carry any meaning. It is the readers who interpret the text and attach the perceived meaning to it: According to schema theory, comprehending a text is an interactive process between the readers background knowledge and the text (Carrell and Eisterhold 556).

The aim of the text chosen for teaching an ESL class is to choose a text that will minimize the cultural conflicts and interference and to maximize the ability of the readers to comprehend it (566). The aim of the teachers should be to avoid narrow reading and allowing the students to adjust to one author, one style of writing, and one structural type. They point out that the reading assignments given to ESL students are usually short and varied selections, which does not allow the readers to adjust to the writers style. On the contrary, when students are given a single author and a single text to read, they find it easier to comprehend. Thus, repetition helps in increasing the comprehensibility of the text: The significant advantage from the schema-theoretic point of view is that schemata are repeatedly accessed and further expanded and refined, resulting in increased comprehension (Carrell and Eisterhold 567). Hence, the researchers point out that the goal of the intermediate ESL teachers should be to develop readers who can read not only from the texts assigned to them but also from the general English literature available elsewhere.

What makes the classroom activities and other techniques we have described valid is their applicability to the real world beyond the EFL/ESL reading classroom. Every culture-specific interference problem dealt with in the classroom presents an opportunity to build new culture-specific schemata that will be available to the EFL/ESL student outside the classroom. Also, however, and possibly, more importantly, the process of identifying and dealing with cultural interference in reading should make our EFL/ESL students more sensitive to such interference when they read on their own. By using the classroom activities and techniques we have described, our EFL/ESL readers should become more aware that reading is a highly interactive process between themselves and their prior background knowledge, on the one hand, and the text itself, on the other. (Carrell and Eisterhold 569)

Authentic source

According to Lazer (5), literature is the authentic source for demonstrating the linguistic rules and norms to the students, as it is the storehouse of all the linguistic-related laws necessary for the construction of the language. When reading a text, students come across various grammar and lexical units that have been taught.

Moreover, the use of literary works enhances students knowledge and language skills, and it is one of the most effective tools in ESL teaching (Ernst-Slavit, Moore and Maloney 118). Students have an opportunity to explore ways specific rules employed by writers. For instance, while reading Virginia Woolf or James Joyce, the use of stream of consciousness if effectively employed by both the authors in their work. A student unfamiliar with their work will remain perplexed at the text structure. However, a story written in simple language may follow a linear narration style, which is easily understandable. Literature helps students grasp various facets of the language and grammatical structure through the usages shown in the text. Students vocabulary is improved through the reading of the texts and the linguistic styles help in developing their knowledge of the language.

Furthermore, reading literary texts expands students vocabulary and enables them to develop linguistic confidence (Arthur 199). Again, when discussing texts (and/or trying to solve the case), students employ lexical as well as grammar units and can practice speaking skills as well. Notably, the use of literary texts may help develop reading, speaking, as well as writing skills. It is necessary to note that intermediate and upper-intermediate students can work with universal texts (Grellet 97). Hence, educators have to choose authentic but manageable texts to work with.

As literature is an authentic mode of input of the language, it provides information to the reader that may be both personal and relevant to him (Ghosn 173). Authenticity is essential in teaching English and is extensively envisaged in drama and novels (Khatib, Rezaei and Derakhshan 202). Hi_manolu points out, In a classroom context, learners are exposed to actual language samples of real-life/ real-life-like settings. Literature can act as a beneficial complement to such materials, particularly when the first survival level has been passed (54).

Cultural knowledge

Literature is the vehicle for teaching cultural diversity and creates intercultural awareness among students (Van 3). In a global world, when people of other culture are learning English, it is important to gain cultural insight into the life of the English-speaking world. Literature provides the window through which students can look into the life of other people. It helps to enhance verbal and non-verbal communication norms and facilitate communication style: This colourful created world can quickly help the foreign learner to feel for the codes and preoccupations that shape a real society through visual literacy of semiotics (Hi_manolu 54). The gestures and antics described in the books allow the students to gain an understanding of the non-verbal communication that is prevalent in the English speaking society, thus, training them to adapt to the etiquettes of the western world.

Marshall (331-338) studied the influence English literature from the west has on the Latin American society, which has a distinct cultural difference with the west. He points out that the distinct differences in the social and familial structure of the two cultures create a divide in the mind of the ESL students belonging to the Latin American culture who feel alienated from the descriptions of nature, society, families described in the literary texts:

Perhaps the fascinating meeting ground of English literary text and Latin mind is in the English literature, which makes conscious use of classical or Mediterranean material. Byrons facetious lines on sexual behaviour in sunny climates, Miltons and Spensers descriptions of paradise and the Garden of Adonis, Shakespeares Italian settingsall remind us that the cultural communication is one of mutual fascination and great complexity through history. (Marshall 337)

The definite divide in the understanding of the classical literary texts, the ESL students have to adapt themselves with the social customs of the time in England or Europe to adjust their understanding with that of the other world, which they are not aware. Hence, Marshall points out that the literature professors obligation is to know the several available avenues to understand and, explaining the landmarks and sketching in unfamiliar features, to take the nearest way (338). Thus, the teacher is responsible for teaching not only the language to the students but also the social-cultural landscape of the English speaking society to the students. Hence, when this assignment is presented to the students, they can create a different aspect of the story in their own

Introduction

The food industry is a multifaceted, worldwide collective industry composed of different enterprises which together supply food products that are used by the global population. Only the individuals who thrive on the food they grow (subsistence farmers) cannot be considered within the scope of todays food industry. From the initial stage to the final stage, the food industry includes the following; regulation, education, financial services, research and development, agriculture, food processing, marketing, wholesale and food distribution, retailing and consumers. Food industries are grouped into two; perishable and non-perishable food industries. Perishable food is food that can spoil, perish or decay easily while non-perishable food is commodities that do not perish or decay rapidly. This paper will examine how economic, safety, legal and social responsibility, and how quality control systems can be utilized to achieve the company goals.

Perishable food industry

Therefore, perishable foods need special handling and refrigeration. All frozen and fresh food products can spoil easily and are subject to quick declension or deterioration when inappropriately stored. They need appropriate temperatures, air circulation, controlled humidity and special handling by ensuring the storage area is clean and sanitary. Thus, failure to sustain any of the above conditions will lead to quick spoilage and ultimate loss. In perishable food industries, most spoilage in frozen and fresh food products is as a result of fungi and bacteria, and they spread easily from the spoiled to the fresh food products.

The perishable food industry has been facing a lot of pressure regarding food safety improvement, quality management and application of effective risk management. Individual parties within the perishable food supply chain should create proper strategic and functional modifications, increase commodity quality and raise functional effectiveness and profits (Wang & Brien, 2009, par. 1). The pressure within the industry is due to quality failures which have been witnessed in different perishable food industries.

Safety responsibility

Food-tracing systems are significant for food safety and quality control. The systems assist perishable food industries to differentiate the source and degree of quality or safety-control predicaments. The more accurate the systems, the quicker a generator can recognize and correct food quality or safety predicaments. Thus, the industries have a motivation to devote in the systems since they assist in reducing the distribution and production of poor quality and unsafe commodities, which as a result reduces the probability for recalls, bad publicity and liability. In addition, the systems could assist in tracing commodity distribution and aim recall actions, hence limiting the level of destruction and liability (Rasco & Bledsoe, 2005, p. 355).

Managing perishable products pose an essential challenge within the supply chain surrounding. Green vegetables, dairy products, fruits, food stuffs and other perishable products are products of daily human consumption. The above items have a limited operational lifetime, and they go through several hands during their motion from initial stage to final stage. Food processing encompasses some of the food chain issues. Food processing refers to the techniques utilized to change raw materials in food or products that can be consumed by human being. Perishable food processing takes hygienic, slaughtered or harvested elements and utilizes them to generate vendable food commodities. There are several dissimilar methods of producing perishable food. These methods include; one off production, batch production, mass production and just-in-time production (Rasco & Bledsoe, 2005, p. 357).

When the advantages of accurate traceability for food or product quality and safety control are bigger, the larger the possibility and quality failures or cost of safety are detected. Where the possibility and cost of quality failure are great, manufacturers have large monetary bonuses in order to minimize the amount of the measure recalls mass and to follow a more accurate traceability approach. The possibilities of failures vary among perishable food industries due to concept that some products are more perishable and vulnerable to contamination or pollution than others. In addition, the cost of quality or safety breaches differs because the worth of foods and the worth of the reputation of the industries vary. For high-worth commodities, remember costs in every product are greater than for low-worth items. For industries with important reputes, the recall costs or quality breaches are greater than for industries with fewer reputations (Rasco & Bledsoe, 2005, p. 357).

If the perishable food industries could eradicate safety predicaments by use of simple measures or inexpensive examination, the marginal advantages of traceability approach for supervising safety could be small. For instance, a company can utilize a chemical on incoming product which can eliminate the risk of microorganism contamination completely. As a result, there could be less value in a system of traceability to recognize the generators of the items containing high amount of micro-organism contamination. Similarly, if quality and safety predicaments are unlikely to come up in a particular area of the supply or production chain, there is less worth in developing traceability approach for that area or stretch. Traceability system could also assist industries to determine the degree of their loss or liability in food safety failure cases and possible change liability into others within the supply chain. If an industry could produce documents to show that the identified safety failure or malfunction did not happen in its firm, then it might be in a position to protect itself from negative effects or liability (Rasco & Bledsoe, 2005, p. 358).

In spite of the significant role traceability systems play its just one component of the entire quality/safety of the perishable food industry control systems and are planned to strengthen and accomplish the other components of the quality system. Traceability systems themselves do not generate high-quality or safer commodities or measure the liability. They offer appropriate information on whether control points within the supply or production chain are functioning appropriately or not. The precision, depth and breadth of the system for quality and safety inevitably mirror the critical control points within the entire system of safety/quality. In addition, they differ consistently across firms and with time based on quality and safety inventions and technologies (Rasco & Bledsoe, 2005, p. 358).

Economic responsibility

Economic responsibilities of a firm or industry indicate the capitalization of the values of the industry. Economically, firms are supposed to capitalize the earnings of their shareholders. This is achieved through the generation of goods and services which are on high demand in the market niche. In order for a company to achieve its goals, all the economic responsibilities must be implemented effectively. A company has economic initiatives to its customers, investors and employees. The four basic economic responsibilities include; profitability, transparency, non-discrimination and sustainability (Spice Mentor, 2008, par. 1).

A company or an organization makes profit when it trades commodities or services which are more significant than the raw materials and labour force it utilized to create them. Simply, any company makes profit through adding value to a product. Therefore, adding value and making profit fulfils the goals of all the direct stakeholders of a company. In addition, the company generates commodities or services which are important to clients. Moreover, the company utilizes profits to acknowledge investors and pay its workers (Spice Mentor, 2008, par. 2).

Secondly, a company is able to achieve its goal if it serves with transparency; where it offers as much data as realistic or practical concerning its operations. Similarly, an organization permits direct stakeholders to clearly view its financial positions, practices and strategies. Therefore, transparency benefits the direct stakeholders of a company. In addition, transparency caters for the interests of investors by providing them with data which they require to assess the probable rewards and risks of investing within the organization. Moreover, transparency allows workers and clients to view the manner in which a company is run. The company could create informed decisions regarding how it uses its finances, where they use the money and where they work (Spice Mentor, 2008, par. 3).

Thirdly, a company can achieve its goals by being non-discriminatory. In an economic viewpoint, non-discrimination does not mean the deficiency of unfairness against cultural, racial or gender groups. It refers to a company implement the same monetary method to all its clients, workers and suppliers. Thus, direct stakeholders gain from the aspect of non-discrimination since the organization make decisions concerning the merit of finances instead of the preferences and deficiencies of decision makers (Spice Mentor, 2008, par. 4).

Finally, sustainability as an economic responsibility could assist a company achieves its goals if implemented appropriately. Companies make sure that sustainability of their operations by advancing or developing the procedures of the business and establishing long-lasting, secure associations with clients and suppliers. In addition, the investors, clients and workers of a company are referred to as direct stakeholders since they possess an interest in the future of the organization. Therefore, direct stakeholder gain from the business sustainability because when a company has a safe prospect, investors persist to earn dividends, and employees persist to receive pay checks while client continues to purchase the commodities and services of the company (Spice Mentor, 2008, par. 3).

Therefore, if a company lowers its food quality and safety, it will not be in a position to make more profits as compared to higher quality. In addition, when food quality is compromised, customers, investors are likely to withdraw; thus, the food company fails to sustain its production and distribution.

Social responsibility

Social responsibility in the business sector refers to the ethical theory which a firm has a role to the community at large. Social responsibilities mark the beliefs and values of the community regarding a certain company. Thus, companies should observe ethical measures when operating in order to achieve its goals. For instance, its not ethical for a perishable food company to sell stale food to its customers. In addition, since perishable foods are daily products which customers depend on, the companies should regulate their prices rather than exploiting their customers. As a result, the industries will be in a position to create more profit and attract more customers (Zain, 2008, par. 4-5).

Similarly, in order for a company to fulfil its goals, proper overtime remuneration should be given for long or unofficial hours. Thus, ethical or social roles are invalidates within the legal scheme and permit industries or companies to function with humanitarian measures and values in mind (Zain, 2008, par. 6).

Social responsibilities requires companies to view beyond documents and figures and instead to perceive at individuals and the surrounding. By adopting beliefs and values of particular moral measures as one of the success of the company, is very significant since it will help the company attract customers within its locality because of respecting their values and beliefs. Therefore, the social responsibility can form a constructive rapport between the company and individuals who are privy to its functions. These parties include; workers, investors, suppliers, surrounding community and clientele (Zain, 2008, par. 8).Therefore, if the quality of food in a perishable food industry is affected, customers within its locality will withdraw from purchasing food from the company. As a result, economic wise,

Quality control system

Controllable factors which impact on finished goods either negatively or positively are called quality control system. Quality is the characteristic which make a product what it is and the level of superiority or excellence in that product. The utilization of sound and good raw substance is of great significance in the accomplishment of the needed end commodity of consistent quality. Recognition of the main critical control areas or points is important because the procedure control associates to main processing outcomes of the raw substance (Strugnell, 1992, p. 17). Conventional quality control method is fully incapable of eradicating quality predicaments. Hence a prophylactic plan grounded on exhaustive evaluation of persisting status which makes sure that quality assurance programme goals are achieved is advocated for the perishable food companies. The Total Quality Management (TQM) and Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) encompasses these needs as authorized under the International Standard Organization (ISO) 9000 series (Amankwa, 1999, par. 1).

Total quality management

This refers to a management philosophy which seeks to incorporate all organizational roles to center on fulfilling the requirements of the clients and goals of the organization. TQM authorizes the entire company starting from the workers to the managers, with the initiatives of making sure quality is achieved in their relevant services and commodities, and proper management of the procedures via the suitable procedure advancement channels. Thus, TQM aims at recognizing the root source of every problem and to preclude it from getting into the final commodity. Utilizing an elementary iterative procedure, TQM strengthens quality assurance to achieve alterations in services and commodities by way of advanced efficiency of their functional procedures. This philosophy is mostly a people-dependent procedure. Thus, in order to obtain the entire benefit of TQM, individuals in any company ought to be synergized. Therefore, companies are supposed to sustain an organization-wide plan which delegates roles or functions to every worker for the excellence of their task and the task of their group (Padhi, 2010, par. 2).

In order for an organization to implement TQM successfully, it should focus on the following elements; ethics, integrity, trust, training, teamwork, leadership, recognition and communication. These eight components of TQM can be categorized into four based on their functions; foundation (ethics, trust and integrity), building bricks (training, leadership and teamwork), binding mortar (communication) and roof (recognition).

TQM is constructed on a basis of trust, ethics and integrity. It promotes honesty, justice and openness and permits engagement by everyone. Foundation is the main key to open the crucial potential or capacity of TQM. Ethics refers to the field pertained with bad and good circumstance. It is a two-directed discipline represented by personal and organizational ethics. Ethics of the company develop an enterprise code of ethics which highlights the instructions which all workers are to follow when conducting their work. Personal ethics involves individual wrongs or rights. Secondly, integrity in TQM refers to justice, honesty, values, morals and obedience to sincerity and facts. The feature is what clients anticipate and deserve to get. Individuals perceive the opposite of unity as fraudulence or duplicity. TQM cannot perform in an environment of duplicity. Trust in a business is a by-product of ethical conduct and integrity. Without trust, the TQMs structure cannot be formed or constructed. Trust promotes full contribution of all people within an organization. It permits authorization which motivates pride possession and commitment. In addition, it permits decision making at proper position in a company, promotes personal risk-taking for uninterrupted development and assists to make sure that measurements centres on development of procedure and are not utilized to challenge individuals. Therefore, trust is significant in order to achieve clients satisfaction and it builds the cooperative surrounding or atmosphere which is important for TQM. Therefore, the social responsibility of perishable food industry is to ensure that their customers trust the company so that when they purchase the food products they believe they are safe.

Training of employees is important in order to improve quality and productivity. Managers are responsible for applying TQM within their units and train workers the TQMs philosophies. The training that employees should have include; problem solving skills, interpersonal skills, technical and business economics skills, decision making, capability to work in a team and job management performance evaluation and development. For a company to be effective, teamwork is a major component of TQM. With the utilization of groups, the enterprise will obtain better and immediate resolutions to predicaments. Moreover, teams offer more lasting developments in operations and procedures. In teamwork, individual feel more comfy while raising predicaments which might occur and can obtain assistance from other employees to get a solution and implement it. Similarly, in every company, leadership is a crucial element of TQM. In order for TQM to be effective in an organization, managers should be devoted in guiding their employees. A manager should comprehend TQM, trust in it and indicate their devotion and belief via their day-to-day practices of TQM. Thus, employees within the food industry should be trained innovative and modern methods of processing the products. In addition, they should be in a position to solve any problem which might occur during processing in order to maintain the required quality.

Consequently, TQM requires that communication to exist among all the stakeholders of an organization (customers, investors, employees and suppliers). In addition, recognition is vital for the success of any business. Workers strive to obtain individual or team recognition. Identifying and recognizing participators is the most significant work of managers. When individuals are recognized, there is enormous alteration in quality, self-esteem and productivity of the workers. Therefore, the above mentioned elements are significant in ensuring the effectiveness of TQM implementation in a company and managers play a major responsibility in establishing these components in a company (Padhi, 2010, par. 8).

Perishable food industry is an enormous world-wide business and within this industry, quality is mostly an incorporated measure of appearance, purity, colour, texture, workmanship and flavour. However, quality is becoming a significant matter because of the multiple factors such as food borne illness which are as a result of poor handling of food or poor storage. For instance, between the years 1993 to 1997, approximately 2,751 outbreak cases concerning food borne illness were reported in the United States. The main causal factors were confirmed to be chemical agents, bacteria, parasites and viruses. Therefore, this is a clear indication that quality within the food industry has been compromised and as a result several cases have been reported. However, if the industries implement the quality systems properly, they will improve quality and achieve their goals.

Proper handling of perishable food

Quality is a vital factor within the perishable food industry and must be maintained from initial to final stage. When perishable goods or commodities are transported from the producer or farmer to the consumer, it is anticipated that they need to resist the changes of delivery across reasonable distances. Decomposition of perishable commodities occurs normally unless some gambit is implemented in order to delay or preclude this procedure. To improve quality, perishable products can be frozen, placed in ambient, chilled or stored under controlled atmosphere. In addition, products should not be stock-piled but ought to be generated on demand. Therefore, for quality to be achieved frequent inspection should be made in order to sort and eradicate any decayed products or part of the commodity. This will minimize losses which are encountered by the industry and instead improve its profit. Secondly, shipments should be separated and marked in order to make apparent their relative ages. Thus, the oldest products will be sued first in order to minimize spoilage and increase sales (Lupien, 1993, pp. 108-110).

Perishable products should be frozen at temperatures which are lower than -12R⁰ C, a level where important decomposition cannot occur. When food temperature increases within the carriage above -12 degree Celsius, the rate of decomposition is greater. When the temperatures are about -10 degree Celsius, decomposition can occur with ultimate noticeable consequences.

Similarly, during transportation, perishable food is chilled. The ventilation of vegetables and fruits produce heat, utilize oxygen and forms water vapor and carbon dioxide, and ethylene gas might be generated which quickens ripening. Therefore, chilling decelerates these procedures. The purpose of chilling perishable foods is to minimize the temperature of the food and sustain it at an appropriate level where it cannot cause damage to the food.

Carriage where the atmosphere is regulated is utilized with respiring fruits like bananas, where the gas composition and temperature in contact with the commodity should be controlled appropriately in order to regulate ripening from occurring in uncontrollable manner.

Quality of perishable products

Therefore, if perishable foods are handled appropriately within the entire food chain, quality will be maintained. Appropriate quality is judged through texture, anticipated appearance, freshness and smell. Because these characteristics alter with time, the preservation of excellent quality relies on decelerating this natural advancement appropriately. The range of alterations differs among commodities. Therefore, within the perishable food industry, TQM is required throughout the stages including transportation chain and constructive quality control system should be implemented.

Effective application of TQM system needs efficient training of the important personnel within the perishable food and carrier organizations and of quality measures enforcement personnel. Moreover, to make sure that foods are obtained from the producer while safe and sound and move to the carrier while in the same situation, there is need for surveyors to conduct independent evaluation. This evaluation will confirm the quantity, the situation and packaging integrity, availability of observable defects, temperature situations at the time of loading the product and temperatures of the carriage itself (Spriegel, 1993, p. 175).

Six Sigma

Six Sigma refers to an enterprise management strategy which seeks to advance the quality of procedure results by recognizing and eliminating the causes of problems or defects, and reducing variability in business and manufacturing processes. It utilizes a group of quality management techniques such as statistical techniques and builds a particular infrastructure of individual within a company who are proficient in these techniques. Every project of Six Sigma that is conducted within a company adopts a specific series of measures and has quantified objectives. These targets or objectives could be financial or whatever is significant to the client of that procedure. The initial step in computing sigma or in comprehending its importance is to understand what the clients anticipate. In Six Sigmas language, client needs and anticipations are referred to as critical to quality (CTQs).

For instance, an industry which is dealing with pizza, a perishable commodity, should know that the major need of the customers is timely delivery. Other needs include; temperature of the product, tastiness and accuracy of delivering the order among others. Sigma system is used to observe how well or poorly a procedure functions and to offer everyone a general method to show that measure. When a company breaches important needs of the customers, it is producing or giving room for cost, defects and complaints.

Six Sigma has six themes which are as follows; genuine center on the clients, fact-and-data driven management, procedures are found where the actions are found, proactive management and boundary-less collaboration. In Six Sigma, client focus is the major priority. Six Sigma developments or advancements are described by their effect on client satisfaction and worth. In order for an organization to move to innovative and more power level, Six Sigma adopts the idea of management by fact. Six Sigma subject starts by explaining what standards are important to measuring the performance of an organization and then collect and evaluate key variables. Then predicaments can be defined, evaluated and resolved more efficiently and permanently. Whether a company is centered in creating commodities and services, evaluating performance or advancing effectiveness and client satisfaction, Six Sigma puts the procedure as the significant vehicle of achievement. In addition, proactive management refers to creating habits from exactly what they are, explaining inspirational objectives and reexamining them regularly, setting clear priorities, centering on predicament prevention instead of threatening or firefighting, and querying why they reason of carrying out things rather than defending them blindly (Pande & Holpp, 2000, p. 7).

Similarly, Six Sigma centers on the client and develops procedures which promote higher quality services and commodities, and aggressive boundary within the market niche. Moreover, its projects might create a working surrounding which is more conducive and safer for productivity. Perishable food industry is a discipline where quality control is critical. Bearing in mind the large number of individuals consuming the food commodities, any defect can lead to critical and dangerous effects. Therefore, every food industry should implement Sic Sigma in the whole food supply chain. The following are examples of projects of Six Sigma within the food industry; minimization in distribution costs, preventing or minimizing wastage especially in perishable products, promoting consistency of food commodities transportation and productivity enhancement. Moreover, advancing delivery vehicle usage, minimization in maintenance costs, improving quality packaging, minimization in plant and machine maintenance cost and advancing obedience to schedules at collect and transportation points (Tennant, 2001, p.6).

For many years, manufacturing organizations have maintained the disputing views and competing precedencies of supply-quality and supply-chain management. For instance, within the grocery company, the need to make sure that products get to the store a soon as possible is relevant since attention is needed to ensure quality in maintained during the manufacturing procedure. Basically, the quality of manufacturing should be associated directly to supply-chain effectiveness in order that perishable products can get into the stores quickly and while they are still fresh. It has been hard for supply-quality and supply-chain management to arrive at a practical solution or comprehension because of poor communication between the individuals who are responsible for quality processes and senior management. In order for the perishable food industry to resolve these challenges they need to form quality culture which gets assistance at the lead and pervades the supply chain (Stamatis, 2004, p.1).

Similarly, in the perishable food industry, making sure that raw substance and final commodities achieve the needs and standards of the regulatory agencies could be enormously hard. In addition, industries face the challenge of the way to hold back the spiraling costs related to enormous low inventory turnover and supply chains. With larger supply chains rising from world-wide outsourcing, industries encounter or experience difficult in ensuring quality of the commodities which they get from the suppliers. Therefore, the challenge to the industries is to create a strategy where the supply-chain people will aim at the performance standards and goals in order the industry can obtain raw substances, ingredients or elements which achieve the requirements or their customers. It is significant to center on managing suppliers procedures, in order the commodities can be manufactured appropriately (Kopecky, 2008, p.1).

Therefore, in order for the perishable food industry to overcome the above challenges, they should implement Six sigma which is used to improve efficiency and effectiveness by removing defects from food processes.

Product Liability

Product liability refers to the field where suppliers, producers, retailers, distributors and manufacturers are accountable for any injuries that result from the products they deal with. The common claims related to product liability include; breach or warranty, negligence, liability, strict and several client protection claims. Most of the product liability claims are evaluated at the level of state though they differ in different states. Every form of product liability issue needs dissimilar components in order to be confirmed to present an effective claim. There are three types of product liability; marketing liability, manufacturing defect and design defect. Defects associated with manufacturing occur during processing period and involve poor workmanship and poor quality materials. Perishable food industries are continuously named within lawsuits saying because of long lasting health predicaments arising from poor diet selections formed by the plaintiff. These cases are inculcated with queries of general sense and individual initiatives. To some individuals, food consumption cases indicate the quarrelsomeness while others say that such cases illustrate a long-overdue development in societal regulation. Early product liability cases regarding perishable food companies, basically involved cases concerning; contamination of food, presence of foreign materials in food and exploding of beverage bottles or cans proceedings. Currently, lawsuits against food industry have increased and involve issues on negligence on fulfilling the requirements of the customers. Though cases associated with food consumption seem to be rising, recent examples include cases against several fast-food chains where unhealthy food is generated and as a result injuries such as obesity and any other health associated illnesses arise (White & Robert, 1996, p 51).

The potential alteration of legal measures has made some individuals to propose alterations to be made in legislation in order to stop the increased proceedings and what is perceived as an apparently minimized or declined responsibility personal initiative and of common sense. Therefore, the treat of cases within the perishable food industry has made legislature both at state and federal level to be established as a method of controlling and stopping what is perceived as frolicsome cases or lawsuits (Vargo, 2005, par. 12). For example, Topps Meat Company faced several challenges in the year 2007 because of quality failure. Approximately 21.7 million Ibs of fresh and frozen beef commodities generated between the year 2006 and 2007 by the organization were recalled in the year 2007 because they were contaminated with a bacteria referred to as E. Coli (Escherichia coli) O157:H7. During that time, this recall was the 2^nd largest in the United State documentation, after the largest of 25 million Ibs of beef produced by Hudson Foods Company in the year 1997. After examination, the food sample eventually tested positive for E. coli contamination (Reiser, 2007, par. 1).

One of the goals of the Topps Meat Compan

Introduction

Pedagogy involves the performance of teaching accompanied with theories and practices that shape it. It directly links the act of teaching with culture, structure and mechanisms of student or learner control. Pedagogy may also refer to the process by which teaching activities, interactions, and assignments are structured in accordance to ideas that develop out of theories¹. Pedagogy is influential when it is responsive, dynamic and flexible². Salvatori defines pedagogy as reflexive praxis³. According to Salvatori pedagogy must be reflective, implying that a teacher should be able and willing to interrogate the reasons for theory adoption and to inform the possibility that a specific theory and the practice that implements it might not be effective at certain times or in certain circumstances⁴. In other words, when teachers engage in reflexive cycles that encompasses theorizing, practical use of ideas, and evaluation of results in light of specific institutional contexts and student population, thats when pedagogy is most effective. The theories and practices of pedagogy help students improve their learning experiences in a number of ways⁵.

Pedagogical Theory and Practice and Student Learning Experience

Our beliefs in true learning are informed by pedagogical theories and practices that were ably enumerated in the works of leading school reform researchers⁶. A large scale school restructuring study undertaken by Newmann and Wehlage in mid 1990s concluded that pedagogical theories and practices were necessary in improving student learning experiences⁷. The study identified three criterias of improving student learning experiences: one, engaging learners actively in constructive knowledge where the primary role of the teacher is to allow learners to actively engage their intellect in learning and problem solving; two, allowing learning to happen through disciplined inquiry in which learners develop deep understanding of concepts and theories through examining specific problems, applying complex forms of language for both learning and communication⁸; and three, ensuring that student learning experiences have value beyond measuring success in school⁹. Students experiences outside of learning environment should be integrated with school learning, and knowledge should extent beyond the classroom into the lives of students¹⁰.

Research on pedagogical theories and practices have had an impact on how nations have organized educational change initiatives. For instance, the state of Queensland in Australia focused their reform efforts in transforming teaching and learning efforts through New Basic Project, an integrated framework for curriculum, pedagogy and assessment¹¹

The New Basics are clusters, families or groups of practices that are essential for survival in the worlds that students have to deal with. There are four clusters that act as curriculum organizers and are entitled, Life Pathways and Social Futures, Multi-literacy and Communication Medias, Active Citizenship, and Environment and Technologies¹². These clusters are intended to assist students understand: who they are and where they are going; how they make sense of and communicate with the outside world; understand their rights and responsibilities in communities, culture and economies; and describe, analyze and shape the world around them ¹³.

The key features of the New Basics project included: productive pedagogies, explained as teacher practices that have a positive influence on student outcomes; productive assessment, which provides high order thinking and problem solving emphasis; and rich tasks through which learners demonstrate their understandings, knowledge and skills through performance on Trans-disciplinary activities that have obvious connection with the outside world¹⁴. There is much to learn from the research based initiative such as the New Basics Project. It offers evidence that pedagogical theories and practices are required to improve student learning experiences¹⁵.

Pedagogical Theories and Practices Helps in Motivating Students to Improve the Learning Experiences

A pedagogical theory of learning offers students learning experiences that are appropriate in a learning situation. It is a unique theory that target particular cases. Pedagogical theory commences from the single case, searches for the universal qualities, and returns to the single case. The pedagogical theorist leaves the learner symbolically in reflective thought; and engages the student in a real way to understand what is appropriate for the student every now and then¹⁶.

These theories and practices help in determining how teachers tackle student motivational matters in their learning experiences. Misapplication of pedagogical approaches in enhancing student motivational issues may undermine the entire process of learner motivation. Brennen defines motivation as the level of an effort an individual is willing to expend towards the attainment of a specific goal. According to McDevitt, motivation energizes, directs and sustains behaviour and can either be intrinsic or extrinsic ¹⁷. Motivational theories are behavioural, cognitive, humanistic, and biological.

Behavioural motivational theories are based on the contributions of operant learning theories of B.F Skinner. These theories explain the processes of enhancing the desired behaviour by applying either positive reinforcements or avoidance of negative stimuli as extrinsic forms of motivation. Cognitive motivation views stress the activation of cognitive disequilibrium as a means to motivate students to learn new concepts ¹⁸. Students are directed to behave in a manner that rediscovers equilibrium due to this state of cognitive dissonance. The cognitive theory puts more attention to intrinsic motivation and establishes circumstances where learners are stimulated to establish answers. Humanistic motivational views on the other hand, are based Maslows contributions on motivation and personality. It seeks to explain how learners endeavour to achieve five different levels of hierarchical needs. Maslow theory contends that if learners have their basic physical and safety requirements fulfilled, their needs of belongingness, self esteem, and self actualization will intrinsically improve their learning experiences¹⁹. According to achievement motivational theory, most individuals strive to attain goals they aspire to attain. On the other hand, low achievers tend to attribute failure to lack of ability and success to luck. Biological motivational view postulates that neutral activity in the brain guides individuals towards or away from particular outcomes and these synaptic events influence behavioural outcomes²⁰.

Pedagogical theories and practices assist educators in higher education to adjust their teaching methods and philosophies to conform to the actively changing demographics from that of high school seniors to one of non-traditional students. The theories and practices encourage higher education to create an environment in which non-traditional students can enhance their learning. It maintains an environment where student and teacher dynamics are considered and implemented carefully. The underlying theories and practices of pedagogy at different levels of education, determine the type of learning experiences that learners meet in the classroom²¹.

Pedagogical Theories and Practices help in Encouraging Learning by Design

Kalantzis and Cope formulated pedagogical theories and practices that built in notions of learning by design²². The ultimate goal was to improve learning experiences for different categories of learners; ensuring that such experiences are meaningful and inclusive. Kalantzis and Cope were informed by Multilateralism which they helped to conceive. There work illustrates several objectives that indicate important orientation of work. These include: one, widely recognizing diverse learning needs of both learners and educators and promoting theories and practices that support student learning needs; two, improving the understanding of concepts related to the theory of Multilateralism and a capacity to incorporate ideas related to the theory to diverse teaching and learning contexts; three, enhancing multimodal techniques and practices of teaching awareness and improving teaching capacity in multimodal ways applying digital technologies where appropriate; four, improving the level of skill and knowledge of learners for the purpose of them achieving their aspirations and participate meaningfully in the peer groups and communities to which they are part and make their contributions to societies which they belong; last but not least, expanding teachers professional practice repertoires while assisting them acquire the confidence to combine and synthesize these practices appropriately²³.

In general, pedagogical theories and practices highlights the important place learners and their learning needs occupy in learning by design. These theories and practices encourage and provide knowledge to educators on the need to create learning environments which engage the sensibilities of learners who are increasingly involved in digital environments and multimodal settings²⁴. The theories and practices emphasize more on the role of the student in the learning process. Learning by design puts the student as the focal point. This is because it accommodates diverse learning needs and diverse learning preferences. Educators cannot treat all learners in the same manner²⁵.

There must always be a convincing pedagogy and possible rationale behind it for the learning to occur in a learning environment²⁶. Pedagogy presents the essence of schooling that under gird the entire educational sector. He contends that:

The reform of schooling must start with and be subsequently defined by pedagogical practice that is democratic. New organizational designs must emerge from pedagogy, the essence of schooling, and be shaped by it. It must not be the way it has been throughout the century, pedagogy accommodating to organization. Rather, pedagogy must create organizations structure; pedagogy must shape organizational culture. From democratic pedagogy will raise democratic organization²⁷.

In sum, theory and practices of pedagogy is the science and art of education.

Pedagogical Theories and Practices helps in Encouraging Teaching that Builds on Students Prior Learning

Pedagogical theories and practices recognize the cultural backgrounds of students. This helps in building bridges from knowledge and discourses often neglected in school settings to the learning of conventional academic knowledge and Discourse. Much of this work is derived from cognitive and sociocognitive approaches that seek to activate the students prior knowledge and link their existing knowledge to the concepts targeted. Pedagogical theories provide teachers rich knowledge and cultural practices their students might contribute in school²⁸. Teachers are able to build between the mainstream academic knowledge and discourse, and the knowledge and discourse that students bring to classroom once they learn about the different forms of prior knowledge or the different discursive practices their students might bring in the classroom.²⁹

Pedagogical Theories and Practices foster Teaching that is Culturally Responsive

Theories and practices of pedagogy encourage teachers to involve all learners in the construction of knowledge. According to these theories and practices, teachers are required to be culturally responsive. Culturally responsive teachers create a learning environment in which all learners are encouraged to make sense of new ideas³⁰. This means that students are encouraged to construct knowledge that helps them better understand the world; rather than just memorize information that is pre-digested. Teachers, who assist their students in knowledge construction, involve them actively in learning tasks that promote the advancement of thought processes, including skills of hypothesizing, predicting, comparing, evaluating, integrating, and synthesizing³¹.

Pedagogy encourages teachers to give students an active role in learning by involving them in inquiry projects that have personal meaning to them. For instance, Rosebery and colleagues provided a good example of this practice; as applied in a science class for Haitian students in Massachusetts³². The majority of the students in this class believed that water from the schools third floor fountains was better testing than the water from first floor fountains. The students were allowed to design and perform a blind taste experiment of water taken from several foundations to test their belief about superiority of third flour water. They were surprised to discover that two thirds of them preferred the first floor water. They expanded the experiment to include learners from other junior high school classes. The students were again surprised to discover that 88% of the sampled students preferred third floor water³³. They analyzed the schools water to try and make sense of their findings, where they discovered that first floor water was 20 degrees colder than that of any other floor³⁴. They deduced that water becomes warmer as it moves up the pipe to the third floor and concluded that temperature was the likely factor influencing the respondents water preferences³⁵.

The involvement of the students in performing the experiment actively engaged them in learning. When these students were carrying out the tests, they asked questions, designed ways of testing their hypothesis, gathered and analyzed data, and generated explanations. Therefore, the teacher provided the students a strong motive to learn embedding learning in a meaningful activity on a topic of interest to learners. Theories and practices of pedagogy encourage students to work collaboratively in small groups of mixed ability in a manner that improves their active learning. These students are able to share the cognitive demands built into the overall task when they work in groups to solve a problem or perform a project³⁶. Brown and Palincsar, the benefit of small group task is maximized when each student adopts a different role³⁷& Some of the roles identified include the doer who designs plans of action or offers solutions to the problem posed, the critic who questions the ideas generated by the group, the instructor who reviews for all group members the ideas discussed, the record keeper who keeps track of the groups work, and the conciliator who settles arising disputes. Glaserfeld recommends teachers to place teachers to place their students into groups of three or four and assign the role of reporting back to the entire class to the one they consider having the least command of the topic³⁸.

Pedagogical theories and practices encourage open dialogue which provides an opportunity for students active engagement in the construction of knowledge. It encourages effective dialogue which includes everyone, including the instructor, in a genuine exploration of questions to which none of the parties claim to know the answers. Pedagogy encourages teachers to promote a classroom environment that is conducive to conversation, both between the learners and teacher and the students themselves. It provides that students need to feel safe to ask questions, argue, and share views. Consequently, it demands for attitude of openness on the part of the teacher and a willingness to listen to the students³⁹.

Pedagogy advocates for cultural responsive teaching that supports students knowledge construction by allowing them to assume responsibility of their learning gradually. For instance, it encourages reciprocal teaching. Reciprocal teaching requires a teacher and a group of learners to take turns leading a discussion that centres on a portion of text they are jointly trying to understand. The individual leading the discussion begins the exchange by asking questions and ends it by summarizing the main points raised in the discussion. During the discussion, students are able to clarify any comprehension difficulties and predict what would happen next. Pedagogy encourages teachers to model behaviour, keep discussions focused on content, and assist student leaders supervise the discussion to ultimate conclusion. It puts the responsibility for discussion, and learning that accompanies it on students. Students prefer seeing themselves in control of their own learning instead of the teacher. Thus, they are able to construct knowledge rather than to memorize the information⁴⁰&

Pedagogy helps in building personal and cultural strengths of learners. Learning institutions alienate students when the content of learning instruction does not relate to their lives or does not invite them to apply their pre-existing knowledge and skills. Pedagogy lays down a number of strategies that teachers can utilize to improve the knowledge of their students.

Pedagogy Builds the Interests of Students in Learning

Pedagogical theories and practices offer students opportunities to pursue topics of their interest, thus, enhancing their learning experiences. This aptly engages them in learning than when topics of instruction are of little relevance to their lives. Pedagogy guides on how to successfully build on the interest of learners. In a number of occasions, teachers are called upon to teach topics that are of no apparent interest to students. Majority of the students are usually disinterested because they fail to connect how the topic relates to their lives. Pedagogy practices encourage cultural teaching and therefore teachers are able to find ways of generating interest in such topics. An elementary teacher effectively demonstrated this practice in California. The teacher was introducing the topic that focused on drought situation in the state and the need of residence to consider water conservation. The teacher admitted that the drought topic had come up in class many times, but learners had expressed little enthusiasm for it⁴¹. The teacher commenced the unit by posing the following problem to students to generate interest;

You wake up tomorrow morning, and turn on your faucet to wash your face, and no water comes out. You check your faucet in the kitchen sink, there is no water there either. You go next door to see if your can use your neighbours bathroom to wash up, but you discover they dont have water either. Then you find out that none of your neighbours has water. How would this situation affect your lives? What would it be like going without water for a week? This short introduction to learners assisted them to envision a link between the content of instruction and their personal lives. It provides the motivation the students required to explore the topic which they had expressed little curiosity before⁴².

Pedagogy encourages the Use of Varied Instructional Activities

Pedagogy helps responsive teachers to deliberately plan and implement instructional programs that involve all learners. Active participation in class by all students improves their learning experiences. To realize these in diverse classrooms, teachers need to have a large repertoire of strategies to represent each instructional topic. Instructional strategies may involve; mini lectures, group discussions, group projects, reciprocal teaching, peer centres and others. Pedagogy also ensures that teachers are skilled at choosing from these strategies instructional modes that are appropriate for learning experiences⁴³. Pedagogy creates learning tasks that offer students some choice in activities and flexible time for completion.

Pedagogical Theory and Practice assists Students to Look at the Curriculum from a Multiple Perspective

Pedagogical theory and practice assists culturally responsive teachers to guide students in interrogating the curriculum critically by having them address inaccuracies and distortions in the text; and broadening it to in include multiple perspectives⁴⁴. Pedagogy provides for curriculum interrogation for two main reasons; to help students from marginalized groups to overcome the sense of alienation many of them experience in school. It also prepares all students to fight all sought of inequality rather that assimilating inequitable social arrangements.

Theories and practices of pedagogy also encourage culturally responsive teaching to use varied approaches to student learning. It insists on the provision of standardized tests which offer information about how students measure to standardized educational criteria relative to others who have done the same test. A result from such tests provides insight into progress made towards equalizing educational opportunities available in society, or vice versa. In America for instance, the National Assessment Educational Program in the analysis of scores over time indicate whether the gap between the achievement of white students and that of students of colour has narrowed or widened. Such information is necessary for policy makers and educators. Pedagogy endeavours to use tests and assessment in the service of teaching and learning. Assists teachers in identifying particular strengths and weaknesses of students to assist then learn accordingly. Teachers are also able to design the most effective ways of building on what the students already know while helping them grow academically⁴⁵.

Assessments are important tools of learning; tools that aid the student development of understanding. Assessments go beyond multiple choice items which focus mainly on recall of factual information. Pedagogy on the other hand encourages learning centred assessments that require learners to construct responses rather than pick the right answer. It also helps in encouraging solving problems in the real world than applying their skills in decontextualized ways. For instance, it requires students to be asked to practice their developing competences through exhibitions, debates and others. Theories and practices of pedagogy encourage culturally responsible teachers to use consistently such authentic assessments⁴⁶.

Conclusion

Theories and practices of pedagogy help improve students learning experiences in diverse ways. For instance: they help in promoting the use of education research to improve the learning experiences of students; builds the environment that assists in supporting students learning experiences; raise students motivation and engagement in learning; encourages teaching that builds on students prior learning; encourages students to exercise competence and leaning by design; and promotes the use of educational research to improve student learning experiences.

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Footnotes

1. Danielewitz Jane, Teaching selves, SUNNY Press, New York, 2001, p. 133.
2. Daniel Harry, Vgotsky and Pedagogy, Routledge, New York, 2001, p. 131.
3. Leach Jenny, The Power of Pedagogy, SAGE Publications ltd, New York, 2001, p. 188.
4. Beethen Helen, Rethinking Pedagogy, Routledge, New York,2001, p. 1.
5. Britzman Deborah, Practice Makes Practice: A Critical Study of Learning to Teach, Sunny Press, New York, p. 46.
6. National Research Council, Improving Students Learning: A Strategic Plan for Education, National Academies Press, New York, p. 40.
7. Jarvis Peter, Theory and Practice of Teaching, Routledge, London, 2002, p. 41.
8. Samaras Anastasia, Learning Communication in Practice, Springer, New York, 2008, 106.
9. Britzman Deborah, Practice Makes Practice: A Critical Study of Learning to Teach, Sunny Press, New York, p. 46.
10. American Association for Teaching, Curriculum Development and Teaching Dialogue, IAP, New York, 1999, p. 158.
11. Grant Carl, Research and Multicultural Education, Routledge, London, 1992, p.110.
12. Nata Roberta, Progress in Education, Nova Publishers, New York, 2007, p. 83.
13. Nata Roberta, Progress in Education, Nova Publishers, New York, 2007, p. 83.
14. Moore Kenneth, Effective Instructional Strategies, SAGE, New york, 2005, p. 3.
15. Pollard Diane, African Centered Schooling in Theory and Practice, Greenwood Publishing, New York, 2000, p. 207.
16. Ginsberg Margery, Diversity and Motivation, Wiley and Publishers, New York, 2009, p. 24.
17. Ginsberg Margery, Diversity and Motivation, Wiley and Publishers, New York, 2009, p. 24.
18. Gayle Barbara, Classroom Communication and Instructional Processes, Routledge, New York, 2006, p. 362.
19. Villegas Anne, Educating Culturally Responsive Teachers, Sunny Press, New York, 2008, 192.
20. Gayle Barbara, Classroom Communication and Instructional Processes, Routledge, New York, 2006, p. 362.
21. Loughran John, Developing A Pedagogy for Teacher for Teacher Education, Taylor and Francis, London, 2006,p. 20.
22. Mishra Ounny, Foculty Development and Design, IAP, 2007, p. 11.
23. Mishra Punny, Foculty Development and Design, IAP, London, 2007, p. 11.
24. Green Robert, Designing Teaching Strategies, Academic Press, New York, 2002, p. 4.
25. Nata Roberta, Progress in Education, Nova Publishers, New York, 2007, p. 83.
26. National Research Council, Improving Students Learning: A Strategic Plan for Education, National Academies Press, New York, p. 42.
27. Osborn Barry, Teaching Diversity and Democracy, Common Ground, New York, 2001, 164.
28. Hargreaves Andy, Extending Educational Change, Springer, New York, 2005, p. 177.
29. McNamara David, Classroom Pedagogy and Primary Practice, Routledge, New York, 1994, p. 67.
30. Jetton Tamara, Adolescence Literacy Research and Practice, Guilford Press, New York, 2004, p. 323.
31. Jetton Tamara, Adolescence Literacy Research and Practice, Guilford Press, New York, 2004, p. 324.
32. Villegas Anne, Educating Culturally Responsive Teachers, Sunny Press, New York, 2008, 65.
33. Villegas Anne, Educating Culturally Responsive Teachers, Sunny Press, New York, 2008, 192.
34. Villegas Anne, Educating Culturally Responsive Teachers, Sunny Press, New York, 2008, 65.
35. Villegas Anne, Educating Culturally Responsive Teachers, Sunny Press, New York, 2008, 65.
36. Michael Sarah, Ready Set Science, National Academic Press, New York, 2008, p. 158.
37. Villegas Anne, Educating Culturally Responsive Teachers, Sunny Press, New York, 2008, 75.
38. Nata Roberta, Progress in Education, Nova Publishers, New York, 2007, p. 83.
39. Cooper Diane, Learning Through Supervised Practice in Students Affairs, Routledge Mental Health, London, 2002, 2002, p. 51.
40. Villegas Anne, Educating Culturally Responsive Teachers, Sunny Press, New York, 2008, 94.
41. Villegas Anne, Educating Culturally Responsive Teachers, Sunny Press, New York, 2008, 25.
42. Stern Barbara, Curriculum and Teaching Dialogue. IAP, London, 2005, p. 24.
43. Ortony Andrew, Metaphor and Thought, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1993, p. 588.
44. Pendergast Donna, Teaching