French Education System Essays - DraftBedroom,

French Education System D'abord, les ?tudes, en France, sont s?rieux ! Aux Etats-Unis on peut terminer le lyc?e sans passer un examen (mais ?a va changer tout de suite avec les nouvelle loi de Grey Davis notre `gouverner d'Etat de Califorie). En France les lyc?ens doivent passer le bac, c'est ? dire, le baccalaurate. C'est un examen tr?s important qui marque la fin des ?tudes secondaires et qui determine, en grande partie, l'avenir des lyc?ens. S'ils sont re?us, ils peuvent aller ? l'universit? et continuer leurs ?tudes. S'ils ratent le bac, ils peuvent redoubler et se repr?senter l'ann?e suivante, ou bien ils peuvent faire des ?tudes techniques, ou entrer dans la vie professionelle, ou, pour les gar?ons, faire leur service militaire. Il y a plusiers types de bac. Ils sont d?sign?s par des lettres. Dans chaque s?rie, l'?l?ve doit choisir une sp?cialit?. Il y trois s?ries principales avec leurs sp?cialit?s. Il y le S?rie litt?raire, le Bac L avec langues vivantes, lettres classiques, art et math?matiques. Le S?rie ?conomique et sociale, Bac ES avec les sp?cialit?s de sciences ?conomiques et sociale, math?matiques, et langues vivantes. Et finalment, il y a le S?rie scientifique, le bac S avec math?matiques, physique chimie, sciences de la vie et de la terre, et technologie industrielle. Ces sp?cialit?s sont important parce qu'elles d?terminent le genre d'?tudes universitaires qu'on peut faire, et, par cons?quent, sa profession future. Par exemple, si on veut ?tre m?decin ou pharmacien, il est conseill? de faire un bac S. sp?cialit? sciences de la vie et de la terre. Si on pense faire des ?tudes de droit, et devenir avocat, il est pr?f?rable de faire un bac ES, sp?cialit? sciences ?conomiques et sociales. Normalement, les ?tudes universitaires aux Etas-Unis durent quatre ans, mais en France ils durent au moins trois ans. Aussi, certains jeunes qui ont le bac pr?f?rent ?tudier en I.U.T. (institut Superieur de Technologie) o? ils peuvent obtenir un dipl?me universitaire de technologie apr?s deux ann?es d'?tudes. Les grandes ?coles sont une autre option. Ce sont des ?coles sp?cialis?es dans certains domaines : commerce, administration publique, profesions d'ing?nieur, etc. Pour entrer dans ces ?cole prestigieuses, il faut passer un concours extr?mement difficile, auquel la plupart des candidats ?chouent. Cependant, si on est re?u, et si on obtient le dipl?me d'une de ces ?coles, on a toutes les chances de faire une brillante carri?re dans le commerce, la finance, l'industrie et m?me la politique. Comme on peut le voir, les dipl?mes ont beaucoup d'importance en France. Un dipl?me repr?sente une carte d'entr?e dans la vie professionelle. En France, les ?tudes sont s?rieux

Shaolin Monks Fight Japanese Pirates

Shaolin Monks Fight Japanese Pirates Ordinarily, the life of a Buddhist monk involves meditation, contemplation, and simplicity. In mid-16th century China, however, the monks of Shaolin Temple were called upon to battle Japanese pirates who had been raiding the Chinese coastline for decades. How did the Shaolin monks end up acting as a paramilitary or police force? The Shaolin Monks By 1550, the Shaolin Temple had been in existence for approximately 1,000 years. The resident monks were famous throughout Ming China for their specialized and highly effective form of kung fu (gong fu). Thus, when ordinary Chinese imperial army and navy troops proved unable to stamp out the pirate menace, Nanjings Vice-Commissioner-in-Chief, Wan Biao, decided to deploy monastic fighters. He called upon the warrior-monks of three temples: Wutaishan in Shanxi Province, Funiu in Henan Province, and Shaolin. According to contemporary chronicler Zheng Ruoceng, some of the other monks challenged the leader of the Shaolin contingent, Tianyuan, who sought the leadership of the entire monastic force. In a scene reminiscent of countless Hong Kong films, the eighteen challengers chose eight from among themselves to attack Tianyuan. First, the eight men came at the Shaolin monk with bare hands, but he fended them all off. They then grabbed swords; Tianyuan responded by seizing the long iron bar that was used to lock the gate. Wielding the bar as a staff, he defeated all eight of the other monks simultaneously. They were forced to bow to Tianyuan, and acknowledge him as the proper leader of the monastic forces. With the question of leadership settled, the monks could turn their attention to their real adversary: the so-called Japanese pirates. The Japanese Pirates The fifteenth and sixteenth centuries were tumultuous times in Japan. This was the Sengoku Period, a century and a half of warfare among competing daimyo when no central authority existed in the country. Such unsettled conditions made it hard for ordinary folks to make an honest living... but easy for them to turn to piracy. Ming China had problems of its own. Although the dynasty would hang on to power until 1644, by the mid-1500s it was beset by nomadic raiders from the north and west, as well as rampant brigandage along the coast. Here, too, piracy was an easy and relatively safe way to make a living. Thus, the so-called Japanese pirates, wako or woku, were actually a confederation of Japanese, Chinese, and even some Portuguese citizens who banded together. (The pejorative term wako literally means dwarf pirates.) The pirates raided for silks and metal goods, which could be sold in Japan for up to ten times their value in China. Scholars debate the precise ethnic makeup of the pirate crews, with some maintaining that no more than 10% were actually Japanese. Others point to the long list of clearly Japanese names among the pirate rolls. In any case, these motley international crews of seagoing peasants, fishermen, and adventurers wreaked havoc up and down the Chinese coast for more than 100 years. Calling Out the Monks Desperate to regain control of the lawless coast, Nanjing official Wan Biao mobilized the monks of Shaolin, Funiu, and Wutaishan. The monks fought the pirates in at least four battles. The first took place in the spring of 1553 on Mount Zhe, which overlooks the entrance to Hangzhou City via the Qiantang River. Although details are scarce, Zheng Ruoceng notes that this was a victory for the monastic forces. The second battle was the monks greatest victory: the Battle of Wengjiagang, which was fought in the Huangpu River Delta in July of 1553. On July 21, 120 monks met an approximately equal number of pirates in battle. The monks were victorious, and chased the remnants of the pirate band south for ten days, killing every last pirate. Monastic forces suffered only four casualties in the fighting. During the battle and mop-up operation, the Shaolin monks were noted for their ruthlessness. One monk used an iron staff to kill the wife of one of the pirates as she tried to escape the slaughter. Several dozen monks took part in two more battles in the Huangpu delta that year. The fourth battle was a grievous defeat, due to incompetent strategic planning by the army general in charge. After that fiasco, the monks of Shaolin Temple and the other monasteries seem to have lost interest in serving as paramilitary forces for the Emperor. Warrior-Monks: An Oxymoron? Although it seems quite odd that Buddhist monks from Shaolin and other temples would not only practice martial arts but actually march into battle and kill people, perhaps they felt the need to maintain their fierce reputation. After all, Shaolin was a very wealthy place. In the lawless atmosphere of late Ming China, it must have been very useful for the monks to be renowned as a deadly fighting force. Sources John Whitney Hall, The Cambridge History of Japan, Vol. 4, (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999). Meir Shahar, Ming-Period Evidence of Shaolin Martial Practice, Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies, 61:2 (Dec. 2001). Meir Shahar, The Shaolin Monastery: History, Religion, and the Chinese Martial Arts, (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2008).

High performance work systems are effective for the performance of Essay - 1

High performance work systems are effective for the performance of organizations but are not very good for employees Critically discuss - Essay Example entally distinct approach for managing the human resource groups as compared to the traditional hierarchical approach of human resource and performance management which are commonly used in mass production and scientific management (Forth and Millward 2004). The core concept of the high performance work system is based on the development of an employer and employee relationship which is radically different from the Tailorysm management techniques of human resource and performance management in which a controlling and dictating approach is taken up (Armstrong 2006). This work system aims at developing high involvement through the development of an adequate degree of commitment among all levels of human resources working in the organization (Forth and Millward, 2004). The notion of the high performance work system are supported by claims that this system of work practices lead to the creation of superior performance at the individual as well as organizational levels (Wright et. al, 2005). However, it can be argued that the system of high performance work systems often makes an organization shift from the conventional and eclectic selection of the best practices employed in human resource management which ensures the creation of higher organizational performance outcomes but does not necessarily add to the performance outcomes of individual employees in an organization (Armstrong 2006). Developing the work on these lines of analysis, this essay is prepared with the objective of critically discussing the role of high performance work systems in organizational and individual performances (Godard 2004). Various researchers across diverse fields of study like industrial relations labor economics, organizational behavior, and strategic human resource management and operations management who have presented varied views regarding the effectiveness of the high performance work systems in the contemporary business organizations (Evans and Davis 2005). As per the views of