Educational Biography Statement Personal Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Educational Biography - Personal Statement Example The first lesson I learned in school was about authority. I learned that you did not question it. My parents were the type of parents that were always on the side of the school. They had a sort of conflicted relationship with public schools because they both had a difficult time in school. On the one hand, they recognized that the people in school were professionals and were there to teach me. They had a lot of trust in my individual teachers and always believed what they said. If I went home and said, â€Å"Mrs. Kershaw smacked my had with a ruler today!† they would ask me, â€Å"Well, what did you do?† They never questioned a teacher’s authority to discipline or teach me, so this taught me to listen and obey my teachers. On the other hand, my parents were almost paranoid about the institution of education. They were suspicious of the people at the very top. The superintendents, principals and specialists that ran the school and were responsible for the big pict ure were viewed as lazy and wasteful. Nothing they did was every OK with my parents. They railed against tax increases, curriculum changes and decisions about school safety. It took me a long time to realize that my parents were taking a stance against what they perceived as management (Cook, 1978). Both were laborers and they viewed my teachers as peers, but everyone else was management. I was in high school before I figured out why my parents were so supportive of the education system on the one hand, and so against it on the other. This was the beginning of my own conflicted feelings about schooling and education. By high school, I could see that my parents wanted me to get a college education so that I would be a part of a class of people that they mistrusted. I know that this sounds conflicted, but that’s my parents. They wanted me to be more secure than they were themselves, but their view was that the only way this could happen was to be something other than I was. Not quite fitting into a defined social position is not something new for me. From elementary, through middle and high school, I always felt that all of the students were strongly encouraged to fill a slot in a specified, existing group. Some students are academically inclined, others are athletes. Some students are compliant while others are rowdy troublemakers. There seemed to be a lot of either/or decisions that were expected of me in school that caused me to question what I was and what I really wanted out of life. Two of these incidences that were very powerful occurred when I was in elementary and high school. They both involved a conflict in scheduling that could have been resolved had the school not been trying to force me into a specified social construct. In elementary school, there were many activities that were commonly called pullouts by the teachers. Looking back, I realize that some of these pullouts were for students that struggled to learn, but others were and effort t o differentiate instruction for small groups of students (Tomlinson, 2005). I was identified as Gifted students, so one of my pullouts was a required class called Reach. I met with other Gifted students at this

Earth Sciences Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Earth Sciences - Essay Example Thus, careful study of the accurate cardinal orientation of the Great Pyramid at Giza, Egypt, and the Venus alignment of the Maya Palace of the Governor at Uxmal in Yucatan can reveal to what extent associated ancient cultures were advanced in their knowledge of astronomy and possibly provide scope for amazement at such achievements of monumental precision ((The Center for Archaeoastronomy, 2002). Stonehenge (Figures 4 & 5) has special significance to archaeoastronomy. It is certainly not the largest ancient stone circle in the world but it is certainly the only one with lintels on the upright stones (English Heritage Website, FAQs on Stonehenge). "Stonehenge, the word, is believed to have originated from the Anglo-Saxon period, from the old English word "henge' meaning 'hanging' or 'gibbet'. Thus, Stonehenge literally means the 'hanging stones' and may have been derived from the lintels that seem to hang above the uprights (English Heritage, Historical Background, Stonehenge, 2006). Today 'henge' has a special significance in archaeology meaning a circular construction of either stone or timber (English Heritage, Historical Background, Stonehenge, 2006). The discoveries at Stonehenge in the 60s have made the interdisciplinary fields of archaeoastronomy and ethnoastronomy (the study of contemporary native astronomies) active fields wherefrom scholars derive knowledge of our species' continuous interaction with the cosmos (The Center for Archaeoastronomy, 2002). The report seeks to find clearly why Stonehenge was built, when it was built and by whom. It shall explore available literature with research findings in recent years to attempt to do so. 2 Stonehenge - The English Heritage Monument: 2.1 Introduction: English Heritage and the National Trust look after Stonehenge jointly. Though curious visitors have been coming to the ancient site to gawk at the monumental constructions for over 5000 years it has only recently in 1986 been declared a World Heritage Site (English Heritage, Historical Background, 2006). Researchers from the English Heritage Scientific Dating Service used a variety of dating techniques to assess dates when the monument was built. The researchers assert that Stonehenge was built in three phases - the oldest construction was the Mesolithic activity in the present car park attached to the site. It must be noted here that the team