The Ethics of Accounting and Finance: Trust, Responsibility, and Control Essay

The stakeholders in this case are Juliette, Katrina, Richard, James Hubert and Greg and all board members of both companies. The expectations they should have in this case are to ensure good accounting practices where reclassification of marketable securities should be done with every stakeholder’s knowledge failure to which it would be unethical. The stakeholders expect that the companies with which they do business are ethically oriented and ensure that their efforts and decisions meet the needs and wants of suppliers, consumers and business partners CITATION Jef12 l 1033 (Jeffery, 2012). The ethical obligations of Positive Accounting Solutions and its CPAs to the stakeholders are responsibility, transparency, honesty, fairness and respect. Transparency is a key component of good accounting in Australia. It involves building reliable relationships with stakeholders and giving them relevant information that they can use CITATION Hof04 l 1033 (Hoffman, 2004). Responsibility in accounting is concerned with building trust between an organization, its stakeholders, customers and the general public. The ethical attribute of responsibility ensures that companies in Australia take into consideration what is in the best interest of all stakeholders both in the short and long term. It is unethical to be profit driven in their ventures. Several ethical issues exist for Juliette, Katrina, Richard and Greg, and Positive Accounting Solutions. Legal and ethical issues are important elements of the general framework and well-being of the accounting industry. They are values and principles that govern an organization and the decisions and actions of individuals within the organization. They give a general guideline on how an organization and its employees should act in the event of a moral dilemma CITATION Hof04 l 1033 (Hoffman, 2004). In this case there was the ethical issue if transparency where Global contractors failed to inform Juliet Forbs and her company of the intended reclassification. This selective reclassification may affect vulnerable audiences in the emerging markets of developing regions of Australia. Such situations occur because the public does not have sufficient information about securities assets ploys. The action by Global contractors is unethical and may lead to a serious breach of ethical guidelines as the perpetrators step on safeguards in the disguise of making more money. It is essential that Hubert follows the ethical guidelines of financial reporting and not let acquiring more possession get in the way of their financial obligations. Hubert, who is more concerned with his company’s financial welfare compared to that of Positive Accounting Solutions and its CPAs is more likely to cause real accounting violations and become a liability to the business partnership CITATION Jef12 l 1033 (Jeffery, 2012). Accounting questions the incorrectness of financial statements through the use of features and indicators that show the degree of openness to risk. It also considers whether the sources of risk reside in corporate areas of accounting estimates and organizational culture. This places an accountant in an ethical dilemma where one wonders whether or not to report accounting violations to the authorities. Although it is the ethical duty of the accountant to report such fraudulent activities, the ethical dilemma lies in the ramifications of the reporting. Corporate officers and senior managers may face criminal prosecution that may lead to imprisonment and fines while the company may receive bad publicity and laying off of workers when the government reviews financial records CITATION Hof04 l 1033 (Hoffman, 2004). It is the responsibility of accountants to serve the best interests of the company that they are providing auditing and accounting services for, investors and society as a whole. This can be done by providing truthful and accurate financial records. Ethical guidelines require that accountants should be honest, concise, accurate and complete while recording financial data to ensure ethics are held to the highest degree. It is also the duty of an accountant to make wise, informed decisions about the future of a company. These decisions gave notable impacts on the companies as demonstrated by Enron. Auditor virtue plays an important role in determining what to do in this case. Auditor virtue bears the responsibility of preventing, detecting and investigating fraud through as system of internal auditing and internal control. Through this, auditors can perform a retrospective control on financial data with an aim of detecting any frauds or omissions and securing the credibility and reliability of financial statements. In this case, auditing is used to show the real picture that is obtained on the securities assets CITATION Jef12 l 1033 (Jeffery, 2012). Auditors have to provide expert evidence at the eventual trial. They utilize an understanding of auditing and accounting standards and procedures, financial reporting systems and business information, litigation processes and investigative and evidence gathering and investigative techniques to perform their work.The accounting rules for valuing so-called securitised assets that were designed using a package of outstanding mortgages came under attack in 2008- 2009 because their operation developed out of their internal dynamics instead of the context from which the public shared its perceptions CITATION Jef12 l 1033 (Jeffery, 2012). Thus, the so called securitized assets became socially irresponsible and their contributions to the market rose from their personal definitions rather than from a reciprocal engagement with the stakeholders. Accounting rules for investments in securities changed following criticisms that the accounting rules were, at least in part, responsible for the financial crisis. Current accounting techniques are run by computers and therefore do not have any inner sense of normality. Scripts and queries in financial statements do exactly what they have been programmed to do and as a result a fraud hypothesis testing approach has been proposed to accommodate this limitation. This approach is a proactive or deductive approach used by accountants in fraud investigations. Accountants obtain a concise understanding of the business processes, environment and controls CITATION Hof04 l 1033 (Hoffman, 2004). This understanding helps them to have a proactive picture and predict the possibility of any frauds occurring. The team of forensic accountants brainstorms the possible frauds that may exist in the business environment that they are investigating and this may result in fifty potential schemes. Once the re has been the identification of possible schemes, the team of forensic accountants outlines how these schemes would show up in the available data. These indicators, often referred to as red flags, are the major indicators of the occurrence of fraud in an enterprise. Given each indicator, the team of forensic accountants looks for corporate databases through the use of queries and scripts by applying accounting principles. Any anomalous transactions are set aside for further investigations and this often perceived as a sample that is to be looked into closely. Accountants analyze the results of the query in order to determine potential explanations for the anomalies which may possibly be weak controls or fraud among other reasons. Once the team has established the potential explanations to be fraud, they follow up on them and conduct further investigations by employing additional queries in order to determine the cause of the anomalies. This hypothesis testing approach has been suc cessfully in quite a number of case studies including university environments, alcohol sales and healthcare in Australia. Once the financial statements have been analyzed, continuous investigation is possible. Unlike the normal testing on historical data, the tests are then programmed into live corporate systems so as to provide progressive monitoring of transactions. This progressive monitoring uses information technology which has been successfully used in several companies. Accounting rules should not be influenced by Political pressure, as was the case with the changes in accounting for investments. It is ethical to maintain the right to the truth while practicing accounting and financial reporting. Those who use financial statements have the right to accurate and truthful information when engaging in investment strategies. Clients have a legal right to receive competent and professional services from accountants who have a legal obligation to perform their responsibilities within the constraints of their skills CITATION Hof04 l 1033 (Hoffman, 2004). It is often argued that most accountants lack ethical ability to recognize and solve ethical dilemmas. This has necessitated the need to include ethics education as a major component of the accounting profession. The development of professional ethics and values should be initiated early in the accounting profession and be emphasized throughout the career. Teamwork and leadership are two important componen ts that must be in alignment so as to provide effective high quality and efficient accounting services. A strategic human resource management model provides guidance to accounting teams and leaders to deliver high-quality services in a timely manner. Accounting operates within a performance measurement that tolerates no errors. Therefore, a state-of-the-art investigation requires scientific leadership working with major stakeholders as a team to provide the best accounting services to a fraud investigation CITATION Hof04 l 1033 (Hoffman, 2004). The new techniques of accounting are significant steps in the right direction and they require leaders with skills and business tools to apply concepts such as efficiency, cost benefit analysis, economies of scale and cost-effectiveness analysis that will measure continuous improvement on a regular basis. Effective leadership is needed to develop, design and implement a solution that would resolve the core competency of an organization. Strat egic leadership in fraud investigations provides quality and timely accounting services to a company. Such leadership brings together a fragmented system consisting of thousands of accountants working within a fragmented system of organizations. Effective teamwork and leadership in accounting shows the way through the development of new innovative fraud investigations for the future CITATION Jef12 l 1033 (Jeffery, 2012). References BIBLIOGRAPHY Hoffman, W. M. (2004). The Ethics of Accounting and Finance: Trust, Responsibility, and Control. New York: Greenwood Publishing Group. Jeffery, C. (2012). Research on Professional Responsibility and Ethics in Accounting. New York: Emerald Group Publishing. Source document

Biology Lab Report on the Effects of Photosynthesis Essays

Biology Lab Report on the Effects of Photosynthesis Essays Biology Lab Report on the Effects of Photosynthesis Paper Biology Lab Report on the Effects of Photosynthesis Paper Essay Topic: Photo Synthesis Thesis Energy (TAP), initially in the form of glucose (macroeconomics) is later armed by condensation reaction into starch (polysaccharide). These alpha glucose units are attached together by glycoside bonds. Starch is formed after the Calvin Cycle in the Stoma. Carbon dioxide is present in the air and the water is gained from precipitation or morning dew. The water is broken down in photosynthesis I (sourcing invisible light of Mann) by photolysis. This process sets free electrons and helps close the cycle of the light dependent stage. But before this process can be set off, a gradient in energy must be achieved. The most energy is gained in the first part of the light dependent stage (which creates the gradient) of photosynthesis II, sourcing in visible light of Mann. There are 5 major requirements for photosynthesis to take place: 1) A temperature in the environment between 5 35 degree Celsius, 2) Chlorophyll available in chloroplasts, 3) Water, 4) Carbon dioxide and 5) Light of favorable intensity. If any of these factors are absent, photosynthesis cannot occur. Materials required Materials list Geranium, begonia, or impatiens plants (entirely green leaves), coleus with irrigated leaves (green and white colored), hot plates and hot-water bath, Logos iodine solution in dropper bottles, 250-ml beakers, 100-ml beakers, tongs, forceps, Petri dishes, glass-marking pencil, 70% alcohol Method PART I Effects Of Light And Dark On Starch Formation The leaves used for Part I are completely green. A few of these leaves have been entirely and partially covered with black paper two days before the lab. Then the plant was exposed to good light during the day. 1 . With a glass-marking pencil, label one 250-ml beaker light, and label another 250-ml beaker dark. Half-fill the two beakers with water. Place a uncovered leaf to light, and both a entirely covered and a semi-covered leaf in the dark, in the appropriately marked beakers. Place the beakers on the hot plate, bring the water to boiling, and boil the leaves 5 minutes. 2. While the leaves are boiling, use another hot plate to prepare a hot-water bath. Label one 100-ml beaker light, and one dark. Half-fill each with 70% alcohol. With forceps or tongs, remove the boiled leaves from the water and transfer each to the appropriately marked smaller beaker. Place both 100-ml beakers in the boiling water bath. Bring the alcohol to boiling, and boil gently until all the chlorophyll in the leaves has dissolved in the alcohol. 3. While the leaves are boiling, label one Petri dish lighting another one dark. When the leaves have lost their chlorophyll, use the forceps to transfer each to the correctly marked Petri dish. 4. Gently spread out the leaves in the Petri dishes. Add drops of Logos iodine solution to each leaf until iodine has come into contact with the entire leaf. 5. Wash all glassware thoroughly. Dry the table top with a paper towel PART II Effect Of Chlorophyll On Starch Formation The plants used in Part II have been exposed to bright light. You will test their leaves for starch, as you did in Part l. One leaf will be all green, and the other will be partly green and partly white (variegated). 1. Repeat Steps 1 through 4 of Part I using one all-green leaf, and one green-and- white leaf. Label the beakers and Petri dishes G for the green leaf and G W for the green and white leaf. A. Before boiling the green and white leaf, make a drawing of it, showing the distribution of chlorophyll. Label the drawing variegated Leaf b. Observe the color changes that occur when Logos solution is put on the . After testing for starch, draw the two leaves and indicate the distribution of starch. Place the correct title under each leaf. Data Collection and Data Analysis Sketch 1 Sketch 2 Analysis In Sketch 1 the light exposed leaf seemed to have produced more starch than the covered leaf. In fact the covered leaf did not show any dark purple coloring at all. Sketch 2 show the variegated leaf, before being run through the lab procedures, green and white are clearly distinguishable. After having treated the green and the variegated leaf (sketch 2) certain areas of the variegated leaf indicated the presence of starch. The coloring took place only on the green parts, the white ones seemed unaffected. Question answer 1. In Part l, why did you test leaves that had been exposed to light as well as those that had been in the dark? Those leaves in the dark were not exposed to any light, therefore also didnt have any photosynthesis occurring. This will create a contrast towards the light exposed leaf and will help visualize the role of chlorophyll. 2. In Part II, why did you test leaves that were all green as well as leaves that were part green and part white? Since chlorophyll comprises a leaf, we wanted to see f also some of it was present in the white zones of a leaf. This WOUld support the assumption that chlorophyll is green. 3. From the results of Part l, what can you conclude about the relationship between exposure to light and the presence of starch in leaves? The leaves exposed to light had photosynthesis occurring, producing glucose molecules which would be transformed into starch. Putting this into relation to the covered/ darkened leaves that didnt turn dark purple after having dropped the iodine on it leads to the conclusion that starch is only formed when the leaf is exposed to eight. 4. From the results of Part II, what can you conclude about the relationship between the presence of chlorophyll and the presence of starch in leaves? The Iodine solution was dropped on both of the leaves. The green leave had dark purple dots all over it, indicating the storage of starch. The variegated leave only had dark purple coloring on the green lines, the white stripes did not indicate any starch storage. 5. Two basic assumptions of the two experiments performed in this activity are 1) that the presence of star ch indicates that photosynthesis has occurred, and ) that the absence of starch indicates that no photosynthesis has occurred. Are these assumptions scientifically valid? State why or not. They seem to be scientifically valid, because experiments have been conducted upon the issue with resulting information to either support or refute the hypothesis. In this case we have gathered evidence that is based on clear reasoning. Conclusion The evidence gained through this experiment supports the hypothesis. The Iodine helped to localize the starch and identify the factors contributing the energy storage of photosynthesis. We can now state that photosynthesis only occurs during light exposure and starch is only produced on areas where chlorophyll is present.

A Twelve Step Program for Writing More and Interneting Less - Freewrite Store

A Twelve Step Program for Writing More and Interneting Less - Freewrite Store Edited: 5/10/2017    They’re coming at you, pressing against your nerves, your sanity, the very bedrock of your existence. Like Huns, Barbarians, or worse,   door-to-door Bible thumpers. Battering down your defenses, kidnapping your kiddies and pillaging your lovely wife. Bang, bang, bang rampaging your gates. You look out, and there they are: your phone notifications.   A chirp, a bing, a whap, foghorn, an â€Å"ahuga† †¦ your cellphone is doing its high school drama class interpretation of the legendary Mexican jumping bean. The sucker is practically dancing the Macarena on your desk. â€Å"Dear lord,† you plead with one of your pagan deities, â€Å"please, not today. Not today! I have work to do†¦ Anything but that†¦Ã¢â‚¬  But, still, like that proverbial dog of Pavlovian fame, you sway forward. The siren call of a notification plucks you off the ground by the hair on your chinny-chin-chin. Lifted up, feet skimming soil, the look of a dullard clouding your ADD-sensory overloaded noggin’. Up against your flimsy rampart you go, not wanting to see; down that road lies doom and gloom. Still, your eyes, those traitorous knaves, work of their own accord. Just a peek, you tell yourself. One little, tiny, almost insignificant blink, then back to work. What harm will it do? â€Å"What?!† Your eyes turn into giant fried eggs. A flimsy white bikini, a drop-dead body and an arm, not your own, sliding across a tight belly. â€Å"She didn’t look like that with me! And who’s that?†   Your day is hijacked by visions of your ex’s Cancun getaway. Tomorrow, perhaps, a stroll down Gordon Ramsay’s YouTube Channel. The day after, a fact-finding expedition on Hollywood’s fabled divorces. On Friday, a particular Troll calls you out. And so on and so on. Work piles up, doing bivouac constructions all over your office. Well, it’s time to snap out of it! Plain and simple. There’s being laidback, then there’s LAIDBACK. If your cat - who, like all felines, looks permanently stoned - comes over and yells: â€Å"Get up, you deadbeat! Do something!† Then, by all means, you have crossed the line. Time to exorcise those digital demons. Time to go all Chuck Norris on that Pokà ©mon Go free-for-all that has suddenly become the notorious Pikachu on your back. Away into the night Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, Snapchat and all your cousins. Tisk, tisk, tisk, on that deranged Candy-Crush obsession going all Linda Blair-like on your productivity; green vomit everywhere, head doing the twist and jive, scandalous accusations of your Mother’s Hollywood-Hill like exploits in Hell. It’s time, my friend, to get your s%@t together. The Twelve Steps Step One: Admit you are powerless; your Wi-Fi has you by the throat and your iPhone has a mean right hook. Time to face up to the fact that, unfortunately, you have no self-control. You, like 90% of the population, have been smacked around by this digital age. It’s all out there, one swipe, pinch, toggle away. Procrastination is slowly but methodically being bred into our DNA. We have become cows; fed data, kept in check, happy with grazing the field so long as there’s a tweet by Selene Gomez keeping boredom away. Step Two: Power greater than ourselves: Eat the Frog First. In your sojourns in this topsy-turvy world, you’ll come to the realization that there is a power greater than ourselves. Nope, it’s not God, Krishna, Zeus, or Odin. No, none of those guys. I’m talking about Jobs, Da Vinci, Einstein, Rockefeller, Churchill, Gates, Patton, Twain, and Wilde. The go-getters. Most of them played big, but also did big. The one thing they could all agree on is this: EAT THE FROG FIRST. As soon as you get up, do that one thing that completely sours your mood. That one activity that hangs over your head like a sword. If you don’t, you’ll often lose focus throughout the day. You’ll look at shiny things for hours just to keep that one horrible bastard on the sidelines. Step Three: It’s a sprint, not a marathon. Work in bursts of energy. Make a list of items you have to finish that day, and never try to tackle them all at once. If you try to fight it out with the group, you’ll find yourself bloody and mashed up; beaten to seven shades of â€Å"you know what.† Pick a lone wolf off your list and don’t let go off its leash until you’ve managed to tame it. It may take ten minutes or it may take an hour, but work like a madman on that singular project. After you bury that nasty sucker six-feet under, take the same amount of time to unwind. Rinse and repeat. Step Four: Eliminate distractions. Until you transform into a production-ninja, a task-guru, a job-oriented Svengali, you’ll have the attention span of a gerbil on meth. That’s just how it is, and you’ll have to learn to live with it. Thanks to all your gadgets, you’ve become that annoying kid in your school that drank Coke all day and vibrated in and out of this dimension during lunch time. As such, eliminate all distractions while working. You are an alcoholic, but instead of Jose Cuervo, you get your fix from your iPad. Limit yourself to one window or application on your browser. Turn off your cellphone. Shred, destroy, annihilate your old tasks. Free up space by looking at what you already accomplished and what is just a load of BS. Work someplace that’s akin to that hole they toss prisoners in when they’ve been acting up. You were caught with a shiv, and now it’s time for solitary. Step Five: Zen your zone. A wallet, a home, and an office can tell you a lot about a person. If your wallet has managed to realign your spine, your house looks like it needs a hoarder’s intervention, and your desk has become a biological microenvironment, then it’s time to go to your local 7-11. Get a pack of matches and a jug of gasoline and BBQ that mess. Start fresh and minimalistic. An uncluttered existence is a peaceful existence. Step Six: Handle transitions. Your whole day is filled with a series of tasks; be they kosher or soul crushing. You are jumping from one slippery stone to another. You wake up at the end of one muddy bank, a furious black river before you, and your goal is to get to the other side by nightfall. Or, if you’re a Frogger fan, you are that suicidal toad. Before you dash into the new intersection, or skip onto the other rock, take a moment to breath and get your head on straight. Family life, work life, playtime, downtime, personal time, they all work on different vibes. Take ten to twenty minutes before leaping into a new fray or playground; get your head in order and switch out gears. Step Seven: Do like Bruce. If you find that your mind is getting antsy and wants to skedaddle away, then by all means, accompany it. Like Springsteen, you were Born To Run. Take the Thunderoad but not to your cellphone. Go outside, to the Jungleland, perhaps down those Backstreets, or through the Streets Of Philadelphia. Have, because you can, a Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out. Sit on a bench an ponder the Incident At 57th Street. Think about your Home Town. But, overall, remember to stretch out your legs even if you find yourself by the River, rain falling down on your head Waitin’ on a Sunny Day. Step Eight: Sweat like a superhero. Thirty minutes to an hour’s worth of physical exertion can do wonders for your stress and anxiety, the two naughty ankle-bitters that play havoc with your concentration. High impact aerobic exercise beats these riff-raffs into submission. You’ll discover as you leave your body-fat on the curb that, along with all those fast-food belly deposits, you’ll also catch your cellphone in the rear-view. Or, if running isn’t your thing, then pick-up a hobby that requires brawn instead of brains. It’s a swell time to learn how to play the guitar. Step Nine: Stimulate yourself. Mind out of the gutter! What I mean to say is try to make boring tasks interesting. Studies show that a steady level of just-right stimulation is critical for attention. Too low stimulation means a task is boring. Too high stimulation signifies stress or anxiety. Play some downbeat, relaxing, dare I say, â€Å"elevator music.† Buy a bag of candy and reward yourself every time you finish a task. Take a long lunch break. Talk to your co-workers once an hour. The key is to find your â€Å"zone.† Stimulation is a tricky concept; it boosts your attention but only to a certain point. Once it reaches its zenith, it becomes counterproductive. You start, for example, to play a mean air-guitar solo in your cubicle, disregarding all those slips you have to input on Excel. Step Ten: Self-talk. Get those imaginary pom-poms and cheer yourself to the finish line. Studies have shown- cause somehow, they always do- that whenever you find yourself wavering, whenever you think you won’t make it, the best thing to do is to act like a loon and start talking to yourself. Be your own coach. Repeat after me: â€Å"What do I need to do now?† â€Å"Stay with it; stay with it; stay with it.† â€Å"You’re almost there.† â€Å"You filthy maggot! You disgust me! Put down the phone!† Step Eleven: Tell everybody about your opening night. Here’s a trick: If everybody knows you went out to do something there’s a greater chance that you’ll accomplish it. If you’ve created an expectation, then odds are you’ll fulfill it. There is nothing worse than looking like a loser in front of your family and friends. So, next time you’re trying to check anything off your bucket list, tell someone you’re close to about it. It will generate a sense of accountability. Step Twelve: Keep two to-do lists. The first list is sort of like a diary of thought; write down whatever pops into your brain. Scribble   absolutely every distracting impulse that sizzles a neuron. â€Å"Check Facebook†; â€Å"Tweet this and that†; â€Å"Email friend from high school†; â€Å"Pick up laundry.† This huge tally will help you keep your mind tidy. You’ll no longer feel the need to do everything on the double because you might forget. Write the thoughts down and come back to them after your work. The second list is the important one. This one, this paramount catalogue, should include three items at the most. Those critical pieces that are fundamental for obtaining a sense of accomplishment at the end of the day. Set three big goals for the day and congratulate yourself when you crush them.

Human Resources Employment law for Businesses Case Study

Human Resources Employment law for Businesses - Case Study Example Based upon these facts the company needs to retain legal counsel because the lawsuit is valid. 2. Natalie Weston has a valid lawsuit against her former employer. The store manager broke confidentiality when telling a company calling to verify Ms. Weston previously worked at the company by telling them she came to work drunk. Based upon these things the Martin's department store needs to retain legal counsel. In addition the description does not state that the store manager has any proof that Ms. Weston was drunk while at work. With this proof this situation can easily be called defamation of character. However, the determination in regards to ruling will maybe influenced by the evidence presented. If an employee or the potential employer provides a statement that this has occurred the employer will have a strong lawsuit against them. 1. There is a difference between an employee that reports a serious or violent crime to the police and an employee that reports someone stealing paper clips. The differentiation lies in the determination of the severity of the crime. Raping an individual would constitute a felony and stealing cars or car parts dependent upon the determined value would also constitute a felony. However, stealing paper clips is not a serve or violent crime. ... However, stealing paper clips usually is dealt with from the inside of the company by company officials. This notion was further demonstrated in this case as the court ruling found that "public policy favored citizen crime fighters and the exposure of criminal activity" (Muhl, 2001, p. 2). Thus ruling that stealing a screw driver and car parts are not in the same category and protection extends to Palmateer. 2. This crime occurring at International Harvester does call for more severity than stealing a two dollar screw driver. Stealing car parts and selling them is more complicated than stealing a screw driver. Obtaining stole car parts and selling them is an illegal deed regardless of who or where the car parts are being stolen from. This operation may expose thefts to stores, or people. Due to the nature of this crime the good faith clause is applicable to this situation. 3. Terminated works have some rights that extent past the termination. The termination should not be discussed with other workers in regards to the reason of termination. Further the former work has the right to confidentiality. Thus if a new potential employer calls to verify the employee was employed at the facility they should not release details of the termination. This is confidential information and the company may be sued. In addition the former employer may not say anything that maybe detrimental to the former employees character. This release of information (whether it is true or factious information) may cause the employee not to receive the potential job. This situation presents defamation of character.To further instill the rights of public policy this case occurred in a state that a good faith clause. According to Muhl(2001),the good faith clause has been

I met my student advisor Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

I met my student advisor - Research Paper Example This was because I was still studying the university requirement courses; I had opted to do this so I could experience university academic life as well as improve in my communication skills as well as English. Furthermore, I wanted to explore my options, and I have been auditing classes and trying to gather information about the courses. He said that was a wise thing to do since one should not make a decision without thinking about it at first. Mr. Adams then asked what I really wanted to do with my life and what I liked to do with my free time. I told him that I loved soccer and reading, however, above all my past times, I loved listening to music most. Furthermore, I had taken a few classes in the introduction to music composition, and I enjoyed them immensely. Mr Adams then suggested I major in scinec engineering. He explained that then, I would be able to give back and help those behind if I got a good job me as well inspire them by setting a good example. Mr Adams then told me t hat to qualify as a scinec engineer I had to have some basic knowledge in music, and this was easy since I had studied music extensively before I joined the university both during and after high school. He, however, stressed that apart from music and sound, I must have achieved excellence in math’s, engineering and physical science since the discipline had little to do with music in general and a lot to do with minute aspects of sound from a highly scientific point of view. From a laptop and some fliers, Mr Adams showed me some of the coursework that I could expect to cover before I could qualify in this branch of engineering Acoustics and aerodynamics as well as ultrasonic and noise control. He also showed me profiles of some of the schools alumina who had graduated in the same field; many of them were successful sound engineers and had gone on to become very famous in their fields of expertise. He also told me about the various career choices open to successful graduates of the same these included Residential architect acoustic consultant, and concert hall acoustical designer as well as soundproofing consultants. He showed me pictures of the Walt Disney concert hall, which he considered an epitome of acoustic engineering, he explained to create such a building, one need the assistance of sound engineers, as well as architects. He told d The experience was very illuminating and I intend to pursue scinec engineering up to a masters and PhD level, because of the inspiration as well as objective advice from Mr. Adams. When I told him of my dream to become a pilot, he said that I should not abandon the dream. He explained that all I had to do was to wait until I got my degree and then I could get my certificate through a flying club, or even though the school, which offered the same, then I can embark on accumulating enough flying hours so I could work as a commercial or recreational pilot. A negative aspect of the whole thing was that I would have to choo se which field to specialize in since if I become and engineer and pilot, I will have to choose one in the future. They both required a lot of time for one to specialize and excel which will be an issue if I pursue both. However, I decided I would take time to decide that later when I had both options possibly after graduation. I aspire to become a great and famous person; I believe that for me to do this it is important I embark on a career path that I liked with intrinsic motivation. Mr Adams told me that this way, I would be

See Below Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

See Below - Essay Example Secure Communities is a new strategy developed by the Department of Homeland Security, with the goal of identifying arrested immigrants who are to be deported under U.S. law. The Secure Communities strategy has considerable benefits and several weaknesses. Despite the growing concern with regard to the validity and legitimacy of the Secure Communities strategy, it is the best way to diminish the scope of illegal immigration and its potential contribution to terrorism: through Secure Communities, the U.S. will finally remove thousands of offenders from its territory and reduce the costs of law enforcement and criminal justice without any damage caused to the security and individual rights protection of U.S. citizens. Secure Communities is a new strategy developed by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security with the goal of identifying arrested immigrants who are to be deported from the country under U.S. law (Immigration Policy Center). The Secure Communities strategy works in a quite straightforward way. Once an individual is arrested, his (her) fingerprints are sent to the Federal Bureau of Investigation and checked against all criminal databases (Immigration Policy Center). Under the Secure Communities strategy, these fingerprints are also sent to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), to be checked against the U.S. ... Before the individual is released back into the community, ICE will decide whether he (she) has the legal right to be present on the American territory or should be detained to be further deported from the country under U.S. law. Secure Communities has the potential to reduce the number of immigrant offenders in the United States. It is no secret that the entire program is intended to reduce the number of immigrant criminals and terrorists in the American land. The program offers vast opportunities for removing the most dangerous criminals (MacDonald). Statistically, every fifth suspect matched to a violation record in the Secure Communities program is deemed Class I offender (MacDonald). Since the beginning of the program, a total of 64,000 individuals, including more than 14,000 Class I offenders, have been deported from the country (MacDonald). To a large extent, Secure Communities increase safety and security across all American communities where the program is implemented: by 20 13, all states and communities will need to have the program in place. As a result, all communities will be able to enjoy the benefits of the new program and to become safe and secure for their members. Secure Communities reduce the costs of law enforcement and criminal justice for U.S. taxpayers without any damage caused to their safety and security in American communities. The program enables greater interoperability across all law enforcement agencies (Immigration Policy Center). With the help of the Secure Communities program, law enforcement professionals can access both IAFIS and IDENT databases, which reduce the time of information processing and its costs (Pless). The discussed integration of computer databases

History of Primary Education Reform 1871-1904

History of Primary Education Reform 1871-1904 1. Siam in the Expansion period 1905 1934 In the preceding chapter, we considered the foundation period of primary education reform from 1871 to 1904, particularly in relation to ethics instruction. In this chapter, we will consider the second period of reform the expansion period. This period, extending from 1905 to 1934, embraced the last five years of King Rama Vs reign (1905 1910), together with the reigns of Kings Vajiravudh (or Rama VI, 1910 1925) and Prajadiphok (or Rama VII, 1925 1934). These were eventful years for Siam, witnessing the rise of a new political class, the countrys entry upon the international stage through its participation in the Great War and the League of Nations, the effects of the Great Depression, the abrupt transition from absolute to constitutional monarchy in the revolution of 1932, and the abdication of the reigning monarch Rama VII in 1934. ‘Goodness, beauty and prosperity will be with them throughout their lives if they have acquired education.'[1] These words from Rama Vs decree of 1871 sum up his vision of education, including its moral dimension. As we have seen, he began by ‘modernising education within the palace, but by the end of his reign had embarked on the expansion of educational opportunities to people of all classes throughout Siam. Early in the expansion period, the subject of Ethics was added to the primary curriculum, its content comprising essentially a course in Buddhist morality. This reflected the anxiety of Rama V that the people would lose touch with their ethical and spiritual roots in Buddhism a possible undesirable side-effect of his own attempts modernise (which meant, in effect, to ‘secularise) the education system. At the start of the foundation period, Rama Vs most pressing educational concern had been to produce more highly qualified and competent administrators to staff the offices of his government. By the end of his reign, however, the realisation was growing that a modern state needed not just a literate bureaucracy but also a diversely skilled workforce capable of supporting a productive and diversified economy. Thus, by 1913, King Vajiravudh (Rama Vs son) had proclaimed two national educational goals: to broaden the scope of public education beyond the art of reading and writing, and to educate the people for productive vocations.[2] Attempts to develop basic education on these lines, and even to provide opportunities for higher education, continued through the reign of Prajadhipok (Rama VII: 1925-1934). In 1932, however, a coup took real power from his hands, leaving him as a figurehead. Nevertheless, the cause of public education was taken up vigorously by the new national government. Article 63 of the 1932 Constitution stated that ‘all educational institutions must be under the State and more than half of the population will complete primary education by 1942.'[3] The revolution had been carried out in the name of democracy, but the revolutionaries were uncomfortably aware that the Siamese people had little notion of what would be required of them in a parliamentary state. Thus Siams the school system found itself charged with an additional task to educate citizens for democracy. Before focusing on the changes made to education in the expansion period, we must explore more fully these aspects of the historical context.[4][5] 1.2. Politics and Administration 1905-1934 (B.E. 2448-2477) Faced with the advance of western colonialism, King Rama V had embarked on a radical program of modernization of Siamese society. Only a ‘modern Siam could preserve its independence and identity against Western power. But modernisation was a long-term strategy. In the short term, it was necessary to play for time by cultivating friendly relations with the colonial powers, in the hope of forestalling any confrontation that might lead to the loss of territory or sovereignty. Accordingly, Rama V signed a number of unequal treaties, granting extraterritorial rights to European citizens, and even gave up some of his dominions to assuage the imperial appetites of Britain and France. From 1894, Rama V carried out a major administrative reorganization, putting in place a system which still forms the basis of public administration today. Administration was decentralized to regional and local authorities (Monthons) under the power of the Interior Ministry. Each region comprised a number of provinces (or towns), and each province a number of districts and villages. The head of each region was a Lord-Lieutenant, or sometimes a Viceroy, who was invested with full power to administer his area under the provisions of the Royal Decrees promulgated from time to time. Governors and district officers were appointed in all rural areas. Bangkok was exempted from this system, as the king remained its supreme head, although he delegated this power to the Metropolitan Ministry.[6] Taken as a whole, these measures were successful both in maintaining the countrys independence throughout the turbulent years of the Western colonial threat and in providing a foundation for the modern system of government.[7] [Was this the local government system that inherited responsibility for the local schools in 1935, after the failure of the local committee system was acknowledged?] 1.2.1. King Vajiravudh (1910 1925) At the death of Rama V in 1910, his son Prince Vajiravudh succeeded to the throne as Rama VI. The first Siamese monarch to receive an education abroad, Vajiravudh had attended Sandhurst and Christchurch College, Oxford, spending nine years in England before his return to Siam in January 1903.[8] As king, Vajiravudh continued the process of nation-building and administrative reform begun by his father. By this time, the educational initiatives of the previous reign were producing actual improvements in the quality of governmental administration. Junior officials were better qualified and more capable. In addition, at the elite levels of government, many of the kings brothers had, like the king himself, completed studies in Europe in a range of fields including natural science, finance, public administration, military science, and diplomacy. They were able to bring this expertise to their leading roles in government. As a result of the high importance attached to it by the crown over two reigns, government service acquired a prestige that made people prefer it to other occupations. In the expansion period, the government increasingly saw that this tendency was not wholly beneficial to the broader development of Siams society or economy.[9] Peoples aspirations needed to be channelled in the direction of economically productive work. Meanwhile, the upper echelons of the growing bureaucratic class had become part of a new social elite. There were two other strands to this elite: the officers of the new standing army, and the business class that had emerged since the Bowring treaty opened up Siam to free international trade in 1855. Together, these three groups formed a new ‘political class that increasingly resented its exclusion from power. As we will see, this sense of exclusion ultimately found expression in the revolution of 1932. Vajiravudh, however, was more preoccupied with Siams fortunes in the international arena than with creating a fairer distribution of power within the kingdom. If Siam was to stay independent, its people had to be made patriotic and ready to fight for their nation. Accordingly, from the beginning of his reign, he tried to promote nationalistic feelings in Thai men and boys, and to develop military discipline and training. To this end, he founded the Boy Scout Organization in 1909. Boys were encouraged to join the scouts, where they learned to be patriotic, to obey rules and orders, and to sacrifice themselves for their country.[10] In 1911, a Senior Scouts Corps was established and became, in effect, a territorial army. As we will see, scouting activities were also eventually incorporated into the school curriculum. Thus, these patriotic and military virtues became part of the ethics that the school system tried to inculcate. Another step in the same direction was the creation of the ‘Wild Tiger (Sua Pa) Corps in 1911. The name was borrowed from the group of men who kept watch on the frontiers of Siam. These Wild Tigers of the past were believed to have embodied qualities such as hardiness, patriotism, piety, fearlessness, and devotion to the king, combined with deep knowledge of both nature and warfare all the qualities, in short, that Vajiravudh wanted to promote among Siamese manhood in his own day.[11] World War I provided Siam with an opportunity to test its new military prowess, and to raise its international profile. Vajiravudh prudently maintained neutrality through most of the war, but in July 1917 he decided that the time had come to demonstrate Siams progress towards modern nationhood. He entered the war on the side of the Allies, sending an expeditionary force of 1,200 volunteers to Europe. Shortly after entering the war, Vajiravudh also changed the national flag, abandoning the motif (introduced by Rama II) of an elephant on a red ground, and replacing it with the Siamese tricolour, which remains in use today. The choice of red, white and blue was a shrewd gesture of solidarity with Siams war allies in particular the colonial powers, Britain and France which had flags of the same three colours. The deeper significance of the flag, however, was as a symbol of the new consciousness that Vajiravudh wanted to create in Siam and for which education was to be an important instrument. The Siamese (still, in reality, mainly a nation of subsistence farmers, living in remote villages, most of whom had never seen a foreigner, or read a newspaper) had to be made more aware of their Siamese identity; they had to be made to feel a patriotism that transcended local loyalties, and become willing to fight or make sacrifices for their country. The new flag communicated this duty. It had five horizontal stripes (from top to bottom: red, white, blue, white, and red). The red stripes stood for the nation (and for blood spilt in its defence), the white ones for religion (the moral purity of the Dhamma), and the wider blue band in the centre occupying one-third of the total area symbolized the monarchy. The monarch would be a focus for patriotism, crystallising a vague sense of belonging into a specific obligation. In this way, loyalty to the monarchy became part of ‘ethics that were cultivated in the school system. Vajiravudhs efforts to play the part of friend to the colonial powers met with some success. Upon the defeat of Germany in 1918, Siam participated in the Versailles conference and became a founding member of the League of Nations. Having thus achieved a presence in the international arena, Siam began to renegotiate the unequal treaties of the two preceding reigns. In 1920 the United States became the first country to give up special trading privileges and extraterritorial rights, except in certain cases.[12] But growing international esteem could not stop growing discontent at home, which was in fact being fuelled by education. By this time, not only members of the royal family were being educated abroad. Some members of the foreign-educated elite brought radical political ideas back with them when they came home from Europe. At the same time, Siam itself was becoming more exposed to western culture, as the growth of literacy created a minority market for newspapers and literature. Western novels and romances were translated, and film screenings were common in Bangkok by the time Vajiravudh came to the throne in 1910. Ideas of freedom and equality were part and parcel of this cultural influx.[13] At the same time, the conspicuous wealth and unrestrained power of the royal family began to provoke resentment. The behaviour of Vajiravudh, an aesthete who loved display, tended to fuel this ill will. His coronation in 1910, a grand affair attended by royalty from Europe and Japan, swallowed no less than 8% of the national budget. This and other extravagances, such as his enthusiasm for palace-building, soon got him into debt, necessitating a foreign loan. For all Vajiravudhs intellectual sophistication, such habits made it difficult for him to command the same respect as his father. A challenge to absolutism began to take shape in Siam among the new political class.[14] Even before Vajiravudh, Rama V had been confronted with the question of whether to share his power. As we have seen, he resisted the suggestion that he move towards a more constitutional form of government in his lifetime. However, he realised that this resistance could not last forever. Shortly before his death in 1910, he stated to ministers his wish that the Crown Prince Vajiravudh should introduce a constitution and a parliament when he eventually to the throne.[15] When that time came, however, Vajiravudh did no such thing. In 1912, two years after Vajiravudhs accession, a group of junior army officers, exasperated with absolutism, plotted a coup detat. Their plan was discovered before it could be implemented and the leaders were imprisoned. However, the attempt forced Vajiravudh to recognise the vulnerability of his position. At first, he attempted to enter into dialogue with the critics by giving lectures and writing articles for the press (something that his education and literary ability qualified him to do), sometimes under the concealment of pseudonyms.[16] For example, in Klon Tid Law (‘Mud on Wheels), he argued that the main obstruction to the development of the kingdom was the lack of competent people: the implication was perhaps that Siam was not ready for democracy yet. But by 1916 the king had lost patience. Giving up on dialogue and experimentation, he opted for repression. He began by closing down certain newspapers on various pretexts, and in 1923, (after some years of hesitation prompted by fear of western criticism), he enshrined censorship in law, prosecuting many publishers and closing many presses. Yet even now, realising perhaps that history was against him, he equivocated by showing some willingness to move towards constitutional government. As late as 1924, he stated that: If people really want a constitution, and if it is well intended, then petition for it. I shall not hold any grudges against anyone for doing so. I shall consider the pros and cons of the petition. I myself think that it is better to have a constitution, and feel that for one person to hold absolute power is not judicious.[17] However, any further steps that he might have taken towards constitutional government were cut short. After ruling Siam for 15 years, Vajiravudh died of blood poisoning in 1925 at the early age of 44. King Vajiravudh deliberately ignored the current tradition that each reigning ruler usually set up one royal monastery by turning his attention to setting up an educational institution instead; he had Vajiravudh College established under his patronage. [This might go better in the later section on religion. It might suggest that the influence of Buddhism faded a bit in Vajiravudhs reign.] 1.2.2. Prajadhipok (Rama VII) 1925-1934 King Prajadhipok, officially named Rama VII, came to the throne in 1925. He promulgated many new laws such as the Land Expropriation Act 1928, the marriage law amendment 1930, etc. [Something should be said about the significance of these laws. Otherwise, the reader learns little from these statements.] All of these laws were thoroughly scrutinized [by whom?] and were strictly adhered to by the populace, which positively affected the country [This sounds too blandly positive and uncritical see my ‘advice.] [Also, I think you need to say something about Prajadhipoks policies on education and Ethics instruction. If he simply continued the policies of Rama VII, you need to say so explicitly. ] Prajadhipoks plans were upset by two great events. The first was the Wall Street crash of 1929, which triggered the Great Depression. Siams economy, like that of many other countries, was hit hard, and this fuelled the grievances of the political class. This dissatisfaction led to the second great event of the reign the 1932 coup detat, which compelled Prajadhipok firstly to accept a constitutional form of government, and then to relinquish power altogether by abdicating.[18] As we shall see, the 1932 revolution also had an impact on the development of education, which thereafter was geared to the process of democratization. [19] Even before the coup, Rama VII himself was aware of the dangers inherent in absolute monarchy. Intellectually, to some extent, he accepted the necessity for change. However, he proceeded too cautiously and slowly. Two years after his accession, he created a Supreme Council and the Committee of the Privy Council as means of broadening participation in decision making. Unfortunately, both these bodies were packed with members of the royal family and the aristocracy, and so did nothing to appease the frustrations of the political class. Like his two predecessors, Prajadhipok took the view that Siam was not ready for an elected legislature. It would be unfair to dismiss this as a convenient rationalisation for maintaining absolutism. Prajadhipok was not the only sceptic on the question of whether democracy could work in Siam. In 1926, Francis B Sayre, an American advisor originally hired by Vajiravudh, was consulted by Prajadhipok on a variety of pressing political questions, including democracy. Sayre later recorded his advice as follows. Discussing these issues with His Majesty, I had to point out the inherent dangers. In Siam there was no middle class. The Siamese peasants took little or no interest in public affairs but lived their simple lives in secluded rural districts. To set up a legislature and clothe it with real power overnight without an educated electorate to control it would be likely, I suggested, to invite trouble and possible corruption. Power uncontrolled was almost bound to breed corruption†¦ As I talked with him I felt the utter sincerity of the new monarch and his real desire to lead Siam modern nationhood.[20] The revolution of 1932 was not a mass uprising; no crowds were rallying in the streets. It was a bloodless coup conducted by leading elements of the new political class, eager to seize a share of power. Sayres view that there was no widespread popular demand for democratic institutions at this time is corroborated by the contemporary account of the Bangkok Times: There was no evidence that the masses took any part in the recent demonstration. The discontent of several salaried classes, especially of the officers of the Army and Navy, clearly counted most in the movement. At the same time a contributory cause is to be found in the extension of education in Siam since the middle of the nineteenth century. King Rama VII introduced western methods and technique to the country and the numbers of Siamese students trained in Europe increased. And [these classes of] educated officials, administrators, and officers having once been formed, it was only a question of time and opportunity before they demanded a share in the government of the country.[21] The coup was staged by a group calling itself the Peoples Party. All of them were of the ‘commoner class (khun nang), in other words from outside the ranks of the aristocracy. The ringleaders had begun their conspiracy five years before, in 1927, when they were students in Paris. Their western education had given them a keen sense of the inadequacy and backwardness of Siamese absolutism in the light of current Western democratic ideas. Pridi Banomyong, the leader of the Peoples Party, articulated its aims in six principles: 1. To guard independence in every way to ensure the security of the nation. This included independence in politics, the courts and the economy. 2. To preserve internal security and reduce internal strife. 3. To guarantee the economic well-being of the people, by creating full employment. 4. To make all citizens equal, so that princes and commoners had the same rights. 5. To grant all citizens freedom and equality, provided it did not conflict with the preceding principles. 6. To assure every person of a full education. Acquiescence in the coup was not the only option available to Prajadhipok. Elements of the large armed forces would probably have remained loyal and fought the revolutionaries, had he given the command. However, he wanted to avoid bloodshed, and in principle he had long recognised the need to share power to some extent. He therefore agreed to the Peoples Partys demand for a constitution, hoping to maintain a position of leadership within a constitutional framework. Accordingly, on 10 December 1932, he signed Siams first constitution, ending 700 years of absolute monarchy. This was a major turning point in Thai history, and despite the many constitutions that have followed, the fundamental principles laid down in 1932 remain the same today. Behind the scenes, however, Prajadhipok and leaders of the royalist cause struggled over the next few years to retrieve as much as possible of royal power. There were counter-coups and some limited military confrontations. At one point, Pridi Banomyong, the leading theoretician among the revolutionaries, was briefly forced into exile. Steadily, however, the balance of power shifted to the revolutionaries. In 1934, Prajadhipok sailed to Europe, ostensibly for medical treatment. Long-distance negotiations failed to reach a compromise. In 1935, apparently despairing of the situation, he abdicated. Even today, the 1932 coup remains controversial. Some historians have criticized Pridi and his party for failing to follow their six principles, while others have suggested that the principles themselves were inappropriate to the place and time. Still others have argued that the principles were good, but were misunderstood or misapplied by subsequent rulers, especially Sarit Thanarat, the eleventh Prime Minister, (1959-1963) who in theory was a devotee of the principles, but whose actual rule was a byword for tyranny and corruption.[22] I would agree with his opinion that the six principles should be developed as a network system not separated apparently and also they must be adapted according to the change and the context of time. On balance, however, there is considerable agreement that the move towards democracy in 1932 was premature. Some have gone so far as to blame Rama VII for being too fainthearted in his absolutism, arguing that he should have fought back more decisively against the new elite in the interests of the nation as a whole. As Sayre had grasped, the great majority of Siamese people at this point had no notion of democratic principles, and their participation in any democratic process could at best be passive. They could not discern the difference between absolute and constitutional monarchy. As for the coup leaders themselves, if their understanding of democracy lacked depth, their grasp of the real needs of the people was arguably just as weak.[23] To quote Sayre once again: Students returning from England or France or America often were unhappy and disturbed, with half-baked ideas about democracy and human liberty; they wanted Siam to adopt Western forms almost overnight, as if these were but outward garments. Many felt that Siamese culture was out of date, and their minds seethed with modern, western ideas, often superficial and misunderstood. [24] 1.3. The economy and public finances in the expansion period Although the Siamese economy grew overall through this period, trade was mostly in the hands of foreigners. According to modern government estimates, as much as 40% of the income generated by Siamese trade in this era went abroad.[25] Under the terms of the Bowring agreement, still in force at this time, Siams power to tax foreign businesses was narrowly circumscribed. [26] In 1918, in the aftermath of the World War, the entire world was facing economic recession. Siams balance of payments was in deficit from 1920 to the end of Vajiravudhs reign in 1925. Faced with falling revenues and the consequences of his own earlier extravagance, Vajiravudh was forced to make repeated cuts in government expenditure, and this increased his unpopularity among the military and the bureaucracy, which bore the brunt of the cuts. This situation repeated itself a few years into the next reign. From the onset of the Great Depression in 1929, Rama VII found himself obliged to make cuts in public expenditure. He felt obliged to excuse his action to military officers on February 5, 1931, thus: I fully realize that people who are the victims of the reduction program will be in deeper trouble since it is difficult for them to find other means of livelihood. I consequently feel extremely heavy-hearted and most sympathetic for those who have to leave. If I had other ways in which I could shoulder the burden, I would do everything for them but, as it is, I have no alternatives. [27] However, King Rama VII also encouraged and promoted the cooperative system by promulgating a law governing cooperatives in the year 1928. He commented, â€Å"Farmers who have limited capital but wish to pursue the same aims should form a cooperative so that they can mutually help one another in order to accumulate greater wealth †¦Ã¢â‚¬ [28] Thus the great paradox of the ‘expansion period of education reform was that the states finances, which were essential to fund the expansion of education on the scale intended, were actually in crisis through most of the second half of the period. 1.4. Culture From the reign of Rama IV, many aspects of Western culture were absorbed into Siamese life. As Europe was providing the model for progress in government, economics, and technology, its cultural influence could not be escaped. In some cases change was spontaneous, but in other it was imposed from above by the king. One of the most visible changes was in people style of dress. King Rama V decreed that when he appeared in state, the officials attending him should not dispense with their upper attire. To appear ‘topless would look barbaric to foreigners.[29] Thai women had traditionally kept their hair short and worn a waist-cloth with the end pulled between the legs and tucked in at the back. Now [When, exactly?] they started wearing skirts, grew their hair longer, and wore it in various Western styles. Other examples of royally imposed cultural changes include the introduction of an official calendar and the use of surnames. On the model of the Christian system of dating, Vajiravudh decreed the use of a calendar commencing from the death of the Buddha (the Buddhist Era, abbreviated as B.E.), which he introduced with effect from 1st April B.E. 2455 (A.D. 1912). He also required everybody to have a surname. This was an innovation, as there was no tradition of family names in Siam. In order to comply, most families had to invent surnames for themselves (in some cases, the king obligingly provided one for them!) Even today, although surnames appear on official documents such as passports, they play little part in social interaction: even prominent individuals, including politicians, are usually referred to and addressed by their first name. [all this is interesting, but can you develop it to indicate any specific impacts that the western cultural influx had on your main subject, i.e. p rimary education and ethics instruction?] Yet alongside this Westernisation of culture came a growing official concern to preserve Siamese traditions. King Rama VII established a Royal Institute to manage the Royal City Librarys activities, investigate literary works, administer the national museum, catalogue and preserve ancient sites and objects, and to maintain Siamese arts and handicrafts. 1.5. Religion/Buddhism Throughout the expansion period, the Siamese monarchys traditional support for the textual basis of Buddhism and Buddhist studies was maintained. Vajiravudh promoted the study of Buddhism in the Thai language. Several texts on Buddhism in Thai, compiled during the reign of his father, were already extant, and many writers contributed more during his own reign, especially his uncle Prince Vajirayan, the Supreme Patriarch. Prajadhipok convened a council of monks under the chairmanship of Prince Jinavara Sirivatthana, the Supreme Patriarch of his reign, for the purpose of checking the contents of the 39 volumes of the Tripitaka (the Buddhist scriptural canon) that had been printed in the days of Rama V, comparing it to editions of the Tripitaka from other Buddhist countries. Revisions were made, and a new text, known as ‘the Siam-Rath edition, was printed in 1927.[30] Prajadhipok took an interest in improving the education of children in Buddhism. He once said, ‘The teaching of Buddhism to children in Siam has not been satisfactory. Children must be taught to understand morals when they are very young. Religious texts for them should be written in a way that they easily understand.'[31] To remedy the situation, he established at his personal expense a foundation (which still exists today) to make awards to the winners of regular competitions for the best literary work in Thai on Buddhism. The winning texts were published and distributed to children on Visakha Bucha Day. The position of Buddhism in Siam, and the role of the king in relation to it, were preserved in the 1932 Constitution, which stated that ‘the king must be a Buddhist and the upholder of Buddhism. The role of monks in the modernised school system peaked and began to wane during the expansion period. Although Rama V had clearly seen the need for professional lay teachers, he seems also to have envisaged that monks would indefinitely continue to play a part in modern education. This was part and parcel of his belief that ‘there exists no incompatibility between [the] acquisition of European science and the maintenance of our individuality as an independent Asiatic nation.'[32] As David Wyatt has put it, Rama V believed that ‘Traditional institutions [such as the] Buddhist monkhood†¦ could, without creating copies of Western institutions, be bent to new ends that in essence were not so very different from the ideals of Buddhist Siamese civilization.'[33] During the first part of the expansion period, practical necessity also contributed to the continuation of the monks role in schooling. Modernisation was still in its early days, and the shortage of trained lay teachers obliged the government to continue to rely on the services of monks. Indeed, as late as 1909, we find the government issuing instructions to local authorities that monasteries which had not hitherto made a contribution towards public education should be encouraged to take part in the general endeavour. However, the aim was to produce specially trained lay teachers, and it was inevitable that these would replace the monks in the long run. After all, the monastic sangha was an entity in its own right, with its own agenda and prestige. Monks could never be so amenable to state control as a body of state-trained and state-paid professional teachers. For this reason, from 1915 onwards there was a steady decrease in the total number of monks teaching in schools, even though the number of monasteries being used as school buildings continued to increase for a while. While discussing the role of religion in the new system, we must also note that, although Christianity as a doctrine had little impact on the development of Siamese education (there were relatively few converts), Christian organisations contributed significantly to its growth. It pioneered the modern system of public education in offering Western Education to the kings and his children in the reign of King Rama IV and V. History of Primary Education Reform 1871-1904 History of Primary Education Reform 1871-1904 1. Siam in the Expansion period 1905 1934 In the preceding chapter, we considered the foundation period of primary education reform from 1871 to 1904, particularly in relation to ethics instruction. In this chapter, we will consider the second period of reform the expansion period. This period, extending from 1905 to 1934, embraced the last five years of King Rama Vs reign (1905 1910), together with the reigns of Kings Vajiravudh (or Rama VI, 1910 1925) and Prajadiphok (or Rama VII, 1925 1934). These were eventful years for Siam, witnessing the rise of a new political class, the countrys entry upon the international stage through its participation in the Great War and the League of Nations, the effects of the Great Depression, the abrupt transition from absolute to constitutional monarchy in the revolution of 1932, and the abdication of the reigning monarch Rama VII in 1934. ‘Goodness, beauty and prosperity will be with them throughout their lives if they have acquired education.'[1] These words from Rama Vs decree of 1871 sum up his vision of education, including its moral dimension. As we have seen, he began by ‘modernising education within the palace, but by the end of his reign had embarked on the expansion of educational opportunities to people of all classes throughout Siam. Early in the expansion period, the subject of Ethics was added to the primary curriculum, its content comprising essentially a course in Buddhist morality. This reflected the anxiety of Rama V that the people would lose touch with their ethical and spiritual roots in Buddhism a possible undesirable side-effect of his own attempts modernise (which meant, in effect, to ‘secularise) the education system. At the start of the foundation period, Rama Vs most pressing educational concern had been to produce more highly qualified and competent administrators to staff the offices of his government. By the end of his reign, however, the realisation was growing that a modern state needed not just a literate bureaucracy but also a diversely skilled workforce capable of supporting a productive and diversified economy. Thus, by 1913, King Vajiravudh (Rama Vs son) had proclaimed two national educational goals: to broaden the scope of public education beyond the art of reading and writing, and to educate the people for productive vocations.[2] Attempts to develop basic education on these lines, and even to provide opportunities for higher education, continued through the reign of Prajadhipok (Rama VII: 1925-1934). In 1932, however, a coup took real power from his hands, leaving him as a figurehead. Nevertheless, the cause of public education was taken up vigorously by the new national government. Article 63 of the 1932 Constitution stated that ‘all educational institutions must be under the State and more than half of the population will complete primary education by 1942.'[3] The revolution had been carried out in the name of democracy, but the revolutionaries were uncomfortably aware that the Siamese people had little notion of what would be required of them in a parliamentary state. Thus Siams the school system found itself charged with an additional task to educate citizens for democracy. Before focusing on the changes made to education in the expansion period, we must explore more fully these aspects of the historical context.[4][5] 1.2. Politics and Administration 1905-1934 (B.E. 2448-2477) Faced with the advance of western colonialism, King Rama V had embarked on a radical program of modernization of Siamese society. Only a ‘modern Siam could preserve its independence and identity against Western power. But modernisation was a long-term strategy. In the short term, it was necessary to play for time by cultivating friendly relations with the colonial powers, in the hope of forestalling any confrontation that might lead to the loss of territory or sovereignty. Accordingly, Rama V signed a number of unequal treaties, granting extraterritorial rights to European citizens, and even gave up some of his dominions to assuage the imperial appetites of Britain and France. From 1894, Rama V carried out a major administrative reorganization, putting in place a system which still forms the basis of public administration today. Administration was decentralized to regional and local authorities (Monthons) under the power of the Interior Ministry. Each region comprised a number of provinces (or towns), and each province a number of districts and villages. The head of each region was a Lord-Lieutenant, or sometimes a Viceroy, who was invested with full power to administer his area under the provisions of the Royal Decrees promulgated from time to time. Governors and district officers were appointed in all rural areas. Bangkok was exempted from this system, as the king remained its supreme head, although he delegated this power to the Metropolitan Ministry.[6] Taken as a whole, these measures were successful both in maintaining the countrys independence throughout the turbulent years of the Western colonial threat and in providing a foundation for the modern system of government.[7] [Was this the local government system that inherited responsibility for the local schools in 1935, after the failure of the local committee system was acknowledged?] 1.2.1. King Vajiravudh (1910 1925) At the death of Rama V in 1910, his son Prince Vajiravudh succeeded to the throne as Rama VI. The first Siamese monarch to receive an education abroad, Vajiravudh had attended Sandhurst and Christchurch College, Oxford, spending nine years in England before his return to Siam in January 1903.[8] As king, Vajiravudh continued the process of nation-building and administrative reform begun by his father. By this time, the educational initiatives of the previous reign were producing actual improvements in the quality of governmental administration. Junior officials were better qualified and more capable. In addition, at the elite levels of government, many of the kings brothers had, like the king himself, completed studies in Europe in a range of fields including natural science, finance, public administration, military science, and diplomacy. They were able to bring this expertise to their leading roles in government. As a result of the high importance attached to it by the crown over two reigns, government service acquired a prestige that made people prefer it to other occupations. In the expansion period, the government increasingly saw that this tendency was not wholly beneficial to the broader development of Siams society or economy.[9] Peoples aspirations needed to be channelled in the direction of economically productive work. Meanwhile, the upper echelons of the growing bureaucratic class had become part of a new social elite. There were two other strands to this elite: the officers of the new standing army, and the business class that had emerged since the Bowring treaty opened up Siam to free international trade in 1855. Together, these three groups formed a new ‘political class that increasingly resented its exclusion from power. As we will see, this sense of exclusion ultimately found expression in the revolution of 1932. Vajiravudh, however, was more preoccupied with Siams fortunes in the international arena than with creating a fairer distribution of power within the kingdom. If Siam was to stay independent, its people had to be made patriotic and ready to fight for their nation. Accordingly, from the beginning of his reign, he tried to promote nationalistic feelings in Thai men and boys, and to develop military discipline and training. To this end, he founded the Boy Scout Organization in 1909. Boys were encouraged to join the scouts, where they learned to be patriotic, to obey rules and orders, and to sacrifice themselves for their country.[10] In 1911, a Senior Scouts Corps was established and became, in effect, a territorial army. As we will see, scouting activities were also eventually incorporated into the school curriculum. Thus, these patriotic and military virtues became part of the ethics that the school system tried to inculcate. Another step in the same direction was the creation of the ‘Wild Tiger (Sua Pa) Corps in 1911. The name was borrowed from the group of men who kept watch on the frontiers of Siam. These Wild Tigers of the past were believed to have embodied qualities such as hardiness, patriotism, piety, fearlessness, and devotion to the king, combined with deep knowledge of both nature and warfare all the qualities, in short, that Vajiravudh wanted to promote among Siamese manhood in his own day.[11] World War I provided Siam with an opportunity to test its new military prowess, and to raise its international profile. Vajiravudh prudently maintained neutrality through most of the war, but in July 1917 he decided that the time had come to demonstrate Siams progress towards modern nationhood. He entered the war on the side of the Allies, sending an expeditionary force of 1,200 volunteers to Europe. Shortly after entering the war, Vajiravudh also changed the national flag, abandoning the motif (introduced by Rama II) of an elephant on a red ground, and replacing it with the Siamese tricolour, which remains in use today. The choice of red, white and blue was a shrewd gesture of solidarity with Siams war allies in particular the colonial powers, Britain and France which had flags of the same three colours. The deeper significance of the flag, however, was as a symbol of the new consciousness that Vajiravudh wanted to create in Siam and for which education was to be an important instrument. The Siamese (still, in reality, mainly a nation of subsistence farmers, living in remote villages, most of whom had never seen a foreigner, or read a newspaper) had to be made more aware of their Siamese identity; they had to be made to feel a patriotism that transcended local loyalties, and become willing to fight or make sacrifices for their country. The new flag communicated this duty. It had five horizontal stripes (from top to bottom: red, white, blue, white, and red). The red stripes stood for the nation (and for blood spilt in its defence), the white ones for religion (the moral purity of the Dhamma), and the wider blue band in the centre occupying one-third of the total area symbolized the monarchy. The monarch would be a focus for patriotism, crystallising a vague sense of belonging into a specific obligation. In this way, loyalty to the monarchy became part of ‘ethics that were cultivated in the school system. Vajiravudhs efforts to play the part of friend to the colonial powers met with some success. Upon the defeat of Germany in 1918, Siam participated in the Versailles conference and became a founding member of the League of Nations. Having thus achieved a presence in the international arena, Siam began to renegotiate the unequal treaties of the two preceding reigns. In 1920 the United States became the first country to give up special trading privileges and extraterritorial rights, except in certain cases.[12] But growing international esteem could not stop growing discontent at home, which was in fact being fuelled by education. By this time, not only members of the royal family were being educated abroad. Some members of the foreign-educated elite brought radical political ideas back with them when they came home from Europe. At the same time, Siam itself was becoming more exposed to western culture, as the growth of literacy created a minority market for newspapers and literature. Western novels and romances were translated, and film screenings were common in Bangkok by the time Vajiravudh came to the throne in 1910. Ideas of freedom and equality were part and parcel of this cultural influx.[13] At the same time, the conspicuous wealth and unrestrained power of the royal family began to provoke resentment. The behaviour of Vajiravudh, an aesthete who loved display, tended to fuel this ill will. His coronation in 1910, a grand affair attended by royalty from Europe and Japan, swallowed no less than 8% of the national budget. This and other extravagances, such as his enthusiasm for palace-building, soon got him into debt, necessitating a foreign loan. For all Vajiravudhs intellectual sophistication, such habits made it difficult for him to command the same respect as his father. A challenge to absolutism began to take shape in Siam among the new political class.[14] Even before Vajiravudh, Rama V had been confronted with the question of whether to share his power. As we have seen, he resisted the suggestion that he move towards a more constitutional form of government in his lifetime. However, he realised that this resistance could not last forever. Shortly before his death in 1910, he stated to ministers his wish that the Crown Prince Vajiravudh should introduce a constitution and a parliament when he eventually to the throne.[15] When that time came, however, Vajiravudh did no such thing. In 1912, two years after Vajiravudhs accession, a group of junior army officers, exasperated with absolutism, plotted a coup detat. Their plan was discovered before it could be implemented and the leaders were imprisoned. However, the attempt forced Vajiravudh to recognise the vulnerability of his position. At first, he attempted to enter into dialogue with the critics by giving lectures and writing articles for the press (something that his education and literary ability qualified him to do), sometimes under the concealment of pseudonyms.[16] For example, in Klon Tid Law (‘Mud on Wheels), he argued that the main obstruction to the development of the kingdom was the lack of competent people: the implication was perhaps that Siam was not ready for democracy yet. But by 1916 the king had lost patience. Giving up on dialogue and experimentation, he opted for repression. He began by closing down certain newspapers on various pretexts, and in 1923, (after some years of hesitation prompted by fear of western criticism), he enshrined censorship in law, prosecuting many publishers and closing many presses. Yet even now, realising perhaps that history was against him, he equivocated by showing some willingness to move towards constitutional government. As late as 1924, he stated that: If people really want a constitution, and if it is well intended, then petition for it. I shall not hold any grudges against anyone for doing so. I shall consider the pros and cons of the petition. I myself think that it is better to have a constitution, and feel that for one person to hold absolute power is not judicious.[17] However, any further steps that he might have taken towards constitutional government were cut short. After ruling Siam for 15 years, Vajiravudh died of blood poisoning in 1925 at the early age of 44. King Vajiravudh deliberately ignored the current tradition that each reigning ruler usually set up one royal monastery by turning his attention to setting up an educational institution instead; he had Vajiravudh College established under his patronage. [This might go better in the later section on religion. It might suggest that the influence of Buddhism faded a bit in Vajiravudhs reign.] 1.2.2. Prajadhipok (Rama VII) 1925-1934 King Prajadhipok, officially named Rama VII, came to the throne in 1925. He promulgated many new laws such as the Land Expropriation Act 1928, the marriage law amendment 1930, etc. [Something should be said about the significance of these laws. Otherwise, the reader learns little from these statements.] All of these laws were thoroughly scrutinized [by whom?] and were strictly adhered to by the populace, which positively affected the country [This sounds too blandly positive and uncritical see my ‘advice.] [Also, I think you need to say something about Prajadhipoks policies on education and Ethics instruction. If he simply continued the policies of Rama VII, you need to say so explicitly. ] Prajadhipoks plans were upset by two great events. The first was the Wall Street crash of 1929, which triggered the Great Depression. Siams economy, like that of many other countries, was hit hard, and this fuelled the grievances of the political class. This dissatisfaction led to the second great event of the reign the 1932 coup detat, which compelled Prajadhipok firstly to accept a constitutional form of government, and then to relinquish power altogether by abdicating.[18] As we shall see, the 1932 revolution also had an impact on the development of education, which thereafter was geared to the process of democratization. [19] Even before the coup, Rama VII himself was aware of the dangers inherent in absolute monarchy. Intellectually, to some extent, he accepted the necessity for change. However, he proceeded too cautiously and slowly. Two years after his accession, he created a Supreme Council and the Committee of the Privy Council as means of broadening participation in decision making. Unfortunately, both these bodies were packed with members of the royal family and the aristocracy, and so did nothing to appease the frustrations of the political class. Like his two predecessors, Prajadhipok took the view that Siam was not ready for an elected legislature. It would be unfair to dismiss this as a convenient rationalisation for maintaining absolutism. Prajadhipok was not the only sceptic on the question of whether democracy could work in Siam. In 1926, Francis B Sayre, an American advisor originally hired by Vajiravudh, was consulted by Prajadhipok on a variety of pressing political questions, including democracy. Sayre later recorded his advice as follows. Discussing these issues with His Majesty, I had to point out the inherent dangers. In Siam there was no middle class. The Siamese peasants took little or no interest in public affairs but lived their simple lives in secluded rural districts. To set up a legislature and clothe it with real power overnight without an educated electorate to control it would be likely, I suggested, to invite trouble and possible corruption. Power uncontrolled was almost bound to breed corruption†¦ As I talked with him I felt the utter sincerity of the new monarch and his real desire to lead Siam modern nationhood.[20] The revolution of 1932 was not a mass uprising; no crowds were rallying in the streets. It was a bloodless coup conducted by leading elements of the new political class, eager to seize a share of power. Sayres view that there was no widespread popular demand for democratic institutions at this time is corroborated by the contemporary account of the Bangkok Times: There was no evidence that the masses took any part in the recent demonstration. The discontent of several salaried classes, especially of the officers of the Army and Navy, clearly counted most in the movement. At the same time a contributory cause is to be found in the extension of education in Siam since the middle of the nineteenth century. King Rama VII introduced western methods and technique to the country and the numbers of Siamese students trained in Europe increased. And [these classes of] educated officials, administrators, and officers having once been formed, it was only a question of time and opportunity before they demanded a share in the government of the country.[21] The coup was staged by a group calling itself the Peoples Party. All of them were of the ‘commoner class (khun nang), in other words from outside the ranks of the aristocracy. The ringleaders had begun their conspiracy five years before, in 1927, when they were students in Paris. Their western education had given them a keen sense of the inadequacy and backwardness of Siamese absolutism in the light of current Western democratic ideas. Pridi Banomyong, the leader of the Peoples Party, articulated its aims in six principles: 1. To guard independence in every way to ensure the security of the nation. This included independence in politics, the courts and the economy. 2. To preserve internal security and reduce internal strife. 3. To guarantee the economic well-being of the people, by creating full employment. 4. To make all citizens equal, so that princes and commoners had the same rights. 5. To grant all citizens freedom and equality, provided it did not conflict with the preceding principles. 6. To assure every person of a full education. Acquiescence in the coup was not the only option available to Prajadhipok. Elements of the large armed forces would probably have remained loyal and fought the revolutionaries, had he given the command. However, he wanted to avoid bloodshed, and in principle he had long recognised the need to share power to some extent. He therefore agreed to the Peoples Partys demand for a constitution, hoping to maintain a position of leadership within a constitutional framework. Accordingly, on 10 December 1932, he signed Siams first constitution, ending 700 years of absolute monarchy. This was a major turning point in Thai history, and despite the many constitutions that have followed, the fundamental principles laid down in 1932 remain the same today. Behind the scenes, however, Prajadhipok and leaders of the royalist cause struggled over the next few years to retrieve as much as possible of royal power. There were counter-coups and some limited military confrontations. At one point, Pridi Banomyong, the leading theoretician among the revolutionaries, was briefly forced into exile. Steadily, however, the balance of power shifted to the revolutionaries. In 1934, Prajadhipok sailed to Europe, ostensibly for medical treatment. Long-distance negotiations failed to reach a compromise. In 1935, apparently despairing of the situation, he abdicated. Even today, the 1932 coup remains controversial. Some historians have criticized Pridi and his party for failing to follow their six principles, while others have suggested that the principles themselves were inappropriate to the place and time. Still others have argued that the principles were good, but were misunderstood or misapplied by subsequent rulers, especially Sarit Thanarat, the eleventh Prime Minister, (1959-1963) who in theory was a devotee of the principles, but whose actual rule was a byword for tyranny and corruption.[22] I would agree with his opinion that the six principles should be developed as a network system not separated apparently and also they must be adapted according to the change and the context of time. On balance, however, there is considerable agreement that the move towards democracy in 1932 was premature. Some have gone so far as to blame Rama VII for being too fainthearted in his absolutism, arguing that he should have fought back more decisively against the new elite in the interests of the nation as a whole. As Sayre had grasped, the great majority of Siamese people at this point had no notion of democratic principles, and their participation in any democratic process could at best be passive. They could not discern the difference between absolute and constitutional monarchy. As for the coup leaders themselves, if their understanding of democracy lacked depth, their grasp of the real needs of the people was arguably just as weak.[23] To quote Sayre once again: Students returning from England or France or America often were unhappy and disturbed, with half-baked ideas about democracy and human liberty; they wanted Siam to adopt Western forms almost overnight, as if these were but outward garments. Many felt that Siamese culture was out of date, and their minds seethed with modern, western ideas, often superficial and misunderstood. [24] 1.3. The economy and public finances in the expansion period Although the Siamese economy grew overall through this period, trade was mostly in the hands of foreigners. According to modern government estimates, as much as 40% of the income generated by Siamese trade in this era went abroad.[25] Under the terms of the Bowring agreement, still in force at this time, Siams power to tax foreign businesses was narrowly circumscribed. [26] In 1918, in the aftermath of the World War, the entire world was facing economic recession. Siams balance of payments was in deficit from 1920 to the end of Vajiravudhs reign in 1925. Faced with falling revenues and the consequences of his own earlier extravagance, Vajiravudh was forced to make repeated cuts in government expenditure, and this increased his unpopularity among the military and the bureaucracy, which bore the brunt of the cuts. This situation repeated itself a few years into the next reign. From the onset of the Great Depression in 1929, Rama VII found himself obliged to make cuts in public expenditure. He felt obliged to excuse his action to military officers on February 5, 1931, thus: I fully realize that people who are the victims of the reduction program will be in deeper trouble since it is difficult for them to find other means of livelihood. I consequently feel extremely heavy-hearted and most sympathetic for those who have to leave. If I had other ways in which I could shoulder the burden, I would do everything for them but, as it is, I have no alternatives. [27] However, King Rama VII also encouraged and promoted the cooperative system by promulgating a law governing cooperatives in the year 1928. He commented, â€Å"Farmers who have limited capital but wish to pursue the same aims should form a cooperative so that they can mutually help one another in order to accumulate greater wealth †¦Ã¢â‚¬ [28] Thus the great paradox of the ‘expansion period of education reform was that the states finances, which were essential to fund the expansion of education on the scale intended, were actually in crisis through most of the second half of the period. 1.4. Culture From the reign of Rama IV, many aspects of Western culture were absorbed into Siamese life. As Europe was providing the model for progress in government, economics, and technology, its cultural influence could not be escaped. In some cases change was spontaneous, but in other it was imposed from above by the king. One of the most visible changes was in people style of dress. King Rama V decreed that when he appeared in state, the officials attending him should not dispense with their upper attire. To appear ‘topless would look barbaric to foreigners.[29] Thai women had traditionally kept their hair short and worn a waist-cloth with the end pulled between the legs and tucked in at the back. Now [When, exactly?] they started wearing skirts, grew their hair longer, and wore it in various Western styles. Other examples of royally imposed cultural changes include the introduction of an official calendar and the use of surnames. On the model of the Christian system of dating, Vajiravudh decreed the use of a calendar commencing from the death of the Buddha (the Buddhist Era, abbreviated as B.E.), which he introduced with effect from 1st April B.E. 2455 (A.D. 1912). He also required everybody to have a surname. This was an innovation, as there was no tradition of family names in Siam. In order to comply, most families had to invent surnames for themselves (in some cases, the king obligingly provided one for them!) Even today, although surnames appear on official documents such as passports, they play little part in social interaction: even prominent individuals, including politicians, are usually referred to and addressed by their first name. [all this is interesting, but can you develop it to indicate any specific impacts that the western cultural influx had on your main subject, i.e. p rimary education and ethics instruction?] Yet alongside this Westernisation of culture came a growing official concern to preserve Siamese traditions. King Rama VII established a Royal Institute to manage the Royal City Librarys activities, investigate literary works, administer the national museum, catalogue and preserve ancient sites and objects, and to maintain Siamese arts and handicrafts. 1.5. Religion/Buddhism Throughout the expansion period, the Siamese monarchys traditional support for the textual basis of Buddhism and Buddhist studies was maintained. Vajiravudh promoted the study of Buddhism in the Thai language. Several texts on Buddhism in Thai, compiled during the reign of his father, were already extant, and many writers contributed more during his own reign, especially his uncle Prince Vajirayan, the Supreme Patriarch. Prajadhipok convened a council of monks under the chairmanship of Prince Jinavara Sirivatthana, the Supreme Patriarch of his reign, for the purpose of checking the contents of the 39 volumes of the Tripitaka (the Buddhist scriptural canon) that had been printed in the days of Rama V, comparing it to editions of the Tripitaka from other Buddhist countries. Revisions were made, and a new text, known as ‘the Siam-Rath edition, was printed in 1927.[30] Prajadhipok took an interest in improving the education of children in Buddhism. He once said, ‘The teaching of Buddhism to children in Siam has not been satisfactory. Children must be taught to understand morals when they are very young. Religious texts for them should be written in a way that they easily understand.'[31] To remedy the situation, he established at his personal expense a foundation (which still exists today) to make awards to the winners of regular competitions for the best literary work in Thai on Buddhism. The winning texts were published and distributed to children on Visakha Bucha Day. The position of Buddhism in Siam, and the role of the king in relation to it, were preserved in the 1932 Constitution, which stated that ‘the king must be a Buddhist and the upholder of Buddhism. The role of monks in the modernised school system peaked and began to wane during the expansion period. Although Rama V had clearly seen the need for professional lay teachers, he seems also to have envisaged that monks would indefinitely continue to play a part in modern education. This was part and parcel of his belief that ‘there exists no incompatibility between [the] acquisition of European science and the maintenance of our individuality as an independent Asiatic nation.'[32] As David Wyatt has put it, Rama V believed that ‘Traditional institutions [such as the] Buddhist monkhood†¦ could, without creating copies of Western institutions, be bent to new ends that in essence were not so very different from the ideals of Buddhist Siamese civilization.'[33] During the first part of the expansion period, practical necessity also contributed to the continuation of the monks role in schooling. Modernisation was still in its early days, and the shortage of trained lay teachers obliged the government to continue to rely on the services of monks. Indeed, as late as 1909, we find the government issuing instructions to local authorities that monasteries which had not hitherto made a contribution towards public education should be encouraged to take part in the general endeavour. However, the aim was to produce specially trained lay teachers, and it was inevitable that these would replace the monks in the long run. After all, the monastic sangha was an entity in its own right, with its own agenda and prestige. Monks could never be so amenable to state control as a body of state-trained and state-paid professional teachers. For this reason, from 1915 onwards there was a steady decrease in the total number of monks teaching in schools, even though the number of monasteries being used as school buildings continued to increase for a while. While discussing the role of religion in the new system, we must also note that, although Christianity as a doctrine had little impact on the development of Siamese education (there were relatively few converts), Christian organisations contributed significantly to its growth. It pioneered the modern system of public education in offering Western Education to the kings and his children in the reign of King Rama IV and V.