Healthcare Insight Repositioning Research Paper

Healthcare Insight Repositioning - Research Paper Example Human beings often get sick and when they do so, they need medical attention. Landmark Health is a non-profit making organization that looks towards offering their patients suitable services that will leave them satisfied, and ensure that their outpatients have words full of praise for their services rather than criticizing them (Nanus & Dobbs, 1999). Landmark Healthcare Organization extends its medical services from Virginia all the way to Georgia. The mission of the organization is to improve the health of communities, with services to each and every person in the community. The major purpose of this study is to identify the major successes and pitfalls faced by the organization as a result of its changing environment in terms of site, management and patient outcome and suggesting solutions and suitable recommendations to the problems that the organization faces. The essence of a local health center is to provide suitable medical care to its adjacent community and extend its services further to other communities in the region. Landmark Healthcare provides value to the community by embodying the belief that they have practiced at the various sites in the country. According to their senior leader, they strive to provide same medical facilities all over their thirteen locations so as to satisfy patients from both areas who visit their institution. In addition, their market leader pointed out that they offer value by providing exceptional medical facilities, enhancing appropriate physician practices and being devoted to the outreach of the community and other communal services (Nanus & Dobbs, 1999). These values, when provided adequately and sufficiently to the community, come with benefits, and as he continued to say, it has had some enormous contributions to the success of the  organization, including the organizations registering a massive benefit of $ 567 million in the year 2011. The benefits recorded were not only because of the large numbers of in-patients that they record, but it was accrued to the community services that they offer to the people.

Sexualization of Girls in Advertisements Essay Example for Free

Sexualization of Girls in Advertisements Essay In April 21, 2005, a movie that mirrors what was going on in our society today in regards to racism and stereotyping was released. That interesting movie, to say the least, have moved, shocked and stricken the soul of its viewers by the amazing twists and turns of the story. The acclaimed movie has also received rave reviews from average viewers. Roger Ebert even called it the best movie of 2005 (Ebert, In Defense). That movie was Paul Haggis Oscar-winning Crash, which screenplay was written by Bobby Moresco and Haggis himself. Needless to say, Crash is about the collision of cars, it actually begins and ends with a car crash. But the notion of Crash in the film has a much broader meaning. It is more than just the collision of cars; it is also the interpersonal collisions between people from different ethnic groups, classes, ideologies, and even gender and age groups. The movie presumes that assumptions and prejudice are what caused these collisions. It also depicts that everyone has racism in them, but everyone can still be a good person (Goyette). Crash is a crime drama film about the racial and social tensions and its effects on various people in Los Angeles, California. It depicts the racial and stereotypical prejudices that every ethnicity and race experience in everyday life. A self-described â€Å"passion-piece† for Haggis, Crash is inspired by a real-life incident in which his Porsche was carjacked outside a video store while walking with his wife (Crash (2)). He also claimed that the movie was initially supposed to be a movie about fearing stranger, but turned into a movie about race (Goyette). The movie has proven even more that it is worth-watching after winning three Academy Awards, including the Best Picture, which made the movie controversial after beating the critically favored Brokeback Mountain (Crash (2)). In the introduction of Crash, Detective Graham voice-over and says, â€Å"It’s the sense of touch. In any real city, you walk, you know? You brush past  people, people bump into you. In L.A., nobody touches you. We’re always behind this metal and glass. I think we miss that touch so much that we crash into each other just so we can feel something† (Crash (1)). These lines are full of weight, just like the movie itself which tackles some weighty issues that made it stand out. The word crash refers to the collision of worlds of people while the touch pertains to people’s connection. The introduction tells us that people are gradually losing the connection to one another because of the barriers built around them, built by assumptions, prejudgment and stereotyping, which made them doubtful about trusting others. Collision of worlds seems to be the only way to reach out and empathize with each other. It seems to be the only way to understand where the other p erson is coming from and to have the connection back again. The movie Crash gives an impression that everyone is a racist. It shows that people make assumptions on people they don’t know. It illustrates how people jump to conclusion based on race, class, appearance, name, etc. Pointing finger at everyone in regards to racism, Joshua Tyler states that there is no one without spot her (Tyler). Everyone is infected. Jean (character played by Sandra Bullock) showed that she is a racist when she held her husband’s arm and squeezed it tight as they walk by two black guys. In that scene, she is not overtly racist, but she is, subconsciously. Another example from the movie is Officer Tom Hansen who hated was his racist partner was doing. He even asked to be reassigned because he can’t stand him anymore. But at the end of the movie, we discovered that he is a racist as well. He killed a black guy because he assumed that he carries a gun. But before he killed the black guy, he looked at him starting from his shoes up to his ripped jacket as if calculating him, figuring out what kind of person he is. That is when he started to distrust him. Then the gunshot happened. These scenarios demonstrate that we are all racist at some point in our lives. No one is exempted. People are racist in one level or another, even those who think that they are tolerant, enlightened and fair-minded. Officer Ryan told his former partner, â€Å"You think you know who you are? You have no idea.† This line is actually intended for the audience, for everybody. In the movie, an Iranian-American visited a gun store for a purchase with  his daughter. But he was sent out by the Caucasian clerk who was prejudiced against Arabs. The clerk thought that he is an Arab based on his appearance and his language, Farsi, which sounds a lot like Arabic. The clerk even called him â€Å"Osama†, who was known to be the founder of Al Qaeda terrorist group that is responsible for the September 11 attacks in the United States that have killed thousands of Americans. This scene has clearly shown that people are paranoid of other groups. They treat strangers as potential enemies or combatants (Brusette). Addressing the assumptions that has been one of the issues presented in the movie, Ebert states, â€Å"One thing that happens again and again [in the film], is that people’s assumptions prevent them from seeing the actual person standing before them† (Ebert, Crash Movie Review). An example scenario from the film is when Jean made an assumption that Daniel, the Latino locksmith, was a gang member and would be back with his â€Å"homies† to attack them based on his appearance—shaved head, pants around his ass, and those what she called the â€Å"prison tattoos†Ã¢â‚¬â€which we found out later on was not true; he is just a simple struggling family man. This illustrates that people make an assumption and prejudgment on other people without trying to know who they really are. The reason is because people believe that they already know other people based only on their preconceived conclusions on them. But in actuality, people don’t really know other people, neither themselves, and their preconceived conclusions are often wrong which result to a divided society. The characters of Crash were presented as guilty of racism, prejudice and making assumptions on other people. But before the movie ended, we have witnessed how the characters flipped sides and changed ways and became a better person after their lives intertwined and crashed to one another. We saw how Ludacris’ character, who has been complaining about the preconceptions on blacks, but did nothing but keep proving those preconceptions right, looked very proud of himself after setting the Asian slaves free from the white van he carjacked. Jean, who was angry of all the people that don’t meet her demands, came to a realization that it is not the people around her who have an issue, but it is her, saying â€Å"I wake up like this every morning.† She came to a complete realization after she fell on the stairs and nobody helped her but her Latina housekeeper, Maria, who in  the end she called her best friend. Another character is Officer Ryan, the vile and hateful cop who uses a lot of excuses for his misconducts, who victimizes others by exercising his power, became the savior of the same lady she molested. Haggis is telling parables, in which the characters learn the lessons they have earned by their behavior (Ebert, Crash Movie Review). The movie shows that everyone has racism in them, but everyone can still be a good person. Furthermore, the movie contains powerful symbols to bring out its main ideas. â€Å"How far can bullets go?† asked Lara to her father. The bullets represent the assumptions that cause the conflicts between people. Assumptions are just like bullets that whoever was stricken, will get hurt, and they can be fatal too. Another symbol presented in the film is the cloak. The cloak symbolizes faith because it does not exist, it is just imaginary but the little girl still believed in it. Having faith, she becomes the protector of both her father and her father’s assailant. It suggests that if people have faith, they can be protected too. There is also the St. Christopher statuette that is possessed both by Officer Hansen and Peter. The statuettes symbolize people’s values and beliefs, that even two people are of different color, class or group, it is not impossible for them to share common values and beliefs. And lastly, the snow that came down at the end of the movie. The snow symbolizes purification. We saw how the characters learned and were redeemed after what has happened to them. They were awakened and became open-hearted, making them pure again, removing the wrong actions they have done in the past, in the same way snow covers multitude of dirty things whenever it comes down. In conclusion, Paul Haggis had been able to send the message he wants to get across to people through Crash. He expresses that people are one and they are all the same, regardless of different races or groups they came from. They are just blinded by the assumptions and prejudice they create that cause them to distrust one another. Crash demonstrates that people are interconnected to one another, but because of the assumptions and prejudice that are continually perpetuating in our society, people lose this connection. To be able to have the connection back again, people have to  collide to one another, the kind of collision that will hit their heads hard. Violent contact has never been good, but if it is the only way to awaken people and make them realize the reality that we are living in a divided society, which is not good, then I can say that there is still goodness in it. Crash is a movie with moral and it promotes racial awareness. It enables people to experience racism from every angle and make them reflect on themselves. It also allows them to walk in the shoes of other people to be able to understand deeper where they are coming from. Overall, Crash is a fantastic eye-opening movie that will truly change people’s views on society. Works Cited Brusette, Frederick and Mary Ann. â€Å"Film Review: Crash.† Dir. Paul Haggis. Spiritualityandpractice.com. n.d. 18 Oct 2013. â€Å"Crash (1).† The Internet Movie Database. IMDb.com, Inc. n.d. Web. 17 Oct 2013. â€Å"Crash (2).† Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 14 Oct 2013. 16 Oct. 2013. Ebert, Roger. â€Å"In Defense of the Year’s ‘Worst Movie’.† Rev. of Crash. Dir. Paul Haggis. Rogerebert.com. 08 Jan 2006. 16 Oct 2013. . â€Å"Crash Movie Review Film Summary.† Rev. of Crash. Dir. Paul Haggis. Rogerebert.com. 05 May 2005. 16 Oct 2013. Goyette, Tori. â€Å"White Power: An Analysis of Racial Tensions in Crash.† Fresh Ink 13.3 (2011) Tyler, Joshua. â€Å"Crash.† Rev. of Crash. Dir. Paul Haggis. Cinemablend.com. n.d. 17 Oct 2013.

The Heart Of Social Work

The Heart Of Social Work The origins of professionalization of social work date back to post Civil War era and the emergence of two opposing approaches to dealing with the needs and struggles of society: Charity Organization Societies (COS) and Social Reform. Charity Organization Societies (COS) later developed into casework offered a more individual approach, and Social Reform, represented by the Settlement House movement, which focused on addressing the societal causes of poverty. Initially working together for the so much needed social change, both movements eventually separated their actions due to the distinctiveness in their approaches (Axinn Stern, 2008). The end of the 19th century was about individual change and voluntary relief action. Herbert Spencers application of Social Darwinism with its two key attributes struggle for existence and survival of the fittest to social work has gained forceful influence (Axinn Stern, 2008). The widespread perception held that poverty was simply a factor of natural selection and aiding poor would make them indolent and unproductive (Hofstadter, 1955). Over time, however, the scientific charity approach faced an increased hostility because of its administrative methods that lumped together all the poor in order to save tax money (Axinn Stern, 2008). Still, the efforts of Mary Richmond and her Social Diagnosis were a crucial development for the social work profession. The book was an answer to Abraham Flexners report from 1915 declaring that social work was not yet a profession, and turned casework into a major form of social work practice (History of Social Work). The Settlement House movement was more focused on the malfunctioning of society. Guided by the three Rs Research, Reform, and Residence the movement provided a variety of services including recreational, educational, legal, and health services. Settlement workers also became involved in social research and social action. As social reformers, they joined forces with labor, womens organizations, socialists, and others. Many of them, such as Lillian Wald, Florence Kelly and Paul Kellogg, rose to national prominence. Jane Addams became one of the most well known figures in the nation (Axinn Stern, 2008). The Great Depression and New Deal steered the newly created profession toward public welfare. As social workers realized the seriousness of the depression and they re-embraced reform and social work organizations began lobbying the national government for action. New type of social work rural social work was also created (Axinn Stern, 2008). In the early 20th century, social work strove to advance its status, define its purpose, and establish educational standards. With Mary Richmonds efforts of developing training programs, the social work profession was on its way to becoming recognized as a profession. Settlement leaders continued their commitment to social reform, but after Flexners report the practice of social casework was identified as the core of the new profession (History of Social Work). Modern social work practice emanates from both traditions individual and social reform. Today, social work is a professional and academic interdisciplinary field that is dedicated to the pursuit of social change and improving the quality of life of individuals, groups and communities (Morris, 2008; Simon, 1994). The profession strives to help the individual to become the best he can be the community to become the finest and fullest expression of social life that it can be, with no one left behind (Morris, 2008). The History and Role of Field Education Field practice casework has always been a central aspect to the profession of social work. As education for social work became more formal in the 19th century, the field education where classroom knowledge is applied in a social environment with real clients has been regarded as an essential component of social work profession. It is in the field practicum that the student social workers begin to apply knowledge skills, and principles, and grasp the complexities and subtleties of assessment, intervention, and evaluation within diverse social and organizational settings. From the 19th century origins of social work as an outgrowth of charitable organizations working with the poor, field practice in casework has been central to the profession. As education for social work became more formal, a field practicum in which classroom knowledge is applied in a social environment with real clients has been regarded as an essential component. Through Field Education, social work comes alive and students begin to see the real faces and stories behind the important issues they have read so much about, and they also begin to take responsibility for their chance to affect change. SINCE 1968, the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) has required schools of social work to achieve cultural diversity in enrollment of students, hiring of faculty, and development of curricula (McMahon AUen-Meares, 1992). The National Association of Social Workers (NASW) has recently published standards in cultural competence that oblige social workers to strive to deliver culturally competent services to increasingly diverse client populations (NASW, 2001). Through its curriculum policy statement, CSWE provides a broad mandate for the infusion of multicultural content into academic courses (Carrillo, Holzhalb, Thyer, 1993; Julia, 2000). It is, however, in the application of knowledge about cultural differences through a supervised internship or work environment that the training in multicultural competencies is integrated (Van Soest, in press). Although the role of field instructor is considered pivotal to student learning in social work (Bogo, 1993; Kadushin, 1991), little practical information exists to guide field instructors on approaches to infuse cultural diversity issues into the supervision process (Arkin, 1999; Cashwell, Looby, Housley, 1997; Leong Wagner, 1994). The purpose of field instruction is to help you integrate the theory and knowledge base of social work learned in the classroom with the practical experience gained through work in social welfare settings. The purpose of the field education department is to provide students within the MSW program with an opportunity to learn hands-on through an internship work experience. Students that complete the foundation field practicum which focuses on generalist social work practice and arrive in the advanced year with a solid knowledge of theoretical frameworks that guide generalist practice, an understanding and acceptance of social work values and ethics, and well developed skills related to beginning social work practice. Field education in the foundation years provides the student with an opportunity to gain firsthand knowledge of social service systems to access appropriate community resources. In addition, students learn to communicate in urban settings, apply theoretical knowledge to u rban problems such as poverty, and to determine how oral, written, and technological information reflecting professional social work skills. To become effective social work practitioners, students need to experience working directly with individuals, families, groups, organizations and communities and working collaboratively at every client system level to assess needs and to develop plans for addressing them. The field placement provides opportunities for experiential learning consistent with the more cognitive approaches provided in the classroom. This paper reviews the critical importance of field education in social work and will suggest incremental steps through which state, county and university partners may work together to shape a structural plan that will preserve and enhance the quality of the field component and the program as a whole. The goal and purpose of field education The purpose of the field education department is to provide students within the MSW program with an opportunity to learn hands-on through an internship work experience. Students that complete the foundation field practicum which focuses on generalist social work practice and arrive in the advanced year with a solid knowledge of theoretical frameworks that guide generalist practice, an understanding and acceptance of social work values and ethics, and well developed skills related to beginning social work practice. Field education in the foundation years provides the student with an opportunity to gain firsthand knowledge of social service systems to access appropriate community resources. In addition, students learn to communicate in urban settings, apply theoretical knowledge to urban problems such as poverty, and to determine how oral, written, and technological information reflecting professional social work skills. Purpose The purpose of the field practicum is to provide students the opportunity to work in a professional setting to develop and demonstrate skills in social work, to integrate the theories and practices learned in and out of the classroom, to develop a sense of commitment to the social work profession and Code of Ethics, to develop an understanding of the diversity of a community population and the role of diversity in social work practice, to develop an understanding of how administrative processes and policies impact delivery of services, to develop professional relationships within the community to better understand local resources to benefit future clients, and to confirm personal interests and abilities in the social service field. As students undertake learning within the reality of agency life, a vehicle is established whereby use of theory and conceptual frameworks acquired through course work is applied, skills are developed and refined, and attitudes and values are examined. Additionally students are afforded opportunities for analysis of the effects of social welfare policy on programs and services, opportunities for the development of research questions in relation to practice efforts, and opportunities for evaluation of practice interventions. Field practicum courses enable students to personally affirm the validity of content presented in the classroom. The progressive, reciprocal relationship between theory and conceptual frameworks and practice becomes a dynamic in the teaching-learning process of field instruction. Field Instruction enables students to integrate the knowing, feeling and doing aspects of their social work education. It is designed to produce a knowledgeable, skilled, self-evaluating and professionally reflective social worker. Objectives Knowledge: 1. Basic understanding of how generalist social work practice is applied in a specific agency setting. 2. Knowledge about the application of theories to client situations in the agency setting. 3. Knowledge regarding the use of culturally sensitive practice methods with diverse and at-risk populations. 4. Knowledge about the social work system and structure in an agency, and how the structure impacts the provision of social work services. 5. Awareness of practice issues, policy issues, and related research information relating to the students field setting as well as to the placement settings of other students. 6. Awareness of appropriate methods for social action related to the agency purpose and function and participation in these when appropriate. 7. Awareness of social service resources in the area to enable students to broker services to enhance client functioning and well-being. Skills: 1. Enhancement of interviewing skills to enable the student to develop working relationships with diverse types of clients and client groups, to formulate initial and on-going assessments at the micro, mezzo, and macro levels, and to modify relationship styles to fit the client situation. 2. Ability to prepare an appropriate intervention/service plan for actual clients based on person-in-environment and strengths assessment and the availability of agency services. 3. Increased self-awareness of the students own intrapersonal and interpersonal attributes that enhance or interfere with therapeutic relationships or the social work role. 4. Application of practice and program evaluation skills for purposes of accountability, outcome monitoring, improvement of practice, and program development. 5. Development of the ability to use supervision in an appropriate manner for continued growth and development. 6. Development of the ability to work collaboratively with a variety of helping professionals. 7. Development of appropriate documentation skills within the agency setting which are clear, organized, and meet professional standards for the profession and the particular agency setting. Values: 1. Respect for an individuals worth and dignity and their unique characteristics. 2. Importance of advocating for the client with organizations and systems to ensure protection of rights and procurement of needed resources. 3. Appreciation for professional ethics, especially confidentiality, regarding clients, peers, agencies, and recognition of the individuals right to self-determination and active participation in the helping process. Council on Social Work Educations 2008 Education and Policy Standards (promotes classroom and field learning as equally important for student learning) its effect/impact on SW field education The Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) is the entity that accredits all social work programs in U.S. universities at the BASW and MSW levels. All California university graduate social work programs have CSWE accreditation. In its recent educational policy statement, the CSWE concluded as follows: Signature pedagogy represents the central form of instruction and learning in which a profession socializes its students to perform the role of practitioner. Professionals have pedagogical norms with which they connect and integrate theory and practice (Shulman, 2005). In social work, the signature pedagogy is field education [italics added]. The intent of field education is to connect the theoretical and conceptual contribution of the classroom with the practical world of the practice setting. It is a basic precept of social work education that the two interrelated components of curriculum- classroom and field-are of equal importance within the curriculum, and each contributes to the development of the requisite competencies of professional practice.  [1]   Several fields have a signature pedagogy, a method by which knowledge is traditionally imparted to students: the case method and moot court in law, student teaching at the primary school and university levels, even minimum flight hours for student pilots. The importance CSWE attributes to the fieldwork component of any social work program is reflected in the hourly field requirement for each university degree. For a two- year accredited MSW program the requirement is 900 hours of MSW supervised field work. The BASW degree requires the student to complete 400 hours of supervised field. To become an accredited program of social work, a school must, among other stringent requirements, demonstrate how its field program connects the theoretical and conceptual contribution of the classroom with the practice setting, fostering the implementation of evidence supported practice. Further requirements include the candidate schools providing orientation, field instruction training, and continuing dialog with field education settings and field instructors. Structure for Field Practicum The Anatomy of an Internship (short review of a few MSW Internship Programs (or maybe just Rutgerss?) There are two semesters of field practicum for all social work majors. Students typically enter field their senior year. Students complete both semesters of field concurrently in the same agency unless there are extenuating circumstances which necessitate a change. SWK 488: Internship Practicum I and SWK 489: Internship Practicum II each require 225 documented hours, for a total of 450 hours of agency work over the course of two semesters. Even if a student completes 250 hours prior to the end of either semester, that student is required to complete 15 weeks of field placement during both the fall and spring semesters. Students may accumulate internship hours between the fall and spring semesters. This arrangement must be made with the field instructor and approved by the NCU Field Coordinator. If this situation should occur, students may count accumulated hours toward the spring semester, but will still be responsible for completing the 15 week internship at a reduced number of hours per week. Students are not required to work during fall or spring holiday breaks or final exam weeks; however, they may choose to schedule hours with the agency during these periods. SWK 488: Internship Practicum I and SWK 489: Internship Practicum II, meet weekly throughout the entire period of the field placement. In addition, there are other required social work courses students take each semester (Fall: Pysch 460 Research Methods and Spring: Psyc 495 Senior Project). The NCU Field Education Coordinator, in conjunction with the student, and the agency field instructor, will make decisions regarding students changing agency placements at any point. Field Practicum Seminar During a students field placement, he/she participates in a weekly Field Instruction Seminar. The seminar serves a very useful function by combining students from a variety of field of practice settings. This enables the student to have a broader perspective in terms of practice settings, client populations, and treatment methodologies than they might not otherwise experience. Each seminar class is organized around a theme, such as racism within society, the value of practice evaluation and evaluation techniques which can be easily implemented and enrich practice, sexism within the profession, and goal setting and contracting with clients. The student may be assigned readings related to each topic. Discussion is geared toward enhancing students experiences in their internship, assisting them in making linkages between the knowledge they have obtained in the classroom and their experiences in the field, and facilitating their ongoing professional development. A weekly component of each field seminar is a group discussion of the students experiences during the week. The discussions enable the student to share the high points and low points of their week, successes and frustrations. The students serve as a support system and provide constructive feedback to each other. This aspect is considered by the students to be an especially valuable component of the class. In addition to the discussions, there are written components to field instruction seminars. For instance, students are required to submit weekly logs in which they describe and analyze the activities of the week in their field placements. Confidentiality of clients is protected as identifying information is omitted. Each student is required to do a comprehensive analysis of the policies that operate in the agency. All assignments and the grading scale are identified in the course outline. Individualized Learning Plan In addition to the goals and learning objectives of the Internship Practicum, it is very important that each student be aware of and verbalize individual goals for field instruction which are pertinent to personal learning needs and the particular field agency. Near the beginning of each semester of placement, the student develops an individualized learning contract that includes learning goals, objectives, activities/tasks, and evaluation measures that address areas of professional knowledge and skills in need of development or improvement. Agency field instructors and the NCU Field Education Coordinator are available to assist students with this process. Students complete three copies of the Individual Learning Plan. One copy is submitted to the agency field instructor and one to the faculty liaison. The third copy is to be retained by the student. The learning goals can be modified or others added at any time during the placement, and progress toward goals is evaluated at regular intervals. Recommended Field Learning Experiences Each field agency offers a unique opportunity for students to experience social work in all its many facets. Populations served will vary as will the make-up of the staff and the types of services provided. Within this broad range of field learning experiences, it is highly recommended that certain types of experiences be made available to students in field instruction settings. The following is a list of recommended field learning experiences: Orientation to the agency includes staff, facility, office procedures, filing system, types of services provided, agencys place in the social service network, methods of intervention, etc. Experiences in developing and managing effective relationships includes opportunities for students to observe a number of staff with their own individual styles of intervention, participation in a variety of helping relationships, and the use of supervision to assist students to determine how they can develop an effective working relationship with a variety of client systems. Recording experience includes case summaries, letters to clients and other agencies, process recordings of interviews, and eventually direct entry of students recordings into the agencys records, etc. Administrative experiences includes observation/participation in staff meetings, funding hearings, public relations functions, budget planning, grant writing or reading grants already funded, lobbying efforts, board meetings, contracting requirements, etc. Experience in resource/referral management includes overall orientation to services available to client population being served by the field agency; telephone contacts with other agencies providing support services to clients; scheduled visits to key agencies with whom linkage for clients is most common; and learning procedures for effective referrals. Interviewing experiences includes observing, planning, and conducting interviews for a variety of purposes (intake, with staff, for volunteer programs, assessment, intervention, etc.), with diversified client systems in a variety of places (agency, home, school, hospital, etc.) The use of process recordings, observation, and tape-recorded sessions provides the field instructor with data to aid students in further developing interviewing skills. Experience with procedures for evaluation of individual practice and agency programs includes designing a plan for evaluating own practice, client progress, and effectiveness of interventions; data collection and analysis; becoming familiar with procedures for agency program evaluation; and conceptualizing/ developing a system for program evaluation if none exists, such as evaluation of service by clients. Experience with groups includes observation and participation in groups such as client groups, staff meetings, client staffing, and groups available in the broader community for the purpose of developing an understanding of group processes and skill in interacting in groups as a member or facilitator. Experience in community activities includes observation and/or participation in assignments that facilitate understanding of the community and its social service network, the field agencys role in the community, as well as assignments that draw attention to unmet community needs and provide opportunity for community planning. All learning experiences have, as a long range goal, the opportunity for students to develop increased skills, a greater level of independent functioning, and the development of a sense of professional identity with its accompanying values and guidelines under which the profession operates. Enabling the student to learn to utilize the supervisory relationship is central to the students growth in this area as well as all the other areas recommended for field learning experiences. These suggestions can provide the student with sufficient opportunities to experience all facets of the agency as well as to create a structured learning experience. Other experiences of particular interest to a student can be incorporated into the students individual learning goals and contract at any time during the placement. Current delivery of field education contextual factors affecting field education the nature of professional social work practice theories and evidence-based practice related to field education formats and methods of field instruction the nature of student learning and effective approaches to student learning and competence in field education the important relationship of the field instructor and student Evaluation of student competence and methods of measurement in field education It is recommended that the field site supervisor and the student review the evaluation tool used in the practicum as one of the first tasks of their supervisory sessions. This will help focus the teaching and learning of both parties. The field practicum is graded on an A F scale. This grade will be determined by the NCU Field Work Coordinator with input from the field site supervisor. The NCU Field Work Coordinator will meet with the student and the field site supervisor at least twice during the semester and more frequently, if needed. The regularly scheduled meetings will occur around mid-semester and again at the end of the semester. The student evaluation form should be completed prior to the evaluation meeting. Students final grades will be determined by the overall evaluation from the agency and progress made on their learning plans that are developed early in the semester. (Learning plans can and should be modified throughout the semester with mutual consent from the student, faculty, and NCU Field Work Coordinator.) If, at the midterm evaluation meeting, the field supervisor and Field Work Coordinator agree that the student is not displaying appropriate social work skill and therefore at risk of failing the Practicum, the student (with input from the field supervisor and Field Work Coordinator) must write a corrective action plan to address deficient areas. This plan must be signed by the student, field supervisor, and the NCU Field Work Coordinator. Challenges and Potential Solutions Field education is the primary interface between the school, the agency and the community within which both reside (Glassman, 2008). Field work provides the occasion for the students application of knowledge, values, theory, problem-solving skills, and affect to inform his or her practice ( Schon, l987). Stressing the essential character of field education for the future, authors Reisch and Jarman-Rohde observed, As economic safety nets are dismantled, remaining agencies will have more clients but fewer staff to address their needs . . . field instruction will become an even more significant component of social work education. (2000). To meet the needs for well-prepared staff members in economically challenged agencies, these authors argue that enhanced university-agency cooperation is needed to make certain students have the skills, values, experience and personal qualities to work effectively in an increasingly stressful work environment (Reisch Jarman-Rohde, 2000). In addition to providing students the opportunity to acquire practice skill, field instruction is also the primary domain for informing curriculum and faculty of practice issues and needs, particularly practice effectiveness (Glassman, 2008). The positive aspects of a high-functioning, agency-university field program reverberate to the benefit of all involved: students, agency staff, faculty, and community. Consequently, greater interface and field program development that involves all partners to the educational process is particularly appropriate and valuable to a program like CalSWEC, in which the future employer has the direct opportunity to participate in preparing the new recruit. Under current economic conditions, CalSWEC agency and university partners will need to rethink how best to structure field programs around the state and more clearly articulate the roles of the individual entities involved. A high quality field work experience is essential to give the entering child welfare social worker the tools to use both his/her education and the agency and community resources effectively. The NASW has noted that practitioners and researchers are continually challenged by the difficulties agencies face in recruiting and retaining a competent child welfare workforce. Part of that challenge is insuring that entering staff are equipped with adequate practice in working with actual clients under realistic agency conditions. Preparation in the form of high quality supervised field work has a beneficial effect on workforce retention, as demonstrated by the excellent CalSWEC retention rate of its MSW graduates, all of whom have experienced field practice as well as classroom preparation ( California Social Work Education Center, 2007). Conclusion the importance of integration of theory and practice in social work CalSWECs Title IV-E Program, noted as a national model for agency-university partnerships in social work education, is at a crossroads. National economic forces that threaten the operation and staffing of social services agencies throughout the country now threaten the Programs capacity to supply its students with the kind of high quality field experience they require to become effective child welfare social workers. In this climate, schools of social work may need to reconfigure the university-agency relationship, develop more field -centered education, and re-assert the community-based origins of the profession (Glassman, 2008). Schools of social work need to consider the possible benefits of creating rotating field sites, developing new agency forms for the purpose of education, and modifying existing agency structures to integrate service, education and research more effectively ( Reisch Jarman-Rohde, 2000). Recommendations: For the large and diverse state of California, a number of different models may need to be devised for conducting field education and building placement capacity to accommodate regional needs and resources. Rather than a reactive, crisis-based response to changing economic conditions the following set of recommendations are proposed to move forward: Initiate a multiyear CalSWEC initiative to develop a systematic, long-term structural plan for creating and sustaining high quality field placement opportunities statewide. The initiative would encompass the following: Engage agency directors and university faculty in dialogue to examine regional needs and resources then develop field placement models that meet the regional needs and resources. Models may include rotating field sites, field units and unified content and competency development that will be operated by agency and university partners, at pilot sites designed to address particular regional needs. Through careful pilot development, test the efficacy of the models. Leverage the university/county/CDSS partnership

Anti-families on T.V. :: essays research papers

In TV’s Anti-Families: Married . . . with Malaise, Josh Ozersky talks about the repackaging of American TV families from Ozzie and Harriet into Rosanne. From the point of view that the corporate world has manipulated television viewers into watching TV he shows the exaggerations of current day dysfunctional TV families. He goes on to discuss what the effects of these shows are on family values. Ozersky mentions the idea that a boundless discontent exists in our culture and its beginnings are found with the family, â€Å"where social patterns are first internalized.† Ozersky furthers this notion by saying that boundless discontent means there are boundless needs. An understanding of the origins of these boundless needs in American culture can be understood from the context of The More Factor, by Laurence Shames. â€Å"An endlessly fertile continent whose boundaries never need be reached, a domain that could expand in perpetuity, a gigantic playing field that would never run out of room and on which the game would get forever bigger and more filled with action.† The corporate world knows this all too well as they exploit the needs of consumers and manipulate them into buying their product. In Ozersky’s words, â€Å"Given TV’s entirely corporate nature, it is unreasonable to assume that the channels are referenda.† Ozersky reminds us that many of these corporate executives are independent in the market and have not experienced a rich family life. What kind of effects on viewers do these dysfunctional families have? Ozersky points out that in mocking traditional family values on TV real families are sabotaged. He explains how this happens by saying that problems within the family are trivialized preventing any healing and only causing discontent. While TV is criticized on TV and even by us, we somehow become flattered and keep watching anyway. Why do we do this? â€Å" . . . To feel superior to TV and yet keep watching it,† as Ozersky writes. It delivers the dream of having our cake and eating it too. By criticizing TV we put ourselves above it, yet we deem it harmless and continue to watch it anyway. Ozersky says that we have no power of our own to reject this â€Å"

Assignment System Evaluation Paper Essay

Epic is privately held health care software company. In 1979, it was established by Judith Faulkner. The organization central command was in Madison, Wisconsin, yet in 2005 the organization moved to Vernon, Wisconsin. The product’s business is health awareness associations, and it is a fascinating suite of human services programming fixated on a MUMPS database. (Massachusetts General Hospital Utility Multiple Programming System). It is a programming dialect that was made in the 1960 and afterward utilized for the health awareness associations. It is an altogether different language structure dialect and wording. MUMPS is an inherent database, empowering high- level access to plate stockpiling, utilizing a basic typical project variables. The programming dialect is likewise utilized as a part of keeping money systems and internet exchanging administrations. With the advancement of a prebuilt database, Epic programming is effortlessly introduced and kept up to the current IT fra mework in the association. Epic System gives the human services administration programming that incorporates monetary and clinical data over the association in one database. The frameworks programming incorporates booking, charging, enrollment, research facility, serious forethought offices, crisis, healing center drug store, radiology, surgery, inpatient, outpatient, electronic wellbeing records, to oversaw mind organization. Illustration, in the crisis room, Epic assists with a brisk path on effective patient mind by having a point and click on records to enlisting new patient in, taking care of charging inquiries and issues, to bunk accessibility, to an immediate connection to the drug store on this one patient. The framework additionally permits the clinic to import records to different doctors once the patient is discharged from the healing center. Today in the 21st century, more accentuation set on paperless and additionally going electronic, even in the restorative field. This framework  additionally permits more patients to be more included about their medications by having more get to their restorative records. By getting to webpage from their home patients can transfer photographs, overhaul medicines, and anaphylaxes that they may have, view proclamations, pay bills on the web, perspective test outcomes, plan errands, see past, and approaching arrangements and refill remedies. Along these lines, doctors need to be dependent upon the pace, on time, on a plan, and utilize a superior apparatus that has in excess of 100 separate claims to fame Epic is known to have quite recently that. Epic frameworks likewise permits doctors and other human services staff to get to the framework while making adjusts in the passages, or simply far from the doctor’s facility or office by synchronizing the product to their Pda’s, I cushions, and cell telephones. While far from the workplace or healing facility doctors and other human services staff looking over their patients outlines, seek postings, plan errands, send messages, e-recommend, do correspondences in the diagrams, and take a gander at clinical imaging catch. Arrangement Link on the Epic framework gives a supplier and a payor association leeway by adding an administration accessible to the bosses by means of web. The supplier can make referrals, get endorsements notices and surveys statuses of cases they are included. Arrangement Link administration permits them to print settlement guidance reports, spare telephone calls, and mailing costs. The payors can even get to their online premium receipts for installment. In 2002, there were simply more than 500 representatives at the Epic Corporation, today it is more than 3,800 workers there. The company has more than 165 clients from the fair size therapeutic gathering, huge restorative association, youngsters’ associations to a variable vast healing facility framework. Epic today has more than 50 million American individuals in the Epic programming wellbeing records. I worked with Epic Systems a year ago and what this framework can do does right by me that was some piece of the therapeu tic association going into the eventual fate of innovation. Epic has developed in the course of recent years; the inquiry is Epic going Global. In the event that this organization was to go worldwide, look how it would change the way individuals fly out and expecting to go to the healing facility abroad. It will decrease ineligible techniques, diminish copy requests, lessen the danger of prescription blunders and reduction  protection cost. Dickman in this article talked about keeping up the following key piece of Epic, and it is to recognize the up and coming era of pioneers for this organization, getting them prepared for the following period of Epic frameworks (Marc Eisen, 2008). Today the organization has gone worldwide, Epic Corporation has augment their aspirations to abroad in Holland. Dickman has expressed that the organization as of now have two agreement and investigating more. References Anonymous, 2013. Epic Corporation. Retrieved from www.epic.com Marc Eisen, June, 2008. Epic Systems: Epic Tale. Retrieved from: www.dailypage.com

Sfl Genre Literature Review

CHAPTER II Travelling Uncharted Waters? REVIEWING THE LITERATURE 2. 1 Introduction: Storm in a teacup This part of my research journey was fraught with anxiety, distress and a sense of being lost. Reviewing the literature became my own storm in a teacup, as I found myself dizzily spiralling, being flung between not knowing on the one side, on the verge of knowing at the other, yet continuously feeling out of control, not being here nor there †¦ caught somewhere between locating, analysing, synthesising and reviewing the expert knowledge.Searching for literature and locating the literature, even with support, was a lonely road. Never have I felt that the more I began to read and know, the less I felt I knew, lost and alone amid so many theories, expert knowledge, data and findings. And so this genre journey became a rumbling of thoughts, ideas and theories to be summarised, referenced and sometimes even violently tossed aside. Reviewing the literature and writing up summaries was a cup of tea, yet I was slowly dissolving, losing my own voice and experiencing a sense of losing of my own identity.In robot-like fashion I found myself speaking and quoting studies done by experts in the field and then became aware of another storm brewing in my teacup: what miniscule contribution could I make? Would I be able to negotiate meaning for an expert audience in this genre field? Would I successfully structure the information according to issues pertinent to my research, and would I be able to identify themes that are linked to my research question?As I attempt to write, my teacup torments and reminds me again that I have become the echoing voice of experts. So during this process I am riding a storm of emotions, wondering whether I will remain a voiceless, writing wanderer, I wonder †¦ Yet, strangely losing my own voice, reminds me of our learners and teachers at school who face so many challenges with this process called writing. Reflecting on my literature, I p ondered putting to practice my knowledge of genre theory and this became one of my storm lanterns. Surely, esearching the merits of such a theory should provide me with tools to deconstruct and conquer this silly storm brewing in my tea cup? And so finally, as I begin to let go, embracing this brewing cup of storm, I am steadfastly sensing that many storm lanterns have and will guide me in finding a way to indicate to an expert audience my ability to identify, search, locate and present a coherent review of the literature. At this point the storm is still brewing, at times even raging, never fully abating but it is becoming lesser in intensity.And so, I am realising that this willy-nilly writing storm brewing in my teacup is someone else’s tornado and maybe both of these could be another writer’s cup of tea. This chapter attempts to draw on literature from genre theory, specifically genre theory based on Systemic Functional Linguistics. Hyland (2002) refers to a genre- based approach to teaching writing as being concerned with what learners do when they write. This includes a focus on language and discourse features of the texts as well as the context in which the text is produced.My primary intention is to explore the literature on different approaches to teaching writing and more specifically in what ways a genre-based approach to teaching writing could facilitate the development of writing skills at a multilingual primary school. 2. 1. 2 Framing the problem Success after school, whether it is at a tertiary institution or in the world of work, is largely dependent on effective literacy skills. To succeed one has to display a range of communicative skills, for example, listening, speaking, reading and writing tasks.But, most importantly, the quality of one’s writing determines access to higher education and well paid jobs in the world of work. In these scenarios, success or entry is dependent on either passing an English writing proficienc y test or on the skill of writing effective reports. However, writing skills are even essential in the most general forms of employment, for example, waitressing necessitates writing down customer orders and working at a switchboard implies taking messages, writing down memos or notes.Therefore, learning to write at school should be synonymous with learning and acquiring the formats and demands of different types of texts necessary in broader society. On this point, Kress (1994) argues that language, social structures and writing are closely linked. The written language taught at school reflects the more affluent social structures and thus the standard written variants are deemed more acceptable by society.However, the kind of writing taught and valued at school , that is, poetry, literature and essays is mastered by a very few learners and the control of written language is in the hands of a relatively few people. As a result of this uneven access to the types of writing valued in society, the ability to use and control the different forms of writing brings about exclusion from the social, economic and political advantages connected with writing proficiency. Consequently, in the push for greater equity and access, writing instruction globally has become a field of increasing interest in recent years.There have been numerous approaches to the teaching of writing in the history of language teaching for English as a first and second language, where first language refers to English mother tongue speakers and second language to learners who have English as a second or an additional language (see Kumaravadivelu, 2006; Hinkel, 2006; Canagarajah, 2006; Celce-Murcia, 1997) Not surprisingly, this magnitude of approaches has resulted in many paradigm shifts in the field of language teaching and in developing countries like South Africa, these international trends, approaches and paradigms shifts impact on local educational trends, as encapsulated in educational policy d ocuments. Ivanic (2004) argues that historically from the 19th and 20th century formal discourses have influenced a great deal of policy and practice in literacy education. Such discourses focused primarily on teaching of formal grammar, patterns and rules for sentence construction (pg 227). As a result, these discourses viewed language as a set of skills to be taught, learnt and mastered, and valued writing that demonstrated knowledge about language such as rules of syntax, sound-symbol relationships and sentence construction.Therefore, those writers that conformed to the correctness of grammar, letter, word, and sentence and text formation were viewed as competent writers. Furthermore, Dullay, Burt and Krashen (1982) state that the earliest work in the teaching of writing was based on the concept of controlled or guided composition and that language was seen as something that could be meaningfully visualised in taxonomies and rationalised into tables arranged across the two-dimens ional space of the textbook page. This focus on the conscious acquisition of rules and forms meant that teachers were focusing on parts of speech, demanding standards of correctness, and being prescriptive about what were ostensibly language facts.However, such an approach was found to be extremely limited because it did not necessarily produce speakers who were able to communicate successfully. Therefore, although learners might master the lists, structures and rules, this might not lead to the development of language fluency or to the ability to transfer such knowledge into coherent, cohesive and extended pieces of writing in school or beyond it. During the late 1970s more functional approaches developed. These were more concerned with what students can do with language, for example, meeting the practical demands in different contexts such as the workplace and other domains. Examples of writing tasks included filling out job applications, preparing for interviews, and writing appl ications.However, these involved minimal writing other than completing short tasks ‘designed to reinforce particular grammar points or language functions’ (Auerbach, 1999: 1). Moreover, such tasks were taught in classrooms and out of context of issues that could emerge in real contexts. As the limitations of a formalist approach to language teaching became increasingly obvious, teachers and researchers turned to a more process-oriented methodology. This focused more on the writing process than on the product and advocated expressive self-discovery from the learner/writer through a process approach to writing. Such a writing approach ‘focus[ed] on meaningful communication for learner-defined purposes’ (Auerbach, 1999:2).As a result, the learner is taken as the point of departure, and goes through a process of drafting, editing and redrafting; the teacher’s role is less prescriptive, allowing learners to be self-expressive and explore how to write. As such, the process approach won favour with those who were of the opinion that controlled composition was restrictive, viewing a liberal-progressive approach as more suited for first language classrooms (Paltridge, 2004). This approach was taken up by researchers interested in Second Language Acquisition (see Krashen, 1981; Ellis, 1984; Nunan, 1988), and in second language classes learners were also encouraged to develop ideas, draft, review and then write final drafts.On the other hand, Caudery (1995) argues that little seems to have been done to develop a process approach specifically for second language classes. Therefore, it appeared that the same principles should apply as for first language learners, for example, the use of peer and teacher commentary along with individual teacher-learner conferences, with minimal direction given by the teacher who allows learners to discover their voices as they continue through the writing process. This lack of direction was highlighted by re search in different contexts carried out by Caudery (1995) with practising teachers of second language writing. Based on questionnaires, findings showed that teachers in second language classes had differing perceptions and methods of implementing a process approach.This could however be ascribed to the different contexts that these second language teachers found themselves in, for example, large classes and different ways of assessing writing. One finding of the study was that teachers could easily dilute the process of writing into disconnected stages where both L2 learners and teachers could perceive it as steps to be followed towards an end product. As a result, the writing process became viewed as a means to an end. In addition, learners understood the process but did not explicitly learn the language features associated with different types of writing. A third approach that has gained prominence in recent decades is the socio-cultural practices approach which seeks to affirm t he culturally specific literacy practices that learners bring with them to school.Social practice advocates argue that literacy is not a universal, solely cognitive process but that literacy varies from context to context and culture to culture (Street, 1984, Barton, Hamilton & Ivanic, 2000). As a result, if literacy varies from context to context and culture to culture, then it follows that learners would bring to school different ways of writing. Accordingly, educators in multilingual classrooms should value learners’ cultural knowledge and ways of writing or use them as a bridge to new learning (Auerbach, 1999). Furthermore, the manner in which writing is taught transmits profound ideas to learners about who they are, what is entailed in the process of writing, and what they can do with writing.Therefore, the way in which writing is taught and learnt is a powerful tool for shaping the identities of learners and teachers in schools (ibid, 1999). Proponents of a fourth appro ach, the genre-based approach, have argued that both the socio-cultural and the process approaches to teaching writing result in learners being excluded from opportunities and that these approaches are in fact disempowering them (Delpit, 1998, Martin & Rose, 2005). They contend that certain domains, contexts and cultures yield more power than others and that if learners tell their stories, find their voices and celebrate their cultures; this is not enough for them to gain access to these more powerful domains.Therefore they suggest that learners should be empowered through access to writing the discourses of power, focusing on culture, context and text. Such approaches also enable an analysis of how identities, cultures, gender and power relations in society are portrayed in texts. Genre research done in Australia (see Disadvantaged Schools Project Research, 1973) where the additional language is the medium of instruction for aboriginal learners had major educational rewards for tea chers and learners participating in the project. Singapore too moved towards a text-based approach with the introduction of their 2001 English Language Syllabus (Kramer-Dhal, 2008).This approach has paid dividends for the Singapore education system, for example, continuous improvement in examination scores and achievements in international league tables, compared to the learners’ past underachievement in literacy tests (see PIRLS 2001, Singapore results) and this is maintained in the 2006 PIRLS testing of literacy and reading. The next section will draw on literature from genre theory, providing a brief overview of the notion of genre and how it has evolved as a concept. Then, literature on three different scholarly genre traditions New Rhetoric Studies, English for Academic Purposes and Systemic Functional Linguistics and their different educational contexts, purposes and research paradigms is explored and discussed. However this chapter mainly investigates literature relati ng to the Systemic FunctionalLinguistic perspective on genre, the history of genre theory and research done in Australia, the implications for schools and classrooms and how genre theory has impacted on the pedagogy of teaching literacy in disadvantaged multilingual settings. A brief overview focusing on critiques of Systemic Functional Linguistics is also provided. 2. 2 Defining Genre Johns (2002) argues that the term ‘genre’ is not new and cites Flowerdew and Medway (1994) who state that for more than a century genre has been defined as written texts that are primarily literary, that are recognised by textual regularities in form and content, are fixed and permanent and can be classified into exclusive categories and sub-categories. However, a major paradigm shift has occurred in relation to notions and definitions of genre, and texts are now viewed as purposeful, situated and ‘repeated’ (Miller, 1984).These characteristics mean that genres have a specifi c purpose in our social world, that they are situated in a specific cultural context and that they are the result of repeated actions reflected in texts. Similarly, Hyland (2004) defines genre as grouping texts that display similar characteristics, representing how writers use language to respond to similar contexts. Martin and Rose (2002) place more emphasis on the structure of genre, seeing it as a ‘staged, goal oriented social process. Social because we participate in genres with other people; goal oriented because we use genres to get things done; staged because it usually takes us a few steps to reach our goals’ (pg 7). 2. 2. 1 An Old Concept revisitedAs stated above, traditionally the concept of ‘genre’ has been used to define and classify literary texts such as drama, poetry and novels in the fields of arts, literature and the media Breure (2001). For example, a detective story, a novel or a diary are each regarded as belonging to a different genre. In recent years interest in the concept of genre as a tool for developing first language and second language instruction has increased tremendously (Paltridge, 2004; Hyon, 1996; Johns, 2002). In second language writing pedagogy in particular much interest has been focused on raising language students’ schematic awareness of genres as the route to genre and writing development (Hyon 1996; Cope & Kalantzis, 1993; Johns, 2002; Paltridge 2004).However there are various theoretical camps and their different understanding of genre reveals the intellectual tensions that are inherently part of the concept (Johns, 2002). These intellectual tensions arise from the divergent theoretical understandings of whether genre theory is grounded in language and text structure or whether it stems fundamentally from social theories of context and community. Hyon (1996) argues for three schools of thought: Systemic Functional Linguistics, New Rhetoric Studies and English for Academic Purposes where as Flowerdew (2002) divides theoretical camps into two groups: linguistic and non-linguistic approaches to genre theory. Genre, in short, continues to be ‘a controversial topic, though never a dull one’ (Kay & Dudley-Evans, 1998:308).I have chosen to follow Hyon’s (1996) classification for reviewing the genre literature because this classification makes it easier to highlight the similarities and differences in definitions, purposes and contexts, and allows for a greater understanding of various approaches to genre in three research traditions. As a result, three schools of thought New Rhetoric Studies, English for Academic Purposes and Systemic Functional Linguistics and their approaches to genre will be discussed. 2. 3 The Three Schools of Thought During the last two decades, a number of researchers who were disillusioned with process approaches to teaching writing saw genre as a tool to develop both first language and second language instruction (Hyon, 1996; J ohns, 2002; Feez, 2002).Hyon (1996) in her analysis of ‘Genre in Three Traditions and the implications for ESL’ argues that three dominant schools of thought, English for Specific Purposes, North American New Rhetoric Studies and Australian Systemic Linguistics have resulted in different approaches, definitions and classroom pedagogies of genre (see also Hyland 1996, 2002, & 2004). As Cope and Kalantzis (1993: 2) put it, ‘†¦ genre has the potential to mean many things to many people’. Paltridge (2002) calls it a ‘murky issue’. An understanding of the theoretical roots, analytical approaches and educational contexts of the different schools of thought is thus essential. 2. 3. 1 New Rhetoric Studies Genre Theories The first school of thought is the New Rhetoric approach to genre (Dias & Pare, 2000; Dias, Freedman, Medway, & Pare, 1999) which recognises the importance of contexts and the social nature of genres but it is rooted in Bakhtinâ₠¬â„¢s notion of dialogism.This notion of dialogism means that language is realised through utterances and these utterances exist in response to things that have been said before and in anticipation of things that will be said in response, and thus language does not occur in a vacuum (Adams & Artemeva, 2002). As a result, genre is a social phenomenon born by the specific goals and circumstances of interaction between people. Therefore, advocates of New Rhetoric Studies argue that genres are dynamic, relational and engaged in a process of endless utterances and re-utterances (Johns, 2002). As such, the focus of this theoretical camp is on the communicative function of language. Consequently, their perspective on genre is not primarily informed by a linguistic framework but draws on post-modern social literary theories.Accordingly, for these proponents, understanding genres involves not only a description of their lexico-grammatical format and rhetorical patterns but that also that gen re is ‘embedded in the communicative activities of the members of a discipline’ (Berkenkotter & Hucklin, 1995:2). This view of genre as a flexible instrument in the hands of participants within a community of practice has meant that the use of text in the classroom situation has not been a major focus (Johns, 2002). Theorists concentrate on how ‘expert’ users manipulate genres for social purposes and how such genres can promote the interest and values of a particular social group in a historical and/or institutional context. ContextHyon (1996:698) states that, as with English for Specific Purposes (ESP), genre teaching within this framework is predominantly concerned with first language university students and novice professionals. It is concerned with helping first language students become more successful readers and writers of academic and workplace texts. Unlike, ESP and SFL, therefore the New Rhetoric Studies refers to first language development. One co nsequence of this is that their focus is much less concerned with formal classroom instruction. Purpose The focus of writing in this framework is thus on making students aware of the contexts and social functions of the genres in which they engage (Bazerman, 1988) and not on their formal trimmings.Proponents view genres as complex, dynamic, ever changing, and therefore not amenable to explicit teaching (Johns, 2002; Coe, 2004; Cope & Kalantzis, 1993). They argue that it is through understanding of context that students can become more successful readers and writers of genres. 2. 3. 2 English for Specific Purposes Genre Theories The second major school of thought in relation to genre is English for Specific Purposes (ESP). The potential to perform competently in a variety of diverse genres is frequently a pivotal concern for English second language learners since it can be a determining factor in admission to higher paid career opportunities, higher educational studies, positive iden tities and life choices.As a result, ESP theorists ‘scrutinise the organisation and meaning of texts, the demands placed by the workplace or academic contexts on communicative behaviours and the pedagogic practices by which these behaviours can be developed’ (Hyon, 1996). Advocates of this paradigm are concerned with genre as a device for understanding and teaching the types of texts required of second language English speakers in scholarly and specialized contexts (Bhatia, 1993; Flowerdew, 1993; Gosden, 1992; Hopkins & Dudley-Evans, 1988; Swales, 1990). They propose that genre pedagogy could assist non-native speakers of English to master the functions and linguistic conventions that they need to read and write in disciplines at higher institutions and in related professions.According to Paltridge (2004), ESP genre studies are predominantly based on John Swales’s (1981, 1990) work on the discourse structure and linguistic features of scientific reports. Swalesâ €™s work had a strong influence in the teaching of ESP and more so on the teaching of academic writing to non-native English graduate students at higher institutions. Swales (1990) defines genre as ‘a class of communicative events with some shared set of communicative purposes and a range of patterns concerning structure’ (pg 68) Furthermore, Swales argues that the communicative purpose of a particular genre is recognised by members of the discourse community, who in ‘turn establish the constraints on what is generally acceptable in terms of content, positioning and format’ (Paltridge, 2004:11). ContextGiven the focus on scientific and other kinds of academic writing within this framework, genre teaching occurs mostly at universities teaching English for academic purposes and in English classes for specific writing needs, such as professional communication, business writing, and other workplace-related writing needs. However, Hyon (1996) argued that, at the time of writing, many ESP researchers had managed to present their descriptions of genres as useful discourse models but had failed to propose how this content could be used in classroom models. For example, Dudley-Evans and Hopkins presented their analysis of cyclical move patterns in scientific master’s dissertations as a teaching and learning resource but did not describe how this model could be converted into materials, tasks and activities in the classroom (Johns, 2002). Purpose As the focus of this theoretical camp is on international students atEnglish-medium universities in Britain and abroad, their focus is on demystifying rather than on social or political empowerment (Paltridge, 2004). Due to the concern in this paradigm with English for academic and professional purposes, they focus on the formal aspects of text analysis. In fact, many ESP researchers particularly emphasise the teaching of genre structures and grammatical features (Hyon, 1996) or ‘moves ’ in texts as to referred by Swales (1990). The purpose of genre teaching in this framework is therefore on teaching students the formal staged, qualities of genres so that they can recognise these features in the texts they read and then use them in the texts they write, thus providing access to ‘English language academic discourse communities’ (Paltridge, 2004:16).As a result, in their approach to textual analysis ESP theorist have paid specific attention to formal elements of genres and focused less on the specialised functions of texts and their social contexts (Hyon, 1996). 2. 3. 3 Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) Genre Theories This underplaying of the social context is taken up by the third school of thought, Systemic Functional Linguistics, which analyses the formal features of text in relation to language function in social context. SFL, referred to as ‘the Australian school’ in the United States of America, is rooted in the theoretical work of Halliday (Halliday, 1985; Halliday & Hasan, 1989; Johns, 2002). As a result, this theoretical camp is based on systemic functional linguistics and semiotics from which emerged the register-theory (Breure, 2001).Halliday developed his linguistic theory in order to give an account of the ways in which the English language functions as social practice (Halliday, 1985; Hasan & Halliday, 1989). As a result, this theoretical paradigm focuses on the systemic function of language from which choices are made to convey meaning within a specific context and with a specific purpose. Therefore, proponents within this framework propose that when a series of texts have similar purposes, they will probably have similar structures and language features. They are thus grouped as the same genre. Building on the work of Halliday, the idea of Systemic Functional Linguistics as a basis for language teaching emerged from the work of theorists such as Martin (1989, 1992).Christie (1991) and Rother y (1996) made attempts to take genre and grammar analysis a step further by providing and expanding scaffolds which bridge systemically between grammar and genre. They argue that texts need to be analysed as more than just mere sequences of clauses and that text analysis should focus on how language reveals or obscures social reality. Such an analysis can illuminate the ways in which language is used to construct social reality. Educational Context Cope and Kalantzis (1993) state that genre-based teaching started in Sydney as an ‘educational experiment’. The reason is, because by 1980, it seemed clear that the newly introduced progressive curriculum did not achieve the educational outcomes that it professed to (pg 1).As a result, researchers became interested in the types of writing and texts that learners in primary schools were expected to write as part of the process approach (Martin, 1989, 1991). These researchers were concerned that learners were not being prepared to write a wide enough range of texts needed for schooling, for example, findings showed that teachers mostly favoured narratives and recounts. So, genre-based research has predominantly been conducted at primary and secondary schools although it has also begun to include adult migrant English education as well as workplace training programmes (Adult Migrant Education service, 1992). As a result, in the Australian framework, the efforts of research are mostly centred on child and adolescent contexts unlike their ESP and New Rhetoric counterparts (Drury & Webb, 1991).A group of researchers in the late 1980’s started the Literacy in Education Research Network (LERN) (Cope, Kalantzis, Kress & Martin, 1993:239). Their aim was to develop an instructional approach to address the inadequacies of the process approach for teaching writing. For researchers in this paradigm, learners at school need explicit induction into the genres of power if they want to participate in mainstream te xtual and social processes both within and beyond the school (Macken-Horarik, 1996). Those learners who are at risk of failing fare better within a visible curriculum and this applies particularly to learners for whom the medium of instruction in not a home language. PurposeSystemic genre analysts contend that genre pedagogy should focus on language at the level of whole texts and should also take into account the social and cultural contexts in which texts are used (Martin, 1985, Rose & Martin, 2005). Furthermore, genres are viewed as social processes because ‘†¦ texts are patterned in reasonably predictable ways according to patterns of social interaction in a particular culture’ (Cope and Kalantzis, 1993:6). Consequently, SFL genre approaches see social purpose, language and context as interrelated in texts. Textual patterns reflect social conventions and interactions and these are executed through language.Therefore, genre teaching should move from linguistic d escription to an explanation and an understanding of why texts are shaped the way they are and how they achieve their particular goals (Paltridge, 2004). As a result, the basic principle underlying all such language approaches is that learners must learn not only to make grammatically correct statements about their world, but also develop the ability to use the language to get things done. The purpose of the Australian framework is to assist learners at school become more successful readers and writers of academic, school and workplace texts (Hyon,1996). Their goal is to help primary and secondary school learners ‘participate effectively in the school curriculum and the broader community’ (Callaghan 1991:72).Their focus is on learners learning to write in English as a second language and the challenges these learners might experience when writing and learning in a language that is not their mother tongue. Therefore they argue for explicit teaching through a cycle that à ¢â‚¬Ëœmodels and makes explicit the dominant forms of writing or text types valued in schools’ (Gibbons, 2002:52). Writing in an American context of disadvantaged students, Delpit (1998) strongly argues for the teaching of the genres of power, stating that if a learner is not already part of the culture of power, explicitly teaching the rules of this culture through genre makes access easier.Consequently, research on genre theory has been both politically and pedagogically motivated: a pedagogical project motivated by the political project of allowing equal access to social, economic and political benefits of Australian society through an explicit and visible literacy curriculum (Kress, 1993). As a result, Australia is often referred to as the place in which practitioners have been most successful in applying genre theory and research to pedagogy (Johns, 2002). My intention is to explore the use of SFL genre-based teaching as an alternative approach to teaching writing in gra de six at a multilingual primary school. However, approaches to research and pedagogy of SFL have not been accepted without critiques.These critiques originate from advocates of progressive literacy approaches (Lankshear & Knobel, 2000) and also from within genre camps practicing genre theory from different theoretical understandings. In the next section, I provide details of these critiques and a personal response to each critique. 2. 4 Critiques of genre of SFL There have been many critiques of SFL genre-based approaches, as mentioned in the previous section. Here I discuss three of the most telling: liberal progressive critiques, socio-cultural practice theorist critiques, and critical discourse analysts’ critiques about teaching the genres of power. The liberal progressivists claim that genre literacy entails a revival of transmission pedagogy.It seems to mean learning formal ‘language facts’ again. It is sometimes claimed that genre literacy teaching is foun ded on a pedagogy that will lead us back to the bad old days of authoritarian classrooms where some students found the authority congenial and succeeded, while others found the authority uncongenial and failed (Cope & Kalantzis, 1993). However, in contrast to transmission approaches which often treated texts in isolation and grammar as separate and external from the text, a genre-based approach views texts as closely linked to social context and uses linguistic analysis to unpack the choices that are made for social purposes. Rather than unthinkingly replicating rules, learners are ssisted towards conscious control and can be encouraged to exercise creativity and flexibility on an informed basis. The ‘authority’ provided acts as a scaffold and is gradually withdrawn, thus shifting responsibility towards the learner. A second major critique has been raised by social practice theorists such as Lave and Wenger (1991) whose research focus is from a situated learning perspec tive. These advocates of situated learning view genres as too complex and diverse to be detached from their original contexts and taught in a non-natural milieu such as the classroom context. Also, they argue that learning occurs through engaging with authentic real world tasks and that learning to write genres arises from a need in a specific context.Therefore, in authentic settings, writing involves the attainment of larger objectives, which often involve non-linguistic features, and thus the disjuncture between situations of use and situations of learning is unbridgeable. However, although this theory offers a persuasive account of how learning takes place through apprenticeship and mastery roles, especially how an apprentice becomes a fully literate member of a disciplinary work group, it does not propose a clear role for writing teachers in the language classroom (Hyland, 2004). In a SFL genre approach by contrast, the selection of topics and texts can highlight how cultures ar e portrayed as either negative or positive.It can help learners become aware of how language choices in texts are bound up with social purposes (Lankshear & Knobel, 2000). This awareness is necessary for entry into intellectual communities or social discourses and practices, and can help make learning relevant, appropriate and applicable to the context in and outside of the classroom. It can also include a critical element as it provides learners with a linguistic framework to analyse and critique texts. A final important critique is that teaching of the genres of power will not automatically lead to social and economic access in a fundamentally unequal society (Cope & Kalantzis, 1993).While this may be true, the consequences of not teaching these genres could lead to English second language speakers’ from poor working class backgrounds being disadvantaged in perpetuity. The discourses of scientists, doctors and lawyers, for example, are often incomprehensible and obscure, de nying access to many, particularly second English language speakers and those not familiar with the conventions of their associated genres. These social exclusions are marked linguistically (Cope and Kalantzis, 1993). Therefore, SFL genre theorists’ notion of genres as textual interventions could provide access and equity to those not familiar with a particular discourse in society.Consequently, genre teaching in this framework has the intention of empowering disadvantaged and underprivileged students by providing them with the linguistic resources to critically analyse and become more proficient writers of different text types, thus potentially providing access to the socio-economic and political domains currently denied to many learners at schools. A related point is that a genre-based approach runs the risk of reproducing the status quo (Luke, 1996). However, a genre approach should be able to include issues of inequality and power relations in the teaching context by adop ting a critical education theoretical perspective, which strives to unveil existing deep-rooted ideologies within society with the intention of empowering students to question and change the status quo.If teachers are made aware of such aspects in texts, how meaning is constructed and negotiated in texts, and how this shapes our thinking about the world, they might be able to raise awareness and consciousness about power inequalities through the development of effective critical literacy skills in English additional language classes. At the same time, ‘functional ways of talking and thinking about language facilitate critical analysis’ (Hyland, 2004: 42). As a result, it may assist learners to distinguish texts as constructs that can be debated in relatively accurate and explicit ways, thus becoming aware that texts could be analysed, evaluated, critiqued, deconstructed and reconstructed. Such awareness is crucial for further education or academic studies at higher inst itutions of learning. Thus a genre-based approach to teaching writing might bridge the gap between writing required at school and the academic writing skills essential for undergraduate studies.Having sketched the broad parameters of the three main approaches to genre and how genre approaches have developed in different ways and with different underlying goals, I now focus in greater detail on the Australian Framework. This approach appears to offer the greatest scope for South African contexts given its intention to provide equity and access to social and economic spheres in society, which is also a central principle of the South African Constitution (1994) and C2005. Furthermore, the focus on English second language learning contexts and aboriginal learners from disadvantaged, poor working class communities is similar to learners from disadvantaged communities who learn mostly through a medium of instruction which is not their home language.Another important reason for focusing on this approach is that this genre-based approach could inform the teaching of writing and future teacher training frameworks that aim to improve the literacy outcomes of learners in the intermediate phase in South African contexts. 2. 5 A Closer look at The Australian Framework It was Michael Halliday (1975) a professor of Linguistics at the University of Sydney, who was the founding father of systemic functional linguistics (SFL) and provided the catalyst for the development of genre theory in Australia (Cope and Kalantzis, 1993). Halliday and his theory of systemic functional linguistics introduced the theme of ‘learning language, learning through language, learning about language’ (Cope and Kalantzis, 1993:231).As discussed above, SFL focuses on language and how it functions or is used in cultural and situational contexts and argues that language can be described or realised by means of a framework comprising cultural context, situational context and linguistic featu res. The Australian framework is therefore rooted in a text-context model of language (Lankshear &Knobel, 2000; Gibbons 2002; Derewianka 2003). Furthermore, SFL interprets the context of situation and the context of culture as two interrelated domains (Christie & Unsworth 2000). The context of situation is the immediate context in which language is used. However this context of situation can vary in different cultures and as such it is culture-specific.This situational context is described in three main categories of semantic resources, field, mode and tenor, and collectively this is referred to as the register of a text (Lankshear & Knobel, 2000) The field describes the subject-matter of the social activity, its content or topic; tenor focuses on the nature of the relationships among the people involved; mode refers to ‘medium and role of language in the situation’ (Martin, 1997: 10) Therefore, it is the register (field, tenor and mode) which influences how language is used because it provides the social purpose of the text through answering ‘what is going on, who is taking part, the role language is playing’ (Martin & Rothery, 1993: 144). Hence, SFL explores the relationship between language and its social functions.The earliest work on applying this framework to education was carried out by Martin and two of his students Rothery and Christie who started a research project in 1978 using the field, tenor and mode framework to analyse writing produced in schools (Cope & Kalantzis, 1993; Kress, 1993). In 1980 Martin and Rothery examined student writing that had been collected over numerous years (Cope and Kalantzis, 1993). Their findings indicated that most school valued texts were short and limited to a few genres for example, labelling, observation, reports, recounts and narratives, with observations and recounts being the dominant genres (pg 233). Furthermore, they found that the texts produced in textbooks lacked development, even within story genres, were extremely gendered, and irrelevant to the needs of the community or secondary schools.They then developed the hypothesis that genres at schools should be explicitly taught by teachers. This research resulted in the development of a curriculum cycle providing scaffolding and explicit teaching through setting the field, deconstructing a text, modelling writing, jointly constructing a new text and culminating with individual writing (Macken-Horarik, 1998; Feez; 2002; Paltridge, 2004; Cope & Kalantzis, 1993; Martin& Francis, 1984). Building field and setting context is critical to each phase of the cycle and this refers to a range of activities which build up content for the genre and knowledge about the contexts in which it is deployed (Martin & Rose, 2000).In this way, learners move from everyday, common sense knowledge towards technical, specialist subject knowledge, and are gradually inducted into the discourse and field knowledge of school subjects. As a r esult, this approach can strengthen and promote learning language and about language across the curriculum. The logic of the curriculum cycle is based on the notion of ‘scaffolding’. Hammond (2000) and Gibbons (2002) refer to this as ‘scaffolding language’ based on Vygotsky’s (1976) zone of proximal development (Derewianka, 2003). In this process the teacher takes a more direct role in the initial phase, with the learner in the role of apprentice. As the learner develops greater control of the genre, the teacher gradually withdraws support and encourages learner independence (Derewianka, 2003).Therefore, genre literacy has the intention to reinstate the teacher as professional, as expert on language, whose role in the classroom should be authoritative but not authoritarian as opposed to the teacher as facilitator in more progressive teaching models (Cope & Kalantzis, 1993). As a result, the curriculum cycle and its scaffolding approach could be valua ble in activating the schemata of English second language learners as opposed to a context where English teaching approaches are traditional and narrow. Such approaches could have negative educational impacts on disadvantaged learners. 2. 6 The Disadvantaged Schools Programme Luke and Kale (1989:127) argue that monolingual and monocultural practices permeated official language and education planning in Australia prior 1970. Similar to South African apartheid policies, Australia practiced a ‘White Australian Policy’ (Luke & Kale, 1989:127).However, in the early 1970s the Australian government recognised that aboriginals and islander learners should be integrated into mainstream schools (Luke & Kale, 1989). As a result, the need to acknowledge Aboriginal and migrant languages became a priority in educational policies. Furthermore, Diane Russell (2002) states that up to 1967 very few Aboriginal students in South Australia entered secondary school unless they were wards of the state and, given this history of disadvantage, much of the literature about the education of Aboriginal students since then refers to the poor retention and attainment rate of Aboriginal students compared to their non-Aboriginal peers.As a result, the Disadvantaged Schools Programme (DSP), an initiative of the Interim Committee of the Schools Commission (1973), was initiated to reduce the effects of poverty on learners at school (McKenzie, 1990) and participation was based on the social and economic conditions of the community from which the school draws its learners. Thus the intention of the DSP was to improve the learning outcomes of learners from educationally disadvantaged backgrounds in Australia to increase their life choices (Randell, 1979). Therefore, a fundamental aim of the DSP was to equip disadvantaged learners with power, through education, to enter and share fully in the benefits of society as a matter of social justice.Furthermore, a majority of Aboriginal people grow up in homes where Standard Australian English is at most a second dialect, sometimes first encountered on the first day of school. Accordingly, accepting the language children bring to school and using that to build competence in Standard Australian English is the ‘key to improving the performance of Aboriginal students’ (www. daretolead. edu. au). Genre theorists have been concerned with equitable outcomes, thus discourses of generation, ethnicity and class have been a preoccupation. These theorists argued that progressive pedagogies were marginalising working-class Aborigine and other disadvantaged learners (Cope & Kalantzis, 1993).For Burns (1990) progressive curriculum approaches led to a confusing array of approaches and methodologies and failed to provide a well-formulated theory of language. Further, Cope (1989) argued that an ‘authoritative’ pedagogy for the 1990s was needed to replace the progressive curriculum of the mid-1970s as this had ne glected to make explicit to learners the knowledge they need to gain to access socially powerful forms of language. Due to the above kinds of debates in the SFL genre theory camp, a literacy consultant, Mike Callaghan, working with the DSP in Sydney, decided that SFL might be a viable theory and this resulted in the Language and Social Power Project.Teachers who were disillusioned with progressive teaching methods became eagerly involved in this project (Cope & Kalantzis, 1993). Additionally, Cope and Kalantzis (1993) report that teachers discovered that genre theory did not dismantle all the progressive language approaches; in fact, it enhanced progressive language teaching and highlighted that there is a social purpose in writing. This, however, meant teachers’ knowledge and skills about language in social contexts had to be developed through extensive in-service training and in-class support 2. 7 Research originating from the Disadvantaged Schools Programme Scholars like M artin and Rothery (1986) began to analyse texts using SFL theory.This took the form of linguistic analysis with each text being deconstructed into its structural features, or schematic phases, and then being analysed for its typical language features. Most of these projects aimed to link theory and practice (Cope & Kalantzis, 1993). As a result, teachers gained knowledge and an ability to critically analyse the texts that they used in practice. Research identified factual genres such as reports, expositions, discussions, recounts, explanations, and procedures, which could be used in classrooms. Furthermore, as this project progressed, the data were translated into classroom practice using a pedagogical model developed by project members that resulted in a major breakthrough for the classroom, that is, the curriculum cycle or the teaching and learning cycle (Callaghan & Rothery, 1988).The National Centre for English Language Teaching and Research was commissioned in 1990 to evaluate the effectiveness of projects like the Language and Social Power Project and was asked to report on improvements in learner writing as well as on the impact of genre pedagogy on teachers’ knowledge of the social function of language and their ability to assess the effectiveness of learners’ writing (Cope & Kalantzis, 1993). The findings of the report highlighted an ‘overwhelmingly’ positive response from participating teachers (Cope & Kalantzis, 1993). Teachers praised the in-service and the in-class support of the demonstration lessons as well as the backup support material, both printed and audio-visual. Furthermore, in terms of evaluating the learners’ written texts, it was found that learners from participating schools wrote a broader range of genres, that these included more factual texts, and that these learners had a higher success rate than learners from non-participating schools (Cope & Kalantzis, 1993). 2. 9 SFL and the School Writing Curr iculumKress (1994) states that until recently ‘writing has been regarded as an alternative medium of language, giving permanence to utterances’ (pg 7) and attention on writing was thus focussed on mechanical aspects. However, increasing evidence indicates that speech and writing have distinct grammatical and syntactic organisation, and further that writing and speaking occur in distinct social settings which have significant effects on the syntactic and textual structures of speech and writing (Kress, 1993). Literacy in many Western schools presupposes that learners have developed spoken language skills in the relevant language but this may not be the case for second language learners (Gibbons, 2004).As a result, these learners would have even more to learn about writing because learners initially use their knowledge about spoken language to bridge the divide between speaking and writing (Kress 1994). The school writing curriculum and its teachers are then powerful in d eveloping or hindering the writing development of learners in primary school. As discussed above, writing curricula drawing from progressive theories which stress the process of writing over content, see the teacher as a facilitator of writing, and no focus on linguistic rules for speaking or writing could result in English second language learners being denied access to development as writers. Therefore, writing curricula which focus on the teaching of genre are potentially powerful in that they could provide ‘generic power’ to learners. Power to use, interpret, exploit and innovate generic forms is the function of generic knowledge which is accessible only to members of disciplinary communities’ (Bhatia, 2003:67). Accordingly, the teaching of SFL genre approaches and their linguistic frameworks could provide a scaffold for English second language learners to be inducted into social contexts, purposes and linguistic features of both spoken and written dominant d iscourses. Such approaches might lead towards opportunities for equity and access for non-native speakers of English. A writing curriculum rooted in genre theory would have implications for the classroom and the next section discusses some of these implications for pedagogy. 2. 9. 1 SFL Genre in the classroomThe teaching of genre in the classroom requires explicit teaching of language at text level and of the interdependence of language use and context (Paltridge, 2004). Halliday and Hasan (1985) state that SFL deals with language in context: ‘The context of situation, the context in which the text unfolds, is encapsulated in the text, not in a kind of piecemeal fashion, not in the other extreme in a mechanical way, but through a systemic relationship between the social environment on the hand, and the functional organisation of language on the other. If we treat both text and context as semiotic phenomena, as modes of meaning, so to speak, we can get from one to the other in a revealing way. ’ (Pgs 11-12)Such an approach implies that language teachers in primary and secondary schools should not only have English subject knowledge but also understand and have knowledge of linguistically informed genre-based literacy pedagogy. 2. 10 Conclusion This chapter has provided an overview of the three main schools of thought in relation to genre and then focused in more detail on the theoretical perspective which seems to offer the most productive insights for the South African context, Systemic Functional Linguistics. The next chapter describes the methodology I used to investigate the potential of such an approach in one primary school. Bibliography Adams, C. & Artemeva. N. (2002).Writing Instruction in English for Academic (EAP) classes: Introducing second language learners to the Academic Community. In M. 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