Perception of the Elderly in Modern Society

Perception of the Elderly in Modern Society Aging is the normal process of time-related change which begins with birth and continues until death. These changes include how a person feels and functions with respect to physical or mental competences. It is important for individuals to increase their knowledge and understanding of aging so as to prevent ageist behaviours, discrimination and maltreatment of the elders in our societies today. The public’s perception of older adults is very unpleasant and can implant fear into individuals who are approaching the retirement age. This pessimistic view of being old not only makes younger peoples evolution into older age one of misery, but this despondency is mentally projected out towards the elders of our society (HubPages, 2012). This essay therefore, examines the factors that may perhaps be accountable for the perception of the elderly in societies today, theoretical perspective, effects of ageism on the elderly and suggestions that can change society’s negative perspe ctive toward aging and to promote positive images. Constantly babies are being born around the world, as well as persons moving into retirement. According to Michelle Barnhart, Researcher, Oregon State University, on a day to day basis approximately 10,000 individuals in the United States turns 65 years old and this is an indication that it is time for them to retire. Most developed countries have generally accepted the chronological age of 65 years as the definition of an ‘older person’ (WHO, 2009). Apart from chronological age, an individual’s age can be determined by examining biological, psychological and socio-cultural processes (Cohen, 2002). The elderly population seems to be increasing significantly, due to the fact that more and more people are attaining the retirement age (65 years) and are living longer. In societies today the elderly is seen as less valuable since their individualism, self-reliance, and independence would have been altered. This is due to the fact that with the aging process there is a possibility that one may experience some form of health complications or chronic disease, as a result of the physical changes taking place in the body. Elders are frequently faced with stereotyping where individuals repeatedly perpetuate bogus information and negative images and characteristics concerning them. Some elderly are perceived in a positive light from time to time because they are actively involved in the community, loyal, sociable, and warm. Nonetheless the negative perceptions are more dominant, for instance; older people are often stereotyped as being unhealthy or always sick, decreased psychological functioning, unappealing, sexless, negative personality traits, miserable, lonesome and excluded from society. Stereotypes may be as a result of an individual’s negat ive personal experience, myths shared throughout the ages, and a general lack of current information. Older adults are labeled with negative statements such as; wrinkled, cranky, crotchety, inattentive, forgetful, fragile, feeble, stuck in the past, past their prime, or a burden on society. There are a lot of factors that may be responsible for the modern day perception of the elderly. An individual’s age, gender, level of knowledge, interaction with old adults and how frequent, cultural influences, modernization and the media are all factors that may influence how the elderly is perceived by members of society. Additionally, there are a lot of misconceptions about older adults since most people are not knowledgeable about aging. These misconceptions include: most older adults cannot live independently, chronologic age determines oldness, most elderly persons have diminished intellectual capacity or are senile, all older people are content and serene, all older persons are resistant to change and older adults cannot be productive or active. The functionalist theory looked at how the different parts of society work together in order for it to function smoothly. With respect to the elderly, functionalists believe that the elders are one of society’s fundamental groups. However, the disengagement theory states that withdrawal from society is a normal behaviour portrayed by the aging individual. This is so because the elderly experiences a reduction in both their physical and mental level of functioning, hence they expects at some point in time they will die, resulting in withdrawal from individuals and society (Cummings and Henry 1961). Additionally, theactivity theory seeks to explain that activity levels and social involvement are key aspects in replacing what was lost and went on further to say it is the key to happiness (Havinghurst 1961; Neugarten 1964; Havinghurst, Neugarten, and Tobin 1968). To expound, it is said that the happiness of an elderly depends on how active and involved he or she is, the more activ e, the happier they will be. Lastly, thecontinuity theory explains that the elderly who remain active and involved during their elder years do so by making particular choices in order to preserve stability internally and externally. This is an attempt to maintain social equilibrium and stability by making future decisions on the basis of already developed social roles (Atchley 1971; Atchley 1989). Conflict theorists’ stated that society is essentially unstable in view of the fact that it shows favour to the more powerful and wealthy individuals while marginalizing everyone else. There is always a competition for power and limited resources among social groups; hence the elderly population struggles with other groups resulting in conflicts. Conflicts are evident in Trinidad and Tobago with respect to the senior citizens pension; at age 65 all individuals qualify for the $3,000.00 pension, while on the other hand those who are entitled to a National Insurance Pensions qualifies for a smaller percentage of the senior citizens pension. The Modernization theorydeveloped by Sociologists Donald Cowgill and Lowell Holmes proposes that industrialization and modernization are the main reason why the elderly looses power and influence in society (Cowgill and Holmes 1972). Sociologist Donald Cowgill’s states in his theory that there is a relationship between ageing and modernization; older men and women in less technologically advanced societies tend to yield more economic and social power than those in more industrialized countries (Cowgill 1986). Prior to industrialization, it was seen where the younger generation cared for the elderly in their society due to the strong social bound they had. Nowadays, it is evident that in various households the number of family members is under five (5); extended families are replaced by nuclear families. Individualism have become a characteristic of our civilization despite the traditionally collectivist nature of some cultures because of changes associated with all modern soci eties. In an individualistic industrial society, caring for an elderly relative is seen as a voluntary obligation that may be ignored without fear of social censure (Openstax College, 2012). However, research shows that even though modernization and industrialization lead to socio-cultural changes, the importance of family and respecting and valuing the elderly in certain cultures may be limited but still remains a priority. David Hackett Fischer (1977), an American historian, like modernization theorists he also believes that the status of older people has declined over time. However, he further stated that, before modernization and industrialization could take place in the United States the decline in the elderly being powerful had already began. According to the Encyclopedia of Aging (2002), Fischer further argued that between 1800’s and 1900’s the cultural transformation took place when citizens became interested in the principles of independence and egalitarianism. These behaviours were influenced mainly by the standards of the French Revolution. These new cultural values are accountable for the lower statuses of elders in the US and by extension Western societies today. For this reason, our elderly are no longer treated with the respect compared to log ago and this is where ageism is seen and ageist behaviours being demonstrated towards the older individuals in society. Ageism generates unnecessary fear, waste, illness, and misery (Palmore, 2004); hence it has an impact on both society and culture, even though most individuals are not aware of it. Ageism and ageist attitudes is one of the factors that can contribute to elder abuse by creating a fertile environment in which the abuse can develop, leading to age discrimination, and devaluing and disempowering older people. The elderly themselves feels less valuable to society because of society’s perception of them. The youth centric culture in which we live describes us as lacking compassion for the elderly, the affinity to â€Å"shoot† our weak and wounded, us versus them mentally and the impression that ones value is based on what one can add to society (Holman, 2010). In Western culture, more so the United States, they are obsessed with the youths of their country. On the other hand, other cultures will respect and even worship older individuals for their wisdom. Tan et al. (2004) ar gued that a sample of younger people in China held more positive attitudes towards all categories of older people when compared with findings from studies in the US, Singapore and Trinidad. In general, society considers the children to be the future generation and they are worth fighting for. However, they will think twice when it comes to fighting for the elderly because in their view they have already lived their lives and are no longer as valuable to society. The role of the media in supporting ageism is that it mostly celebrates and encourages the younger individuals, which perpetuates ageist images and stereotypes. Children are more susceptible to the penalty of negative media images and introduction to stereotypical portrayals of the elderly can alter their views of the actuality of aging and the elders in our society. This would definitely affect the way the youth intermingle with the elders. Television, print media (books, newspapers, magazines, and advertisements) are all considered a major and insidious cause of influence on the public’s perceptions of older people and ageing. In the media the elderly often represents and portray the roles of older characters, which reflect ageing stereotypes. Television especially, plays a momentous role in influential public outlook on the elderly, and it is often held responsible for bringing about negative stereotypes of ageing. Television characters can both deliberately and automatically create standards of social comparison and role models for viewers (Kessler et al. 2004). Aging is often associated with balding, graying or thinning hair, and wrinkling of the skin. The media in trying to sell their product or service often reflect ageism by depicting the physical changes and unattractiveness of the elderly resulting in older people being stereotyped as ugly. Physical appearance, mainly facial features do play an important role when it comes to defining a person as old. However, the youths tend to find it hard in accepting that these changes must take place with the aging process. The television is viewed by almost everyone in society and it is a fact that older people are often underrepresented. It is concluded that the media is a relevant approach for showcasing stereotypes of how older people and how ageing is portrayed. In Trinidad and Tobago the Government have tried implementing support systems for its elderly population such as senior citizens pension ($3,000.00 monthly), which increases with the change in Government. Additionally, public assistance and disability grants are available to not only the elderly but all those in need. The elderly who have not yet reached the age of 65 to qualify for the pension and is at a disadvantage due to illness or complications caused by the aging process can benefit from these grants. Also, bus passes are available to all senior citizens (age 65 and above) where the elderly can travel for free on board any Public Transportation Service Corporation (PTSC) Buses throughout Trinidad and Tobago. Added to this, they are entitled to travel for free on the Port Authority Inter Island Ferry Service. From my observation, most of the elderly population do welcome the initiative and take advantage of these services offered to them. However, a few of them refuse to accept the bus pass and free boat ride as they see it as a form stereotyping. I do understand their point of view as to why they prefer to have their age kept a secret; this is due to the society in which we live where the elderly often faces ageism and ageist behaviours from the younger citizens. In light this; it is my opinion that not enough is being done to ensure that the senior citizen population has a bright and enjoyable future. The perceptions the public hold of older people can impact on the elderly in employment, education, health services, and the overall treatment of older adults. These perceptions are determined and influenced by many different factors such as: modernization and industrialization of society; age; gender; lack of knowledge and misconceptions, as well as the media. It is seen that perceptions of the elderly can impact their lives positively but mostly negatively. On the positive side, the access to social and employment opportunities, as well as access to health services is evident. On the other hand, negatively it resulted in stereotypical behaviours and ageism, which further lead to social exclusion and isolation of the elderly, as well as elder abuse. It is also evident that ageism can definitely lead to marginalization and degradation of the elderly in our societies today. The World Health Organization states that with the growth of the elderly population there is an increase in many new social, political, and economic challenges (WHO 2002). I believe that the government must intervene and develop strategies and implement policies or laws to ensure that older people are treated fairly and with respect. For example, there is a family obligation towards the care of older people enshrined in law in China with punishments for adult children who fail to support a dependent parent, Tan et al. (2004). This will guarantee that the elders can and do live a better quality of life because at the end of the day they would have contributed to the society in which we now live. I recommend that groups or campaigns be set up so as to ensure the elders in our societies are valued and respected by providing, caring and protecting them from ageism and elder abuse. This will further promote how the elderly have contributed to society and developed new initiatives in which they can add more valuable contributions to society. In these groups ageing educational programmes should be implemented and geared towards all age groups of society, more so to those groups that portray negative attitudes towards older people, for example; the youths and men. These programmes should also branch over to schools in our society, both primary and secondary so as to target children and adolescents with respect to ageism seeing that it is not innate but is developed over time. Additionally, education programmes could also be implemented in the community; for example health centers, community centers, and youth groups to specifically target those areas where the general public’s attitudes towards ageing and older people are most negative including attitudes towards older people’s health, body image, sexuality, mental ability, personality and social involvement. The first step is education to address their lack of knowledge and then to bring about awareness of the elders contribution to society so as to ensure they are well respected and accepted by members of society. These community educational programmes should consist of some older people so as to ensure elders feels valued and acknowledged rather than isolated or socially excluded. Involvement in these community activities will also allow for enhancement of their quality of life. Contact with these elderly people would definitely address all the misconceptions and stereotypes and establish successful to improve the perceptions of older people and ageing. REFERENCES Atchley, R.C. (1971). Retirement and Leisure Participation: Continuity or Crisis?The Gerontologist11:13–17. Atchley, R.C. (1989). A Continuity Theory of Normal Aging.The Gerontologist29:183–190. Cohen, H.L. (2002). Developing media literacy skills to challenge television’s portrayal of older women. Educational Gerontology, 28, 599-620. Cowgill, D.O. and L.D. Holmes, eds. (1972).Aging and Modernization. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts. Cumming, E. and Henry, E. (1961).Growing Old.New York: Basic. Havinghurst, R., Neugarten, B., and Tobin, S. (1968). â€Å"Patterns of Aging.† Pp. 161–172 inMiddle Age and Aging, edited by B. Neugarten. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press Holman, K. (2010). 5 reasons why people devalue the elderly . Retrieved from http://alexschadenberg.blogspot.com/2010/05/5-reasons-why-people-devalue-elderly.html HubPages. (2012). We are the elderly of the future. Retrieved from http://seeker7.hubpages.com/hub/Caring-For-and-Supporting-Elderly-Parents Kessler, E.M., Rakoczy, K. Staudinger, U.M. (2004). The portrayal of older people in prime time television series: The match with gerontological evidence. Ageing Society, 24, 531-552. Openstax College. (2013). Theoretical perspectives on aging. Retrieved from http://cnx.org/content/m42973/latest/ Palmore, E. (2004). Research note: Ageism in Canada and the United States. Journal of Cross-Cultural Gerontology, 19, 41-46. Street, Debra; Parham, Lori. Status of Older People: Modernization.Encyclopedia of Aging. 2002. Retrieved March 30, 2014 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3402200387.html Tan, P.P., Zhang, N.H. Fan, L. (2004) Students attitudes toward the elderly in the Peoples Republic of China. Educational Gerontology, 30(4), 305-314. World Health Organisation (WHO) (2009) Definition of an older or elderly person. Retrieved from: http://www.who.int/healthinfo/survey/ageingdefnolder/en/index.html World Health Organization (WHO) (2002) Active ageing A policy framework. A contribution of the World Health Organization to the Second United Nations World Assembly on Ageing, Madrid, Spain, pp. 1–59. Retrieved from: http://whqlibdoc.who.int/hq/2002/WHO_NMH_NPH_02.8.pdf 1

Ece Human Developemnt Across Lifespan

Discuss how knowledge of theories of human development across the lifespan relates to ECE practice. 2. 1 Theories of human development across the life span are explained in terms of their relevance to New Zealand early childhood education today. 2. 2 Theories of human development across the lifespan are explained in terms of understanding of adults and children and informing and influencing ECE practice. 2. 3 Theories on human development across the lifespan are explained in terms of how they inform and influence own practice in an ECE service. Lev Vygotsky Vygotsky’s theory is the idea of Zones of Proximal Development (ZPD) â€Å"the distance between the actual development level an individual has achieved (his or her independent level of problem solving) and the level of potential development he or she could achieve with adult guidance or through collaboration with other children. † (Bredekamp, 117) In New Zealand early childhood education, they believe that the understanding of a child’s ZPD is important because it allows teachers and caregivers to scaffold appropriately in order to help children reach their full potential. Self-regulation and private speech are also important aspects of Vygotsky’s theory. He theorized that children need to master these skills in order to be successful. If children are able to master these skills, they will be able to demonstrate self-discipline and improve their executive function. The educator is a co-constructor of knowledge with the child. Instead of lecturing or direct instructions, the educator allows and guides the child to come to his or her own understanding of the material. An educator in the early childhood ecntre will aid and support the child in their own discovery and initiative through a concept called, the zone of proximal development (ZPD). The ZPD allows a child to tackle a problem that is sufficiently novel to attract and maintain a child’s attention, yet not so difficult that the solution cannot be perceived (Edwards, 2005). To expand this concept to the centre, the teacher will ‘set up’ activities for children that are just beyond the children abilities and then guide and support the children to come to a solution themselves with minimal help from the educator. Howard Gardner Howard Gardner developed the theory postulates that there are seven or more intelligences that each individual is born with and is needed to live life well (Smith, 2002, 2008). As people develop new knowledge, often these intelligences complement each other (Hatch, Gardner, 1989). In New Zealand early childhood education they believe that in Gardner’s Multi Intelligence theory, the learner is seen as an active participant in their own learning. When new knowledge is presented to the chid, the child will utilize different intelligences in order to synthesize and analyse the new information. The theory of MI properly accounts for the fact that children learn in different ways and use different cognitive capabilities to construct knowledge. It also emphasizes the importance of using a diverse curriculum in the centre that utilizes different subject areas such as music, fine arts and physical activities. For example, if a teacher extends children’s learning, he or she can show some pictures, use real things, sing a song, each method of learning in this case will appeal to the learning styles of different children. In MI theory, the adults can take a broader view of learning to include all intelligences and consequently plan and deliver activities that will allow children to learn through intelligence that they are strongest in. Taking this approach to learning, adults are able to give their children extended opportunities to construct new knowledge that makes most sense to them and can therefore be readily applied to situations. Erik Erikson Erikson developed the view that each person experiences a set of â€Å"conflicts† that need to be resolved during each of the eight stages of development, the first three stages spanning early childhood. These conflicts arise from demands made on a child by his parents of by society in general. As each conflict is resolved, the individual becomes ready to grapple with the next stage. When conflicts are unresolved, they remain issues for the individual to struggle with later in life. In New Zealand early childhood education they used Erikson’ theory as a based on theories and practices in Ece setting. For example the first three stages of psychosocial development. Stage 1: Trust versus mistrust (birth to 1 year of age). During this time, the infant struggles to develop trust in the world. Erikson felt that children learn to trust when educators and parents are nurturing, responsive and reliable. Stage 2: Autonomy versus shame and doubt (18 months to 3 years). This stage is characterized by the child’s increasing desire to discover. Educators and parents help children by understanding the child’s needs for both independence and dependence. Erikson believed that, if this fails to occur, a child will experience feelings of shame and doubt. So there, this is the stage where you teach independence, not at birth. Stage 3: Initiative versus guilt (3 to 6 years old). At this time, the child is eager to master new skills, use language to ask questions, and interact with other peers. At the same time, the child still relies on the comfort and security provided by educators and parents. If a child’s developing sense of initiative is neglected or ignored, Erikson stressed that the child’s misguided energy could result in verbal or physical aggression. Teachers who apply psychosocial development in the classroom create an environment where each child feels appreciated and is comfortable with learning new things and building relationships with peers without fear† (Tamara , 2010, para. 1). In New Zealand Early Childhood education one of their goals is from Te Whariki curriculum Strand 2 that they implement in the every centre, the belonging where children experience an environment where they know they have a pl ace and feel comfortable with the routines, custom, and regular events. Educator encourage initiative in young children, they believe that children should be given a great deal freedom to explore their world. They should be allowed to choose some of the activities they engage. If their request for doing certain activities is reasonable, the request should be honoured and they provide exciting materials that will stimulate and extend their imagination.

Technology And Innovation Management Education Essay

My experience enabled me to recognize the extent to which developing e-learning are of import for the employee and the scope of betterments the employees may accomplish in footings of accomplishments enhancement, knowledge sharing and most significantly in footings of beef uping the morale that the staff feels and the ego esteem inducements that makes the employees confident in themselves and execute better and stimulated to demo uninterrupted betterments, in conformity with the aims and marks of the preparation program which is normally designed to fulfill the preparation demands and to make full the accomplishments ‘ spreads. As good, it is deserving to observe that through preparation, the administration can do accent on its vision, ends and aspirations for the following stage, whereas the employees should understand and recognize these basic rules and follow them while implementing the work program, because if the employee think and perform as the administration aspire, it would finally be the highest grade of success. However in contrast, from my experience the decrease and limitation of the preparation chances affect the employees public presentation and productiveness negatively as it makes their morale down and do them disappointed and low-level and they may lose their trueness to their administration, while when put uping me for any preparation class I feel that my supervisors appreciate my work and that they aim to heighten my abilities through preparation Sessionss. I have gained considerable benefits from this class and learnt valuable accomplishments and cognition from the talks throughout this class, it was truly enlightening and constructive constructs and information that we, as station alumnus pupils, need to derive and understand, because it provide us with comprehensive cognition about some constructs that are indispensable for our future calling and that have considerable effects on our public presentation when we return back to our establishments. Through the basic accomplishments of e-learning and preparation I have learnt in this class, I have achieved cognition and go acquainted with the existent and new constructs of e-learning and preparation based work, in this respect, I feel that my ceiling of cognition about work constructs has been expanded and my positions is going more mature than earlier, as the scattered information about e-learning, preparation, work and other constructs I used to cognize without in-depth apprehension ha ve now been good organised by the scientific cognition I gained from this class, and even I feel that this cognition will be enhanced with scientific grounds through farther alteration of literature, research, articles and surveies about the constructs we have learnt in this class. This achieved cognition and constructs have non merely enabled me to understand and larn new thoughts and to enrich my positions, but besides to larn from the others ‘ experiences every bit good as the ways to use this cognition in raising my public presentation and bettering my accomplishments and to retroflex the best practises and successful methods and experiences in my work as a manner of reassigning this cognition to my state and to portion the accomplishments I achieved with my co-workers, which in bend will heighten their capacities and better their productiveness and better the administration. In general, this class was a existent chance for me to better my cognition, heighten my accomplish ments, spread out my ideas and positions and rectify my vision about the feasibleness of the end products of preparation and e-learning. In malice of some troubles we, as abroad pupils, sometimes see such as the linguistic communication jobs, in add-on to other jobs of adaptability that may confront any abroad pupil with the civilization, conditions, communicating, .. etc. as all these troubles in add-on to others affect the pupil ‘s public presentation because it may obstacle the acquisition procedure ; such as the entree to the right books or articles in the library, or even if we find the appropriate books it may go hard to understand everything since English is our 2nd linguistic communication and I used to hold got a stereotypic thought about preparation and e-learning and work construct in general, that inaccurate thoughts made me doubt to understand this class or benefit of its contents. However, we did n't happen any troubles to harmonize with staff member who taught us this class, I personally was really interested and comfy with the manner he delivered the topic and show its contents, because of the si ncere manner he dealt with us until we feel that he is one of us, he was truly successful to pull us to understand and non to experience shame when we do n't understand or necessitate more account, he was acute to present everything to us really easy and swimmingly and was keen to hold each and every one of us understand everything he mentions in the talks, he was besides concerted with us greatly. All these positive effects helped me to acquire familiar with the class and with everything in the academic environment around me, and that provided me strong assurance in myself and enhanced my inclination to larn and promote me to accept the challenge and bridge the cognition spread that I have faced at my earliest phases of my surveies in the United Kingdom, where I was afraid non to be able to execute good in a wholly new academic and societal environment. One of the valuable benefits I achieved from this class is the pattern of squad work. I used to believe that working together in research may restrict my chances to larn and may take to unorganized work, nevertheless, working together with a group of three co-workers was a fantastic experience which taught me that the thoughts of different people can perchance be integrated to reproduce a solid thought, where everybody in the squad has the opportunity to supply his ain part while participate in discoursing the others thoughts and portion cognition with one another. I have enjoyed a batch in the research authorship as a squad where the members of the squad have their different manner of thought and authorship, but we agreed to follow a incorporate and utile method of execution, as such we discussed the work as a whole and commit everyone in the squad to execute a specific undertaking and cod information about certain portion of the topic under survey, while we meet mundane during the research period to discourse what we have carried out and transform the information collected into information utilizing our different diction to come to an agreeable phrasing, with uninterrupted treatment to the thoughts of the squad members whereas, each one of us propose his thoughts and information on the topic and we discuss these thoughts which might sometimes belie one another but after treatment and encephalon storming we normally used to come to accept about these thoughts and hold on how to give voice it and how to show it in our research, the contradiction of the thoughts was go oning as a normal consequence of our different ideas and due to the fact that each one has his ain manner in the preparation of the thoughts, nevertheless, everything used to be sorted out every bit shortly as we sit together and discourse these thoughts. To reason, I am wholly satisfied with the thought of working in group because it provides the chance to portion cognition and integrate thoughts .

Definition and Examples of Anaphora in English Grammar