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If Music Be The Food Of Love, Play On

Categories: Music
September 7th, 2010 by admin

If Music Be The Food Of Love, Play On

This famous quote from Shakespeare shows us that people have long been pre-occupied with music. It is an integral part of life from the womb to the grave. The fact that it goes so deep within a soul is shown by the fact that it is not only humans but also animals that enjoy music. Different types of music can provoke different reactions in humans and animals and is further proof that there is something about it that can reach far deeper than we can understand. Even whale speak is sold to humans as music for soothing and relaxing.


It will come as no surprise then that the music download business is one of the fastest growing in the technology arena. Some people complain about everyone wearing earphones these days, particularly the younger generation, yet there is barely a person on earth who does not have some sort of favourite music they like to listen to and I’m quite sure if everyone had access to an mp3 player, that there would be some point in every week, if not every day, where they chose to listen to their favourite music downloads.


Babies in the womb are capable of hearing music played through the abdomen and any pregnant woman will tell you that heavy rock music will make her baby lively and soft, gentle music will calm it. Music that the mother personally hears also has a bearing on her unborn baby as it will affect the mother’s moods and this, in turn, affects the baby’s mood.


Throughout life, people will develop a taste for music. Some types will stay forever and others will change throughout our lives. This often depends on what is going on in our lives at the time and we associate different songs with different events, times, ages and emotions. Immediately we hear those tunes again we will be transported in our minds eye back to whatever was going on at the time and we will also relive the same feelings. These may fade slightly over time but they will still be there.


My daughter and I are great music fans and some music is simply our favourite because it’s just a great, catchy, tune but listening back to these we can still remember where we were when we heard them, where we lived and what was going on in our lives at the time.

Given that personal music players hold so much music these days, there is room for sentimental stuff as well as upbeat music, old and new, and you will often see people frantically clicking through their players to find something that conjures up the right mood.


As well as music being such a huge reminder of events and people and feelings we can also use it to deliberately alter a mood. For those who want to create a romantic atmosphere then some mellow love songs will go a lot further than some heavy metal rock tunes.


Favourite music is often played to those in comas because it is understood that even though unconscious, memories can still be stirred. The patient may look asleep but their brain needs the extra stimulation of forgotten thoughts, feelings, memories and even smells that can all be invoked by music. This has often been enough to wake a person from their unconscious state and the sooner they awake, the less severe the damage is likely to be.


So we can see that music is a very powerful force, it can cause new feelings, revisit old feelings, awaken people, send them to sleep and even stir them to great actions. The power of music should never be underestimated.

Musical expert Catherine Harvey looks at how everybody’s choice in music downloads is used for various effects.

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The History Of Printed Sheet Music

Categories: Music
September 7th, 2010 by admin

The History Of Printed Sheet Music

The history of modern sheet music, at least in the West, can be appropriately begun with the advent of the printing press in the middle of the 15th century. Until this time, music had been handwritten and generally preserved in large, bound volumes of manuscripts. The shift from handwritten to machine-printed did not occur overnight, and much music continued to exist solely in manuscripts until well into the 18th century. However, no one will argue that just as the printing press changed the history of the written word, so it also altered the course of sheet music.


The first printed book to include music was the Mainz psalter, a collection of psalms, and it was printed in 1457 by Johann Fust and Peter Shoffer. However, these gentlemen had not yet managed to figure out how to print music using movable type, the result being that the musical notation was added in by hand. It was not until 1473 that the first machine-printed book was produced, and it was still a long and laborious process and the result was less than perfect. Improvements continued to be made, however, and in 1501 the Harmonice Musices Odhecaton A, which contained 96 pieces of clean, readable music, was printed. It required three passes through the printing press, but it was still a step forward. This process was later reduced to two passes and finally, in 1520, to a single pass.


The printing press, as mentioned, had an unprecedented effect on the written word, and its affect upon written music was similar. Beginning in the early 16th century, sheet music could be spread faster, more efficiently, and to more people than ever before. Professionals had a much wider array of music at their disposal. Amateur musicians suddenly had better access to affordable music. This had the affect of creating a much wider pool of amateur musicians, who the professionals could then teach and thereby earn a livelihood. The entire music industry of the Renaissance Period was affected, and the industry of printed sheet music was permanently established.


Of course, in the early years of printed sheet music, its distribution was certainly limited by its cost. And in many places, the right to print music was granted by the monarch, which meant that a printer had to gain special dispensation in order to produce sheet music. Nevertheless, the industry of printing sheet music snowballed over the next few centuries and by the 1800s, it was everywhere, the dominant force in the music industry.


In the United States, sheet music gained importance due to the unfortunate pervasiveness of “blackface” theatre. Around the same time, parlor music exploded in popularity and every middle class home needed a piano and the sheet music that went with it. It was not until the advent of the phonograph in the early 20th century that that sheet music began to lessen in importance. The invention of the radio in the 1920s furthered the trend and eventually, the record industry replaced sheet music publishers as the music industry’s most influential force.

Victor Epand is an expert consultant for guitars, drums, keyboards, sheet music, guitar tab, and home theater audio. You can find the best marketplace at these sites for guitars, drums, keyboards, sheet music, printed sheet music, and subwoofers.

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Sheet Music Then & Now

Categories: Music
September 7th, 2010 by admin

Sheet Music Then & Now

Most modern musicians take sheet music for granted. Sheet music abounds in printed form and can even be downloaded from the Internet. It’s a far cry from the days of oral tradition. Centuries ago, there were few ways to pass on music other than to “hum a few bars” until the listener caught on.


The available manuscripts had to be painstakingly marked out by a transcriptionist and were limited in number. In fact, while many songs were known on a wide scale, they were likely spread about by travelling minstrels and troubadours. They were certainly not available in printed form at the local music shop.


Prior to the invention of the printing press in the mid 15th century, very few private citizens owned or had access to sheet music. The ones in existence were owned by a few wealthy noblemen. Because the only way to publish written music was to copy it by hand, it’s little wonder that sheet music was scarce.


The process took long hours and careful copying skills, plus access to the right materials. Before the printing press, the only songs available in written score were sacred songs. Most of these were chants used in liturgical services. Virtually no secular music scores existed prior to the 15th century.


The invention of the printing press in 1439 changed the history of sheet music. This is in spite of the fact that the earliest methods of reproducing musical scores were almost as painstaking as copying music by hand. Italian printer Ottaviano Petrucci may be considered the “father of sheet music.”


He developed the first method for reproducing sheet music. He was also granted an exclusive patent for his work, giving him an early monopoly on the business for several years. His method involved three stages. The paper was pressed three times. First, the staff was printed. On the second impression, the words were added. The final impression laid down the notes.


The downside to the process was that it was time-consuming and expensive. This made it relatively impractical for the average citizen to own sheet music. However, technology evolved over the years. Eventually, better and more efficient methods of printing were developed.


Most of the earliest music that was published was sacred music. In fact, the printing, distribution and publication of music were largely controlled by the church for several centuries. Eventually this changed, and soon music companies found themselves in the thriving business of music publishing. The retail distribution of sheet music took off in the late 1800s and early 1900s. This was in spite of the fact that there was no means for promoting particular songs or artists, like radio or television.


The popularity of sheet music prompted many governments around the world to examine the issue of copyright and pass their own laws in that regard. With copyright becoming a worldwide issue, the Berne Convention of 1886 established a universal principle regarding copyright. Today, approximately 76 countries around the world adhere to this standard.


Of course, technology continues to evolve. Radio, television and the Internet have posed new challenges to the ability of governments to enforce copyright laws. Sheet music can now be downloaded straight from the Internet, often illegally. Notwithstanding this, the annual sale of sheet music ranges in the tens of thousands today. Music-publishing software has brought the printing of music full circle from the days when stolid monks sat writing music with a quill by candlelight.

A free email newsletter on exciting piano chords and chord progressions from Duane Shinn is available free at “Exciting Piano Chords & Chord Progressions!”

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Music from Memphis has a Soul All Its Own

Categories: Music
September 6th, 2010 by admin

Music from Memphis has a Soul All Its Own

The music from Memphis has made such a profound impact in the music world that it has been the reason that the city of Memphis has earned such nicknames as Home of the Blues The Birthplace of Soul, The Home of Rock and Roll, and Soulsville, USA. The musical influence in Memphis has always been thick, rich, heart felt, and varied. Beginning with jug bands and Bluegrass, music from Memphis would become a permanent presence in the music world.


When WWII had come to an end, music from Memphis began to see the use of electronic instruments. Many musicians from all over the country came to Memphis with these electric instruments, changing the sound of Memphis blues. The musicians would gather on Beale Street, where there were recording studios up and down. These early musicians would record some of the first music from Memphis that was classic blues, rhythm and blues, and rock & roll records. Once of the most famous of these studios was Sun Records, who would record the likes of Jerry Lee Lewis and Elvis Presley, among many others.


It began in the early 1900s when jug bands played on the streets of the city, the center being once again Beale Street. Using homemade, simple instruments like the banjo, guitar, and a jug of course for the bass, music from Memphis erupted on the streets and branched into what we know today as the Blues. The Blues is music that is full of catchy rhythms and lyrics about life, work, and faith.


The music from Memphis known as Soul began in the little neighborhoods around Memphis. These neighborhoods became known as Soulsville, USA. In the late 1950s the genre of music was born that was to become Memphis Soul music. Soul is a style of music that combines R&B music with Gospel music. It has been said that Memphis Soul Music is similar to Gospel in almost every way except one. The only difference between the two is the substitution of the word Lord in Gospel to the word Baby in Soul.


The catchy, new, unique blend of R&B and Gospel quickly spread through the African American communities in Chicago, Philadelphia, Memphis, and Detroit. Memphis Soul music was most heavily influenced by gospel, however, more so than in the other cities. The unique sound of Memphis Soul music that resulted from such a thick Gospel influence was described as unpolished and raw. Up North, the sound had been more polished and smooth. Music from Memphis was gritty and raspy, which is what has made music from Memphis the most loved and time honored music in the country.

To know more about Music from Memphis please visit our website.

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Free, Legal Music Downloads – Where to

Categories: Music
September 6th, 2010 by admin

Free, Legal Music Downloads – Where to

Music – there can be said so many things about it, but there’s so little time to do it. After all, one could write a “Music Bible,” and there still would be enough room for at least another dozen of similar books. Music brings people together, but also can start wars, but most interesting thing about music, these days, is how people reach it, and the real value music has. Why, that’s what I’ll tell you next, because I always thought that behind the innocent “free & legal music downloads” phrase there’s hiding something really evil…

When talking about recorded music, I think first way of recording music was to write down the notes for others to play it. Unfortunately, not everyone is a musician. Fortunately for most skilled musicians, playing well saved their lives in some situations(just think about cities conquered, and population slaughtered… with a few exceptions, including those who sang well enough to please the conquerors, and lucky enough to prove it before being killed without any questions).

As mankind entered the Industrial Era, recording sound became easier as time passed, but only in the last few decades music turned into something produced for (and consumed by – obviously) the masses. Before moving on to tackle the free, legal music downloads that are considered a real plague by some of those in the music industry(and by myself, but for different reasons), I must get a little personal…

… with some of my memories regarding music – how it was, and how it became. Back in my teenage years, grabbing a tape from the music store or – when I was lucky to have the money – a CD, was a real celebration. Needless to say how proud I was to find some rare vinyl recording, and how many times those tapes and CDs were played. Most of them are still around, and I get back to them everytime I want to summon pleasant memories. Back then, I treated music as a gift, and as something you don’t cross your path with every minute.

Now? Well, usually I am not looking for free, legal music downloads, simply because I still enjoy having the CD in my hands, so I end up buying my music on CD/DVD. I don’t have to go out of the house, I don’t have any occasion to go to the music store and have a chat with that old hippie selling CDs, simply because the store is gone. All I have to do is type in some address in my Web browser, pay using my credit card or PayPal, and then wait for the package. Sometimes, I even download promo tracks from the artist’s website, if I am really that anxious to hear as much as possible before having the real thing in my hands.

Is this good? Is this bad? Free or paid, legal music downloads will never beat the real thing, at least for some of the music consumers. I hope we’re not only a few chosen ones, because some things should remain unchanged, and the way we enjoy music should never turn into clicking through some websites and loading our portable media player with tracks.

While the real <a rel=”nofollow” onclick=”javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackPageview', '/outgoing/article_exit_link']);” href=”http://bindapple.com/history-of-the-ipod/”> history of the iPod</a> may shadow a less known history, that of turning music from art into a cheap product for the masses, in most cases, I think free music downloads or paid ones should survive, but people and advertisers should also keep in mind that the real thing is always better than the virtual one and act accordingly.

www.adimoga.com

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Born for Greatness

Categories: Music
September 6th, 2010 by admin

Born for Greatness

Inside all of us is a person that strongly wants to succeed and be great. Inside is a champion, a hero, a giant and a winner that has to be unleashed by any means necessary. The truth of the matter is you are born into this world to succeed, to be great and to experience all the goodness life has to offer.

I would like you to believe that you are born with all components within to make it possible to succeed. You are born for greatness and God has no plans for you to fail. His plans are that you flourish in every way.

You are designed to experience all the elegance that life has to offer and you are destined to succeed at anything that you set out to do. Any person who will tell you contrary to this is ignorant, irresponsible and reveals their foolishness.

2 Corinthians 8:9 seals it all:

“For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich”

Jesus became poor so you MIGHT become rich. Here the bible uses “might” because people can be so cynical and negative sometimes that they may doubt the power of these words. They lock their mind’s focus in the here and now. To them, where they are, is all they can be. It is important not look at your status quo and think that is all you are or meant to be. Do not look down on yourself no matter what situation you might be in. Your present status quo is not final. It is very much temporal and its days are numbered.

Your first discovery in life is to recognize that you were born for greatness. Jesus died for you so that you might become affluent and joyful.

This is the reason every toddler approaches life with a lot of enthusiasm and great expectation for great things. The child is excited with life and feels great to be alive. When my son, Tlhalewa, was only one year and two months, all I had to do was play a bouncy song and he would put his groove on instantly. He would start to boogie, jump and chuckle. You may wonder who teaches children how to dance. They do it because it’s inertly in them. From birth, all of us approach life in this enthusiastic manner.

However, somewhere during our upbringing we lose all the enthusiasm and excitement. We become sulky and sloppy due to the strain life exerts on us. The best way to describe it is that we become brain damaged because we are told more about our limitations than our potential. This is the reason many people live far below their potential or where they would have been if they were told more about their possibilities. Society does not brainwash us to succeed but programs us to learn to earn a living and end up like every one else. Brain washing for success is simply telling a child their potential and speaking possibilities in that child’s life. Programming for failure is more or less telling them what they can’t do.

BORN TO BE APPRECIATED

Inside every person young person or adult is a desire to be loved. Children and adults alike feel good when people appreciate and love them. In fact appreciation has a lot of positive effect on the young ones.

I always ask parents this question,

“When was the last time you told your son or daughter you loved them?”

Many just stare at me like I had spoken in tongues. The expression “I love you”, in my opinion, is a magical phrase that does wonders in a child’s mind. It builds self esteem than you can ever know. Just the reassurance that you, as a parent, love him or her means a lot to the child.  Every child wants to be appreciated, cared for and loved. The child feels good and knows it is loved.

To illustrate more on the impact love can have upon a person’s life; I will take you to adolescence.

Have you ever wondered why adolescence is a very crucial stage in any person’s life?

This is a period between the beginning of puberty and adulthood. This is a period when boys often experience wet dreams and girls fantasize about romance and the fictitious handsome prince they read in romantic books. This is a period of awakening the man or woman inside them. They become of age and this is a moment in time when many a girl starts to feel like she is losing her mind.

During this time, fathers need to be sensitive enough to reassure their girl child that she is loved. Talking about saying, “I love you”, many girls are never told by their parents that they are loved.

Hence, when a boy tells a girl these magic words, she hears them for the first time and melts as the words resonate in her ears and mind, then right before she discovers who she is, gets impregnated.

I am reliably informed that sixty percent of teenage pregnancies are a result of a young woman seeking love from the wrong person at the wrong time and place. The only time some fathers talk to their daughters is when the daughter has done wrong. The words that often come out of the fathers’ mouth are negative utterances, degrading and offensive.

It is sad to say that these words end up embedded in the mind of the young girl. For the boy child, this is a time when parents or guardians think he’s acting strange due to marijuana influence.

I clearly remember being accused of smoking the herb when I didn’t even know how it smelled or looked like. This was, in my opinion, verbal and mental abuse.

Coming back to the present, you will agree with me that the above description is very familiar. Maybe you can relate it to your own life or someone else you know. You probably did not receive the love or affection you deserved as a result the cycle goes on unless broken. If you received a lot of affection from your parents, siblings or guardian you probably would have achieved more in your life than you already have. Recent studies indicate that, kids who are appreciated and live happy home lives tend to do well at school and are successful in life but it is the other way round for those that come from broken homes.

Regardless of your past, it is not too late to discover and unleash the greater you. However, it is important that you break the cycle by adopting the deliberate policy to make your children be peak performers by brainwashing them to believe in their abilities and dreams.

 

YOU ARE NOT PERFECT AND NEVER WILL BE

During one of my live motivational talks in Harare, Zimbabwe in October 2007 at a youth camp meeting, I asked one participant this question;

“When you look at your face in the mirror, what do you see?”

His response bemused me. He replied, “I see an ugly person looking back at me.” This sent the whole crowd laughing. I could not help it but laugh as well.

The point I would like to stress here is that, every person has one part of their body they dislike. I know that as an individual, you may not have the looks of the people in a beauty magazine and may not posses the skills you admire. It is important, on the other hand, to appreciate and accept yourself regardless of the self imposed flaws. At least you are a great individual, an original who is about to discover his greatness.

Here is part of my life story. I am the twelfth and last born in the family. From an early age my parents showed me all the love and tender loving care any child could ever dream of. I think this made my older siblings burn with envy. Later in my adolescent years, as a dependant in my older siblings’ homes, I was verbally abused and usually punished for things I never did. I remember being told, I had a “Super loaf head” and that I was just an abandoned baby and later picked up along the rail and adopted.

As a result, I developed a low self esteem and always lived in fear and thought lowly of myself. They made me believe I had a shapeless head. In those days, I never would cut my hair short for fear of being laughed at by other kids. I remember clearly in the ninth grade, one classmate drew a caricature on the black board and labeled it, “Aaron’s osmosis head.” The whole class laughed but I was not amused at all. I was so embarrassed and it was the ultimate degradation at that time.

However, my turning point came when I confronted myself that if I didn’t accept my big head and who I was, no one will. Gradually, I started to gain appreciation of my head and would joke that I loved it big because big is good. It is important that you invest in a good wardrobe and always ware good cologne and In order to unleash greatness, look at yourself in a mirror and say, “hey handsome you look charming!” if you are a lady, tell yourself, “hey baby boo, you are hot!! Then go out there and walk with your head up. Be confident in yourself because there has never been anyone like you, there isn’t and never will be. You are unique.

BE CAUTIOUS OF THE PEOPLE YOU LOOK UP TO

You see, every person has the potential of being great in life regardless of their social, educational or family background or where they are in the present day.

But we need to be cautious of the people we looked up to. They can either mess our lives up or help build them. How do they achieve this?  By the words they use on us over and over again. It is important to have people that are confirmatory around. They may not believe in your dream but should cheer you on.

Come to think of it, we are who we are today because of what someone said we would end up being. My mentor Les Brown says if someone close to you tells you that you are not good enough, that, it hurts very much than if it’s coming from a person you don’t know. If such talk is coming from a family member , it hurts even more.

Maybe you were told,

“You will never amount to anything,” by someone you looked up to.

Others where told,

“There has never been a wealthy person in your family so you can’t be successful,”

As a result they rested on their low rolls.

Sometimes such negative talk can come from acquaintances that should be cheering you on. It is always advisable to avoid such people. Many people you call friends or family may not be pleased with your success and aspirations but may feel threatened by them.  You can tell from their talk or actions. Begin to distance yourself from them.

There is a great man who makes every man feel small. But the real great man is the man who makes every man feel great. – Gilbert K. Chesterton

I remember, in July 2007, after a live motivational talk at Fairview Hotel. One so called Motivational speaker came over where I was chatting with some colleagues and told me,

“You can’t make it as a Motivator because you do not have any influential people in your circle of acquaintances.”

When I was getting ready to respond, he interjected and replied,

“I didn’t say you name them.”

He went on to brag about his vehicle;

“I have a brand new BMW parked outside, these are the keys!

Then asked me,

“What car have you parked in the parking lot?”

I responded, “A car isn’t amongst my priorities and my better days have just begun.”

Eish!! I was surprised by his cynicism. He was a person I expected to congratulate me but there he was pulling me down in front of my other friends. I was not pleased at all but didn’t react negatively. I let people judge who the idiotic one was. Lastly, I informed him,

“I am writing a book,”

He laughed scornfully and said,

“Ya? Who will read that book, ba Motivator?”

My belief is that it is very immature and irresponsible for anyone to disregard your dreams and aspirations when they don’t even comprehend what you are made of. In fact, they have no right to say anything negative at all. It is advisable to avoid cynical people as much as you can. The advice to such people is,” If you can not bring a person up, for God’s sake, don’t bring them down.” No matter how great they might be, Winston Churchill once said that the price of greatness is responsibility. It is important, thus, to be responsible enough not to make anyone feel small and worthless.

It is habitual for cynical people to say humiliating things to you in the presence of other people but always recognize that their talk is their opinion and shouldn’t have any effect upon you. What I learnt from that encounter is that, the fact that you are born for greatness doesn’t mean you will not be disrespected or ridiculed by some careless people.

It is important, however, to combat every negative word and believe in your inner conversation that says, “I was born for greatness”. Regardless of what any one says, shout out loud, “Hey! Greatness, here I come!”

The lesson here is, do not tolerate any person to down on you. You can allow a bird to fly over your head but do not let it make anest on your head.

 

TAKE THE ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE JOURNEY TO GREATNESS

As a young man, my late father with six of his friends walked from Malawi their native country, to South Africa in search of job opportunities as well as look for his elder brother who had earlier migrated there. Many immigrants had made a fortune by working in the mines down south and would return wealthy and had stories to tell.

For some reason, dad never wanted to talk about this expedition. I heard the story from one of my nephews, Jeffrey and I was curious to hear from the horse’s mouth. My father, nonetheless, didn’t want to talk about it because my nephew made fun of the matter. He always told dad that walking from Malawi to South Africa was the craziest deed any man could ever attempt.

One day, when he was very happy, he finally narrated how they had traveled for months and ate whatever they could find and sometimes walked for hundreds of kilometers without water or food. From the enthusiasm and smile on his face, as he narrated the story, made me realize how much eagerness he possessed to pursue what he desired most. He was willing to die pursuing his dream than to live a mediocre life back home. In other words, it was better to pursue his destiny than succeed at something else.

Distance, hunger and the danger of being eaten alive by lions did not deter him and his friends. Even though they found human carcasses on their way, there was only one way to proceed – onward.

He went on to narrate how one night as they slept in a tree; a pack of lions came underneath the tree. Unfortunately, one of his friends was very tired, hungry and slept so much that he fell and was eaten alive; One down and six to go. At this moment, they were scared to hell and thoughts of backing down rang in their heads but could not be deterred still. They were focused on achieving that which they desired. Though on empty bellies, the journey continued.

Finally, they reached their destination after seven months though feeling very frail and exhausted. My father had no skills, no money, no family, no identity card, no beddings and the only thing he had was a strong desire to find his elder bother and succeed. No sooner did they arrive than were thrown into prison as illegal immigrants. They later worked on a farm as laborers. Since my father was the youngest in the group, their new Boer boss put him in the kitchen to help with washing dishes. It was in this kitchen that he discovered cooking skills and soon became a chef of high competence. He later worked at a small hotel in Piet potgieters rust

What do we learn from this story? It is just a matter of time. Life can look very ugly and bleak but things can be begin to look up regardless of the valleys and mountains you are experiencing. Anything is possible if you strongly believe and pursue it with your life. Distance doesn’t matter neither does cynical comments from your acquaintances. My father had to put his life on the line in order to achieve that which he strongly desired. Similar to Rambo, no law and no war should stop you on your quest to greatness.

A valuable lesson my father taught me is,

“If you desire something so strongly, go out and get it done as opposed to sending an emissary.”

Now, the first question I have for you dear reader is;

How much are you willing to sacrifice all you have in order to achieve that which you strongly desire?

Indeed, great sailors like Christopher Columbus used ships to travel around the world and discovered a lot of new lands, animals and fruits.  These were daring expeditions in those days. In the same way, you need to do whatever is necessary to achieve greatness.

The other question is;

To what extent are you prepared to go in order to discover yourself and achieve greatness?

You do not have to wait around, but endeavor to discover the greater you. I can’t promise you that it will be trouble-free. It will be tough and you have to get ready to get bruised and scarred. However, I am confident that ultimately you will make it.

THE JOURNEY TO GREATNESS

I would like you to be aware that the journey to your greatness is not written in pages- you have to freestyle it all the way. The road to greatness is not a straight one or a tarred boulevard but a crooked one with thorns, snakes and you might lose direction at one point or another. You have to go through disappointments, rejection and humiliation. I know that too well. You will go through difficult seasons, valleys and fire to refine you for greatness.

Let me condlude this article with lyrics from Osibisa- a Ghanaian Afro rock group formed way back in the fifties and it goes. The title of this music piece is “Woyaya”-meaning; we are going.

We are going,

Heaven knows where we are going

We know within

We will get there

Heaven knows how we will get there

We know we will

It will be hard we know

And the road will be muddy and rough

But we’ll get there

Heaven knows how we will get there

We know we will.

 

 

 

 

Motivational Speaker, Leadership Coach and Afro Jazz Broadcaster

www.aaronkamanga.page.tl

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ORIENTATION PROGRAMMES ON PROFESSIONAL COMPETENCY

Categories: Music
September 5th, 2010 by admin

ORIENTATION PROGRAMMES ON PROFESSIONAL COMPETENCY

This aim of education we can achieve through the quality of education, quality of teachers and quality of teaching process.  Other things remaining, the quality of education largely depends on the quality of teaching learning transaction.  This teaching learning transaction cannot be undertaken in vacuum but it is positively directed action, for which teachers are to be endeavour with creative teaching and competency in their profession.  This is the right time to focus the significance of Orientation Programmes and Professional Competency.  There should be enormous amount of research has to be taken place to answer the following queries viz., what is Orientation Programme? What is Professional Competency?

How far Teacher Orientation Programmes influencing the Teacher in his Professional Competency?         How far Orientation Programmes and Professional Competency are related to teacher out comes in different areas of Classroom teaching? How the impact of Teacher Orientation Programmes and Teacher Professional Competency aspects reflects on achievement of educational objectives? are to be answered.

          Lot of researches has been taken place on Teacher Orientation Programmes and Teacher Professional Competency but undoubtedly much attention of research is not drawn to correlate teacher Orientation Programmes and Teacher Professional Competency.

          The Indian Education Commission (1964-66) has emphasized that ‘nothing is more important than providing teachers best professional preparation’.  Problem solving abilities can be improved by teaching problem strategies. (Stern,1967).  Trifinger and others improvising children creative problem solving ability.

      Stern (1967) defined the acquisition of problem solving strategies in young children and its relation to verbalization.

          Hence, the investigator is to investigate into the research problem – A Study on the Impact of Orientation Programmes on Professional Competency among Teachers working in Secondary Schools in Vizianagaram District.

Role of Teacher in Educative Process:

          Though education is considered as child centered, the role of teacher is pivotal and crucial. Child’s hidden potentialities must be awakened by providing ample positive wholesome and worth life experiences.  The teacher occupies ‘a priori’ in making the children to learn.  Teachers can usher in great progress and prosperity in the real sense of life all over the world.  The teacher’s personality should be compelling – his methods effective, his life a dedicated mission and his work typifying a sort of worship.  He needs to be a real lamplighter with an excelsior spirit never altering, failing or floundering.

          In the area of elementary education, the teacher has to take special steps to facilitate universal enrolment of children, universal retention of the children and to achieve the targeted tasks.  In order to ensure utilization of material and human resources of the country for the betterment of school and to improve the quality of education, the teacher has to develop close cordial relations with the community.

          According to the pedagogy at primary level the teacher has an important role and has to provide the activities like individual/group/ whole class according to the needs of the pupils.  Collection of material by the children under his supervision will get more knowledge and are able to solve many problems through discussions.  Students actively participate as well as find solutions to the problems.

          The teacher has to create an interesting classroom by displaying children’s work and organizing effectively, recording the pupil’s ideas on activity sheets.  Assessment techniques are to be followed to know the performance of the students and modify his teaching, if necessary.  The teacher’s role is considered to be the pivotal factor in terms of continuous learning, transacting curriculum, creating permanent concepts in the minds of the children, adopting interaction analysis.

          Keeping the novel activities adopted in the contemporary world, our country too realized the same and is making an earnest attempt to incorporate education as a fundamental right.  In the last decades of 20th century both education and society have become centers of high technological advancement.  Periodical reforms in school education such as school education strategy as envisaged by National Policy of Education, 1986 and modified in 1992, adoption of Minimum Levels of Learning (MLL), Major reforms in textbooks, teaching aids, promoting activity based teaching learning, offering non-formal education and alternative education system, initiatives like operation Black Board and Special Orientation Programmes for Teachers (SOPT) have been adopted.

          Qualitative improvement in elementary education depends upon the efficient instructional programme followed in the schools, which further depends on the efficiency of the teacher, equipment and environmental conditions.  There has been an age long coments that the quality in education especially at the primary level has been deteriorating day by day.  It is not far from truth.  Primary education is the foundation of the castle of quality in education, so that primary education should be strong and concrete.  In order to make it strong entire school plant should be developed.  Therefore, Government of India and particularly the Government of Andhra Pradesh has implemented various schemes and organizing various Orientation Programmes for Teachers.

 

ORIENTATION PROGRAMMES –  TEACHER ATTITUDE:

          Prof.Dndrew Bruke in his study of indicators of Quality education, emphasized the need of in-service training programmes for teachers in regular intervals.  He stated that ‘most of the schools and teachers cannot produce the kind of learning demanded by the new reforms not because they do not want to, but because they do not know how and the system in which they work do not support them in doing so.

          The root cause of implementation failure is not, therefore, lack of teacher motivation, but rather lack of expertise on the part of teachers, the rectification of which, will demand much pains taking work at the initial, induction and in-service stages of teacher education.  ‘These problems, such as they are’ says Darrling – Hammand (1998) are not the fault of teachers but of a system which has long failed to support the work of teachers…..  The profession has suffered from decades of neglect’.

          The role of the Secondary School Teachers is crucial and pivotal in nurturing the personality of tiny tots and to inculcate democratic ideals and essential values in budding youngsters.  This lofty purpose of enabling a child to grow as an ideal democratic citizen and a noble man in universe is the real mission of a teacher.

          The in-service teachers who had the significant responsibility of shaping our country may acquire different strategies of teaching, while they pursue the requisite degree to be acquired in institutes of teaching.  To keep them on right track as perceived by experts in the field of education to suit the varied needs of ever changing society, many innovative programmes are attempted by the State Governments with the intervention of Central Government and other agencies like APPEP, DPEP, CLIP, SSA, joyful learning, conceptual teaching.  Such Orientation Programmes whenever being introduced and implemented, an up-surge in the minds of teaching fraternity will be resulted.  The sudden change in the ideology, nomenclature, things to perform may not make him happy in the profession as he often feels the changes are not palatable as he may not relish them.  Then the purpose of such orientation programmes will be ruthlessly ruined and mercy murdered.  Hence, there is a dire need to make a probe into the attitudes of the men at the spot, i.e., the teaching fraternity which actually has to put things into practice.  Before commencement of such programmes, the In-service Programme, the In-service Teachers definitely feel that there will be nothing new except in the label or brand mark of the concept to be introduced.  The subtle differences between old practices and new attempts slowly grew up and be resulted at as a wide gulf.

          To make the teaching fraternity effectively motivate towards new professional ideologies and to prepare them mentally for attitudinal change and changes in the strata, the programmes should be aptly conducted and the personnel who impart the programmes should strive high to inculcate interest in the new programmes, which are to be aimed at.  The success of those programmes will evidently rest on the mindset of the teachers and the work style of resource persons.  Even the programmes which are thoroughly planned, effectively imparted and successful altered the attitude of teachers; the failure in the implementation in effective manner at the gross root level, the purpose of such programmes will be at stake.

 

Dimensions of Teacher Attitude towards Orientation Programmes:

          As has been pointed out earlier that the attitudes have a degree of feeling associated with a specific object.  The attitude implies some individual to object relationship.  In the present study the individual is the teachers and the object is Orientation Programmes.  The ambit of teacher attitude in this study is the attitudes of teachers towards – Organizational, Implementation, and Feedback and Job Oriented aspects in relation to Orientation Programmes.

          Organizational aspect includes new aspects of education; diagnose the demerits of teaching, aware of the additional activities, teacher interest, influence on the style of teaching, participation, frequent changes in methodology, problems in coordinating classroom activities etc.

          Implementation aspect refers to teachers acceptance towards new interpretation, Teaching concepts successfully, to encourage pupils participation, providing learning activities for pupils, changing of teaching style, preparation of low cost or no cost aids, appreciation of creative ability of pupils, avoiding stumbling blocks, seeking the support of senior teachers in relation to Orientation Programmes.

          Feedback aspect includes – guiding pupils learning by doing, accomplishment towards innovative activities, generate creative ideas, adopting appropriate remedial measures, adopting new strategies, inviting to implement new practices and feeling stress.

          Job oriented aspect disclosed that to implement novel strategy, new teaching strategies, using energies, giving illustrations in teaching, construction of objectives tests, evaluation of assignments, changing teaching strategies and utilizing time and space for display of teaching learning materials.

Measurement of Teacher Attitude towards Orientation Programmes:

          Systematic inquiry in any subject matter is possible only when the critical variables in the area are measured with some precision.  Although the concept of attitude has in one form or another been central to the field of social psychology, it is by definition a mental state.  Hence, such states are not subject to any direct physical measurement, so if one is to measure attitudes, one need to find ways of operationalising, and converting to numbers, the diverse and vague properties of attitudes.  Of the many properties that have been theoretically attributed to attitudes, most researchers have been concerned with measuring only two direction and magnitude.  The procedures of attitude measurement may be in three stages viz., administering, scoring and interpreting.

          Most attitude measurement, as currently practiced by psychologists, goes on without much attention to formal models of measurement.  Perhaps the most influential, and certainly the best developed, source is psychometric theory or the theory of mental tests (for example Gulliksen, 1950).  Much of scaling theory (for examples Edwards, 1957; Guilford, 1954; Thurstone, 1959) has roots in psychophysics.  Alternative models of measurement have been proposed such as Guttman’s (1953, 1960) image theory.  In order to measure the teacher attitude there are Katti and Bennur’s attitude towards teaching profession scale, Ahulwalia’s Teacher Attitude Inventory and so on.  Panda K.C. (1991) reporting the research trend in this area, corroborates, ‘the studies reveal a lack of seriousness in thinking, procedure and analysis.  There is a tendency to develop on attitude scale inadequately rigorous procedures and use it in surveys.  Hence, the investigator felt the need of attempting a humble piece of research work in this area taking the above things into consideration.

 

PROFESSIONAL COMPETENCY:

          The efficacy of educative process depends on school ethos, classroom climate, working style of the teachers, which enables them to be an exemplary teacher.  In primary and upper Secondary Schools, the students will be highly influenced by the teacher.  In majority of the occasions, the teacher will be the role model for the students.  In later stages they may be influenced by other persons in the society.  Hence, the teachers who have to set him as an example should be both effective and happy.  All effective teachers may not be happy but the contrary seems to be true.  Hence, a blend of happiness and effectiveness makes a teacher to be competent. Now-a-days, the society requires committed, creative change prone above all a competent teacher. The quality of education depends much on the competency of the teacher, as teacher is considered to be the hub of teaching learning process.

In ancient times, teachers with plain simple living, high thinking, disciplined routine, abstinence from pleasures, mental control and sincerity of purpose are considered to be ideal and exemplary who work with a mission and those who have not possessed these qualities are considered to be mercenary and undevoted.

But in modern times a teacher who is able to exercise complex teaching skills is given learning situation is considered to be competent.  The teacher is really the point of contact between the educational programme or innovation on the pupil, operator through the pupil’s teacher.  It is, therefore, quite accurate to say that school’s effectiveness depends directly on professional competency.  Hence, maximizing the competent levels of teachers will be the major goal of education.

Professional competency and teacher effectiveness are not synonymous words as viewed by many educators too.  There is a subtle difference between both the aspects.  In a way professional competency lies on further heights when compared with teacher effectiveness.  However, teacher effectiveness paves a clear way to influence professional competency.  Many research efforts have been made to describe the characteristics of high competent teachers and to distinguish high, moderate and low competent teachers.

 

Dimensions of Professional Competency (DPC):

          The Education Commission (1964-66) says that the destiny of the nation is shaped in the classrooms.  It is so because it is the classroom where the future citizens acquire knowledge and skills.  It is there, where their personality characteristics and their value system are saved.  The pivot in this process is undoubtedly, the teacher.  He can make the personality of a child.  It is the teacher who lays the foundation for a happy and prosperous nation.  Hence, the teaching profession deserves reward, respect and recognition.

          Professional Competency is the potential to make educative process effective, with expertise and thoroughness of of content, which was fabricated nicely with methodology of teaching with clear exposition précised skill, abundant knowledge and creative mind to improvise low cost, no cost teaching and learning material to supplement his teaching.  The Professional Competency Scale of the present is consisting of five dimensions viz., Activity based teaching and hurdles in teaching, Child Centered Practices, Teaching Learning materials and display, Evaluation strategies and remedial techniques and Novel strategies.

          Activity based teaching aspect is refers to nature of teaching concepts, effectiveness in teaching, giving illustrations while teaching, hurdles in teaching, seeking guidance.

          Child centered practices aspect is displayed the adopting new strategies, individual differences, change of teaching thoughts, encouraging the pupils’ participation, guiding pupils, altering teaching strategies, maintain the pupils attention towards teaching, maintaining the joyfulness in classroom teaching.

          Teaching Learning and Material display aspect is referring to using the resources, preparing the low cost and now cost teaching material, appreciating the pupils and time management.

          Evaluation strategies and remedial techniques aspect disclosed the remedial measures, preparation of test materials, giving illustrations while teaching concepts, introducing in different method of evaluation, identify the backward pupils, suggesting appropriate measures and measuring the feedback.

          Novel Strategies aspect is disclosed the teaching strategy, interpretation, providing different learning activities among the pupils, teaching difficulties, generating ideas, pupils realization towards graded assignments for evaluation, dealing the problems in teaching, attitude towards novel concepts of others and encouraging the pupils towards content with appropriate methods.

 

 

Measurement of Professional Competency (PCS):

          According to Barr (1961) there are four approaches to teacher evaluation, combined in different ways by different persons, institutions and data gathering devices namely.  1. Evaluation made in terms of the qualities of the person as in personality ratings; 2. Evaluation which proceed from studies of teacher behavior, as in the rating of performance in terms of inferred personal qualities of desirable professional characteristics; 3. Evaluation developed from data collected relative to presumed pre-requisites to Professional competency, potential or already achieved, represented by some psychological constructs as knowledge, skill and attitudes and evaluation developed from studies of the products.  The investigator felt the need of making a probe into the attitudes of the teacher fraternity on the way of conduct of such programmes and their relative efficacy of such programmes.

          Andrew Bruke (2000) in his report on quality education at elementary stage concluded that recognition of the centrality of the teachers role would seem to require greater concentration on and investment in teachers education (pre-service and in-service), higher levels of professional autonomy for teachers and greater sharing by them of responsibility for what happens in schools.  Another name for such responsibility sharing is ‘empowerment’, a notion well captured by the French word for empowerment ‘responsabilisation’.

A.Lin Goodwin (1997) studied ‘Multicultural Stories’.  This article presents the multicultural stories of 75 pre-service teachers, all of whom were student teaching in New York City. These stories reveal the kinds of concerns and questions pre-service teachers have when faced with multicultural issues or dilemmas and provide the teacher education profession with some direction in terms of curriculum for multicultural teacher education. This direction or guidance comes from the students themselves and is based on the very real experiences they face in the field The article ends with recommendations to professional education programs—what programs should include in order to prepare teachers to serve the needs of today’s children and youth.

Ana Maria Villegas (2007) studied ‘Dispositions in Teacher Education’.  The use of a dispositional framework in the preparation of teachers, especially one that attends to issues of social justice, has generated considerable debate of late. In this article, the author argues that assessing teacher candidates’ dispositions related to social justice is both reasonable and defensible. She explains why social justice matters in teacher education, provides a definition of the term dispositions and discusses why programs of teacher education must attend to them, and gives examples of practices used at one institution to assess teacher candidates’ dispositions related to social justice to illustrate that such assessment can be done in a fair and principled manner. The author concludes that underlying the dispositions debate is an all-out war to define the goals of public education, the role of teachers, the nature of knowledge, and conceptions of learning, teaching, and learning to teach.

Richard M.Ingersoll and Thomas M.Smith (2004) studied ‘Do Teacher Induction and Mentoring Matter?’.  This reveal that in  recent years there has been a growing interest in support, guidance, and orientation programs-collectively known as induction-for beginning elementary and secondary teachers during the transition into their first teaching jobs. This study examines whether such supports have a positive effect on the retention of beginning teachers. The study also focuses on different types and components of induction, including mentoring programs, collective group activities, and the provision of extra resources and reduced workloads. The results indicate that beginning teachers who were provided with multiple supports, were less likely to move to other schools and less likely to leave the teaching occupation altogether after their first year. Some forms of assistance and support, however, did not appear to increase beginners’ retention.

          Basavayya (2000) studied indicators of learners achievement in Secondary Schools of Karnataka observed that the socio-economic status, percentage of SC/ST, teachers qualification, percentage of female teachers, pupil-teacher ratio, giving tests and feedback are the major indicators.  He also opined that giving tests and feed back to the pupils could affect the achievement substantially.

Kaur (1988) found that in-service education and training of teachers had significantly contributed to the development of professional competency in Punjab and the process and structure variables had a positive bearing on the product variables.  Teaching competency has a positive correlation both with the process and structure variables.  In-service education was useful in improving the skills of teachers and had a positive effect on their attitude towards teaching.

          Lakshminarayan (2000) also indicated that there is a significant influence of attitudes of primary teachers towards teaching on their teaching competence in DPEP and Non-DPEP districts.  His research study reveals that the teaching competency of teachers was influenced by motivation, attitude towards teaching and adjustment of primary teachers in both DPEP and Non-DPEP districts.

Mrunalini (2000) studied the indicators of learning at early childhood for better future educations observed that majority of the teachers were not interested in conventional practices at early childhood education.  Teachers ideal schools were happy with the practices and could get good feedback from the parents.  Children enjoy learning in an ideal school when compared to conventional mode of learning.

Chunmei Yan (2007) studied ‘Teachers’ Needs: An Important Factor for Longer-Term Sustainability of Cross-cultural inset Programmes’.  This study has looked at the trainees’ perspectives on a cross-cultural INSET initiative in China. Trainees’ expectations of the programme and their views of the programme were investigated. It was found that a training programme needed to take into account teachers’ practical needs to enhance its longer-term sustainability. Good quality of training would depend on the degree of fitness between the course itself and the expectations of trainees. Therefore, training programmes need to constantly adjust their delivery mode, course content and methodology to suit teachers’ needs.

In Hayes’ terms, we miss much by focusing only on courses, we will miss less if we also consider the school context of implementation, but we will only arrive at anything like a full understanding of the processes of in-service teacher development if we consider the teacher’s personal biography, situated within its socio-educational context. To illustrate this in a down-to-earth way, the analogy of a restaurant (Yan 2005) seems to be appropriate. The preferences of customers count more than the flavours and tastes of the dishes. If customers’ likes and dislikes are disregarded, the food, however tasty, will be disappointingly unwelcome. As a result, the expectations and preferences of customers, which have inevitably resulted from their own long-established dieting habits, need to be taken into serious consideration.  It should be acknowledged that the sensible attitude towards teachers’ ‘practical-mindedness’ is to face it head-on and invite them to speak for themselves by sponsoring their voice (Goodson1994: 31). It should also be acknowledged that in order to satisfy teachers’ needs entails roles and actions of the project team in terms of flexibility in course delivery and follow-up support on the one hand, and financial and political support of the two governments to both the project team and teachers (including institutions) on the other hand, otherwise training programmes would fail to serve their purpose.

Daniel L.Duke (1990) studied ‘Developing Teacher Evaluation Systems that Promote Professional Growth’.  The author stated that the article opens with an analysis of individual characteristics associated with professional growth.  It goes on to look at organizational characteristics that facilitate growth.  Further he stated that how growth-oriented teacher evaluation systems can be designed.  Examples of three different types of growth-oriented teacher evaluation systems follow.  The article concludes with a discussion of some typical problems that are encountered in the process of developing teacher evaluation systems.

Fox, Robert D. and Holland, Brian (2002) studied ‘Continuing Professional Education’.  According to the authors that Continuing professional education (CPE) is a requirement for professional competence as professionals encounter new problems and professional schools develop new knowledge and new ways of performing professional roles to meet the problems of practice. The practices of disseminating information, correcting errors in professional performance, and renewing the fund of knowledge and skills of professionals are essential if professionals are to maintain a high level of proficiency over thirty or forty years of practice beyond their formal, pre-professional education programs. For CPE to succeed it must continue to focus on providing learning opportunities that meet professional needs and practice problems while promoting the adoption of new knowledge and skills.

Sibel Somyurek, Bilal Atasoy and Selcuk Ozdemir (2009) studied ‘Board’s IQ: What makes a board smart?’.  In this study the amount of investment that has been made in interactive whiteboards (IWB) in the Turkish educational system during the past several years is quite striking. This investment is part of a plan to integrate information and communication technologies (ICT) into the Turkish educational system, with the goal of increasing the qualitative and quantitative aspects of schooling. Prior to IWB investments, hundreds of thousands of computers, projectors, and printers were distributed to schools in efforts to raise a generation able to respond to the demands of the 21st century. In addition, 98% of secondary school students and 93% of primary school students were provided with Internet access via ADSL. The aim of this study is to analyze the emerging trend of smart board investment in Turkish primary and secondary schools, with consideration of problems that hinder the effective use of IWBs in classrooms as compared to previous ICT integration efforts by the Ministry of National Education. The research is designed as an evaluative case study. The required data are collected through online questionnaires, teacher and pupil interviews, and document searches from teachers and students from various Turkish primary and secondary schools. It is not surprising that the factors hindering the use of IWBs in education are similar to the inhibiting factors in previous ICT integration projects. The findings show that when the needs for in-service training, digital education materials, support, maintenance, and administration are not addressed, educational ICT is unlikely to deliver the expected results.

          Anuradha Joshi and Preethidar Parija (1996) in their study ‘Personality, a correlate of teaching competency attempted to study the personality characteristics of teacher trainees (pupil-teachers) and to establish relationship between personality characteristics and teaching competency.  In this study they made a mention about the recommendation of Kothari Commission (1964) as ‘the professional preparation of teachers should be treated as the key area, which facilitates to enhance professional competency and promote educational development’. 

          Chachya (1974) showed significant relationship of sex, age, adjustment and personality with teaching effectiveness can be quoted as an allied research.

          Gupta (1979) reported that adjustment, health, academic achievement, professional attitude and personality are the determinant aspects of successful and effective teaching is also a related research study.

National Policy on Education (1986) emphasized to provide extensive knowledge with better intellectual ability and to develop interest and attitude towards teaching.

Uday Koundinya (1999) in his study ‘professional competency and its impact on professional pleasure’ made an elaborate attempt by standardizing tools (Uday Koundinya), Professional Pleasure Measuring Tool (PPMT) and Savan’s Professional Competency Scale (PCS) with an intention to identify the nature of professional competency and professional pleasure and to investigate the nature and intensity of prevailing professional competency and professional pleasure.  The study had revealed certain results, which can be useful in many areas of education.

          An attempt was made by the investigator to study the impact of professional competency on professional pleasure taking the intervening variables like sex, locality and age (demographic variables), educational qualifications, professional qualifications, designation, experience, type of institution and type of management (professional variables) on a sample of 300 secondary school teachers and 100 teacher educators, working different educational institutions imparting teacher education.  The research findings are - 

(1) Male Teachers are slightly more professional competent. (2) Teachers and Teacher Educators with high educational qualifications are more professionally competent. (3) Teacher Educators with high designation are highly competent. (4) Variables like locality, teaching experience and age do not influence professional competency. (5) Type of institution has ‘a-say’ on professional competency. (6) Similar findings are noticed with sex, designation and type of institution influencing professional pleasure. (7) Variables locality, experience and age do not influence professional pleasure. (8) The number of teacher educators and teachers, who possess maximum professional pleasure is more than the number of teachers and teacher educators who possess maximum professional competency. 9. A high significant positive relationship (0.74) exists between professional competency and professional pleasure.

    

 

Need for the study:

          The investigator felt the need to pose some teaching queries before initiating the humble piece of research study.

          What are the various factors which proven and influence in-service orientation programmes?

          How teachers can be classified into various categories based on their professional competency?

          Do differences exist among the teachers in possession of professional competency?

          Is there any significant impact of orientation programmes on professional competency?

          What are the various areas of Orientation Programmes which influence the teacher to participate actively?

          Do all the teachers possess the same type of attitude towards Orientation Programmes?

          Do Orientation Programmes really act as effective means to enhance professional competency?

          Does Orientation Programmes really act as means of promoting Professional Competency?

          The answers to the above queries may reveal some kind of interesting conclusions.  To make a probe into the problem, the investigator has decided to restrict his study on selected sample of teachers working in Secondary Schools in Vizianagaram District.  The investigator made use of ‘Survey Method’ to pursue the research.  To measure the extent and level of professional competency among the sample and to assess and evaluate the attitudes of selected sample of teachers on the Orientation Programmes, the investigator made use of the questionnaire as an inquiry form (Vide appendix), which helps as a tool to arrive at the abundant information about the research problem.

 

Problem of the study:

          The investigator is decided to make a probe into ‘A Study on the impact of Orientation Programmes on Professional Competency among Teachers working in Secondary Schools in Vizianagaram District‘ so as to examine the level and extent of orientation programmes, different strategies the effective teacher adoptions and as a result how best do the teacher changes his attitude to implement new strategies and enrich himself in his professional skills.

 

Objectives of the Study:

To study the relationship between Orientation Programmes – Teacher attitude and Teacher Professional Competency.
To study the relationship between the dimensions viz., Organizational, Implementation, Feedback and Job Oriented aspects of Orientation Programmes.
To study the relationship between the dimensions of viz., activity based teaching and hurdles in teaching; child centered practices; Teaching learning materials and display; Evaluation strategies and remedial techniques and Novel strategies of Teacher Professional Competency.
To study the relationship between inter and intra-dimensions of Orientation Programmes – Teacher Attitude and Teacher Professional Competency.
To measure the significance of difference between the demographic variables like sex, locality, age and marital status of Orientation Programmes – Teacher Attitude and Professional Competency.
To measure the significance of difference between the professional variables like qualifications, experience, Type of Management of Orientation Programmes – Teacher Attitude and Professional Competency.
 

Hypotheses:

Modern investigators uniquely agree that whenever possible research comes to light that it should be from a hypothesis only.  The investigation into a problem without hypothesis is aimless.   In the words of D.Van Dalen, ‘a hypothesis serves as a powerful beacon that light the way of the research worker’.  According to Good, Bar, Scates, D.E., ‘the hypothesis serves the important functions of linking together related facts and information and organizing them into meaningful wholes’.  Carter, V.Good thinks that by guiding the investigator into further investigation, the hypotheses as the ‘eye’ in seeking answering to tentatively adopted generalization.

There is no significance of relationship between Orientation Programme – Teacher Attitude and Teacher Professional Competency.
There is no significance of relationship between the dimensions of Orientation Programme – Teacher Attitude (OP – TAS).
There is no significance of relationship between the dimensions of Teacher Professional Competency.
There is no significance of relationship between inter and intra-dimensions of Orientation Programmes – Teacher Attitude and Teacher Professional Competency.
There is no significance of difference between the demographic variables like sex, locality, age and marital status of Orientation Programmes – Teacher Attitude and Professional Competency.
There is no significance of difference between the professional variables like qualifications, experience, Type of Management of Orientation Programmes – Teacher Attitude and Professional Competency.
 

Sample:

     The sample selected for the investigation consisted of 146 of Secondary School Teachers in Vizianagaram District of Andhra Pradesh.  Random sampling technique is followed to draw the sample for the present study.  The sample is categorized as Demographic variables and Professional Variables.

The Demographic variables is includes Sex, Locality, Age and Marital Status of the Teachers.  Professional variables is consists of Qualification, Experience and Type of Management of the Institution.

Tools Description:

(1) Orientation Programmes –  Teacher Attitude Scale(OP-TAS):

 

          It was designed and developed by G.V.B.S.N.Raju (2004) for the purpose of his M.Phil Degree.  This tool has all necessary qualities of a good rating scale.  There are 35 items in the scale having both positive, negative items covering four aspects of Orientation Programmes such as Organizational, Implementation, Feedback and Job oriented aspects.

This is a three-point scale viz., Strongly Agree (SDA), Agree (A) and Strongly Disagree (SDA) mentioned against each statement of the tool.  Instructions are given on the cover page of the rating scale clearly to furnish their personal data.

 

Scoring:

          The responses of the teachers are scored according to the key ‘Positive’ items the weightages will be awarded 3 to 1 (3 for Strongly Agree, 2 for Agree and 1 for Strongly Disagree), while in the case of ‘Negative’ items, the weightages will be given 1 to 3 (i.e., 1 for Strongly Agree, 2 for Agree and 3 for Strongly Disagree).  Thus the maximum possible score is 105 and minimum possible score is 35.

 

(2) Savan’s Professional Competency Scale (PCS):

          It is a self-evaluated scale comprises of 35 items.  Against each items viz., Strongly Agree (SA), Agree (A), Neutral (N), Disagree (DA).  This tool was designed, standardized and made use of by Dr.Udayagiri Nageswara Rao.  Savan’s Professional Competency was constructed with five dimensions viz., Activity Based Teaching and hurdles in Teaching, Child Centered Practices, Teaching Learning Materials and Display, Evaluation Strategies and Remedial Techniques and Novel Strategies.

          This tool is constructed with Likert Type 5-point Scale viz., SA-Strongly Agree; A-Agree, N-Neutral, DA-Disagree and SDA-Strongly Disagree.  The weightages will be given in respect of positive statements i.e., 5 for Strongly Agree, 4 for Agree, 3 for Neutral, 2 for Disagree and 1 for Strongly Disagree, while in the case of weightages will be awarded from 5 to 1 respectively.  Thus the total score will be in between 35 to 175.

Procedure adopted:

           In order to test the hypotheses the investigator is planned and executed in four phases –

Development and standardization of Orientation Programme – Teacher Attitude Scale (OP-TAS) and Professional Competency Scale (PCS).
Measurement of Teachers opinion with the help of above two self-rating scales.
Using appropriate statistical procedure is adopted to find out the significance of relationship between OP-TAS (Orientation Programmes – Teacher Attitude Scale) and PCS (Professional Competency Scale).
Using appropriate statistical procedure is adopted to find out the significance of difference between demographic as well as professional variables of OP-TAS and PCS.
 

 Analysis of Data:

          The hypotheses which were framed keeping the demographic variables and professional variables viz., Sex, Locality, Age, Marital Status – Qualification, Experience and Type of Management of Institution were taken into account.

          The collected data was analyzed and the results were interpreted.  The statistical aspects like mean, Standard Deviation and Critical Ratios was interpreted.

          For studying the Inter and Intra-relationship between the aspects of OP-TAS and PCS Pearson’s Product Moment calculation are calculated for Odd-Even items of rating scales and their reliability indices are computed by using Spearman Brown Prophecy Formula.  Co-efficient correlation for all the dimensions is also calculated.

 

Delimitations of the Study:

          This study is confined and limited to the Teachers working in Secondary Schools in Bobbili, Pachipenta and Denkada Z.P.s only in Vizianagaram District.

          To measure the OP-TAS (Orientation Programmes – Teacher Attitude Scale), the dimensions like Implementation, Feedback and Job-Oriented aspects are covered.

To measure the Professional Competency Scale (PCS), the dimensions viz., Activity based teaching and hurdles in Teaching, Child Centered Practices, Teaching Learning Materials and Display, Evaluation Strategies and remedial techniques and Novel strategies aspects are taken into account.

          To study the significance of difference the demographic and professional variables like – Sex, Locality, Age, Marital Status – Qualification, Experience and Type of Management of the Institution are taken into consideration.

 

CONCLUSIONS:

The results are presented and all the hypotheses of the study are tested and verified.  The implications of the results are analyzed and interpreted in relation to the problem of the study, immediately after each hypothesis is tested.  The analysis of any study should be based on suitable statistical treatment.  Further, the measurements of variables undertaken for the study should be presented clearly and precisely.  Accordingly, the results are analyzed and presented.  After the thorough discussions made earlier on the aspects OP-TAS and PCS, the following conclusions are arrived at.

There is significant relationship between OP-TAS (Orientation Programmes – Teacher Professional Competency Scale and PCS (Professional Competency Scale).
There is significant relationship between the dimensions of Orientation Programme – Teacher Professional Competency Scale (PCS)/

 

There is significant relationship between the dimensions of Teacher Professional Competency Scale.

 

There is significant relationship between the dimensions of OP-TAS and PCS.

Orientation Programmes – Teacher Attitude Scale (OP-TAS):

There is significance of difference between Male and Female Secondary School Teachers. The mean value possessed by Female Teachers is greater than their counterparts i.e., Male Teachers.
There is significance of difference between Rural and Urban are Secondary School Teachers.  The mean value obtained by Urban area School Teachers is greater than the Teachers of Rural area Schools.

 

 There is significance of difference between below 35 years and above 35 years age Secondary School Teachers.  The mean value obtained by below 35 years age Secondary School Teachers is greater than their counterparts i.e., above 35 years age Secondary School Teachers.

 

There significance of difference between Married and Unmarried Secondary School Teachers.  Unmarried teachers possessed higher mean than their counterparts i.e., Married Teachers.

 

There is no significance of difference between the Teachers of TTC with Inter and TTC with degree.

 

There is significance of difference between the Teachers of TTC with Inter and B.Ed., with Degree.  The mean value possessed by the Teachers of B.Ed., with Degree is greater than that of the Teachers of TTC with Inter.

 

There is no significance of difference between the Teachers possessed TTC with Inter and B.Ed., PG Degree.   

 

There is significance of difference between the Teachers possessed TTC with Degree and B.Ed., with Degree.  The mean value obtained by the Teachers possessed B.Ed., with Degree is higher than the mean value obtained by the Teachers possessed TTC with Degree.

 

There is no significance of difference between the Teachers possessed TTC with Degree and B.Ed., with PG Degree.

 

There is no significance difference between the Teachers possessed B.Ed., with Degree and B.Ed., with PG Degree.

 

There is significance of difference between the Teachers of below 20 years experience and above 20 years experience.  The mean value obtained by the Teachers of below 20 years experience possessed higher mean than their counterparts i.e., above 20 years experience teachers.

 

There is significance of difference between the Teachers of Z.P. Secondary Schools and Municipal Secondary Schools.  The mean value obtained by Z.P. Secondary School Teachers is greater than that of Municipal Secondary School Teachers.

 

There is no significance of difference between the Teachers of Z.P. Secondary Schools and Government Secondary Schools.  

 

There is significance of difference between the Teachers of Z.P. Secondary Schools and Private Aided Secondary Schools.  The mean value obtained by Private Aided Secondary Schools is greater than the Teachers of Z.P. Secondary Schools.

 

There is significance of difference between the Teachers of Municipal Secondary School Teachers and Government Secondary School Teachers.  The mean value possessed by the Teachers of Government Secondary Schools is greater than that of the Teachers of Municipal Secondary School Teachers.

 

There is significance of difference between the Teachers of Municipal Secondary School Teachers and Private Aided Secondary School Teachers.  The mean value obtained by Private Aided Secondary School Teachers is greater than that of Municipal Secondary School Teachers.

Professional Competency Scale (PCS):

There is significance of difference between Male and Female Secondary School Teachers. The mean value possessed by Male Teachers is greater than their counterparts i.e., Female Teachers.

 

There is no significance of difference between Rural and Urban are Secondary School Teachers.

 

There is significance of difference between below 35 years and above 35 years age Secondary School Teachers.  The mean value obtained by below 35 years age Secondary School Teachers is greater than their counterparts i.e., above 35 years age Secondary School Teachers.

 

There significance of difference between Married and Unmarried Secondary School Teachers.  Married teachers possessed higher mean than their counterparts i.e., Unmarried Teachers.

 

There is no significance of difference between the Teachers possessed TTC with Inter and TTC with degree.

 

There is no significance of difference between the Teachers possessed TTC with Inter and B.Ed., with Degree.  

 

There is no significance of difference between the Teachers possessed TTC with Inter and B.Ed., PG Degree.  

 

There is no significance of difference between the Teachers possessed TTC with Degree and B.Ed., with Degree. 

 

There is no significance of difference between the Teachers possessed TTC with Degree and B.Ed., with PG Degree.

 

There is no significance difference between the Teachers possessed B.Ed., with Degree and B.Ed., with PG Degree.

 

There is significance of difference between the Teachers of below 20 years experience and above 20 years experience.  The mean value obtained by the Teachers of above 20 years experience possessed higher mean than their counterparts i.e., below 20 years experience teachers.

 

There is significance of difference between the Teachers of Z.P. Secondary Schools and Municipal Secondary Schools.  The mean value obtained by Municipal Secondary School Teachers is greater than that of Z.P. Secondary School Teachers.

 

There is significance of difference between the Teachers of Z.P. Secondary Schools and Government Secondary Schools.  The mean value obtained by Government Secondary Schools is greater than that of Z.P. Secondary School Teachers.

 

There is significance of difference between the Teachers of Z.P. Secondary Schools and Private Aided Secondary Schools.  The mean value obtained by the Private Aided Secondary School Teachers is greater than that of Z.P. Secondary School Teachers.

 

There is no significance of difference between the Teachers of Municipal Secondary School Teachers and Government Secondary School Teachers.   

 

There is no significance of difference between the Teachers of Municipal Secondary Schools and Private Aided Secondary Schools.

 

There is no significance of difference between the Teachers of Government Secondary Schools and Private Aided Secondary Schools.

 

Implications of the Study:

          This study reveals that the ‘Orientation Programmes – Teachers Attitude Scale (OP-TAS)’ plays a pivotal role in the teaching learning process.  The dimensions of OP-TAS viz., Organizational, Implementation, Feedback and Job oriented aspects influence the Professional Competency.  Similarly, the dimensions in respect of Professional Competency viz., Activity based teaching and hurdles in teaching, Child centered practices, teaching learning materials and display, evaluation strategies and remedial techniques, novel strategies are played a pivotal role in enhancing the competency among the Secondary School Teachers in their Profession.

          In the present study the demographic variables like Sex, Locality, Age and Marital status of the Teachers in respect of OP-TAS differed significantly.  Similarly, the professional variables like Qualification, Experience and Type of Management of the Institution of the Teachers also possessed significance of difference in their attitude towards OP-TAS.  This clearly indicates that the Educational Planners and Administrators are required to mould their academic programmes taking the attitude of the Secondary School Teachers towards OP-TAS into consideration, so as to achieve the National Objectives in Secondary Education.

          Further, it is interesting to note that the demographic variables like Sex, Age and Marital Status of teachers shows the significance of difference in their Professional Competency.  In respect of locality i.e., Rural and Urban area Secondary School Teachers are differed significantly.  Similarly, in respect of Professional variables like Qualification did not play significant role.  In the case of Teachers of different experience shows significance of difference in their Professional Competency. 

          The type of Management of Institution viz., it is interested to note that Municipal School Teachers are differed with Z.P. School Teachers; Government School Teachers are differed with Z.P. Secondary School Teachers and Private Aided School Teachers are differed with Z.P. Secondary School Teachers, where no significance of difference is found between the Teachers of other management Schools.  This indicates the Teachers working in Z.P. Secondary Schools have less Professional Competency than the Teachers working in other management Schools.

          In this point of view, while implementing the academic programmes to achieve the educational tasks, it is inevitable for the Educational Planners and Administrators to probe the causes of deviation between the different category of demographic and Professional variables of Secondary School Teachers reconsidered while planning the academic activities.

          Moreover, necessary research is also needed to go through the environmental problems so as to ascertain the causes of deviations between the Teachers towards OP-TAS in relation to Professional Competency.

          Thus, the study establishes the significance of relationship between OP-TAS (Orientation Programme – Teacher Attitude Scale) and PCS (Professional Competency Scale) among the Secondary School Teachers in Vizianagaram District. 

 

Suggestions for further Research:

          This study may be extended to Secondary and higher education.

          Product variables may be compared with the obtained presage and process variables.

 

          Relationship between OP-TAS and Teacher Effectiveness may be studied.

          Comparative study may be undertaken between Professional Competency and Stress.

          Another study may be undertaken to probe the relationship between OP-TAS and Professional Competency with reference to Classroom Climate as well as School Climate.

          A comparative study between Teacher Professional Competency and Teacher Teaching Competency among Secondary Schools is quite useful to obtain the accurate professional relevancy.

 

 

 

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1. Dr. N.V.S.SURYANARAYANA : The author is an renowned personality in the field of Education. Presently he is working as Faculty in the Department of Education, Andhra University Campus, Vizianagaram. He has rich experience in the field of Teacher Education about a decade at Post Degree and PG level. He is very much fascinated to Psychology and possess much interested in Educational Psychology and Guidance & Counseling. He participated in so many National and International Seminars, Workshops, Refresher Courses, Symposia’s and published so many articles in reputed Journals. He produced a number of M.Ed and M.Phil Dissertations.He wrote so many books on recent trends in education and innovative Psychological concepts. He is having Lifetime memberships in various alleged Associations. E-Mail: suryanarayana_nvs@yahoo.com, Mobile : +91 94403 48609, +91 7893136613. Res. (08922) 229339

 

2. Mrs. GOTETI HIMABINDU : The author is a well qualified Teacher and posses good experience in the field of teaching and Research. She has great interest in the field of Education/Psychology/Politics and Contemporary issues and she is doing Educational/ Career Counseling. Now she is working as a Faculty in the Department of Political Science, Andhra University Campus, Vizianagaram. She participated in so many National and International Seminars, Workshops, Refresher Courses, Symposia’s and published so many articles in reputed Journals.  E-Mail: gotetihimabindu@yahoo.com  and Mobile : +91 9490622526.

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Learn About Hindi Karaoke Music

Categories: Music
September 5th, 2010 by admin

Learn About Hindi Karaoke Music

You may not know it, but Hindi karaoke music is very popular nowadays. This Indian karaoke music is not just enjoyed by the Indians themselves, but people from around the world. As such, you should definitely learn as much as you can about Hindi karaoke music.

Indian karaoke music is also known as Indian pop. The short term for Hindi karaoke music is actually ‘indi pop’, and it is very popular among the one billion members of the Indian population. Because Hindi is the main language of Hindi karaoke music, these have wide mass appeal. To trace the legacy of Indian karaoke music, we will need to go back to the decade of the 80s. This was the birth of Hindi karaoke music, beginning with Nazia Hassan.

This person is a Pakistani singer dedicated to flourishing the Indian karaoke music scene. Nazia Hassan is also the person who introduced the popular Hindi karaoke music áap jaisa koi meri zindagi mein aaye’ along with the musical scoring of the popular Biddu. Together, they were able to rock the country and created a demand for Hindi karaoke music in a nation that has long been embracing classical music. The younger Indian generation fully accepted it immediately, as the adults gave it a hand as well.

Pretty soon, their songs were part of the mainstream Indian music scene blasted from all Indian karaoke music makes across the nation. Indian karaoke music became a staple in the Indian culture, thanks also the influences of pop and disco singers such as Mithun Chakravorthy and Rishi Kapoor. Not only was their songs part of music, but they were also quite danceable tunes as well. It was also common to see many an Indian household to sing Hindu karaoke music as well as dancing around the room to songs such as “sara zamana hasino ka diwana, paise ye paisa”.

Indian karaoke music also became very popular with many Indians who were based in other countries as well. The music of the Hindi ended up penetrating even the farthest of members all over the world. During the decade of the nineties, many karaoke music makers embraced the arrival of pop superstars such as Usha Utup, Peenaz Masani and Sharon Prabhakar. Other noteable names in the realm of Indian karaoke music include: Alisha Chenai, Baba Sehgal, Lucky Ali, Shaan, and the dynamic duo of Leslie Lewis and Hariharan who are also known as the Colonial Cousins.

After the nineties, the music of the Hindi still continued to flourish but this time bringing with it names such as Sunidhi Chauhan, Juggy D and also the Bombay Kings. Some influences of Indian music may also be seen in international acts especially the musical Moulin Rouge. This movie had the song of Alka Yagnik entitled Chamma Chamma. Renowned rapper Jay Z also mixes some Punjabi sounds with his songs as well, and some of the songs of Britney Spears were arranged by Rishi Rich, a man of Indian origin. In England, the duo called the Bombay Rockers sing both English and Hindi at the same time and have sold a great number of albums as well.

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Read Music – Music Seems to be More Important Today Than Ever Before!

Categories: Music
September 5th, 2010 by admin

Read Music – Music Seems to be More Important Today Than Ever Before!

Possibly because it taps into our emotions in a way that technology and science, which increasingly inhabit our lives, DO NOT.

Then again, perhaps music simply offers an escape from tensions of an increasingly pressurized society.

Too often, however, the repertory of the traditional theory programs strikes you as arcane, foreign (literally), and unrelated to the music that commands your day-to-day attention.

This situation has been a long time brewing, and it often leads students to question the relevance of music theory to their personal musical goals.

The result is a fundamental disconnect, and if students are not reachable, then they are not teachable.

An adult piano lesson program should attempt to bridge that disconnect by engaging YOU on a familiar ground (though music that surrounds YOUR daily life) and leading YOU toward the body of art music that comprises your heritage.

Part of this effort entails a recognition that popular music and jazz can be vehicles for conveying music of what traditional theory teaches and that apart from its own intrinsic merit that repertory can serve as a conduit to other musical styles.

WHY MUSIC THEORY?

Music has probably always come easily to you. I mean, you could always sing a Nursery Rhyme in tune when you were a child… you’re lucky!

If it has, then you probably have difficulty understanding how utterly mysterious it can be to others, that can’t sing in tune.

The fact is that the special mix of physical and mental attributes that translate into musical talent is a fit given to relatively few of the more than six billion inhabitants of this planet.

It makes you a member of a special group that sees and hears in music the things most others do not. Your decision to further you study of music indicates your desire to express yourself creatively.

MUSIC ENGAGES US PHYSICALLY

Music engages us physically (muscle memory and coordination are necessary to sing or to play an instrument) and mentally (we read music, we memorize it – we feel it).

Music theory aims to deepen our mental involvement. That’s necessary because to communicate all that YOU hear and FEEL in music, YOU need to understand it on may levels. A deeper and broader understanding will make you a more effective player.

MUSIC ENGAGES US EMOTIONALLY

Just remember, that human emotions are translated into musical motion. Our bodies express these internal feelings through posture, gestures, and movements of various kinds.

Some are automatic, spontaneous and others are the result of thought or will.

What is the first instrument that must be trained in music?

The human body! 

To learn more piano “tricks of the trade,” you are invited

to visit: http://www.mrronsmusic.com and
http://www.playpianotonight.com

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The 18 Core Beliefs Of Financially Independent Investors & Businesspeople

Categories: Music
September 5th, 2010 by admin

The 18 Core Beliefs Of Financially Independent Investors & Businesspeople

NLP uses modeling of peoples beliefs, behaviours and
strategies in order to achieve the same results as the role model. This has helped many people achieve the seemingly impossible.

A belief is simply a feeling of certainty of something being true. It has been ascertained by NLP practitioners that the extraordinarily wealthy, the financial independent adopt the following beliefs BEFORE they met their goals.

So, just suppose, you believe the following and wear these beliefs each day:

1) They believe that they are responsible for their own financial destiny.
2) They believe they will become rich and financially
independent in their lifetime.
3) They believe they can achieve virtually anything they put their mind to.
4) They believe money and investing opportunities attract themselves to them.
5) They believe the more they learn about investing and finance, the more they can earn.
6) They believe making money and investing is child’s play when you know how.
7) They believe saving money is easy once you’e made it a habit.
8) They believe that for things to get better, you need to
get better.
9) They believe failure is part of success.
10) They believe they will always need help and support
from a team of experts
to get them to their goals, instead of trying to do it all
on their own.
11) They believe happiness comes from within, but money
does help.
12) They believe most people in the world are honest.
13) They believe money can help give you freedom,
adventure, confidence,
courage, choices and excitement.
14) They believe money can help you contribute more to the
world.
15) They believe money is for the greater good.
16) They believe the stock market is only risky for people who don’t understand how it works.
17) They believe becoming financially independent,
starting with nothing is easy if you use time, a proven winning strategy and most importantly, a
winning attitude.
18) They believe in clear written goals backed by
deadlines.

Highly successful people seem to know that by adopting these beliefs and similar ones, they will become financially independent.

You may wish to write them down and reflect on them. Also, you can ask yourself what actions you’re going to need to take in order to be living these beliefs in full force. For example do you need to learn a new skill, or take a new course? Do you need to change your habits of saving/spending, budgeting/planning etc.

Working out how each of these beliefs could benefit you personally (if you decide to believe them), use your imagination to get motivated and excited about how the results in your life would change if you “wore” these beliefs, even for just a while to test out their “ecology”.

You could also use them as an affirmation or mantra to really get them in to your brain – to get you thinking about them and beginning to adopt them for yourself. The quote “You become what you think about most of the time” is therefore directly applied practically in a straightforward and measurable way. The key is don’t give up until you’ve got positive results…even if it takes longer than expected:

Here they are again in the first person for you to “affirm” to yourself. They are also written in the present tense where appropriate, and in positive language your subconscious mind can instantly understand as being “your own”..

1) I believe that I am responsible for my own financial destiny.
2) I believe I will become rich and financially
independent in my lifetime.
3) I believe I can achieve virtually anything I put their mind to.
4) I believe money and investing opportunities attract themselves to me.
5) I believe the more I learn about investing and finance, the more I can earn.
6) I believe making money and investing is child’s play when one knows how.
7) I believe saving money is easy once I’ve made it a habit.
8) I believe that for things to get better, I need to
get better.
9) I believe failure is part of success.
10) I believe I will always need help and support
from a team of experts to get me to my goals, instead of trying to do it all on my own.
11) I believe happiness comes from within, but money
does help.
12) I believe most people in the world are honest.
13) I believe money can help give me freedom, adventure, confidence, courage, choices and excitement.
14) I believe money can help me contribute more to the world.
15) I believe money is for the greater good.
16) I believe the stock market is only risky for people who don’t understand how it works.
17) I believe becoming financially independent,
starting with nothing is easy if I use time, a proven winning strategy and most importantly, a
winning attitude.
18) I believe in clear written goals backed by
deadlines.

Use and apply these 18 core beliefs of highly successful, influential and more importantly for the purposes of this article, financially independent people. They too were at some point at the stage you may be at now, and remarkably, as mentioned before, found that their success came AFTER applying these kinds of fundamental principles, rather than the beliefs came after the financial independence. Therefore, you too will become financially independent by taking certain steps. Make using the information in this article one of them!

Sam Beatson lives in Sheffield countryside, UK and owns FastTrackForex.com the Forex training crash course and coaching program via FastTrackForex.com Coaching He is dubbed “THE Master Forex Trainer”. Visit the above sites for training details.

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