Interactional theory in Gandhi Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Interactional theory in Gandhi - Research Paper Example To understand his life, Attenborough (1982) produced and directed Gandhi. This paper analyzes the film using Watzlawick, Beavin, and Jackson’s (1967) Interactional Theory on communication. It aims to show that this theory helps explain Gandhi’s effectiveness as a persuasive communication expert and social transformation leader. Gandhi demonstrates an interactional view of communication because Gandhi used non-violent, non-cooperative, and peaceful communication strategies, which have been successful in attaining individual and social changes because he continuously reframed punctuations regarding the causes and resolutions to conflict. Gandhi depicts the rise of Gandhi, from being a lawyer of racial injustice in South Africa to a transformational leader in India. Attenborough (1982) showed how Gandhi started his non-violent approach to conflict management, when he realized the intensity and extent of racial discrimination against Indians in South Africa. With his friend and supporter, the rich Indian businessman Kinnoch, they and their thousands of supporters defied the Pass Law and other oppressive policies, until they changed legislation into one that improved racial equality. Gandhi returned to India, which was in a historical transition from colonial ownership to independence. Gandhi aroused the formation of nationalist organizations and used the media to gain publicity and to spread his non-violent, non-cooperative, and peaceful approach to the demand for independence from Great Britain. Interactional Theory views relationships as â€Å"patterns of interaction† (Watzlawick et al., 1967, p. 2), where every member participates in the cybernetic environment, while interacting with other systems to control their environment too. Gandhi is an effective communicator because he does not undermine the value of the press in enhancing public awareness and changing individual and social beliefs. The first rally in South Africa indicates how Gandh i saw the media as a partner in documenting non-violent actions, so that more people would join him and for the British Empire to realize the power of their numbers. Gandhi wants journalists to cover their peaceful protests because it can unite the nation. He told the reporter Walker that he â€Å"cannot unite a community† without a paper (Attenborough, 1982). He then used the media, including his own paper, to promote his views on non-violent and non-cooperative action toward resolving various conflicts. Gandhi knows the importance of connected systems to achieve widespread social changes. Interactional Theory has five axioms and the first aims to show how complex systems operate by stating that people â€Å"cannot not communicate,† so everything that is said and done is a message. Watzlawick et al. (1967) stressed: â€Å"Activity or inactivity, words or silence all have message value: they influence others and these others, in turn, cannot not respond to these commu nications and are thus themselves communicating† (p. 1). The pragmatic approach to language emphasizes the effects of actions on communication behaviors (Wayne, 1990, p.603). Gandhi shows the importance of every aspect of communication to express his strategies and to persuade people to follow his methods. His main emphasis is that violent, non-cooperative, and peaceful communication strategies can be used to attain social

Planning on research on Inclusive Education Essay

Planning on research on Inclusive Education - Essay Example Inclusive education can include a number of strategies. Most of the research on this topic focuses on; global movements, laws on inclusive education within and without a given country, resources, deconstruction of special schools, sources of funding for inclusive schools and other ideas that may boost the development of Inclusive education. There are various global movements that have worked towards the inclusion of the pupils with special educational needs. Schooling of these pupils with special educational needs has changed from neglect previously to integration presently. Global movement is taking part in the African countries, the Asian countries the European countries and also in the South American countries. In the United Kingdom there is a very strong policy framework which is based on the inclusive principles and values together with additional funding. Similarly the movements have allowed the pupils with the special educational disabilities to understand their needs well and this has enabled them learn to live in a world that is full of differences. This movement has a global dimension whereby there is a connection between the various countries globally and this has spurred a commitment by various countries to set their national targets for the pupils with special educational needs. (Norwich, 1994) Special schools have been in place since the days of old. ... In the year 2001, there were close to sixty one percent of children with special needs that were placed in mainstream schools this was an increase of five percent from the mid nineties. Besides, there was a seven percent decrease of special schools in the UK. Staff working in these special schools also reduced by close to eleven percent in that same year. However, more still needs to be done as there is still a large portion of the education system that has not included children with special needs in their program. Laws have also been regulated towards the realization of this agenda. In the UK, there have been a number of laws that have been passed that worked towards implementation of inclusive education. There were acts that were passed in the year 1986, 1993 and 1996. All these acts placed emphasis on the fact that children with special needs should be given the right to attend mainstream schools if their parents allow it and if there is a provision for them in that institution. In the year 1998 and 1997, the Government made publications specifically relating to children with special needs. Here, they addressed plans that would assist in this inclusion program. There were a number of newsletters written by the government concerning inclusive education at that same time. Later on, a special education needs and disability act was passed that reinforced special children's entitlement to mainstream schooling. An exception was provided if the child would cause very serious impairment to education in the classroom or if their parents did not allow it. (The Children Act 2004, 2004) It has been found that there is a lack of funding towards this form of