Starbucks Going Global Fast

Cataracts is known worldwide as one of the largest and most successful coffee shops. The green circle and mermaid symbol, that has become so well known, it can be seen in nearly every US city, and the company has ambitious plans to expand rapidly off-shore. Howard Schultz started the company in 1987 when he bought out his bosses and began expanding. Cataracts expansion, so far, seems to be rather successful as they have opened over 16,000 coffee shops in 44 countries and have no plans of slowing down.Although the company has experienced exponential growth and unprecedented success It Is not without Its problems. For one, there Is an Increasing level Is dissatisfaction with employees which seems to stem from Cataracts aggressive expansion. With so many employees and stores nation and worldwide employees are becoming increasingly jaded and out of sync with the original mission statement of Cataracts, which was to focus on superior customer service, and service with a smile. Workers are also complaining about being over worked and under compensated. Still bigger problems present themselves.The baby boomers, Cataracts bread and butter consumer, are slowly disappearing, giving way to the more thrifty, down-to- earth generation X, who have become increasingly weary of powerful and rich corporations and whose focus seems to have shifted from the mainstream to the local in most consumer categories. Generation Seer's are feeling out of place In expensive coffee shops and seem to prefer cheaper alternatives, or prefer to simply make their own coffee. Generation Seer's are also wearier because of some shady practices that Cataracts engages In, such as predatory real estate, which lends toSeer's already heightened alert for corporations. Cataracts also does a lot of things right. They cater new products to new markets, such as a green tea Production that was first developed for and introduced in Japan. It has since been a hit and released in the USA. They seem to grasp the fundamental concept that not all markets are the same and understand that existing products might need to be tweaked for them to succeed abroad. They have a sound business model, which lends them ownership to all stores, meaning that stores are not franchised and the corporate hand can interfere with each store as they see fit.The company is expanding rapidly, but the US market Is quickly becoming saturated. To fuel continued expansion and maintain a 20% annual growth the company must go overseas, and this presents problems all on their own, because as we know every cultures tastes and values differ, which Is a pivotal lesson of International marketing. I think that Cataracts business model is sound. As we know the goal of any Dustless Is to maximize senatorial Investment r sucks NAS done Tanat. I nee nave recorded insane sales figures and have grown from 17 coffee shops in Seattle 15 years ago to over 16,000 outlets in 44 countries.Sales have climbed an average of 20 percent annua lly since the company went public, hitting 673 million last year. They are clearly doing something right, but in my opinion the success will be short lived. Society is shifting gears and the world is changing directions from a world of tangibles to a world of services, from a world of waste to a world of saving. While Cataracts makes a quality product there are also many viable, cheaper, even better substitutes that you can make yourself, and I think that you will see the decline of sales will coincide with a decline in the population of boomers.

Style Analysis

Cassidy Carter 3/19/13 Engl 1302- Prof. Evans Style Analysis Firoozeh Dumas' essay, â€Å"The F-Word,† addresses the very relatable struggle every person with an ethnic name faces in the American culture. Her prime example being herself, Dumas humorously and realistically depicts the trauma a person endures from constantly having to educate people about your name. She also uses the names of her siblings to provide a comparison of the names' meaning in Persian versus their American mispronunciations. Dumas' seamless use of analogies, word choice and quotations assists in her goal of making the reader understand and sympathize with her frustration.The analogy used throughout â€Å"The F-Word† that assists Dumas with explaining how people's refusal to say her name correctly, involves, interestingly enough, spices. Paralleling different linguistic sounds with uncommon spices, Dums jokingly suggests that common sounds like ‘cinnamon and sumac. ‘ Dumas later retur ns to her analogy toward the end of her piece while referencing a particularly annoying parent at her children's school who refers to Dumas as â€Å"F-Word,† the title of the piece non-coincidentally.This parent eventually is transferred to another school where Dumas hopes she â€Å"might have to make some room in her spice cabinet. † This analogy connects and ends the story while making it humorous to the reader and more relatable. Dumas' word choice also relates to adding humor to the piece as she dissects the names of her family and how they are abused in American culture. Her explanations of how Farbod became ‘Farthead' amongst his peers as well as how Farshid became the abhorrent ‘Fartshit,' not only exposes the silly cruelty of children.Such instances also express a humorous exasperation with her American peers who refused to even try to pronounce their names. Further in the essay, Dumas regales the reader with a tale of an unfortunate encounter with a hematology technician that she has an appointment with. â€Å"Having been called Froozy, Frizzy, Fiorucci and Froozy and just plain ‘Uhhhh.. ‘ I am highly accommodating. I did not however respond to Fritzy because there is not in my name. † This bit of humor at her own expense makes the piece all the more personable and relatable.Dumas' use of quotations as she sarcastically impersonates her offenders also adds humor to her essay. Her references to what she believes are her offenders’ excuses for mispronouncing her name were particularly humorous as they effectively allow the user to understand her point of view. â€Å"My name, Firoozeh, chosen by my mother, means ‘Turquoise’ in Persian. In America, it means ‘Unpronounceable’ or ‘I’m Not Going to Talk to You Because I Cannot Possible Learn Your Name and I Just Don’t Want to Have to Ask You Again and Again Because You’ll Think I’m Dumb of You Mig ht Get Upset or Something. â€Å" Dumas’ word choice in choosing to explain the Persian meaning of her name aids in her use of quotations because by giving the correct meaning of the name she further ridicules the people who refuse to use her correct name. â€Å"The F-Word† is a witty essay that makes relatable the struggle of having an ethnic name in ‘this land of Joes and Marys. ’ The essay should allow the reader an opportunity to focus on their own name faux pas’ and hopefully make a change in their behavior in the future when dealing with people with names that require a little more spice in their linguistic ‘spice cabinet. ’

Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 191

Essay Example Second, theological and national tensions that were not properly addressed fuelled the need to walk away from the bigger church to agitate for reformation (Viladesau, 2006). Similarly, the affirmation of a traditional medieval conception of interpreting most church activities meant that the Council of Constance was ignoring a lot of complaints from splinter groups. Another interesting reason was that the entire Roman Catholic Church papacy was Antichrist, thus, there was a need for committed believers to honour the prophecy by leaving the church. Alternatively, the Protestant Reformers under the leadership of Martin Luther condemned doctrinal policies that encouraged selling of indulgences such as particular judgment and purgatory in order to dominate the people. Respect for the ecclesiastical law, mandatory clerical celibacy, and censure of Antichrist Popes, therefore, became a critical aspect of splitting from the Catholic Church. Campaigns for Magisterial Reformation also played fundamental reason because most Protestant Reformers were now aligning themselves with humanity or lines of mysticism to affirm their radical positions against the papacy. Overall, the eventual excommunication was caused by discontent that was not given the necessary

An Effective Speaker Paper Comparison Critique of 2 Famous Speeches Essay

An Effective Speaker Paper Comparison Critique of 2 Famous Speeches - Essay Example Steve is the most appropriate speaker for the Stanford audience, because of his experience in the technology field, for which the university is renowned. In the course of delivering his speech, Steve Jobs adopts a conversational approach. This is particularly evident when he reminisces about how he founded Apple, Inc with his co-founder, Steve Wozniak. Instead of referring to his partner with his full name he states â€Å"Woz and I started Apple.† This statement evokes a mental picture of two close allies and it is a good choice of words. This is especially because the audience comprises of graduates, who often perceive the ceremony to be a point in time when close friends diverge perhaps never to meet again. Steve also utilizes a simple and customary delivery approach. This is evident throughout the fourteen and a half minutes long speech. For instance, he summarizes his entire speech using four simple phrases; first he states that he will narrate three stories to the audienc e. He then outlines the three narrative topics as â€Å"a story about connecting dots† (0.23), â€Å"a story about love and loss† (5.32) and finally â€Å"a story about death† (14.33). ... This serves to ensure that the audience gets sufficient time to assimilate the information. For instance, at the end of his first story about backward connection of dots, Steve poses for about six seconds when he says â€Å"even when it leads you off the well-worn path†¦ and that will make all the difference† (5.18). The pause is intended to ensure that the audience acknowledges the importance of exploration and persistence. Steve’s relatively casual opening, his conversational delivery approach, simplicity and use of pauses in the course of the address, are all attributes that make his speech effective. These are all features that resonate with the principally young audience. They are also attributes that enable him to effectively convey his primary lessons on mortality, the importance of individuals loving their work and the essence of courage in following one’s intuition. However, the speech is not without few flaws. The first and most notable flaw is tha t, Steve constantly reads from his transcript and hardly maintains eye contact with his audience. This denies him the chance to fully connect with the listeners as shown by their occasional disinterest. The other outstanding fault is the speaker’s partial fail at comedic delivery. For instance, when Steve states that â€Å"I didn’t even know what a pancreas was† (10:07), he delivers the line in passing and does not even pause to relieve the audience’s tension. Another example is when he says â€Å"No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don’t want to die to get there† (11:40). However, the partially failed attempt at humor could be attributable to the speaker’s effort to imitate academic oration; to evoke empathy from listeners, or to emphasize the magnitude of

Management appreciation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Management appreciation - Essay Example Is a forecasting tool that is used to comprehend the Strengths of a particular organization its Weaknesses, Opportunities, and involved Threats (BHC 1999). It includes identifying the objective of that particular business or organization and specifying the internal and external aspects that are supportive or unfavorable towards achieving that objective. SWOT is also used during the process of strategic planning. Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats make up the acronym SWOT (Austrainer 1999). The SWOT Matrix Model at first sight this might look like a simple and easy model to apply, but to do an effective and meaningful SWOT analysis, one requires time and a significant input and requires teamwork since it cannot be done by just one person effectively (PMI- Plus, Minus, Interesting 1999). The decisions of managers of any business are affected by various macro environmental factors. PESTEL analysis describes suitable framework of these factors to be used in the environmental scanning section of strategic management (Havergal & Edmonstone 1999). PESTEL is an acronym for political, economic, social, technological, and legal analysis. These factors can be categorized into: Political factors, economic factors, Social factors, technological factors, environmental factors and legal factors: An executive assistant is the epicenter of a number of managerial duties that fall under the senior management executives. His/her duties include managing a wide range of administrative tasks such as; scheduling, prioritizing of tasks, representative of the executive, executes the executive’s instructions among others (Parkinson 1993). SWOT and PESTEL techniques help the executive assistant to come up with useful procedure for evaluating the environmental forces on the team or an organization (Boone & Kurtz 1992). It also helps in researching information for future predictions revolving

Social work Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Social work - Essay Example This gives the indication that even if the objective for equal educational opportunity to everyone is greatly supported by the values held sociologists, there is need to indulge in professional commitment as well as record accomplishment. It is therefore important to face these challenges by way of equipping educational social workers with basic knowledge on African American experiences as well as equipping urban schools which are considered to have massive enrolments of black students. It is very important to ensure improvement in policy making and leadership toward educational reforms especially in urban schools. Research indicates that policymaking in regard to educational reform is a variable missing especially when focusing on school social work discussion. This therefore creates the need for school social work to take responsibility so as to initiate various contracts based on major policy decisions. Social workers need to largely participate in public policy forum related to education reform. School choices play a major role in educational reforms with main focus on schools in urban cities. Therefore, development of various school choice issues is perceived to change the function and structure of existing urban school. School choices can be through school vouchers that are considered to be an issue of equality in education whereby a state or federal educational funding is directly issued to those families that are underprivileged and would like to enroll in private schools. Educational social workers can engage in organizing various community forums to bring both school personnel and organizers together to discuss key reforms needed in the education system. Also, research plays an important role in policymaking educational reforms with main focus on black culture in the educational system. Through research, many researchers have identified critical issues within the African American

Written communication Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Written communication - Assignment Example gement and worker protection, and employee labor relations, it is my belief that the most important one that I will use in my future career is that of talent management and development. As we studied, an organization or firm is only as successful as the people who work there. In this way, realizing that the appreciation for and development of this talent is the biggest determining factor for whether a firm or organization will succeed or not helps me to place this category as the single most important in terms of HR management. The organization is ultimately made up of people that must be professional, talented, and useful towards achieving the goals that are set before it. In this way, attempting to develop these skills and applying talent management and development skills to the workplace is a way in which the entire human resources management process can itself be made easier. Oftentimes this is misunderstood due to the fact that people think that talent management and development only relates to trying to hire talented people. Yet, the fact of the matter is that hiring talented people is only the first step. If one takes over human resources management from another person, they will be required to not only hire new people from time to time, but most importantly to work with existing employees (Younger 2007). In this way, the most important job that the human resources manager has is working with current employees and helping them to target key areas of development and improve themselves. This level of improvement is what is understood as a win-win situation for both the employer and the employee. This is due to the fact that when the employer spends the resources necessary to train or develop an existing employee, they get the benefit of having a more skilled employee within the firm without the need to hire someone else to perform the same job or function that they have trained the existing employee for. This is one of the most profound ways that

Learning Activity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Learning Activity - Essay Example aifi, and Khanfar (2013) talked about women’s â€Å"lapses in employment† that occur when they leave work to give birth and take care of their young children that, in turn, reduce the work experience that is needed for higher pay and job promotion (p.243). In addition, numerous women persist in feeling bound to traditional gender roles and responsibilities, so they feel less aggressive in the workplace. Shriver (2009) mentioned women who are raised to be inferior to their brothers and to focus on home and family activities, thus, when they grow up, they do not exactly want an engaging career or business environment. In the workplace, these kinds of women are not seen and promoted equally as men because of social mindsets and practices that curtail their abilities to be effective employees or businesspeople. When these attitudes and practices about women interact, equal employment is not fully felt and applied at work. I agree that there is a correlation between how women are treated in society and how they are treated in the workforce. If women are socially perceived as capable and confident individuals who can get their jobs done despite multiple tasks, then HR managers or owners will hire them because of their positive attitudes and employability. If women are seen as lacking confidence and unreliable at work, then they will also be hardly hired and developed for more competitive jobs. Parcheta, Kaifi, and Khanfar (2013) noted that if society sees women as emotionally, or even, intellectually weaker, than men, it will pay women less and will not recognize their management potential (p.242). In addition, if society sees women as doing only gender-stereotyped roles and responsibilities, then they will also be hired for these kinds of â€Å"feminine† work only, such working in caring and educational roles (Parcheta, Kaifi, Khanfarm, 2013, p.243). However, if society sees women as equally ca pable in personal and work life, then their gender will not be a hindrance

Pop Culture Essay Example for Free

Pop Culture Essay Throughout, history popular culture has been a common factor in everyday life. The identity of popular culture is seen through many elements of art. It was derived from artifacts and styles of human expressions developed from the creativity of ordinary people, and circulate among people according to their interests, preferences, and tastes. For example, music, fashion, people, stereotypes, and social rituals all play a role in the development of what is known today as pop culture society. These elements have shape society to behave and think a certain way, all in which are seen to have a more negative impact to the public rather than promote positive influences. Moreover, we will examine three main elements of popular culture that affect the American culture on a day to day basis. â€Å"Stereotypes, social rituals, and arts are all elements of popular culture that have been adopted and appeals to large masses of people, normally the middle class citizens† . Thus, popular culture comes from people; it is not just given to them. This perspective tears away at distinctions typically made between producers and consumers of cultural material. According to Webster stereotypes are oversimplified opinion, prejudiced attitude, or uncritical judgment. For example, â€Å"people develop conceptions about certain groups of people because of what we see on television and use these generalizations in everyday life, such as Gender and where the media portrays ones masculinity and femininity† 2. Stereotypes can be seen with real or imaginary people or objects. For example, real icons such as expensive cars can be portrayed as a person being wealthy with luxury. Imaginary icons are things such as Bat mobiles or spaceships that are seen as a â€Å"warp speeding icon expressing in truly magical ways- faster than light travel, to demonstrate power beyond discovery† 3. Other real or imaginary stereotypes are heroes. For instances, Martin Luther King Jr. is a known for leading many Americans to freedom from slavery and racism. On the hand, Superman is an imaginary hero that saves the world from danger. These stereotypes have shaped America’s beliefs to be based on judgments of their own opinions as opposed to the truth. Social Rituals consist of â€Å"highly patterned symbolic events in which we all participate as a way of marking important passages in our individual lives or in society as a whole† 4. For example, holidays such as Christmas which is only celebrated by some who believe in decorating and exchanging gifts for the birth of Jesus Christ. However, others prefer not to engage in certain holidays or activities. Moreover, rituals integrate with heroes and icons that are built from a base structure of hierarchy. For example, voting is a common social ritual that plays a significant role in many American’s life. After voting, many constituency wear clothing to symbolize their heroic effort or support for the candidate they endorsed. Art is one the largest rooms of pop culture with a vast and diverse amount of subdivisions. Art includes; magazines, movies, television, recordings, comic books and others. Art correlates with all forms of pop culture and its affects with society. For example, books discuss heroes, icons, stereotypes, people, myth, beliefs and values. All of these elements interact with one another and result in moving to another room that leads to other possibly subcategories. Thus, arts are group together based upon shared characteristics which are known to both popular artist and the audience. Pop Culture is a trend that many learn about through film, media, music, people, fashion and others. These trends can sometime have a negative effect on the way society may behave or act to certain situations. For instances, many people use stereotypes to judge others or relate their lives to those individuals. In addition, others use heroes whether they are real or imaginary to compare and contrast their way of living. On the other hand, there are other elements of pop culture that make up these special trends. For example, social rituals is another element that allows people to express themselves based on their belief, things such as holidays, voting, and weddings. Lastly, Art is the element of diversity it relates to all subcategories of pop culture, within these categories all elements interact and form other elements.

New labour’s rights policies on inclusive education and rights Essay Example for Free

New labour’s rights policies on inclusive education and rights Essay To realize advantages and shortcomings of inclusive education in practice we have to consider as well whether childrens rights are observed within the context of inclusion as well as to analyse the main provisions of legislative instruments and governmental documents regarding this sphere. This will give us a better insight of what forces act in the process of transition to inclusive education intensively promoted by New Labour government and what effect they have upon children-recipients. Internationally, the UN Convention on the Rights of a Child has established a near global consensus concerning the minimum necessary rights for children: rights to provision, protection and participation the 3 Ps (Pugh 2005, p. 4). The UK does not stand apart in international processes of providing all children, including the most vulnerable children wit SEN, with the opportunity to exercise these rights. Many observers admit that the election and re-election of more children friendly New Labour governments in 1997 and 2001 resulted in significant political development for childrens rights, as an extensive range of new policies and laws affecting the lives of children both directly and indirectly have been promulgated (Foley et al. 2003, p. 38). They include Health Action Zones, The Childrens Taskforce, The Childrens National Service Framework, The National Childcare Strategy, Early Years and Development and Child Care Partnerships, Quality Protects, Removing Barriers to Achievement, Sure Start, Every Child Matters etc. (Pugh 2005, p. 1). Besides, a very important document was adopted in 2001 – a new statutory guidance from New Labour Government Inclusive Schooling: Children with Special Educational Needs (DfES 2001) which sets out the main principles of inclusive education: with the right training, strategies and support nearly all children with special educational needs can be successfully included in mainstream education; an inclusive education service offers excellence and choice and incorporates the views of parents and children; the interests of children must be safeguarded; schools, local education authorities and others should actively seek to remove barriers to learning and participation; all children should have access to an appropriate education that affords them the opportunity to achieve their personal potential; mainstream education will not always be right for every child all of the time. Equally, just because mainstream education may not be right at a particular stage it does not prevent the child from being included successfully at a later stage. This document stipulates that schools and local education authorities ability to refuse a mainstream place for a child with special educational needs is severely restricted. They are able to refuse a mainstream school place to a child if it would be incompatible with the efficient education of others; however, reasonable steps must be taken to prevent that incompatibility (DfES 2001). The Green Paper Every Child Matters further illustrates New Labours commitment to reform services delivered to children, especially those with SEN, with the purpose to provide all of them with the opportunity to be healthy, to stay safe, to have high academic attainments, to participate in life of community, enjoy and develop, and to achieve financial well-being. The focus of this document is on early intervention, removing the barriers to learning – both physical and social, preventative work and integrated services for children (DFES 2003). The latter provision reasonably stresses importance of transagency collaboration and coordination to achieve better quality of services delivered to children in need. The use of collaborative teaming among professionals, agencies, the child, and family members, the use of the curriculum that focuses on the interactions between the pupil and his/her environments as well as the establishment and use of interagency linkages to facilitate the smooth integration of the child in mainstream school are the most important components of this cooperation (Cheminais 2006, p.19). A crucial motif in such policies is the idea of equal worth and recognition for people deemed to be disadvantaged, marginalised and excluded. Notions of children locked in cycles of personal and social deprivation, excluded, but also self-excluding, emotionally damaged and lacking confidence and skills permeate these initiatives (Rieser 2000, p. 148). These legal instruments, in actual fact, established broad social investment programmes focusing on attaining such major outcomes for all children, including those with SEN, as to assure them to be healthy, to live in safe environment, to improve their academic achievements, to participate in full measure in social life, enjoy and develop, and to attain financial well-being (DFES 2003). The government has raised family incomes by introducing a national minimum wage and through policies such as the working families tax credit (Pugh 2005, p.8). The establishment of a Cabinet Committee on Children and Young Peoples Services, and a Children and Young Peoples Unit in the Department for Education and Skills (DfES), with a remit to develop a cross-departmental approach to policy as well as administering the Children Fund with ? 450 million to help to alleviate child poverty and social exclusion (DfES 2003), offer further testament to government commitments to children. The introduction of the National Childcare Strategy and Quality Protects with its strong recommendation that local authorities appoint a Childrens Rights Officer for looked after children, combined with the establishment of the Social Exclusion Unit and a number of community initiatives such as Sure Start designed to help preschool children, have increased assistance to children and their families, especially in severely disadvantaged areas (Pugh 2005). But any review of the Labour governments record must include brickbats alongside bouquets. New Labour has reduced the number of children in poverty in recent years but the figures remain substantial for a country which ranks among the seven most industrialised nations in the world (Corbett 2001, p. 67). Young people under the age of 22, moreover, are exempted from the adult minimum wage of ? 4. 10 (Rieser 2000, p. 154). The centralisation of education, the imposition of national curricula and league tables and the privatising of certain aspects of education, are unlikely to promote childrens participation rights or provide them with a voice in the running of their inclusive schools. Perhaps most significantly, New Labours election has regressed into a populist and authoritarian series of measures, such as curfews and electronic tagging. The Home Office, moreover, encouraged public perceptions of young people as unruly, out of control and requiring policies which stress containment (Robertson 2003). Indeed, children must be subject to the necessary guidance and discipline of adults, but they have to be partners in this process – not just passive recipients, if we talk about real inclusive schooling. In actual fact, legally, the paternalistic notion that the best interests of the child must be protected has increasingly come to be supplemented by the principle that children have a right to express their views and have their wishes taken into account in legal decisions which concern them (Cheminais 2006, p. 23). In particular, the Children Act 2004 carefully straddles the divide between protectionist or paternalist and participatory rights. Its guiding principle is that the childs welfare is paramount, but the legislation also supports the principle that, where possible and appropriate, the ascertainable wishes and feelings of the child concerned should inform decisions (HMSO 2004, Part 2). In truth the judiciary continue to interpret this latter requirement conservatively falling back on paternalistic assumptions of childrens incompetence (Robertson 2003). Thus, it comes as no surprise that Armstrong (2005, p.138) argues that a transformatory agenda [of New Labour government] may be characterized by the rhetoric of change rather than by any substantive transformation of values and practices. Moreover, contradicting to its own declared values concerning inclusive education New Labour government sees special schools at the front position of the wider education agenda and emphasises the need to recognise and value their contribution within a framework of inclusion (DfES 2003). It is obvious that continuation of segregated special schools is contravening human rights – real inclusion cannot happen in the special school. As recent studies on the trends in the UK educational system show that he formalisation of relationships in education has been encouraged by the growing tendency towards extending the scope of bureaucratic intervention in the everyday life of schools (Atkinson et al. 2002). Increasingly, every aspect of education is subjected to rule-making and regulated through inspection and auditing. As a result of a highly centralised system of education managed by an interventionist bureaucracy little is left to chance (Foley et al. 2003, p. 112). It has been noted that even primary school teachers are allowed little initiative to exercise their professional judgment. The national curriculum dominates the classroom and teachers activity is regulated by the need to respond to the demands of standardised tests and inspections (Thomas Vaughan 2004, p. 63). The expansion of bureaucratic control is justified on the grounds that it ensures the maintenance of standards of education (Armstrong 2005, p.141). While the impact of the standardisation of teaching on the quality of education is debatable, its consequences on the relationship between the different parties – teachers, students, local authorities, parents – are strikingly clear. New Labour government declared that its top priority is raising educational standards – it is a great target, but what is troubling that the governments purpose has also been clearly signalled – education is valued less for its intrinsic qualities of self-development and more for its contribution to creating a new kind of society (Armstrong 2005, p.136). In that way, future prosperity of the UK rests with its capacity to develop and harness the skills required to be a significant player in the new knowledge-based international economy. Here it is evident that New Labour government sees the role of education explicitly in terms of social engineering. It means that the inclusion agenda in the UK has a moral and rhetorical appeal, while its conceptual vagueness can be seen after closer analysis. Conclusion. The conducted study demonstrated that there are no simple solutions to the task of inclusive thinking, relations and practice, that here is no room for complacency in the pursuit of understanding and implementing inclusive education. Without a doubt, inclusion can make great contribution to maximising the participation of all learners and the removal of discriminatory and exclusionary assumptions and practices in schools. Fortunately, recently society has shifted from a sentimental approach to disability to one which concerns entitlement. Inclusive education theorists and practitioners have moved distinctly on from a preoccupation with mere physical location in a school or college and a campaigning for civil rights issues. Physical access and disability rights continue to be ongoing struggles and theoretical concerns but the overriding practical priority in schools is that of coping with difficult behaviour and with learning difficulties. Here it is important not to see inclusion as the concern of special educators but of concern to all those involved in the school or college settings. While the earlier integration focus tended to be on physical access and specialist resources, inclusive education implies a shared responsibility and a joint concern. In such a way, now SEN is at the core of educational agenda, and it is seen as the business of mainstream schools to address basic skills and to meet individual needs. If successfully implemented inclusive schooling can give the opportunity for children with a disability to participate fully in all the educational, employment, consumer, leisure, community and domestic activities that characterize everyday society. But to advance an agenda for inclusion and to make the ideals represented in New Labour government policies a meaningful reality in schools, the society has much to do. Our study proves rightfulness of Armstrong’ arguments that even if being ambitious and extensive New Labour’s policies promulgating inclusive education do not yielded in practical results for children with SEN. To date they remain in many aspects just a declaration of what changes in education would be implemented, but the rhetoric of change has not been followed by substantive transformation of values and practices towards inclusion. Many children come to school with problems. Recognition of this and sensitivity to it is part of inclusive education as we revealed in our study. A responsive school climate, which views problems as challenges and not obstacles, is a key factor in successful movement to really inclusive education. The focus in it has to be on institutional systems, attitudes, flexibility and responsiveness rather than on the special needs child. In order to provide such a highly developed level of inclusiveness, schools have to be willing to work consistently on improving and adapting both their curriculum and social climate. It has to be a school which relates to individual needs, institutional resources and to community values. Today inclusion in school settings, for all the political rhetoric, remains the cause of a good deal of anxiety with the vast majority of teachers, parents and children. To work to advance an agenda for inclusion, in the target-driven and achievement-oriented market place that education has become, requires placing emphasis on breaking down the barriers which create exclusion. It means that we have to work on the attainment of a more inclusive society, which is not solely the responsibility of teachers in schools, and which is most likely to be achieved only when we will be able to develop a more equitable educational system. References Ainscow, M. , Booth, T. , Dyson, A. , with Farrell, P. , Frankham, J. , Gallannaugh, F. , Howes, A. Smith, R. 2006, Improving Schools, Developing Inclusion, Routledge, London. HMSO 2004, The Children Act 2004, HMSO, London. Armstrong, D. 2005, Reinventing Inclusion: New Labour and the Cultural Politics of Special Education, Oxford Review of Education, vol. 31, no. 1, pp. 135–151. Atkinson, T. , Cantillon, B. , Marlier, E. , Nolan, B. 2002, Social Indicators: The EU and Social Inclusion, Oxford University Press, Oxford. Booth, T. , Ainscow, M. 1998, From Them to Us: Setting up the Study, in From Them to Us: An International Study of Inclusion in Education, eds. T. Booth M. Ainscow, Routledge, London, pp. 1-20. Booth, T. , Ainscow, M. , Dyson, A. 1998, England: Inclusion and Exclusion in a Competitive System, in From Them to Us: An International Study of Inclusion in Education, eds. T. Booth M. Ainscow, Routledge, London, pp. 193-225. Clark, C. , Dyson, A. Millward, A. 1998, Introducing the Issue of Theorising, in Theorising Special Education, eds. C. Clark, A. Dyson A. Millward, Routledge, London, pp. 1-6. Cheminais, R. 2006, Every Child Matters: New Role for SENCOs, David Fulton Publishers, London. Clough, P. , Corbett, J. 2000, Theories of Inclusive Education: A Students’ Guide, Chapman, London. Corbett, J. 2001, Supporting Inclusive Education: A Connective Pedagogy, RoutledgeFalmer, London. DfES 2001, Inclusive Schooling: Children with Special Educational Needs, DfES Publications, Nottingham. DfES 2003, Every Child Matters, DfES Publications, London. Farrell, M. 2006, Celebrating the Special School, David Fulton Publishers, London. Foley, P. , Parton, N. , Roche, J. Tucker, S. 2003, Contradictory and Convergent Trends in Law and Policy Affecting Children in England, in Hearing the Voices of Children: Social Policy for a New Century, eds. C. Hallett A. Prout, Routledge, London, pp. 106-120. Mittler, P. 2000, Working Towards Inclusive Education: Social Contexts, David Fulton Publishers, London. Pugh, R. , 2005. Whose Children? The State and Child Welfare [online]. Phoenix, Arizona State University. Available from: http://www. asu.edu/xed/lectures/images/Pugh05. pdf [Accessed 25 April 2007]. Rieser, R. 2000, Special Educational Needs or Inclusive Education: The Challenge of Disability Discrimination in Schooling, in Education, Equality and Human Rights, ed. M. Cole, Falmer Press, London, pp. 141-161. Rose, R. 2003, Ideology, Reality and Pragmatics: Towards an Informed Policy for Inclusion, in Strategies to Promote Inclusive Practice, eds. R. Rose C. Tilstone, RoutledgeFalmer, London, pp. 7-17. Robertson, C. 2003, Towards Inclusive Therapy: Policies and the Transformation of Practice, in Strategies to Promote Inclusive Practice, eds.R. Rose C. Tilstone, RoutledgeFalmer, London, pp. 97-116. Skrtic, T. M. 1995, Special Education and Student Disability as Organizational Pathologies: Toward a Metatheory of School Organization and Change, in Disability and Democracy: Reconstructing (Special) Education for Postmodernity, ed. T. M. Skrtic, Teachers College Press, New York, pp. 190-232. Thomas, G. , Loxley, A. 2001, Deconstructing Special Education and Constructing Inclusion, Open University Press, Buckingham. Thomas, G. , Vaughan, M. 2004, Inclusive Education: Readings and Reflections, Open University Press, London.