Curriculum of Excellence in Educational Policy

Question: Discuss about the Curriculum of Excellence in Educational Policy. Answer: Introduction: The curriculum of Excellence is an educational policy that has been published by the Scottish Parliament of educational affairs in the year 2010. It was announced by the minister of education and young people namely Mr. Peacock and Deputy Minister of Education and young people namely Euan Robson. This curriculum mainly aimed at including children from the age of 3 to the age of 18 into an educational ground in such a way so that they develop values and morals which would help them to become experienced learners. This policy aimed at making their skills polished in such a way so that they can recognize their talents and employ them in correct fields to achieve the most flourishing careers one can dream. It promised to deliver knowledge that would help them to promote and develop their values, abilities and understanding capabilities (Hedge and MacKenzie 2016). The curriculum outlines the strategies that must be taken to make the children and young people of Scotland successful in their future. The strategies also promise to look over the inhibitions and make attempts to overcome them like overcrowding, poverty, lack of proper connectivity between stages of curriculum and many others. This curriculum mainly identifies the different values on which the educational goals would be set, the purpose and the outcomes with which the learners can associate and to help schools design their education system with new ways for teachers and educators (Gov.scot, 2010). The curriculum tried to take initiatives that would help the budding children to develop their knowledge in systematic ways without overcrowding of concepts and different subjects. However, the essay is subjected to two important, crucial areas of inequality and underpinning values that have formed the main foundations behind the preparation of the strategies. Another important question that also needs to be attended is whether the set of values provide significance to ideas and concepts or competence and skills. The essay will critically evaluate the strategies that are mentioned and will try to assess the questions critically in the light of the values that had been set by the Scottish government. The designing and layout along with the readers of the policy is also a question that requires thorough analysis for quality assurance. This essay will be based on an argumentative approach that will critically analyze the questions to find out the effectivity of the curriculum in the light of the initiative that they had proposed to undertake. It is to be analyzed that one of the main issue faced by the United Kingdom of inequality is properly handled by the policy or not. It would also judge our whether the underpinning values are based on immoral attitudes of sexism, classism, disability and many others. Moreover, it would also cover the evaluation of the designing and the layout that can be observed in the policy papers. The essay will also give an idea to the reader about those cohorts of people who would be intricately interested in reading the paper for the betterment of the beholders of the future generation. Background to the curriculum policy text: The Scotland government had aimed for the development of a nation where the children of Scotland irrespective of their social background would be liberated enough to achieve their goals in their adult life. They wanted to create a future generation where a proper development of the personality, talents mental and physical abilities of the children will achieve the greatest peak. The government believed that this curriculum would help in creating individuals who would be matured enough to take the responsibilities and career decisions to excel in life (Kidner 2013). The existing policies for achieving educational excellence were verified through conversations with teachers, educators, policy experts, and others to cover the loopholes and publish strategies that would help to achieve the goals. This background was based on the political arena and had covered the political backdrop of the release of the policy (Macdonald 2014). If one wants to ponder over the social background of the emergence of the policy, then it can be stated that proper educational reforms seemed very important according to the policy makers. The nation needed to understand that if one wants to develop the economic stability of the nation, the proper publication of the policy with correct strategies is very important. Development of a strategy to efficiently handle the growing diversity with kindness and open-mindedness, reduce poverty and low employment issues and for promoting healthcare is very important. Therefore it leads the Department of Education, and the young people believe that providing correct moral, virtues and values through education would help to meet the crisis period. This would have also helped the students to suit themselves with the continuous modifying environment and thereby help the learners to adapt themselves to the changing demands of the global economy. Moreover, it had also been stated that in spite of the current educational policy had numerous features, but somehow the children were not able to achieve entirely what they are capable to (Doyle and Brown 2013). These backgrounds were responsible for the development of an educational policy that would try to look for all the loopholes. The new policy would try to solve issues faced by all the stakeholders and produce a foolproof plan with correct strategies. Approach to the policy: While analyzing the policy, one should follow the Rizvi and Lingard method of assessment of the frameworks of different educational policies. Those authors along with their contemporary researcher Taylor had established that a particular perspective of post-national dimensions is indeed very helpful for the critical analysis of a particular educational policy. However, they did not ignore the realities of the state. To be specific, they stated that national governments should be the collaboration site of transnational institutions and global ideologies. These will seek to steer for the social imaginaries of policy actors also including national traditions and local policies at the same time. They have stated clearly that to study educational policies in the recent era of globalization certain criteria are to be kept in mind. They have found out through various researches over a large number of state, national and global policies (Rizvi and Lingard, review 2010). The interested learners and researchers should study the educational policies by initiating the development of certain specific theoretical and methodological approaches. These approaches would be based on the perspective and compete for evaluation of the global, post-national dimension at the same time of including into accounts of state realities. It helps to shed light on the recent social and economic consequences that arose from the misleading of the concept of neoliberalism in every nation. Its effects on the educational policy are high and therefore the Rizvi and Lingard's method of assessing educational policy as helped researchers to ask various questions. The author views are often found to be credential in assessing critical arguments on the concept of globalizing educational policy. They also represent the theoretical as well as the practical initiation for rethinking and then following re-elaborating educational policy. Hence, their way help in providing many questions w hich when answered can give a scenario for the loopholes and success of the issues (Rizvi and Lingard 2013). Curriculum policy analysis and findings: Main underpinnings: One can pick out two important areas where one can focus their discussion about. The first important question that one needs to assess while analyzing the current policy is that whether it has focused on the inequality issues or not. It is noted that the policy although keeps inequality as a background for the introduction of the revised policy of education in Scotland, the entire text did not mention any significant initiative to reduce the inequality often faced by different learners in the process. Inequality is not being addressed properly that is no initiative is taken significantly for reduction of inequality. As a result, in the second phase of the term years of the curriculum of Excellence, it is noted that the outcome of the policy has been varying among different schools over Scotland (Smith 2.016). This is mainly because biases and the distinction of students between different privileged and underprivileged backgrounds have still been present in Scotland. Moreover, issue s uch as sexism, classism, homophobic behavior, disabilities is also not addressed. However in the long run, from different sources, gender differentiation and classism issues have been seen to be reported by different researchers (Priestley and Minty 2013). To analyze the question that whether the policy text poses importance of knowledge as ideas and concepts or as competence and skills, one needs to have a thorough analysis of the entire text. Although there is no particular mention that the curriculum imposes knowledge into specific categories, an idea can be made after evaluation of the entire text. If one ponders over the phrase used "education should be directed to the development of the personality, talents and mental and physical abilities of the child or young person to their fullest potential" and that "due regard, so far as is reasonably practicable, should be paid to the views of the child or young person in decisions that significantly affect them, taking account of the child or young person's age and maturity" From this quote one can assume that the policy makers termed education as the provision of knowledge that would not only help the children to develop ideas and concepts through the application of eight different subj ects that are proposed. They would also involve the development of skills and maturities that would help them to be competitive and at the same time give them the capability to achieve their dream career after being extremely talented in the application of their skills (Humes 2013). Therefore, answering the question would be a little tricky as the policy covered a broader aspect of knowledge and education. Policy design: If one asks a question about the layout, design and use of color, then it can be said that the vocabulary that had been followed in the text is not too complicated. It is easy enough for ordinary readers to understand and apprehend the text easily. The background of the text is kept in white with writings done in black. To denote the important points and statements, the green color is used that shows high significance value to the readers. The writings are not compact but very clear and therefore it can be read easily. The questions about the main cohorts of readers of the policy and the text would be the young people who would be interested enough to utilize it as a consort where they would like to include different skills in their active life. It would help them with more options like art, drama, and other activities. They would also read it to achieve the higher standard of education, by focusing on the purposes of learning abilities. Parents can develop a sense of clear understanding of the requirements and the opportunities available for their wards (Priestley and Biesta 2013). Therefore they can provide proper support and hence develop their childs future. The teachers and educators can also use it as the guidelines which when followed by them clearly will help to develop their skills in teaching (Wallace and Priestley 2016). Discussions and implications in school: To refer to the issue of inequality, it should be stated that the teacher and the educators should be careful enough not to allow any inequality among the learners. Biases between students among different backgrounds need to be avoided by the teachers. Recent studies have shown that quality of education received from all the schools has not been similar and inequality has been a reason behind that. Students should have the scope of receiving the equal share of affection and knowledge from their teacher that would ultimately make the policy successful (Forsyth 2014). The schools should instill the concept of knowledge in the students in such a way so that not only they develop ideas and concepts about the certain subjects that are included in the curriculum. They should also make the student understand that knowledge could be their main weapon of survival in the competitive world. They have to develop their skills and talents in their field of interest so that they can apply such skills in their employment areas and earn sufficiently to live a happy life (Hayward and Hutchinson 2013). As the policy shows texts which are easy and can be understood easily, the teachers should not only follow them as guidelines but also can influence the students to go through them so that they can understand the efficiency of education in their future life. Once they understand how going through a routine discipline can help them achieve their goals they would be filled with more enthusiasm. Various cohorts of readers can go through the curriculum policy. For example, the parents can thereby understand the ways Scottish schools work and would be able to adapt to their environment. They can also assist their children with the school work as they can understand the demands of their schools (McKechan and Ellis 2014). Therefore, in various ways, one can find that the policy can have a propounding impact on the schools of Scotland and other associated stakeholders as well. Conclusion: From the above essay, one can thereby understand that curriculum for Excellence provided by the Department of Education and Young people have tried its best to cover a curriculum suitable for the budding children and their future dreams. There are certain areas like inequality and poverty which has not been properly covered in the policy texts. Moreover, they have also explained the gaining of knowledge in a controversial context. However, not many loopholes are found, and the different mentioned underpinnings can be closely evaluated and imposed in the school system. The educators should be polished enough to handle the underpinnings effectively. This essay hopes the success of the policy in the coming terms in the following years to be a major success. References: Authority, S.Q., 2014. 174.13 Qualifications Development Consultant (Languages)Curriculum for Excellence. Doyle, L. and Brown, V., 2013. Curriculum for Excellence: Impact on higher education. Final report Fazal, R. and Lingard, B., 2013. Globalizing education policy.Online: Taylor and Francis. Forsyth, S., 2014. Curriculum for Excellence and the Donaldson Report: a coherent approach supporting teachers in the move towards evidence based practice.The Scottish Association for Teachers of Physical Education On-line Journal,1(2). Gov.scot. (2017). A Curriculum for Excellence - The Curriculum Review Group. [online] Available at: https://www.gov.scot/Publications/2004/11/20178/45862 [Accessed 3 Jan. 2017]. Hayward, E.L. and Hutchinson, C., 2013. Exactly what do you mean by consistency?Exploring concepts of consistency and standards in Curriculum for Excellence in Scotland.Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy Practice,20(1), pp.53-68. Hedge, N. and MacKenzie, A., 2016. Scotlands Curriculum for Excellence: a defence of autonomy and personhood.Oxford Review of Education,42(1), pp.1-15. Humes, W., 2013. The Origins and development of curriculum for excellence: Discourse, politics and control.Reinventing the curriculum: New trends in curriculum policy and practice, pp.13-34. Kidner, C., 2013. Curriculum for excellence. Macdonald, I., 2014. CURRICULUM FOR EXCELLENCE: a study of art design and the impact on Higher Education.AD, (9), pp.24-25. McKechan, S. and Ellis, J., 2014. Collaborative learning in the Scottish curriculum for excellence: The challenges of assessment and potential of multi-touch technology.Education 3-13,42(5), pp.475-487. Priestley, M. and Biesta, G. eds., 2013.Reinventing the curriculum: New trends in curriculum policy and practice. AC Black. Priestley, M. and Minty, S., 2013. Curriculum for Excellence:'A brilliant idea, but...'.Scottish Educational Review,45(1), pp.39-52. RIZVI, F. and LINGARD, B. 2010. Globalizing Education Policy. London and New York. [online] orbisscholae.cz. Available at: https://www.orbisscholae.cz/archiv/2010/2010_2_09.pdf [Accessed 3 Jan. 2017]. Smith, J., 2016. What remains of History? Historical epistemology and historical understanding in Scotlands Curriculum for Excellence (Forthcoming).Curriculum Journal Wallace, C.S. and Priestley, M.R., 2016. Secondary science teachers as curriculum makers: Mapping and designing Scotland's new Curriculum for Excellence.Journal of Research in Science Teaching.

Is The Mind Distinct From The Body Essays - Cognitive Science, Mind

Is The Mind Distinct From The Body Is the mind distinct from the body? Some would choose to declare that every human being is both a body and a mind. Both being gelled together until death, than having the mind go on to exist and the body being lifeless. A person lives throughout two collateral histories, one having to do with what happens to the body and in it, and the other being what happens in and to the mind. What happens to the body is public and what happens to the mind is private. The events which reply to the body consist of the physical world, and the events of the mind consist of the mental world. It has been argued whether a person can directly observe all or a select few of situations of ones own private history. According to the official doctrine by Descartes at least some of these situations one has direct and unchallengeable cognisance. It is ordinary to declare branching of two lives and of two worlds by stating that the things and events which belong to the physical world as well as ones own body are external. While on the other hand t he work of owns mind are internal. This contradiction of outer and inner is absolutely meant to be interpreted as a metaphor. Since minds could not be described as being spatially inside anything else, or as having things going on spatially inside themselves. Even when inner and outer are construed as metaphors, the problem of how ones mind and body can influence one another is well-known charged with abstract difficulties. Therefore there is a popular conflict between mind and matter. A conflict which is often brought out as follows. Material objects are categorized as space and what happens to one body in one part of a space is mechanically combined with what happens to other bodies in other parts of space. On the other hand, mental occurrences happen in insulated fields known as minds and there is no direct connection between what happens in another. Only from the public physical world can the mind of one person change or make a difference of another person. People can see, hear, and touch one anothers bodies, but they are irremediably blind and deaf to the work of one anothers mind and impaired upon them. A person has direct knowledge of the best possible kind of work of ones own mind. The inner life is a course of consciousness of such a sort that it would be foolish to suggest that the mind whose life is that course might be unaware of what is passing it down. A minds reports of its own affairs has a certainty superior to the best that is possessed by its reports of matters in the physical world. Direct access to the workings of a mind is the privileged of that mind itself. In error of such privileged access, the workings of one mind are eventually hidden to everyone else. Only ones own privileged access to the course of direct awareness and introspection could provide authentic testimony that these mental-conduct verbs were correctly or incorrectly utilized. Finding mental-conduct concepts being regularly and effectively used, they properly sought to fix their reasonable geography. On the other hand, the reasonable geography conventionally officially endorsed would require that there could be no regular or effective use of these mental-conduct concepts in our descriptions of and prescriptions for other peoples minds. My conclusion is that the mind is distinct from the body. Many examples by Gilbert Ryle show that when the body dies, the mind goes on into existence. Therefore the mind is distinct from the body. Although they are both a part of a human being, there are different levels of physical and mental emotions that show distinct from each other. Philosophy

The War In Afghanistan essays

The War In Afghanistan essays In the early morning of September 11, 2001, the United States was awaked to the news that the World Trade Center and Pentagon had been hit by commercial airlines. The deed was stated by President Bush, as an apparent terrorist act. The initial response of America was to go and hunt down all who practice the Muslim faith and to retaliate and possibly initiate a war. But is violence the right way to react. In this case, violence is an acceptable way to respond. If the United States did not fight back in some way, shape, or form, it may have lead other countries to believe that we have no way to defend ourselves, therefore making it seem that we are an inferior nation. As a nation, when a problem like this comes about, we should not just brush it off and say it happens, but we should find some means of defending ourselves. If somebody was threatening your life, you have the right to defend yourself. Though some people may believe in nonviolence, in modern society, this is not the best way of getting your point across when you are dealing with possible war. Following the attacks on September 11th, President Bush announced that the reason he would strike back was not only to get vengeance, but also to wipe out terrorism. In his address to the nation he stated: America and our friends and allies join with all those who want peace and security in the world and we stand together to win the war against terrorism (Bush page 2). If his purpose for violence is to help expunge evil, does that still make it wrong? The United States is the most powerful country in the world. But that does not mean that the USA is the most liked. As a country we need to live up to the standards set to us by the world. By standing around after the attacks, that may be seen as weak. If the USA retaliates it will show other countries that the USA is the most powerful country and is not to be reckoned with. This retribution ...

Free Essays on Acropolis

Acropolis I. Introduction Acropolis (Greek akros, â€Å"highest†; polis, â€Å"city†), fortified natural stronghold or citadel in ancient Greece. The Greeks built their towns in plains near or around a rocky hill that could easily be fortified and defended. The word acropolis referred both to the hill and to what was built on it. Almost every Greek city had its acropolis, which provided a place of refuge for townspeople during times of war. Sometimes the ruler of the town lived within the walls of this stronghold. In many cases the acropolis became the site of temples and public buildings and thus served as the town’s religious center and the focal point of its public life and as a place of refuge. The best-known acropolis of the ancient world is the Acropolis of Athens. The ruins of its temples and their sculptures are widely regarded as the finest examples of ancient Greek art and architecture. Built on a limestone hill that rises about 150 m (about 500 ft) above sea level, the Acropolis dominates the city of Athens. It houses the remains of the Parthenon, a magnificent temple dedicated to the goddess Athena; the Propylaea, a monumental marble gateway and the main entrance to the Acropolis; the Erechtheum, a temple famous for the perfection of its details; and the Temple of Athena Nike.... Free Essays on Acropolis Free Essays on Acropolis Acropolis I. Introduction Acropolis (Greek akros, â€Å"highest†; polis, â€Å"city†), fortified natural stronghold or citadel in ancient Greece. The Greeks built their towns in plains near or around a rocky hill that could easily be fortified and defended. The word acropolis referred both to the hill and to what was built on it. Almost every Greek city had its acropolis, which provided a place of refuge for townspeople during times of war. Sometimes the ruler of the town lived within the walls of this stronghold. In many cases the acropolis became the site of temples and public buildings and thus served as the town’s religious center and the focal point of its public life and as a place of refuge. The best-known acropolis of the ancient world is the Acropolis of Athens. The ruins of its temples and their sculptures are widely regarded as the finest examples of ancient Greek art and architecture. Built on a limestone hill that rises about 150 m (about 500 ft) above sea level, the Acropolis dominates the city of Athens. It houses the remains of the Parthenon, a magnificent temple dedicated to the goddess Athena; the Propylaea, a monumental marble gateway and the main entrance to the Acropolis; the Erechtheum, a temple famous for the perfection of its details; and the Temple of Athena Nike....

Kellogg's business executive summary Research Paper

Kellogg's business executive summary - Research Paper Example There are many other external challenges which an organization faces apart from its internal challenges and problems. In order to conduct the study on organizational problems Kellogg’s has been chosen as the organization. There is no specific reason for choosing this organization but given its presence in the market for over a hundred years and a huge brand value will certainly help the cause. The study is aimed to provide more insights which determines and gives rise to some of the organizational problem and also to evaluate the required solutions for assisting the organization in the formation of a new strategy or a course of action. The report will highlight the problems that Kellogg’s has faced recently. Apart from this the report will also try to put some of the ways by which the problems can be sorted out. After the recommended plan it will be illustrating some of the techniques by which the proposed solutions can be implemented and further evaluated. After studyi ng the subject and conducting the required researches the key findings of the report are the problems which Kellogg’s is facing presently or has faced in the recent past. The problems are the common problems which an organization usually faces in their operations and some other specific issues. The significant issues which have been taken into are the rising cost of raw materials, reduces bargaining power, issues related to packaging and the traditional problem with competitors. Among the aforementioned issues this report will principally focus on the rising cost of raw materials. The report will also highlight the core reasons for which there is an increase in the price of raw materials. Now in order to get rid from the focused problem it has been recommended that Kellogg’s must have mutual contracts with their suppliers for pre booking the raw materials in the current market price by paying in advance. The company should also make sure that they purchase large amount of raw materials for availing discounts. The company must also focus on cutting down the cost of some superfluous factors which will help the company to strengthen its current financial position. Position Kellogg’s company along with its subsidiaries, is affianced in the production and marketing of ready to consume cereals and other convenience foods (Companydatabase n.d.). Kellogg’s was founded in the year 1906 by Will Keith Kellogg and John Harvey Kellogg in the name of ‘Battle Creek Toasted Corn Flake Company’ (Kellogg’s n.d.). And the organization got renamed as Kellogg Company during the year 1922. The company is presently headquartered at Battle Creek, Michigan, USA. It is presently headed by David McKay. The company started its operation with only 44 employees but today it has made its presence in more than 180 countries around the world and manufactures in 18 countries (Kelloggcompany n.d.). In order to sell their product in the market the company uses brokers or distribution channels. They principally targets grocery shops for the distribution of products which are intended for the end users or the consumers. Some of the essential products of the company

Law - INFRINGEMENT Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Law - INFRINGEMENT - Assignment Example hese reported incidents with the proceeding of court decision is of copying brand name and logo of â€Å"Nutella† and launching its replica â€Å"Nutello†. Although â€Å"Nutella† was a chocolate spread and â€Å"Nutello† was a beverage series of coffee, cocoa and tea, still the court decides the following with special reference to Singapore Business law, The law states that phrase or the name of the replica must have a visual, aural and conceptual compatibility. In this case the name do possesses visual and aural similarity but the concept was a bit different of both the organizations. The court concluded that the products will be regarded alike even when one of these three aspects is missing. This is because a relationship must be established and accessed with the terms under which the â€Å"Nutella† has been made in record and not what it is actually dealing with. Word mark â€Å"Nutella† has been registered for anything that deals with chocolate that relates to chocolate in any physical form (Gallezo, 2013). The judicial panel examined the concept of dilution in detail and concluded that the according to Section 2 (1) (b) of the trade mark act, dilution even if not likelihood to cause bewilderment and uncertainty in the general public, still is regarded as infringement because that make likely to cause it in prospect. The conclusion was yes, as there are drastic changes in the financial response of customer so this cannot be measured and predicted. For this purpose any infringe product if not giving economical loss now, can be damaging for the financial status of the trade mark holder in the near future. For this purpose infringement must be condemned at all stages. A similar incident has been reported in Thailand in which the KFC (renowned fast food chain) has been copied by a small restaurant in which the owner of that eatery uses same logo and color combination as that of KFC but uses the picture of Hitler (the notorious ruler) instead of Colonel Sanders who

Minor Assignment Marketing Mix Essay Example for Free

Minor Assignment Marketing Mix Essay Introduction This report has been compiled in order to describe the four most common elements of the marketing mix which are described by Elliot, Rundle-Thiele and Waller (2010 p.18-21) in the following few sentences. * Product – â€Å"A good, service or idea offered to the market for exchange.† (p.18) * Price – â€Å"The amount of money a business demands in exchange for its offerings.† (p.20) * Promotion – â€Å"The marketing activities that make potential customers, partners and society aware of and attracted to the business’s offerings. † (p.20) * Place (Distribution) – â€Å"The means of making the offering available to the customer at the right time and place† (p.21) In conjunction with these descriptions, all four marketing mix elements will be analysed and shown how they can be applied to retail petrol outlets and the products which are made available to customers. The Marketing Mix Elliot et. al describe the marketing mix as â€Å"the different elements that marketers need to consider.† (2010 p. 18) When using the marketing mix to market retail petrol outlets such as Caltex Woolworths or Coles Express, marketers need to consider the Product, Price, Promotion and Distribution (Place) of not only petrol, but many other consumer and specialty products which retail petrol outlets offer. Product It can be seen in retail petrol stations that other than the expected fuels like unleaded and diesel which are generally relatively low in terms of their profit margin, â€Å"some oil firms claim that supermarkets sell petrol at a loss in order to attract customers.† (The Economist, 1996 p.58) Other products are required in order to boost profits for the retail petrol chains’ owner. These other products are mostly the convenience type and can range from the daily newspaper and chewing gum, to a bottle of orange juice or a loaf of bread. There are three categories of convenience products outlined by Elliot et al. which are all found in retail petrol outlets and include staple products, impulse products and emergency products. (2010 p. 207) * Staple products – These are considered to be everyday grocery products like bread and milk, purchased regularly by consumers and therefore aren’t heavily promoted * Impulse products – These are considered to be only purchased when seen, like confectionary or magazines which are eye catching and are usually found around the cash register. * Emergency products – These are considered to be those products which are only purchased when really needed, like a raincoat or an umbrella. Although there are a lot of products sold by retail petrol outlets like Caltex Woolworths and Coles Express, the obvious product centred on all retail petrol outlets is the fuel supplied to consumers. The varieties of fuels which can be purchased can include: * E10 – 10% Ethanol. * E85 – 85% Ethanol. * E95 – 95% Ethanol. * Unleaded – Standard fuel. * Hi Octane – Offered for high performance vehicles. * LPG – Alternative to liquid fuel, a Gas product. * Diesel – More efficient lower sulphur producing by product. There is a vast selection of fuels for consumers to choose from and although the blends of fuels stay similar, the names and descriptions of these fuels tend to change from outlet to outlet. For example, when you drive into a Caltex Woolworths you are confronted with the choice of â€Å"Caltex Vortex 95 or 98,† both are hi octane blends offered to a prospective purchaser. (Woolworths fuels, Website.) Price When dealing with topic of pricing in retail petrol stores, the outcome of the price has to be both beneficial to the seller, and seen as a good deal to the buyer, otherwise no trades will take place. As stated previously, petrol itself tends to have a lower margin for profit which means the strategic pricing of other products in-store needs to be addressed as well as ensuring that the price of petrol is not seen as out of balance with other suppliers. There is an obvious demand for petrol, as almost everyone who is able, drives or rides a vehicle which requires fuel to run. So it could be argued that retail petrol stations don’t necessarily set their own prices, but go off supplier guidelines which base their fuel pricing strategy on demand, â€Å"Demand based pricing sets prices according to the level of aggregate or individual customer demand in the market.† (Elliott et al. 2010 p. 250) Elliott et al. also continue to write that both Caltex Woolworths and Coles Express hold more than 60% of the Australian fuel market share (2010 p.268) so high demand from their suppliers will enable them to lower their fuel prices and therefore gain more customers, earning higher profits. Pricing of other products offered by retail petrol outlets such as bread or milk tend to have the opportunity to be competitive and more fairly priced than a standard petrol station, the major grocery companies behind retail petrol outlets like Woolworths and Coles focus on gaining more ground off one and other, price drops are reflected in store and this also proves more profitable, because consumers are drawn into purchasing something they wouldn’t normally associate with their petrol. Promotion An important aspect in the success of retail petrol outlets is in their promotion, or the way in which their fuels and other products are portrayed to potential customers. There are many numbers of ways in which retail petrol outlets use promotional tools to make the public more aware of what their outlet has to offer. Using the Coles Express website for example, it can be seen that promotion plays a major role in the marketing of retail petrol outlets, on the homepage can be found five key promotional campaigns designed to catch the eye of potential customers. The opportunity to win â€Å"the ultimate weekend Ferrari drive experience† or â€Å"two Cadbury chocolate bars for four dollars† (Coles Express, website) are two examples of how Coles Express use promotion as a tool to gain the interest of potential customers. The use of shopper dockets and rewards cards are also a major way in which retail petrol outlets have promoted themselves, using incentives of cheaper fuel by spending amounts of money in store or purchasing earlier in their supermarkets and bringing the docket to the petrol station in order to gain the fuel discount. In the recent past, retail petrol outlets have encouraged shoppers to buy big in store in order to earn big discounts off fuel â€Å"motorists who spend more than $300 during one supermarket visit during the next three days receive a 40 cent per litre petrol discount. Shoppers who spend more than $200 or more receive a 25 cent a litre discount, while those who spend $100 or more get a 10 cent a litre discount.† (Cranston 2009) Woolworths have the â€Å"Everyday Rewards† program, and Coles have the â€Å"Fly buys† rewards program. Both these programs offer rewards point in exchange for purchases made in their outlets. Another way in which retail petrol outlets can promote their product is through sponsorship, Coles Express for example are sponsoring Daffodil day, a program not normally associated with fuel but this can help to grow an organisations image, by supporting such a worthy cause, Coles express may gain respect from the community and in turn boost their profits. Place (Distribution) The transportation and distribution of products including fuel to retail petrol outlets operates under the marketing mix category of â€Å"Place.† â€Å"The science (or art) of ensuring products are in the right place at the right time in the right quantity is known as logistics and the various partners that contribute to the process make up is called the supply chain.† (Elliot et al. 2010 p.21) Retail petrol outlets operate somewhat differently to conventional service stations, the retail petrol outlets are often situated near to a parent supermarket company (in the same complex) which makes supply of products other than fuel relatively easy as the distance for stock to travel is minimal. When looking at the fuel aspect, it can be seen that the logistics tend to become a lot more involved and a more defined supply chain emerges. * First fuel is sourced from their respective supplier (Caltex or Shell) on a relatively routine basis, as fuel is a required product for most of the community. * The fuel is then transported by truck from oil refineries which are based in more coastal areas (Caltex oil refinery in Kurnell NSW) which makes it easier to transfer oil from overseas oil barges when new shipments arrive. * When the trucks reach the retail petrol outlet the fuel is then pumped into underground holding tanks, where the fuel can now be distributed to the customer via the petrol pump and now exchange of fuels can be made for a profit. Conclusion This report was compiled in order to describe the four elements of the marketing mix: * Product * Price * Promotion * Place (distribution) The descriptions of these marketing mix elements were also shown in application; how they are applied when breaking down the four aspects in relation to retail petrol outlets. Focusing on the Caltex Woolworths and Coles Express partnerships it was able to be shown how the marketing mix elements are applied. Products have been broken down into specific fuels and other items which are available to potential customers, these products have also been categorised as either: Staple, Impulse or Emergency. Price has been shown to be of vital importance, and the outcome of the price has to be both beneficial to the seller, and seen as a good deal to the buyer. Promotion has also proven to be of high importance to the overall marketing of retail petrol outlets, the use of shopper dockets for discounts, and sponsorship for awareness and image are important promotional tools outlined above. Place (Distribution) outlines the logistics and supply chain which is in place for retail petrol outlets to gain their product in order to forward it onto the paying public to gain an overall profit. All four of these marketing mix elements play their own equally pivotal role in ensuring the successful operation of retail petrol outlets. References Coles Express website www.colesexpress.com.au Cranston, B. (2009) NSW: ACCC investigating supermarket petrol promotion. AAP Australian National News wire Elliott, G. Rundle-Thiele, S. Waller, D. (2010) Marketing. Pump Action, The Economist. (1996) Vol. 338 Issue 7950, page 58 Woolworths petrol website www.woolworthspetrol.com.au