Articles
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Volume : Volume 2 Issue : Issue 1 Year: 2015
Gaps in Theory and Practice of Power Dynamics in Education
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Abstract
Power is complex and omnipresent. Not only is it a visible part of daily life, but its presence as a social construct can be seen in a variety of disciplines. Dahl (1957) states that despite power’s focus as a variable of analysis since antiquity, our understanding of it is far from complete. Power is often thought of as something possessed and there in lays the tendency to view it as something tangible. However, we see that even this conception of the tangible aspect of power is debated upon. In the context of education this theme is pertinent because; the concept of power is one of the factors that determines the organizational culture, and in turn, the success of any educational system. The paper is divided into two sections; firstly to share some empirical findings on existing organizational cultures as perceived by teachers of educational institutions and to look at some of the perceptions of power that teachers have constructed for themselves. Secondly, the paper is a beginning of a discussion on the need to look at the concept of power in education and relook at theories to see how power can be used for the betterment of our educational institutions. The need for this paper emerges from the author’s personal experiences and sharing the belief of Michele Foucault that power also has a productive dimension. It contributes to individual’s self making and prevalent in any relation and finally power always can be contested.
Keywords: Power, organizational culture, education
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Sybil Thomas
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Volume : Volume 2 Issue : Issue 1 Year: 2015
University Students’ Awareness of Meta-cognitive Reading Strategies and Reading Comprehension
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Abstract
The current research paper reports a study investigating the awareness of Sargodha university post graduate students’ about meta-cognitive reading strategies use and reading comprehension of the academic material in English as a foreign language. The data was collected through a questionnaire (MARSI) particularly designed to expose the kinds of reading strategies adult learners report exploiting when reading academic materials (Mukhtari and Reichard, 2002). The questionnaire was accompanied by a comprehension test to judge the reading ability of the students. The outcomes of the study expose that on the whole these post graduate university students are aware of all the strategies included in the present research, with an inclination towards global strategies, followed by support and problem solving strategies respectively. However, when reading ability was considered in relation to the comprehension test, the students with preference for problem strategies scored higher as compared to the students with preference for global and support strategies. Moreover, disparity was found between male and female students in their awareness of metacognitive strategies use and comprehension test scores.
Keywords: Reading strategies and comprehension, academic text, meta-cognition, awareness
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Mussarrat Azhar, Riffat un Nisa Awan & Shaista Khalid
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Volume : Volume 2 Issue : Issue 1 Year: 2015
A Comparative Study of Misconceptions in the Subject of Chemistry among the Students of O-Level Curriculum of University of Cambridge UK and SSC Level, Pakistani National Curriculum 2006
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Abstract
The study was intended to identify and compare the misconceptions in the subject of Chemistry among the students of O-level and SSC. Researchers also seek to explain how student’s demographic and educational diversity effects to their conceptual understanding. The population was comprised of 16 schools of ICT (Islamabad Capital territory) offering O-level with Cambridge University’s curriculum and 34 public schools of ICT, offering Pakistani National curriculum (2006) for their SSC classes. Researcher selected 25% educational institutions as sample of the study through simple random sampling (02 boys +02 girls=04’ schools for O-Level, 05 boys +05 girl’s =10 schools for SSC). 100 % students these classes from selected schools were respondents of the study. Content based standardized instrument of TIMMS (2008), revalidated in local context, was used. The hypotheses were tested statistically by using T-test through SPSS. In the light of findings it was concluded that there is significant difference between in misconception of the learner of SSC&O-level regarding the all ten common content areas. It was also concluded that O-level students have less misconceptions in some content areas but the overall the comparison shows that SSC students have less misconception as compared to O-level students.
Keywords: Curriculum, Misconceptions, Chemistry, SSC, O-Level
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Samia Rehman
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Volume : Volume 2 Issue : Issue 1 Year: 2015
Comparison of Students’ Achievement taught through English and Urdu as medium of Instruction
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Abstract
The role of native language is vital in students’ learning at elementary level. The theorists and practitioners speak for indigenous language as a medium of instruction (MI). The purpose of the present study was to compare the achievement of students in Urdu medium test (UMT) and English medium test (EMT) at elementary level. Three hundred students (N= 300) from grade 8th were randomly selected from12 (6 male & 6 female) schools. Students’ achievement test (SAT) was used as a research tool. Paired-samples t- test was applied to analyze the data. The results show that students perform better in indigenous language test / Urdu medium of instruction as compared to foreign language test/ English medium of instruction at elementary level. However, approximately 15% students can perform better in English medium-instruction as well as Urdu medium-instruction. Govt. of Pakistan should direct to adapt Urdu as medium of instruction at elementary level. The researchers recommended to meet the international needs, talent sections should be arranged in particular schools of English medium instruction.
Key words: Medium of instruction, Students’ achievement, Elementary level.
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Muhammad Tahir Khan Farooqi, Asif Iqbal & Mobeen ul Islam
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Volume : Volume 2 Issue : Issue 1 Year: 2015
Attitudes of School Heads towards Inclusion of Student with Disabilities in Regular Schools
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Abstract
Inclusive education is indispensable for achieving Education for All. This study highlights the attitudes of public school head towards inclusive education in Punjab. The attitude of school heads plays a vital role for an effective inclusive education process as well as for overall educational progress of students. The present study is descriptive in its nature. All the heads of the schools of both sexes in public schools of Punjab province are the populations of this study. A questionnaire was used as an instrument to measure attitudes of school heads towards inclusion of students with disabilities in schools and how these school heads conceptualize inclusive education. Reflecting on data carried out from 200 schools of ten districts of Punjab. This research gives a valuable indication of the attitudes and awareness of school heads towards inclusion. The study found that school heads of rural area have more positive attitude towards inclusion and there is no significant difference between male and female heads towards inclusion of students with disabilities. This research will reveal the difficulties in implementing inclusive education and will also contribute in the field of educational leadership.
Keywords: Attitude, inclusive education, children with disabilities
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Muhammad Ashfaq, Nayyer Bashir & M. Uzair-ul-Hassan
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Volume : Volume 2 Issue : Issue 1 Year: 2015
A Study to Assess Undergraduate University Students’ Academic Adjustment
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Abstract
New university students face many problems that hinder their progress within academic adjustment. Further examination exposed that first-year university students are more likely to dropout during their first- semester. The purpose of the study was to assess the undergraduate university students’ academic adjustment. This study was descriptive in nature. The academic adjustment scale was divided into four subscales; academic adjustment, social adjustment, personal-emotional adjustment and institutional adjustment. The sample was taken convenient. The size of sample was 500 first year university students. Five hundred students (Male = 164 & Female = 338) were selected from four public sector universities of Lahore. The questionnaire was adapted and modified. The nine point Liket type scale was used to collect data to assess the undergraduate university students’ academic adjustment. It revealed that the university students are adjusted well academically. Among the scale of academic adjustment, students are comparatively academically adjusted well. The students of Govt. College University of Lahore are well adjusted as compared to students of other universities of Lahore.
Keywords: Academic adjustment, undergraduate university students, assessment
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Sadia Asghar & Maher Muhammad Saeed Akhtar
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Volume : Volume 2 Issue : Issue 1 Year: 2015
Relationship between Heads’ Leadership Styles and Job Satisfaction of Secondary School Teachers
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Abstract
All countries of the world make efforts to reform their educational system. For the purpose many researches are conducted, various policies are formulated and different steps are taken. Several researches reveal that effective leadership is mandatory and the head of institution plays a vital role to achieve the targets. This study attempts to investigate the relationship of heads’ leadership styles (democratic & autocratic) on job satisfaction level of secondary school teachers (SSTs). The study was a cross-sectional survey and was ‘analytic’ in nature (Cohen et al., 2007). A co-relational design is adopted to get information from the quantitative data. All the boys’ public secondary schools of district Mianwali were taken as population and 19 out of 56 boys’ public secondary schools of two tehsils (Mianwali and Piplan) were selected using convenient sampling technique. A questionnaire comprising of 37 items was designed and administered to the selected sample of male SSTs. The questionnaires (230) were delivered to teachers personally by the researchers and the response rate was 91%. Validation of the instrument was carried out through expert opinion, by which the items were improved in terms of language, format and content. An estimate of internal consistency using Cronbach Alpha formula was 0.863. Mean score, standard deviation, correlation coefficient and regression were used to analyze the data. The results of the study revealed that majority of head teachers in public secondary schools of district Mianwali, use democratic leadership style which has a statistically significant relationship with the job satisfaction level of SSTs. Autocratic leadership style also has a positive relationship with job satisfaction level of SSTs but it is used occasionally.
Keywords: Leadership styles, autocratic, democratic, job satisfaction, secondary school teachers
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Muhammad Sadiq, Shafqat Hussain, Kashif Mahmood, Amir Abdullah & Tanveer Ahmad