Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Education Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Articles 1 - 17 of 17

Full-Text Articles in Education

Chronicles Of Change : Strengthening Teacher Education In Pakistan, Nida Dossa Jan 2015

Chronicles Of Change : Strengthening Teacher Education In Pakistan, Nida Dossa

Institute for Educational Development, Karachi

A step towards improving education in Pakistan; being able to sit in a classroom, feel safe, learn about how the world works: being able to read a book, make up stories and discover new ideas - these are the basic rights of every child. however, millions of children in Pakistan have never seen a classroom or attended a lesson. Here, educational challenges are innumerable and oftentimes seem insurmountable. STEP - Strengthening Teacher Education in Pakistan works to improve the quality and delivery of elementary education services appropriate to the poor in the country, particularly women and children in Pakistan.


Gender Equality And Social Cohesion : Reflection On The Experiences Of Strengthening Teacher Education In Pakistan, Dilshad Ashraf, Kausar Waqar Nov 2012

Gender Equality And Social Cohesion : Reflection On The Experiences Of Strengthening Teacher Education In Pakistan, Dilshad Ashraf, Kausar Waqar

Institute for Educational Development, Karachi

No abstract provided.


Strengthening The Professional Development For Teachers At Uc-Trc Level – A Hub For Teachers Professional Development, Rakhshinda Meher Nov 2012

Strengthening The Professional Development For Teachers At Uc-Trc Level – A Hub For Teachers Professional Development, Rakhshinda Meher

Institute for Educational Development, Karachi

Professional development is a continuous improvement process, on job training and support needed to improve teaching, it encompasses the processes that educators engage in to initially prepare themselves, continuously update themselves, and review and reflect on their own performance. The experiences suggest that continuing professional development is needed to reinforce learning and support educational change process. This paper encompass on strengthening the professional development for teachers at Union Council Tehsil Resource Center (UC-TRCs). Teacher Mentors, developed by AKU-IED, STEP Project initiated the Cluster-based Mentoring Programme (CBMP) and also providing teachers follow-up support through Schools visits. Teachers professionally support each other, …


Communities Of Practice And Teacher Development – Lessons Learnt From An Educational Innovation In Pakistan, Sajid Ali Dec 2011

Communities Of Practice And Teacher Development – Lessons Learnt From An Educational Innovation In Pakistan, Sajid Ali

Institute for Educational Development, Karachi

Communities of Practice (CoP) is a novel idea that highlights the importance of informal learning and working groups in an organization. Organizations need to nurture informal spaces of learning so as to enhance overall organizational success. This article builds on this idea and applies it to educational context of Pakistan, particularly towards the issue of teacher training. The paper presents the example of an educational improvement programme in KPK province of Pakistan titled ‘Primary Education Project – Improvement of the Learning Environment (PEP-ILE)’. It is highlighted that PEP-ILE created cluster based training model around subject areas. Such configuration allowed for …


Mentoring In Teacher Education: Building Nurturing Contexts And Teaching Communities For Rural Primary School Teachers In Sindh, Pakistan, Nilofar Vazir, Rakhshinda Meher Jan 2010

Mentoring In Teacher Education: Building Nurturing Contexts And Teaching Communities For Rural Primary School Teachers In Sindh, Pakistan, Nilofar Vazir, Rakhshinda Meher

Institute for Educational Development, Karachi

This paper examines how mentoring can improve the performance and level of teacher education in Pakistan, especially in rural areas. It presents a qualitative case study that focuses on two teachers from rural Sindh; one male and the other female. These teachers were participants in the Mentoring Program at the Aga Khan University – Institute for Educational Development (AKU-IED). Data was collected through participant observations, from structured and unstructured interviews, in the classroom and the field, and from reflective journals. The program focused on reconceptualizing the role of these teachers as mentors, developing relevant skills through critical thinking and reflective …


Teaching Teachers And Students About The Nature Of Science, Nelofer Halai Jan 2010

Teaching Teachers And Students About The Nature Of Science, Nelofer Halai

Institute for Educational Development, Karachi

This article advocates the teaching about the nature of science to both pupils in schools and teachers in teacher education institutions in Pakistan. Not knowing about science; teachers tend to continue to teach science as fixed knowledge and not as inquiry and this cycle continues. This cycle needs to be broken. This article first discusses the salient features about the concept of the nature of science and then illustrates these ideas with the help of a simple but a powerful activity which could be used both with teacher educators and pupils in secondary and lower secondary classrooms.


Understanding The Practice Of Teacher Educators In Implementing The Intel® Teach Essentials Pre Service Course In Pakistan, Nelofer Halai, Ratan Salem, Nasira Gardezi Jan 2009

Understanding The Practice Of Teacher Educators In Implementing The Intel® Teach Essentials Pre Service Course In Pakistan, Nelofer Halai, Ratan Salem, Nasira Gardezi

Institute for Educational Development, Karachi

This paper focuses on understanding the practice of teacher educators in implementing the Intel® Teach Essentials Course at four sites in the provinces of Punjab and Sindh in Pakistan. The focus is on teacher educators’ practices rather that the practice of teachers and hence the research sites selected for the study are teacher education institutions where the Intel® Teach Program is being implemented for teaching prospective teachers. A qualitative study was undertaken selecting 21 teacher educators and interviewing them on key objectives of the Intel Teach program. The findings are encouraging, and show that teachers in both rural and urban …


Crazy About Teaching, Kausar Waqar Feb 2008

Crazy About Teaching, Kausar Waqar

Institute for Educational Development, Karachi

No abstract provided.


Learning To Use Innovative Pedagogy: The Experience Of A Primary Science Teacher In Pakistan, Nelofer Halai Jun 2006

Learning To Use Innovative Pedagogy: The Experience Of A Primary Science Teacher In Pakistan, Nelofer Halai

Institute for Educational Development, Karachi

This study examined the experiences of primary science teachers when they weThis study examined the experiences of primary science teachers when they were exposed to a new and innovative teaching strategy and the process that they followed in using the strategy in the class- room for the first time. Four primary science teachers, among the 22 participants of an 8-week Certificate in Education (Science) in Karachi, were observed and interviewed after the four-day teaching session where they were instructed how to use "Discrepant Events" to teach science content. Only the case of Farhana Batool, a teacher in a private school, …


Creating Independent Learners: Using Inquiry In Pakistani Classrooms, Bernadette L. Dean, Farah Huma Dec 2005

Creating Independent Learners: Using Inquiry In Pakistani Classrooms, Bernadette L. Dean, Farah Huma

Institute for Educational Development, Karachi

No abstract provided.


Engagement Enhance Interest In Physics, Harcharan Pardhan Sep 2004

Engagement Enhance Interest In Physics, Harcharan Pardhan

Institute for Educational Development, Karachi

No abstract provided.


How To Make The Teaching Of Transfer Of Heat More Effective, Muhammad Nabi Khan, Amos Ngugi Sep 2004

How To Make The Teaching Of Transfer Of Heat More Effective, Muhammad Nabi Khan, Amos Ngugi

Institute for Educational Development, Karachi

No abstract provided.


Reflection On Learning About Forces, Mir Zaman Shah, Mahmood Ghaznavi, Mohammad Ibrahim Khan Sep 2004

Reflection On Learning About Forces, Mir Zaman Shah, Mahmood Ghaznavi, Mohammad Ibrahim Khan

Institute for Educational Development, Karachi

Force is a basic concept in the physical sciences. It is included in Pakistan’s national curriculum from the primary level through the higher levels. Because of the abstract nature of the concept of force, both students and teachers have alternative frameworks in this area. This was revealed in our classroom discussions on force during the Lower Secondary Science Module of the M.Ed. program at the Aga Khan University Institute for Educational Development (AKU-IED) in Karachi, Pakistan. In-depth discussions and a variety of activities we carried out while teaching about forces challenged our previous concepts and allowed us to think critically …


Science Teacher Education And The Nature Of Science: A Voice From Pakistan, Nelofer Halai Jun 2003

Science Teacher Education And The Nature Of Science: A Voice From Pakistan, Nelofer Halai

Institute for Educational Development, Karachi

The purpose of this paper is to advocate that tenchcrs be encouraged nnd helped to develop an overt and deaf epistemological understanding of the methods and structure of science, i.e., the nature of science (NOS). I have tried to define the concepts that constitute NOS essential for school science. I also want to highlight some of the challenges faced in attempts to introduce NOS in inservice teacher education in Pakistan.


Science Teacher Education: A Wonderful Journey Around The World, Nelofer Halai Jan 2002

Science Teacher Education: A Wonderful Journey Around The World, Nelofer Halai

Institute for Educational Development, Karachi

No abstract provided.


Bridging The North-South Divide In Teacher Education, Alan E. Wheeler Jan 2001

Bridging The North-South Divide In Teacher Education, Alan E. Wheeler

Institute for Educational Development, Karachi

No abstract provided.


Promoting Science Teacher Education Through Dissonance And Discrepancy, Nelofer Halai, Alan E. Wheeler Apr 1998

Promoting Science Teacher Education Through Dissonance And Discrepancy, Nelofer Halai, Alan E. Wheeler

Institute for Educational Development, Karachi

While inquiry in science teaching has found a great deal of acceptance (Colletet and Chiapetta, 1989), there is a growing recognition that educators need a wider repertoire of inquiry strategies applicable to various situations. One promising approach is through the use of so-called ‘dissonant’ or ‘discrepant events’. This concept of discrepancy can be traced to the early work of Festinger (1975) and his Theory of Cognitive Dissonance in which he stated that the creation of dissonance is psychologically very uncomfortable and motivates individuals to actively reduce the level of dissonance and thereby return to a state of greater equilibrium or …