A Study of Socio-Economic Problems Faced by Labors in Brick Kiln: A Case Study of District Hyderabad (Rural)

The present study investigates the socio-economic problems of the labors in Brick Kilns which are situated in the vicinities of district Hyderabad (Rural). Eighty three respondents from twenty five brick kilns were selected for interview. It is found that majority of the respondents was illiterate and never visited educational, technical and religious institutions. The economic categorization of the labors revealed that majority was categorized as ‘poorest of poor’ (living below poverty line), having semi-pacca houses, earning less than 10,000 rupees per month to manage their entire family. Due to very low income they spent least amount on education and health while more on food and utilities. The general problems reported by the labors are: poor quality of drinking water, no shelter at work place, child labor, low and late payment of wages, long working hours etc. Besides these, both male and female labors informed about misbehave and use of abusive language by the owner/manager, even few of them also complained about physical abuse. Stomach problem was found as common disease in men followed by Anemia whereas in women Anemia was ranked first followed by Backache.

An Exploratory Study of the Concept of Teaching Moments in a Pakistani Mathematics Classroom

This study set out to explore the concept of teaching moments in a Pakistani mathematics classroom, using the definition of the concept given by Mason et al. (1989) in a draft article ;the Study of Teaching-Moments as the guiding operational definition. A qualitative approach was adopted for the study since it involved capturing the teachers' thinking and feelings when making interactive decisions. These aspects could best be studied by allowing the participating teachers to relate their thinking and feelings. The study found that teaching moments existed in the classrooms in which I conducted my study. They were characterised by the teachers' perceptions of classroom events. The teachers' perceptions of the classroom events guided their reactions. Furthermore, this study has shown that student- related events predominated in bringing about teaching moments. It has also shown that there were several categories of teaching moments; namely, blip, extended, fork and ineffective. In some cases opportunities were identified by the researcher which were not transformed into teaching moments by the teachers. These have been labeled ‘’potential teaching moments.’’ This report concludes by highlighting the pedagogical potential of teaching moments which can be tapped only if teachers are sensitised to notice opportunities and accurately react to the noticed opportunities by studying mathematics as a connected body of knowledge and as a human activity. It therefore recommends a ‘’realistic approach’’ of mathematics teaching for prospective mathematics teachers.