تمهيد

From Jihad to Salam in Pursuit of Political Change: A Perspective based on Qur’ānic Sources

The political reality of many countries in the Muslim World is untenable and reforms and change is absolutely necessary. This article argues that use of force and violence for political change is making things worse as one can witness in Syria and Iraq. The article advances a Qur’ānic perspective on the desirability of peace as a goal and peaceful means as instruments of change. The article acknowledges that the Qur’ānic sanction for use of force to defend religious freedom prcludes the advocacy of pacifism but nevertheless the article does make a strong case for privileging peace over use of force.

Facilitating Social Studies Teachers in Teaching Controversial Issues for Developing Political Literacy in Students

This research study a small scale action research attempted to look into the role of a teacher educator in facilitating social studies teachers in teaching controversial issues to develop political literacy in students. A need for teachers to be educated and facilitated in teaching controversial issues was felt by the researcher which led to this study. The study was conducted with two secondary social studies teachers in a private English medium school in Karachi. The process of action research started with the teacher educator studying her own and the participants' existing beliefs and practices regarding the teaching of controversial issues and political literacy. The situation was also studied to gain an understanding of what was going on. Using the training model by Joyce and Showers, the researcher followed the steps of planning, implementation, observation and reflection, through two main and several small cycles. Data was collected through observations, semi structured interviews, pre and post discussions and reflective conversations. Analysis of data was done side by side with data collection. The study reports some possible strategies for teacher educators which facilitated the preparation of teachers to teach controversial issues. Findings and key learning include the researcher's learning as a teacher educator and an action researcher, learning about the teachers and the situation. The study explains how the teacher educator was able to facilitate the teachers and improve her practice as a teacher educator in the process. Based on the findings some implications are put forward along with some recommendations and suggestions.