Muslim-Christian Dialogue from Pakistani Perspective: Evaluation of the Contribution of Christian Study Center

The twentieth century is considered as the most notable era for interfaith dialogue and other interreligious activities among the followers of different faiths across the globe. A number of interfaith activities were launched to bring closer, especially, the adherents of the Abrahamic faiths: Jews, Christians and Muslims. Many Christian institutes and organizations are actively involved in such activities. We cannot ignore the role of Christian Study Centers situated across the globe, which are rendering considerable services in the field of interfaith dialogue. One of them is the Christian Study Center Rawalpindi (CSC), Pakistan, which is the focal subject of this research paper. The CSC has a long journey in the course of interfaith dialogue and harmony, as it was its objective since its commencement. The CSC was established in 1967 as an extension of HMI (Henry Martyn Institute, Hyderabad India) to promote interfaith dialogue, harmony and good relationship among the followers of different faiths in Pakistan. It is conceded; the Christian Study Center Rawalpindi has provided great services and contributed a lot to interfaith dialogue, harmony and peace in Pakistan. In this study the efforts were made to evaluate the 50 years dialogical activities of the Christian Study Center (CSC), Rawalpindi.

Exploring the Contribution of Mentoring in Improving Teaching and Learning

Producing highly skilled, competent teachers in developing countries, such as Pakistan and Kyrgyzstan, requires an on-going teacher education, training and support. A number of research studies indicate that mentoring provides a highly useful service for teachers in their continuing education. As such, mentoring has been widely accepted as a process to support beginning teachers' professional development. However, little is known in developing countries about what mentoring is, and to what extent it brings improvement in teaching and learning. Therefore, in this particular case study was designed to explore the contribution of mentoring in facilitating the beginning teachers' teaching practice and the improvement that this can bring in the students' learning outcomes, in a developing country's context. The study is largely based on interview data provided by a mentor and two mentee teachers who were the participants of this study. During the study, the mentee teachers disclosed the factors, that they perceived to be the most influential in affecting their progress as teachers. In line with many research studies, this particular research confirms that the attitude and skills of a mentor are a critical factor in raising the confidence and self-esteem of beginning teachers. The findings of the study indicate that mentoring creates a model for extending the learning process and, thus, it evolves to serve a pivotal function for nurturing the beginning teachers' professional development, in their initial years of experience in the classroom. The study pays particular attention to the impact of the mentoring process on improving the students' learning, and suggests a number of strategies for further improving the students' learning outcomes. Based on the results of the research findings, the study confirms that improvement in beginning teachers' teaching practice produces substantial improvement in students' learning outcomes. In addition, some recommendations and implications have been drawn from the study, so as to contribute to the betterment of the mentoring process in Pakistani schools and also in schools in Kyrgyzstan.