The Issue of Human Cloning: A Review in Semitic Religions’ Context

Human cloning has emerged as a new and innovative technology in the reproductive and therapeutic science in the recent past. So far it has not been practiced over human beings but owing to its huge potential and possible scope, it has attracted the attention of not only the masses (particularly the infertile couples and LGBTQs etc) but the other stakeholders including the religious scholars from worlds’ prominent religions have given their views on this technology in order to guide their followers. This paper examines and reviews the religious points of view on human cloning. For this purpose, three Semitic religions in the world i-e Judaism, Christianity, and Islām have been examined. As far as Islam is concerned, this portion has been divided into two broad sections elaborating the Shī‘ah and Sunnī schools’ opinions. Being an innovative topic, the religious teachings do not address it directly hence the injunctions related to the reproduction are most relevant to it. Three Semitic religions have been examined from the perspective of admissibility or non-admissibility of human cloning, the rationale behind the verdict on human cloning and the possible solutions to the issues and problems faced by the followers in the case of acceptance or rejection of this biomedical technology. Most of the religions emphasize over adaptability of the natural mode of reproduction only, where male and female genders contribute to the reproductive cycle. The Semitic religions reject the reproductive cloning generally. The religious experts need to conduct more focused and updated research before coming to any conclusion about the permissibility or non-permissibility of this technique.

Comparatrive Study of a Male and a Female School Principal: Exploring Their Gender Related Views and Practices of Task Delegation

Gender and leadership has been an area of concern for researchers working in the field of gender based educational inequalities. "Gender inequality in education constructs and, in turn, is constructed by inequalities between men and women in other spheres that intersect with education" (Subrahmanian, 2005, p. 9). The provision of equal opportunities in education has been a major concern for the researchers (Khalid & Khan, 2006; Ashraf, 2007; Aslam, 2009; Ghaffar, 2011). Ashraf (2007) has highlighted the need for developing gender equality perspective for secondary school teachers, which could ascertain the growth of students as gender-aware individuals. The present qualitative study has attempted to explore the gender related views of a male and a female school principal and their practices of task delegation through comparative analysis using Sergiovanni's (1991) framework and a gender lens. The data were collected through semi-structured interviews, observations (through shadowing), post observation discussions and document reviews. Miles and Huberman's (1992) framework guided the data analysis. The study has used gender lens to explore the analyzed data, which is then reviewed through Sergiovanni's (1991) framework. This framework helped in identifying the views symbolized as "Heart" of the leaders as key elements informing their practices presented as the "Hand". The study revealed that the "Head" that symbolizes meaning making of leadership responsibilities with a gender lens was the missing element in participants' professional repertoire as a school encompassing "hand" dimension of this framework. The key findings of the study show that the participants' practices of task delegation to male and female staff were guided by their views and past experiences of gender. It also showed that the absence of professional training on gender was the reason for their lack of insights into how gender guided their practices. The study suggests professional courses and sessions based on gender studies to build the principals' understanding of key gender constructs and how these inform their practices and demonstrate gender informed leadership. The gender informed leadership practices will hold significance in the provision of equal opportunities for male and female staff as well as students at a single school level to the whole educational system. Further, the study recommends the researchers to explore other aspects of principals' decision making such as conflict resolution, motivation and staff appraisals with a gender lens.