Much has been said and written about the nature of teachers' workplace relationship, particularly the role of their collaborative activities in schools, but it has been largely limited to the West. There is dearth of studies in the area of teacher collaboration in developing countries in general and Pakistan in particular. This study, is therefore, set out to explore the nature of teacher collaboration in a private secondary school in Karachi, Pakistan. Using case study approach, the whole school was chosen as a case. In that school, 11 teachers participated in the study. The aim of the study was to explore the existing practices, the facilitating and the impeding factors for teacher collaboration. The data were collected through individual and focus group interviews, observations, which were supplemented by informal talks and analysis of the relevant documents. The major findings of the study revealed that teacher collaboration exists in the form of formal (e.g. professional meetings, planning session, in and out of school workshops), and informal (e.g. break time discussion and spontaneous meetings), which are facilitated by administrative arrangements in the school. The study found that school head, school structure, and teachers' motivation play important roles in making teachers to work together. However, teacher turnover, shortage of human resources and product- oriented examination system were found to be major challenges in promoting a collaborative culture in the school. Moreover, the study shows that though improved classroom practices of teachers are both desirable and possible, depending on the acquisition of ;(i) pedagogical skills, (ii) their ability to reflect on their practices, and (iii) the opportunities to share their experiences and views with each other. It is suggested that, collaboration can become reality in our schools, if we have planned formal and informal discussions based on the data obtained from monitoring the classroom practices, support from school leaders and teachers' motivation towards their professional development. The study also generates opportunities for further research.
محترم حافظ اکرم راشدؔ کی ایک کتاب ’’نگارشاتِ راشد‘‘ پر کچھ لکھنا مجھ جیسے اردو کے ادنیٰ طالب علم کے لیے ایسا ہی ہے جیسے سورج کو چراغ دکھا نا ہے ۔ راشد کے موضوعات کی حد مقرر کرنا ناممکن ہے ۔ وسیع مطالعے کے بعد کشید کیا ہوا مضامین کا یہ مجموعہ قاری کے لیے بہترین تحفہ ہے ۔ جس میں وہ دنیا کے ساتھ ساتھ دین کے مسائل کو بھی سمجھ سکتا ہے۔ راشد نے اسلام ، وطن، انسانیت ، اخلاقیات ، صحت، تعلیم ، سماج، معیشت اور دیگر شعبہ ہائے زندگی سے تعلق رکھنے والے موضوعات کوقلم بند کیا ہے ۔ اسلام کے حوالے سے کئی مضامین جن میں ’’ پیارے نبیصلی اللہ علیہ و آلہٖ وسلمکی پیاری باتیں ‘‘ اور ’’میلادُ النبیصلی اللہ علیہ و آلہٖ وسلم ‘‘ کے علاوہ کئی ایسے مضمون لکھے ہیں جن میں صحابہ کرام رضوان اللہ تعالیٰ اجمعین کی مبارک زندگیوں سے متعلق اہم واقعات بیان کیے ہیں ۔ تعلیم و تربیت کے حوالے سے ان کے مضامین حوالے کی چیز ہیں ۔ انھوں نے تعلیم کی اہمیت و افادیت کے حوالے سے کئی مضامین قلم بند کئے ہیں جن میں علم کی روح تک پہنچنے کے لیے افکار واضح کیے ہیں۔ اسی طرح ان کے مضامین اخلاقیات ، صحت اور جدید سائنس کے حوالے سے بھی اردو کا نایاب سرمایہ ہیں ۔ ان مضامین کو پڑھ کر اور ان پر عمل کر کے معاشرے میں عزت و وقار کے ساتھ زندگی گزاری جا سکتی ہے ۔ حافظ محمد اکرم راشدؔ ایک اچھے اور سچے مسلمان اور پاکستانی ہیں جن کے دل میں مسلمانوں کی اصلاح اور ہمدردی کا جذبہ کوٹ کوٹ کر بھرا ہوا ہے ۔ جس کا واضح ثبوت ان کی کتاب ’’ نگارشاتِ راشد‘‘...
Juristic rules laid the foundation of law, along with such juristic rules, Islām promotes the values of piety (through mystic guidelines). Most of the theologians opine that the real approach to get close the Creator can only be achieved through the mystic guidelines. In the early period of Islām, during the time of the prophet, , caliphate guided rightly the of periods the during and (صلى الله عليه وسلم) Muhammad when people were trained in a very righteous environment, there were no such reservations about the applications of clear jurisprudential injunctions along with the mystic guidelines, but, when Muslims tasted the grandeur of rule, regime and abundance of wealth, they indulged in the worldly affairs and adopted a materialistic approach, not only in their daily life, but, toward their religion, too. The Muslim thinkers have been trying to define and explain whether the typical rituals of mysticism are reconcilable with the larger demands of an Islamic vocabulary. Despite the wide diversity of the critical approaches, a certain pattern has been identified by Muslim responses as mysticism, which is, sometimes found closer to asceticism and sometime as a mediator. Many Muslim mystics have dealt with mysticism, but, perhaps, Manāẓir Aḥsan Gīlānī has displayed, with reference to Ibn ‘Arabī and Shāh Walī Ullāh, the most impressive and knowledgeable applications of such mystic ideas within an Islamic framework. Manāẓir’s applied mysticism is not a typical mysticism; his special focus upon legal injunctions of al-Sharī‘ah goes much further than any of his peers in establishing a strong framework for better understanding of Islām. This study is devoted to examining the effects and implications of mysticism, not only for individuals, but also for the Muslim masses, generally.
Pakistan suffered from the crisis of democracy many times. Its history stands witness to the frequent dissolution of assemblies before the completion of their respective constitutional terms, the intermittent breakdown of the constitutions, take-over of military, disintegration and perpetual bad governance. The study attempts to unfold the rivalries behind the crisis of democracy that did not allow democracy to take roots in the period 1988 to 1999. It seeks to analyze that how the role of leadership both in government and in opposition through their mutual rivalries for political and economic gains generated a wave of political crisis that in turn gave birth to the crisis of democracy in the period and to what extent systemic factors played their role in deepening the crisis of democracy during 1990s. The state of affairs, in the period 1990s, was the result of the leadership and their personal gains and losses as well as of systemic factors out of their rivalries that made democracy suffered. The study attempted to analyze the role of leadership in the persons of Benazir and of Nawaz Sharif in their respective terms in office as the head of the government and the head of the opposition that how they played their role in the crisis of democracy in the period under study as well as the role of the President in the persons of Ghulam Ishaq Khan, of Farooq Ahmed Khan, and of General Pervaiz Musharruf. There were existed certain kinds of rivalries among them that was repeated and escalated and created crisis that gave way to an integrated group of elites to play their role in deepening the crises. Consequently, democracy was suffered in the period 1988-99. Systemic factors were an integrated group of elites that influenced the political system of Pakistan and played their role in deepening the crisis of democracy in the period. The group consisted of elites both political and non-political and played a decisive role in the crisis. Besides, it was a perpetual and manipulating factor in the crisis and worked as a group. The group collaborated with the man at the helm based on similar interests against the common rival. It was heterogeneous in the making consisting of political-religious-civil military-judicial elites. It remained united throughout the decade of democracy and played their role in deepening the crises. Consequently, democracy suffered from crisis in the period 1988-99. The popular and semi-academic discussion regarding civil- military tension and crisis of democracy generally lead to a conclusion that the institution of military is the main cause and politicians are the main victims in the derailment of democracy. Whereas the researcher finds himself in partial agreement with the above stated conclusion, his research has concluded the complex process of power struggle and internal rivalries among the power elites. Based on rigors study of these processes, his thesis conclusion is that mutual rivalries among the power elites both systemic factor and leadership against each other result into the derailment of democracy Besides, the research is qualitative and descriptive-analytical method is used to analyze the data collected. Moreover, power elite theory is applied to substantiate the study as Pakistan is in the grip of power elites that incorporate all kind of elites related with power in the state. Moreover, the researcher has used primary and secondary methods for the collection of data.