Vivekananda’s Views on Christianity and Islam

Vivekananda was the Hindu revivalist of nineteenth century who preached the message of equality of all religions. In his lectures, he guided people to assimilation of religions and not their destruction. He emphasized on peace and harmony of religions that could only be attained through tolerance. This paper explores his claim of equality of religions from his writings regarding two religions - Christianity and Islam. Critical approach is utilized to identify the fact that either he is equating all religions or he is trying to submerge the non-Hindu religions in his philosophy of neo-Vedanta. Apparently, the tension between these two positions makes his theory of pluralism suspicious. In other words, his popular image of being a pioneer of religious pluralism needs to be reassesses by studying his writings and presentation of the beliefs, rituals, and practices of other religions, as well as, his practical interactions with the followers of different religions during his life. In this connection, it is important to explore how he perceives and depicts the personalities of Jesus Christ and Muhammad.

Improving Performance Appraisal Practices to Foster Professional Development of Teachers

Performance Appraisal (PA) is one of the significant human resource practices. There has been a renewed emphasis on the rising needs for using a comprehensive appraisal system in the educational field in order to ensure the achievement of organizational goals and to help teachers grow professionally. The study was a qualitative action research which aims at improving the current practices of performance appraisal in a private school system of Karachi. The objective of the study is to identify the weaknesses and strengths of the current practices of the appraisal and improve upon the weaknesses through collaboration and coordination with various stake holders across the board such as professionals who carryout appraisal practices, head teachers and teachers. This research employed Stephen Kemmis and Robin McTaggart’s participatory action research method involving reconnaissance, implementation and evaluation cycles. The data, in the reconnaissance stage, were collected by administering a questionnaire to teachers, analysis of existing appraisal documents and interviews of appraisers to get relevant information for the intervention. On the basis of reconnaissance findings two action cycles were planned and implemented by forming an action group, comprised of researcher as a facilitator, a critical friend and a group of appraisers, to make the appraisal practices more professional development oriented. During the intervention phases, qualitative data were collected through ongoing observation and reflection. In addition, appraisal tools were reviewed by some selected teachers. At the end of action cycles, overall changes were assessed with teachers through an evaluation questionnaire. The key findings revealed that the implemented changes have improved the existing appraisal practices by making it more systematic, fair and balanced approach to evaluate teacher performance as recognized by the teachers, however, specific areas within the reviewed appraisal practice were highlighted for further improvement. The recommendations include: the specific training for appraisers and appraisees, using appraisal process to determine teachers’ need for professional development to recognize the value of constructive feedback as a means of improving the quality of teaching and learning.Moreover, in order to make appraisal more effective, it is imperative for teachers to have the ownership of the appraisal process and are collaboratively involved in the ongoing review of policy and procedure regarding appraisal.