Combatting Religious Extremism in Pakistan from the Youth Perspective

The rise of Islam, which emerged as a panacea for the world problems is seen as a problem itself by the west today. The reason for this blame is the rise of extremism and Islam phobia in the western societies. This has serious implicat-ions for personal, communal, national and international security. The involve-ment of youth in extremist exertions is very high. They are being more action-oriented, easy to be influenced by radical ideologies and as an agent for thrus-ting social change.  Keeping in consideration the role of youth in adopting to or combatting extremism, it is imperative to find the perception of this important population about the problem under investigation. The research study was conducted in six universities in the federal capital Islamabad to reach to the youth’s population. The research was guided by research questions that aimed at exploring students’ perception about extremism and its various dimensions. The researcher collected data through an open-ended questionnaire from 1840 students to seek an in-depth understanding of the problem. In order to increase credibility in the findings, the researcher conducted focused group interview with 12 young faculty members. The data from the questionnaires were conver-ted into percentages based on common themes. The interview data set were thematically analyzed to understand the causes of extremism and its suggested solutions. Recommendations were suggested to tackle the menace of extremism in Pakistan.  

Influence of the Secondary Science Professional Development Program on Teachers’ Beliefs

This study explored the influence on teachers' beliefs about the nature, learning, and teaching of science during a Secondary Science Visiting Teacher Program (VTP). The multiple case study design involved four Visiting Teachers (VTs) from different geographical sites and from different educational sectors i.e. Government and AKES, as the study participants. The Secondary Science VTP offered by the Aga Khan University Institute for Educational Development (AKU-IED) was an eight-week in-service professional development program for secondary science teachers which exposed the VTs to contemporary methods of teaching and learning in science. During the program, course participants were, in particular, introduced to a highly interactive approach to learning and teaching science. For the data collection, a variety of methods were used consisting of interviews, observations, post-lesson discussions, informal conversations, and document analysis. The research participants' beliefs were elicited before and during the later stage of the program using the earlier mentioned methods. It was found that all four VTs began the program holding a highly positivist view about the nature of science and regarded science largely as a body of knowledge comprised of facts and truths. No apparent or measurable change in their views about the nature of science was found as a consequence of having participated in the program. The study found that, although the VTs entered the program holding traditional beliefs about the learning and teaching of science, there was evidence of a noticeable shift in the respondents' beliefs from a transmission mode to one which was more constructivist in nature. That is, at the end of the program, the study participants viewed learning as a more active process whereby learners construct their own personal knowledge about science. Further, the program incorporated many strategies to facilitate conceptual change and appeared successful in challenging the VTs' incoming beliefs about the learning and the teaching of science. The study is seen to hold considerable implication for teacher education in other subject areas. Several recommendations for further research are presented in light of the study findings.