Influence of teacher-student interactions on kindergarten children’s developing gender identity within the Pakistani urban classroom culture

In the current global push to explore the diverse and complex ways in which the school culture contributes to the shaping of young children\u27s gender identity, early childhood teachers’ role in this process is an area of concern which has received limited attention. Furthermore, the schooling experiences of early years children in developing world contexts such as Pakistan remain largely absent. As such, this article discusses findings from a study investigating the role of women teachers’ practice in the construction of children\u27s gender identities in the kindergarten classroom culture of one urban co‐education school in the highly gender‐segregated Pakistani context. Seven teachers and approximately 120 children were involved. Data collection included teacher interviews and observations of teaching practice. Data were qualitatively and quantitatively analysed. The complex and dynamic nature of the gendered classroom culture reflected the teachers’ active perpetuation of the dominant patriarchal ideologies in their practice. However, their practice also presented possibilities for change in unconscious and, occasionally, conscious attempts to push gender boundaries towards more equitable gender relationships. The teachers’ gendered practice has significant implications for children\u27s evolving gender identity construction

Booni Valley women’s perception of schooling: Hopes and barriers

Schooling for girls is a relatively recent process in Booni Valley, a remote mountainous village in Chitral District, Pakistan. It is impacting greatly upon the lives of the women. This study has taken an ethnographic perspective and has assumed that an understanding of women’s schooling requires a detailed, in-depth account of women’s actual experiences in a specific cultural setting. The women in the study perceive their local language, Khowar, as having little value and place great importance upon learning Urdu and English, the official languages of Pakistan. The women also perceive schooling to increase their mobility and independence and to gain access to employment. However, gender structures are deeply rooted. The women encounter many barriers which restrict them from participating in many activities in the community

An investigation on the role of adequate employee compensation and benefit schemes in the Tanzania banking industry: The case of Exim Bank (T) LTD

Employee compensation is a universal issue; day by day it makes new headlines on media, the most common issues being inadequate compensation. For example on 11th August 2007, employees around Dar es Salaam were reported to strike owing to low salary and wages and no provision of benefits (Mkonya, 2007). The banking sector is growing rapidly from the time Tanzania embarked on financial liberalization in 1992. Banking has proven to be an important sector as it accounts for 12.1% of the GDP (TNBC, 2005). But still the factors that have contributed towards the above achievement are not compensated well. It showed that the banking sector was not aware of the role of adequate compensation, and this study tried to fill the gap that existed. This study had one major objective which was to make the banking industry aware of the role of adequate employee compensation and benefit schemes. The following were the specific objectives: To investigate if a relationship existed between adequate employee compensation and employee motivation, to investigate if a relationship existed between adequate employee compensation and employee job satisfaction and to investigate if a relationship existed between adequate employee compensation and employee retention. This study involved a case of Exim Bank (T) Limited, whereby 80 employees were sampled using stratified random sampling technique. This study involved the use of questionnaire, interview and documentary review in order to collect both primary and secondary data. Data analysis was done with the help of SPSS and Microsoft Excel, the Chi Square component of SPSS was used to test the research hypotheses. Findings indicate a positive relationship between employee compensation package with employee motivation and job satisfaction. However the relationship with employee retention was not statistically significant. The study therefore recommends the organization to continue to provide the benefits like health insurance, training opportunities and annual bonuses in order to ensure the level of employee motivation and job satisfaction is well maintained

Promoting curiosity through students’ questioning

Asking questions is central to intellectual effort; it is instrumental in bridging the gap between the known and the unknown. Questioning existed even before the time of Greek philosopher Socrates and still prevails in classrooms. Questioning is a major teaching and learning strategy for teachers in Pakistan. Unfortunately, teachers’ questioning overrules students’ questioning, leaving neither space nor time to create an interactive environment that promotes curiosity and meaningful learning. Using an innovative approach, we attempted to implement students’ questioning in an upper primary science classroom. The encouraging findings of our study and their implications are discussed in this article

The Nairobi model: A focus on primary science classroom practice

This (school based approach) complements the other advantage which comes with school-based teacher education: the opportunity to take stock of a learner-teacher’s needs, and, over an extended period, to cater for these needs, to monitor the ways they develop, and toe respond to these developments