A Comparative Study Of Elite English Medium Schools Public Schools And Islamic Madaris In Contemporary Pakistan

This ethnographic study examines the role of differing school knowledge in reproducing various social classes in the society. It was observed that an unequal availability of capital resources, agents' class habitus, and the type of their "cultural currency" act as selection mechanisms that clearly favour some social groups over others. The ruling classes ensure the transfer of their power and privilege to their children by providing them with quality education in elite schools. The disadvantaged classes are excluded from these unique institutions by both social and economic sanctions. They have no other option than to educate their children either in public schools or Islamic madaris. As a result, inequitable educational opportunities consolidate the existing social-class hierarchy.

I have written this book in an effort to explore how the history of Pakistan has resulted in the critical problems weighing down its education system. The book examines the questions: Why and how has a small elite class come to rule Pakistan? And how has their rule worsened the country’s problems? The focus will be to critically examine the elements of the Pakistani national curriculum and madrasas and their effects on Pakistani society. The book represents the fusion of my experiences in Pakistan with extensive literature analysis, interviews, and textbook analysis. This research began when I came to the United States in January 2015 through the SAR program. I wanted to know the answers to profoundly unsettling questions. How can a society be so intolerant that a scholar educated solely in Pakistan is disregarded and assassinated while many Western-educated scholars with traditional insular thoughts are not only appreciated but flourishing? I wanted to know why Pakistani elites have so much power and freedom while lower classes are profoundly oppressed. Elites who barely pay taxes have been in power for generations while those that pay taxes suffer from sky-high inflation. The influential religious leaders mostly belong to the elite class while their followers are mostly lower class. Ruling families and social classes mostly control appointed positions. Do those in power not have a responsibility to speak on issues of social justice rather than limiting themselves in claiming that theirs is the only true form of Islam? Why don’t they work to end the disparity of quality education between classes in Pakistan? Instead, many elites run their own lucrative elite Islamic schools. More importantly, why do the ulama (which literally means “those who possess knowledge [ilm], particularly of Islam”) maintain a tight hierarchical system in the madrasa (Islamic seminary) community that rarely allows poor intelligent students to attain leadership positions? Why are the ulama silent in the face of ruthless murder of and discrimination against Pakistani minorities? Book Review: "Pakistan Educational Reforms is a major study of education in Pakistan and its national and madrasa curriculum that fosters national and religious sectarian divisions, intolerance and conflicts. Dr. Amna Afreen documents the political, socio-economic and religious causes-limited government funding, widespread poverty and illiteracy and the poor training and performance of teachers- that have produced a failed educational system at urban and rural government and religious schools (madrasa) and offers a series of potential solutions and reforms." -- John L. Esposito, University Professor and Founding Director of The Alwaleed Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding, Georgetown University.

This book investigates different ways in which neoliberal language and teaching policies have influenced the English language in global south countries across Asia, Africa and Latin America. Through the three main sub themes covered by the book, namely Neoliberalism and English Language Teaching Policies, Neoliberalism Ideology as in English Language Teaching Materials, and Experiences of Neoliberal Subjects, it investigates various aspects and means through which neoliberalism is realized in a variety of contexts. Through the first subtheme the volume covers the English language education policies of Chile, Bangladesh, India, and Morocco. The second sub theme concerns how different neoliberal values such as consumerism, entrepreneurship, and individualism are localized and constructed in the locally developed English language materials of Thailand, Taiwan, Malaysia, and Vietnam. The third sub theme includes studies on the impact of neoliberalization of English in relation to Colombian, Brazilian, and Pakistani stakeholders. This book is a valuable resource for academics, postgraduate students, researchers, policy makers, educators, and practitioners who are interested in neoliberalism in English language.

The rivalry between India and Pakistan began on British withdrawal from the British Indian Empire in 1947, and with the sudden partition of India immediately afterwards. It has proven remarkably resilient. While the countries share a long history and have considerable social-cultural affinity, relations since Partition have been marked by three wars, constant border skirmishes and a deep distrust that permeates both societies. In each, teaching about those relations is weighted with political and cultural significance, and research shows that curriculums have been used to shape the mindset of new generations with regard to their neighbouring state. This book explores the attitudes and pedagogical decision-making of teachers in India and Pakistan when teaching India-Pakistan relations. Situating teachers in the context of reformed textbooks and curriculums in both countries that explicitly advocate critical thinking and social cohesion, Kusha Anand explores how far teachers have enacted these changes in their classrooms. Based on data collected from teachers via semi-structured interviews and classroom observations in India and Pakistan she argues that, despite whole-nation policies and texts, teaching of India-Pakistan relations is dependent on the socio-economic status of schools. While there is progress towards the stated goals, teachers in both countries face pressures from the interests of school and state, and often miss opportunities to engage with multiple perspectives and stereotypes in their classrooms.

In 1989, Bernard Spolsky published Conditions for Second Language Learning (Oxford University Press). At the 2012 Annual Conference of Asia TEFL, a number of senior scholars were invited to comment upon the relevance of the book to the teaching of English in their region, and to make suggestions on how it might be updated. This volume contains revised versions of these talks, and thus provides a survey of the conditions for teaching English in Asia. Most contributors found the Conditions model useful, but there has been a major change in emphasis in the past two decades: whereas the 1989 book emphasized linguistic and psycholinguistic conditions, more recent work generally emphasizes the importance of sociolinguistic and language policy conditions for teaching English in Asia today.

The chapters in this book call attention to vulnerabilities, challenges and risks for applied linguistics researchers and the communities they work with across a broad range of contexts from the Global North and South, and in both signed and spoken languages. Together they provide insights on both academic and professional practice across several areas: the vulnerabilities involved in researching, the limitations of traditional epistemologies, the challenges inherent in the repertoire of methodologies and pedagogies employed by applied linguists, and the effectiveness of practical responses to language-related problems. The book encourages those involved in applied linguistics to consider their own practice and their relationship with the communities, policies and educational contexts they engage with in the course of their teaching, research and activism.

This edited volume focuses on the experiences of individuals learning languages other than English (LOTEs) in a range of Asian contexts that have traditionally been under-represented in the literature. Aligning with the ‘multilingual turn’ in SLA, it views learners as individuals of a multilingual society with unique, complex, heterogenous and dynamic identities. The chapters explore the learners’ motivational trajectories, multilingual identities and their conceptualisations of the ‘ideal multilingual self’. This volume enhances our critical understanding of language learning motivation through empirical findings and conceptual insights from studies of motivation in specific regions in Asia, including Greater China, Indonesia, Japan, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Pakistan and Syria. Providing insight into the multilingual identities of individuals learning LOTEs, it will appeal to students and scholars in second language acquisition, researchers in language learning motivation and policymakers in language education.