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Partnerships in Educational Development
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Oxford Studies in Comparative Education

Partnerships in Educational Development

Edited by IFFAT FARAH & BARBARA JAWORSKI

2006 paperback 272 pages, £30.00, ISBN 978-1-873927-35-9
https://doi.org/10.15730/books.23

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About the book

This book is about the development of one institution and its developmental work in education in south and central asia and in east Africa: the Institute for Educational Development (IED) at the Aga Khan University (AKU) in Karachi, Pakistan.

The IED came into being in 1993 and launched its first programme in 1994, an M.Ed. in teacher education. It recruited 20 teachers, carefully selected from schools in Pakistan, east Africa, Tajikistan and Bangladesh. There should have been a teacher from India, but sadly she was not granted a visa to come. These 20 teachers, graduating from the M.Ed. course 18 months later, were the first graduates from the IED. They became the first Professional Development Teachers (PDTs), working with schools and running short courses for other teachers at the IED. After three years of PDT work, some of these graduates were selected for Ph.D. studies overseas, and are now doctoral graduates and central IED faculty. The wheel has come full circle.

In the meantime, the M.Ed. programme has flourished and developed with eight cohorts of selected teachers. The IED programmes have expanded in a variety of ways and in a variety of directions. Some are academic programmes educating teachers and educational managers in a university environment, albeit with school-focused work. Some are professional programmes located in the field, albeit with theoretical elements perceived as central to the developmental process. The IED has attracted attention both nationally and internationally. In the countries listed above, professional programmes have developed to run alongside the central IED operation. The IED’s work has become visible to government agencies, who from tentative initial investment are now looking towards the IED to work with them in the developmental field. Other countries have seen the results of the IED’s work in the original countries and have asked to join the developmental enterprise. The IED now works with three countries in east Africa, namely, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, in Afghanistan, Syria and several central Asian countries including Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. There are possibilities of initiating work in other countries in the region.

Perceived in such terms, the IED’s growth and influence reads like an educational developmental success story. And of course it is a success. But this is not to say that there are not many issues and problems to face in its day-to-day and decade-to-decade development. In 2003, the IED celebrated 10 years of operation. This was a time to celebrate and also to take stock of its achievements and issues. It has many impact programmes in place, seeking to provide sound research evidence to document processes in learning and growth and issues that have to be addressed. One problem of rapid growth is that it is easy for the institute and its faculty to become overextended, so that in-depth review of programmes and outcomes is never achieved. Despite considerable overextension, the IED is striving to avoid this danger.

This book is a product of the 10 years of development. It had been hoped to complete it for the 10-year celebrations, but as with other aspects of the IED, it kept on growing. This volume tries to provide an account of development from a number of perspectives, such as historical, chronological, issues-based and honestly critical.

Contents

Sadrudin Pardhan & Dennis Thiessen. The Establishment of Aga Khan University – Institute for Educational Development

Richard Pring. IED and the University Partnership: the Oxford experience

Fauzia Shamim & Anjum Halai. Developing Professional Development Teachers

Barbara Jaworski, Bernadette L. Dean & Rana Hussain. Subject Studies in Teacher Education

Bernadette L. Dean. Creating a Critical Mass: the Visiting Teacher Programme

Muhammad Memon, Firdousali Lalwani & Rakhshinda Meher. Mentoring as an Alternative Approach to In-service Teacher Education in Balochistan: some successes and challenges

Jane Rarieya & Fred Tukahirwa. Continuing Professional Development and the Relevance of the IED Model in East Africa

Gulgunchamo Naimova. Professional Development and School Improvement in Central Asia

Muhammad Memon, Tim Simkins, Charles Sisum & Zubeda Bana. Developing Leadership and Management Capacity for School Improvement

Anil Khamis & Shahida Jawed. Teacher Education and School Improvement: a case study from Pakistan

Yasmeen Bano & Sultan Mahmud Bhuiyan. School Improvement: a case from Bangladesh

Gulzar Kanji & Takbir Ali. School Improvement: a case from the Northern Areas in Pakistan

Razia Fakir Mohammed. Problems of Teachers’ Re-entry in Schools after In-service Education

Tashmin Kassam-Khamis & Sadia Muzzafar Bhutta. Affecting Schools through a Health Education Initiative

Iffat Farah & Nelofer Halai. The Teaching of Research in a Teacher Education Programme

Iffat Farah & Barbara Jaworski. Key Themes and Issues in Educational Development: a critical perspective on the IED model

List of Acronyms

Notes on Contributors

Contributors

Takbir Ali grew up in a remote, but legendarily beautiful valley in the Northern Areas of Pakistan. He earned a Masters in Education (Teacher Education) from AKU-IED. He is currently a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Toronto in Canada. He worked at the Professional Development Centre in the Northern Areas as a Professional Development Teacher and later became part of its core faculty.

Zubeda Bana has been Academic Manager for Regional Coordination at the Ismaili Tariqah and Religious Education Board for Pakistan since February 2003. Prior to this she was at AKU-IED as a Senior Instructor in educational management. She has extensive experience in teacher education in Sindh, Balochistan, North West Frontier Province, Northern Pakistan and East Africa.

Yasmeen Bano is currently working as an academic manager in the Education Office, South Aga Khan Education Service, Pakistan. She started her teaching career at the Aga Khan Boys’ Secondary School, Kharadhar in 1985 and worked there as the Head of Science and then the Deputy Head until 1996. Yasmeen completed her M.Ed. at the AKU-IED in 1998.

Sultan Mahmud Bhuiyan is a Professional Development Teacher (PDT) at the Aga Khan Education Service, Bangladesh (AKES, B). He has been conducting in-service professional development programs for the teachers since 1998 in Bangladesh and Pakistan. Currently he is also a Ph.D. research (Fellow) in Bangladesh.

Sadia Muzzaffar Bhutta is an Instructor at AKU-IED. Currently she is reading for a Ph.D. degree (2002?05) at the University of Oxford, Department of Educational Studies. She is a graduate of the M.Ed. programme at AKU-IED and also holds a Master’s degree in Educational Research Methodology from Pakistan and the United Kingdom (UK).

Bernadette L. Dean is an Assistant Professor and Head of Academic and Student Affairs at AKU-IED. She has teaching and research interests in social studies education/citizenship, curriculum, teaching and learning and action research. Her publications include social studies textbooks for primary schools and various articles and book chapters.

Iffat Farah joined AKU-IED in 1994 and is currently Professor of Education. She has a Ph.D. in Education from the University of Pennsylvania, USA and a Master’s degree in applied linguistics from the University of Kent, UK. She is currently Associate Professor and Head, Research & Policy Studies at AKU-IED.

Anjum Halai graduated from the first M.Ed. programme at AKU-IED and obtained a doctorate in Mathematics Education from Oxford University, UK. She is currently Assistant Professor at AKU-IED. Anjum was a founding member and first chairperson of the Mathematics Association of Pakistan, which plays a key role in providing a platform for continuous professional development of mathematics teachers.

Nelofer Halai earned a Ph.D. from the University of Toronto in Canada. She is an associate professor at AKU-IED. Her research interests lie in two broad areas – science education and teaching of research. She has been teaching research methods to M.Ed. students for more than three years.

Rana Hussain is a senior instructor at AKU-IED. She has a special interest in primary education and brings with her a vast experience of working in schools in the capacity of teacher, teacher educator and manager of primary schools.

Shahida Jawed is a head teacher of a girls’ school in Karachi. She began her career as a science teacher and graduated from the first Masters in Education programe offered at AKU-IED. Since her graduation she has initiated and participated in many school improvement programmes including the establishment of a professional development centre in her school.

Barbara Jaworski is Professor of Mathematics Education at Agder University College, Norway. She was a Reader at the University of Oxford during the time that this book was written. She is Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Mathematics Teacher Education.

Gulzar Kanji was educated in Tanzania and Uganda. She has worked as primary school teacher, head teacher, local authority inspector and Her Majesty’s Inspector in the UK. She worked as Project Director of a school improvement project in Kampala, Uganda. From 1998 to 2001 she was Associate Professor at AKU-IED and established the Professional Development Centre in Gilgit. She continues to work at AKU-IED as visiting faculty.

Anil Khamis is lecturer and course coordinator for the M.A. in Education and International Development at the Institute of Education, University of London. He was Assistant Professor at AKU-IED from 1998?2000.

Tashmin Kassam-Khamis was awarded her Ph.D. in 1996 in Nutritional Sciences from King’s College London. From 1997 to 2001 she worked as Assistant Professor at AKU-IED and was Principal Investigator of the Health Action Schools action research project, funded by Save the Children (UK). Currently Tashmin heads the Child-to-Child Trust (UK).

Firdousali Lalwani graduated from the M.Ed. programme at IED. He has been associated with the Ismaili Tariqah and Religious Education Board and with AKU-IED as a Professional Development Teacher. He has been involved in the development, implementation and evaluation of a number of human resource development programmes.

Rakhshinda Mehar is a graduate of the M.Ed. programme at AKU-IED and has worked for several years as a PDT at the Professional Development Centre in Karachi. She has vast experience of teaching and teacher education. She has taught in and coordinated many certificate in education programmes at AKU-IED.

Muhammad Memon joined AKU-IED in December 1993 and is now a Professor and Head of Programmes. He has played a significant role in introducing educational leadership and management as a field of studies in Pakistan. He has conducted a number of research studies in the area of educational leadership and organizational learning and has served as a member of various committees and task forces on reforming education in the public sector of Pakistan.

Razia Fakir Mohammed started her career as a secondary school mathematics teacher in an Aga Khan School in Karachi. After completing an M.Ed. from AKU-IED she worked as a Professional Development Teacher in the AKES schools. Since 1998 she has been a senior instructor at AKU-IED.

Gulgunchamo Naimova is a Professional Development Teacher from Badakshan in Tajikistan. She started her career as an English language teacher. Since 1998 she has been working with the Aga Khan Education Service, Tajikistan, conducting professional development courses for the teachers at the Aga Khan Lycée in Khorog. Currently she is working at AKU-IED and is involved in the Educational Development Projects of AKU-IED for Tajikistan and Afghanistan.

Sadrudin Pardhan joined AKU-IED in April 1993. He is currently Professor and Director of Outreach Programmes and Activities at AKU-IED. He has been associated with AKU-IED since its start up in July 1993. His major areas of interest are science education, teacher education and institutional development.

Richard Pring M.A. (Oxon), Ph.D. (London), Hon.D.Litt. (Kent), Emeritus Professor of Green College, Oxford, Director of the Department of Educational Studies, University of Oxford (1989?2003), presently Lead Director, Nuffield Review of Education and Training. Recent books: Philosophy of Educational Research, (Continuum, 2000); Philosophy of Education: Aims, Theory, Common Sense and Research (Continuum, 2004).

Jane Frances Akinyi Rarieya is a graduate of the M.Ed. programme at AKU-IED. She has worked as a teacher educator in the East African Region and Pakistan conducting in-service courses for teachers and participating in school improvement projects in Tanzania and Kenya. She is currently a Senior Instructor at AKU-IED and a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Keele, UK.

Fauzia Shamim is an Associate Professor at AKU-IED. She holds a Ph.D. from the University of Leeds, UK in TESOL and has extensive experience of teaching English and of teacher education in a variety of settings both in Pakistan and the UK.

Tim Simkins is Professor of Education Management at Sheffield Hallam University, UK. He has more than 25 years’ experience of teaching and researching leadership and management in education. He is a former Chair of the British Educational Leadership Management and Administration Society. He has designed, managed and contributed to the wide range of continuing professional development programmes for education leaders and managers in the UK and overseas and has acted as a consultant to a number of international development agencies in the designing and evaluation of management development programmes.

Charles Sisum is Senior Lecturer in Continuing Professional Development at Bath Spa University College, UK. He was teaching leadership and management in education at Sheffield Hallam University when this chapter was written. Charles has extensive experience of providing professional development for school leaders both within the UK and overseas.

Dennis Thiessen is a Professor and the Chair in the Curriculum, Teaching and Learning at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto.

Fred Tukahirwa is Education Programme Officer at Aga Khan Education Service, Uganda. He received his M.Ed. from AKU-IED. He has been a teacher in primary and secondary schools and continues to work as Teacher Educator in AKES schools in Uganda.

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