Education Institutions In Pakistan Research Articles

Empowering Environmental Stewardship: Pedagogical Approaches for Integrating Green and Clean Land Practices in Educational institutions of Pakistan

Empowering Environmental Stewardship: Pedagogical Approaches for Integrating Green and Clean Land Practices in Educational institutions of Pakistan

Assessment of Students’ Speaking Skills using the Competent Speaker Speech Rubric

The importance of English language learning for students worldwide, especially in countries where English serves as the medium of instruction, cannot be overstated. However, in educational institutions in Pakistan, appears to be an overemphasis on accuracy at the expense of fluency. As a result, students face challenges when communicating in English as their second language. The present study aims to assess the speaking proficiency of students who studied English II at the University of Swat, utilizing a sample comprising 65 students from two intact classes. A quantitative research design was employed to gather data, and students' presentations were observed using the Competent Speaker Speech Rubric. The results indicated that students' proficiency in five competencies, namely providing relevant supporting material, usage of suitable language, incorporation of vocal variety, usage of an effective pattern to present a topic and display of proper articulation, pronunciation and grammar, were below the satisfactory level. On a positive note, students surpassed satisfactory standards in three competencies, specifically selecting and refining a topic, effectively conveying a thesis or specific purpose, and employing physical and nonverbal cues to enhance verbal communication. The present study has significant implications for instructors, suggesting them using rubrics as valuable grading tools to evaluate students effectively.

Students’ Perspective on the Semester System at Higher Education Institutions in Pakistan

This study investigates student perceptions of the semester system's deployment in Pakistani higher education institutions in the context of worldwide transformative shifts. The study examines the transition from the conventional annual system, focusing on key issues such as students' first perceptions, the semester system's impact on academic workload, time management, learning, assessment procedures, engagement, and involvement. It investigates feedback mechanisms and communication channels to get insights into the effectiveness of student-instructor interactions. The study evaluates overall student happiness and the semester system's possible impact on well-being, recognizing both positive characteristics that contribute to a positive academic experience and potential issues that harm mental health. Five selective universities conducted a survey using a questionnaire. The four-point Likert scale questionnaire “strongly disagree to strongly agree” was used to collect the ordinal data. Using simple random sampling, four hundred student samples were collected from five selective universities. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the frequency, percentage, and median as the average for ordinal data. Furthermore, the Kruskal Wallis H Test assessed variations in more than two groups’ opinions based on five university levels, and the Mann– Whitney U test investigated inequalities in the views of two groups of male and female students. The results offer valuable insights to educational policymakers, administrators, and educators. These insights will provide a student-focused understanding of the consequences of implementing the semester system.

Leadership on Performance vs. Mediating Effect on Job Satisfaction: Evidence From Higher Educational Institutions in Pakistan

This study aims to determine how transactional leadership influences organizational performance with a mediating effect on employees’ job satisfaction. The theoretical and numerical link between these variables of the research topic is highlighted in this study. Quantitative information is gathered for the study utilizing a random sampling method. The HODs of the academic institutions in the Gujranwala region filled out 290 questionnaires that were used to collect the data. Two hundred seventy-two can be used while the remaining are partly filed. Smart PLS 4 was used to examine the data’s validity and verify the correlations between the research variables. The validity and reliability of the questionnaire, which was used to gather the data, may be assessed by how precisely the findings were analyzed. Based on data generated by the “smart PLS 4 program,” an organization’s success depends on its leadership practices, and the mediating variable positively correlates with transactional leadership. This is a unique study for the educational sector of the Gujranwala region, Pakistan, and it calls for more research on leadership and organizational performance.

A Study on Examining the Factors Causing the Stress Level of Teachers While Shifting Towards Online Mode of Education in Pakistan

This study aims to investigate the factors contributing to the stress levels of teachers in educational institutions of Pakistan during the shift towards the online mode of education. This quantitative study used a survey questionnaire to obtain data from the teachers. The questionnaire included the items on workload, technical hurdles, social contact, and work-life balance of distance learning teachers while transmission towards online mode. A sample size of 75 teachers was selected for the study. The findings of the study showed that technological challenges such as connectivity issues, coping up with new emerging technology, meeting deadlines and multitasking are the major factors of stress for teachers. They find it difficult to somewhat keep the balance between personal and professional life. On the other hand, the teachers are satisfied by the provided institutional support.

Exploring Heads’ Perspective on Social Justice for Students in Higher Education Institutions in Pakistan

Equal opportunity does not imply equal treatment: rather it means fair treatment (Ghosh, 2012). Fair treatment and providing equal opportunities to enhance individual’s capability, irrespective of any personal or societal differences, can contribute in providing excellence in education that leads to social justice. The objective of the study was to explore heads’ perspectives of students’ equitable access to educational resources, equitable participation and equitable outcomes in higher education. The study had also explored heads’ perspectives on students’ personal barriers to social justice and equity. To explore the perspective of heads on social justice for students in universities, data had been collected from 17 leaders working in higher education, by using multistage sampling technique. An interview protocol was developed to explore the perspective on social justice connected to leaders for bringing improvements in education so that all students get equal opportunities to excel in education. The results presented less positive situation of social justice and equity in public sector higher education. The study recommends that the education system needs to consider social justice and equity to ensure heads’ commitment to social justice and equity principles, leading to equal opportunities for making students’ capability better in higher education institutions in Pakistan.

Social Media Addiction in The Young Community: Elucidation of The Development of Behavioral Responses

Background: University students have been using social media in an uncontrolled manner without knowledge of the negative impacts on their cognitive functionality. Therefore, an assessment of the alterations in the behavior pattern of the university students is required to associate the linkage between social media use and subsequent aggressiveness. Contribution: Current work has for the first time conducted a socio-behavioral study on the younger university students for gaining an insight into their inclination towards using different social media platforms and changes in their behavioral patterns. Method: University students (73 total; 35 males and 38 females) were chosen who had history of using social media for the last three to five years. These students were affiliated with higher education institutions in Pakistan and the time of analysis was September 2022 – January 2023. An open-ended questionnaire was filled and statistically analyzed for significance using Origin software and SPSS software Results: This work has identified significant relationship between the social media utilization and alterations in the behavior of university students. Different determinants worked upon in this research are the impacts of the social media on cognitive occupation, emotive functions, relapse, conflict, anger, and hostility. Conclusion: The study has associated and evaluated such behavioral factors as determinants of aggression in the younger generation. Also, the study has compared and contrasted the appearance of aggression as a pattern taking in consideration different gender roles to comprehend the role of gender in perceiving and adopting social media trends.

A systematic review of literature on inclusive education with special emphasis on children with disability in Pakistan

ABSTRACT Enabling inclusive education and eliminating all differences in education is a key area of Sustainable Development Goals. This systematic review of the literature analysed the major challenges regarding inclusive education in Pakistan. It also studied how these have been investigated by different researchers across the world in the context of a developing country, i.e. Pakistan. The databases searched for carrying out the systematic review were Google Scholar, ERIC, Education Source, ProQuest, JSTOR, Springer, Project Muse, and Informs. The exploration included peer-reviewed research papers from 1980 to 2022 on inclusive education. Approximately 30 research articles were analysed as these met the inclusion criteria. The key findings indicated that global and national policy guidelines are not implemented regarding inclusive education. Moreover, educational institutions in Pakistan are not prepared to cater to children with special educational needs. In addition, the lack of collaboration among all stakeholders and the lack of professionally developed teachers are major challenges towards including these learners. It is recommended that some practical measures need to be taken to implement global and national policy guidelines by the government. To carry out effective implementation of inclusive education collaboration with all stakeholders is recommended.

A Review of Culturally Responsive Teaching for Bridging the Gap of Teaching Efforts and Performance of Culturally Diverse Learners

Diversity of age, language, culture, norms, standards, and demographics is prevailing in educational institutions in Pakistan. The cultural diversity of learners in a classroom is the blessing of varied experiences the students bring with themselves if that can be used properly and smartly during the educational activities of students and projects of different types in the shape of assignments. For this purpose, the teacher must be competent to avail of such types of opportunities. On the other hand, the diversity of learners hurts the overall results, the reputation of management, and teachers’ performance. To deal with the cultural diversity of learners, the researcher has reviewed articles with a sample of 17 articles, theses, and reports that have presented some strategies and steps to deal with diverse learners in a classroom. Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) Protocol was adopted for article selection, finalization, and data analysis with the objectives of finding out the steps required for a conducive atmosphere in ethnically diverse learning classrooms which may be helpful in the performance of the students and practices, activities that may assist a teacher in better learning outcomes in ethnically heterogeneous classrooms and to explore such strategies which may lessen the trust deficit of parents in public institutions. A period of 1995-2020 was selected. Findings were drawn through tabulation, and all objectives were met. After a detailed discussion, conclusions of the study were made. Practices, strategies, and steps were recommended for the teachers, with a discussion on the limitation of data. Future researchers were also given fields to be explored by them. The article concluded with the remarks that the teacher may respect the norms and cultures of the learners, engage learners in those activities that relate to their cultural contexts, welcome students’ families for a better understanding of the learners, and resolve school-centered problems by identifying home-centered problems.

Influence of Ethical Climate, Workplace Spirituality and Organizational Justice on Workplace Deviant Behavior: A Mediating Role of Organizational Citizenship Behavior

This research investigates the intricate relationships among ethical climate, workplace spirituality, organizational justice, organizational citizenship behavior (OCB), and workplace deviant behavior within the context of higher education institutions in Pakistan. The study proposes and tests a comprehensive model, exploring direct relationships and the mediating role of OCB. The hypotheses posit significant associations between ethical climate, workplace spirituality, organizational justice, and both organizational citizenship behavior and workplace deviant behavior. Furthermore, the research examines the mediating effects of organizational justice on the relationships between ethical climate, workplace spirituality, and workplace deviant behavior. Drawing on a sample of 259 teachers from various public and private universities in Pakistan, the study contributes to filling existing gaps in the literature, particularly in the context of developing nations. The methodology employs a correlational research design, utilizing a survey questionnaire with Likert-type scales. Data analysis is conducted through Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM), allowing for a nuanced examination of relationships and mediating effects. The results indicate significant direct relationships between ethical climate and workplace deviant behavior, as well as organizational justice and deviant behavior. Ethical climate also positively relates to organizational citizenship behavior, as does organizational justice. Workplace spirituality, however, does not exhibit a significant relationship with workplace deviant behavior or organizational citizenship behavior. The findings further reveal the mediating role of organizational citizenship behavior in the relationships between ethical climate and workplace deviant behavior, as well as organizational justice and workplace deviant behavior. Overall, this research contributes to the understanding of ethical and behavioral dynamics in organizational settings, particularly in the unique context of higher education institutions in Pakistan.

Impact of Emotional Intelligence on Teacher's Performance in Higher Education Institutions in Pakistan

This study examines how emotional intelligence affects higher education teachers in Pakistan. Emotional intelligence shapes teacher-student relationships and classroom dynamics. The quantitative descriptive research design was adopted for the study. The respondents were 350 teachers from higher education institutions. The data were collected through a questionnaire to determine how emotional intelligence affects classroom management, communication, and teacher-student relationships. The data were analyzed by applying Pearson correlation and Regression Analysis. The findings reveal significant positive correlations between emotional intelligence and classroom management practices (r = 0.62) and effective communication skills (r = 0.68). Additionally, there is a moderate to strong positive correlation (r = 0.68) between emotional intelligence and teacher-student relationships. The regression analysis confirms emotional intelligence significantly predicts the quality of teacher-student relationships (β = 0.50, p < 0.001). The findings emphasize the relevance of emotional intelligence in higher education teachers to increase performance and provide a more supportive learning environment. Emotional intelligence training in teacher education and professional development can improve Pakistani education.

THE NEXUS BETWEEN ETHICAL LEADERSHIP AND EMPLOYEES’ CYNICISM: EVIDENCE FROM HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS

The leadership and cynicism can be closely related, as leaders can have a significant impact on the organizational culture, attitudes, and behaviors of their employees. This study aims to investigate the dynamic relationship between ethical leadership and employee cynicism, with mediating role of psychological empowerment among the higher education institutions in Pakistan. The data were collected using an adopted construct, and after distributing 300 questionnaires, a total of 271 responses were appropriate for further analysis. The data were analyzed using the statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) Macros mediational procedure. The results offer significant information in deciding about hypothesized relationships. The findings suggest that psychological empowerment mediates relationship between ethical leadership and employee cynicism." Furthermore, it is also evident that the psychological empowerment shows positive strength with employees’ perception toward top crest ethical leadership attributes that enhance their abilities & aptitudes to fulfill organizational tasks effectively and efficiently.

Bullying prevalence in Pakistan's educational institutes: Preclusion to the framework for a teacher-led antibullying intervention.

Increasing reports of bullying and cyberbullying in schools in recent years are undeniable and have been recognized as a serious public health problem. Conventional bullying and cyberbullying are not only a problem in higher educational institutions in Pakistan, but also in primary and secondary schools. Although statistics show higher levels of bullying and cyber-risky behaviors among youth, policies and interventions to control the consequences of conventional and cyberbullying are rare in the Pakistani context. This study explores teachers' perspectives and experiences in identifying bullying strategies in different school contexts. Four hundred fifty-four teachers working in different educational institutions completed an online survey that provided data to draw conclusions and to get a better sense of the situation in educational institutions in Pakistan. According to the results, teachers experience verbal and social bullying more frequently than online and physical bullying. In addition, teachers in lower grades reported noticing more physical bullying than teachers in higher grades. Facebook was reported to be the most common platform students used to bully each other. Researchers also found significant differences between rural and urban teachers' experiences with social bullying. Bullying intervention strategies should be developed and integrated into educational settings in Pakistan. The data presented will be used to develop tailored anti-bullying interventions that are culturally and socially appropriate for Pakistani educational settings.

Effect of abusive supervision on organizational cynicism (Cognitive, affective, behavioral) mediating effect of playing dumb.

The purpose of the present study is to examine the link of Abusive Supervision with Organizational Cynicism i.e. Cognitive, Emotional, or Behavioral Cynicism by focusing on the mediating role of Abusive Supervisor's Knowledge Hiding behavior of Playing Dumb in Higher Education Institutions in Pakistan. Data was collected using questionnaire under the survey research design. The participants included 400 faculty and staff members from Higher Education Institutions in Pakistan. Structural Equation Modelling using SmartPLS is used to test the hypothesized relationships of Abusive Supervision and Knowledge Hiding Behavior of Abusive Supervisors with the faculty and staff's Organizational Cynicism behaviors. The results indicate that Abusive Supervision is significantly and positively related with faculty and staff's Cognitive, Emotional, and Behavioral Cynicism. This study also indicates that Knowledge Hiding behavior of Playing Dumb fully mediates the relationship between Abusive Supervision and Cognitive Cynicism and partially mediates the relationship between Abusive Supervision and Behavioral Cynicism. However, Playing Dumb as a knowledge Hiding behaviour does not impact the relationship between Abusive Supervision and Emotional Cynicism. This means that Knowledge Hiding by Playing dumb contributes to the adverse effect of Abusive Supervision, leading to increased Cognitive and Behavioral Cynicism. This study contributes to literature on Organizational Cynicism and Abusive Supervision by studying the link between them and effect of Abusive Supervisor's Knowledge Hiding behavior of Playing Dumb as a mediator. The study also indicates that Abusive Supervision characterized by Knowledge Hiding behavior of Playing Dumb is really a problem in Higher Education Institutions in Pakistan. This study holds importance for top management in Higher Education Institutions in to curb the negative effects of Abusive Supervision by developing a policy framework that ensures prevention of Organizational Cynicism in faculty and staff. Moreover, the policy guidelines should ensure that control of essential resources such as Knowledge in the hands of the Abusive leaders should not be misused, causing Organizational Cynicism and eventually leading to problems such as turnover and psychological and behavioral issues among faculty and staff in Higher Education Institutions of Pakistan.

The Situational Leadership Theory: Application in Educational Institutions of Pakistan

There is severe competition among educational institutions in Pakistan's public and private sectors as a result of the country's more dynamic educational environment. Using a descriptive methodology, we investigated the function of situational leaders and examined how the situational leadership style is relevant in Pakistan. We have concluded that educators place a high value on situational leadership because it allows the leader to adjust to the demands of the situation or environment. Situational leaders work and apply strategies in line with the demands of the situation, and they also help create new strategies that are appropriate for the circumstance. However, the most important element of the situational leadership approach is the capacity to adjust and be flexible in a particular scenario. Leadership in a given situation ought to be more able to adapt to both internal and external environmental variables. A leader must establish this equilibrium skillfully and successfully. A leader's ability to adjust to the current situation or scenario and meet the requirements of the team or the situation, rather than their skills, is the basis of this situational leadership style. These situational leaders need to be very adaptable.

How does digital reflective practice in textile design education relate to creativity?

ABSTRACT This article reports the results of a multiple case study that sought to understand how textile design students engaged in digital reflective practice (DRP) and how such engagement related to creativity. Theoretically informed by symbolic interactionism and constructivism, the study incorporated the views of textile design teachers, heads of departments and students in four different higher education institutions in Pakistan. The findings suggest that the use of digital tools for reflection in textile design studio courses can enhance students’ creativity, self-consciousness or awareness, and understanding of tasks and concept development. The creative process also entailed new possibilities of expression, presentation and meaning making by revisiting their work.

Sustainability in Higher Education Institutions in Pakistan: A Systematic Review of Progress and Challenges

Sustainability is a global problem that invites researchers and teachers to integrate sustainability concerns into curricula. The analysis discussed in this paper is grounded in a synthesis of research papers and documents that analyzes the current status of the initiatives taken to achieve sustainability in education in the context of Pakistan. Through content analyses of 26 studies made in higher education, this study discusses the progress and challenges in achieving Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) in Pakistani Higher Education Institutions. Most of the studies reviewed were open access and published by HEC (Higher Education Commission) Pakistan in recognized national and international journals. This review shows how education contributes to transformation by highlighting the contribution of different stakeholders, i.e., administrators and leaders (eight studies) and teachers and students (fifteen studies). It also highlights governance, communication and coordination among stakeholders (eleven studies), campus outreach (five studies), and significant challenges in achieving sustainability (seven studies). The analysis provides a basis for the consideration of logistical support and quality education (SDG #4) to progress toward the SDGs. This analysis will help educators and managers in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) to reflect on their practices, leading to Sustainable Development (SD). In addition to this, this study will help policy makers and curriculum developers to identify key challenges in meeting sustainable development goals. Also, this will enable researchers to identify gaps in the literature when framing their research questions.

Challenges of Online Learning in Developing Country under the Impact of the Pandemic Situation- A Case Study of Pakistan

On the 30th of January 2020, The WHO proclaimed COVID-19 as a Public Health Emergency of International concern. As a direct response to COVID-19, on the 14th of March 2020, the Pakistani government decided to close all educational institutions and directed Higher educational institutions in Pakistan to begin distance learning (DL) modes and to assist their students online regularly until the COVID-19 crisis is resolved. The objective of this study is to identify the challenges that Pakistani students faced while participating in online learning environments and (1) determine whether or not there are any differences between male and female students and different socioeconomic statuses of the students who faced challenges during online learning; (2) highlighted whether online education is still feasible in Pakistan or not. The research was carried out with their permission and was conducted using an analytical and cross-sectional study. The survey was collected from 550 students through Google forms. The sampling technique used in this study was random sampling. The results of the independent sample t-test indicated that there was a difference between the responses of male and female students regarding challenges encountered in online education. Online learning cannot produce positive results in developing countries like Pakistan, where a large majority of students do not have access to a reliable internet facility due to financial and technical problems. Educational institutions that provide online courses or programs need to incentivize their teaching staff to reimagine traditional lecture-based classes for delivery in an online setting. Keywords: Online Education, KMO and Bartlett's test, t-test, random sampling, COVID-19.

The Role of Soft Skills and Organizational Unfairness between Leadership Style and Employee Performance: A Quantitative Study in Educational Institutes of Pakistan

Thoughts, strategies, beliefs, and philosophies are continually evolving and changing. In this era of change and growth, leaders have the greatest impact on the success and long-term viability of all organizations and institutions, as well as the formation and maintenance of organizational culture (Robbins & Judge, 2012). Furthermore, the same holds true for educational institutions. Therefore, this study is interested in identifying the effect of leadership styles on employee performance, focusing on the mediating role of soft skills and the moderating role of organizational unfairness. A quantitative method was adopted, and the data of 184 teachers was collected by a higher educational institute. The study has used a cross-sectional research design by using the convenience sampling technique. SMART PLS version 22 data analysis reveals that transactional and transformational leadership styles have a significant positive relationship with employee performance via the mediating role of soft skills. Further organizational unfairness has negatively moderated the relationship between transactional and transformational leadership styles and employee performance. The present study is useful for building employee performance by employing various soft skills and leadership styles and reducing the environment of organizational unfairness. This research could pave the way to improving employee and management readiness to face the 4.0 education era. Limitations and future recommendations are discussed.

The Trends of Verbal Bullying among University Students: A Sociolinguistic Analysis

Bullying remains a pervasive problem within the educational institutions of Pakistan. Students, especially the ones with any kind of disability are constant victims of bullying. Among the many forms of bullying, verbal bullying is the most common one. The objectives of the present study are to understand the trends of verbal bullying behavior within Pakistani Universities and to identify practical bullying prevention strategies. The study is delimited to studying only the verbal bullying that relates to the use of language to persecute, oppress or victimize people. The researcher has delimited the study to the undergraduate students of three major universities in Islamabad Pakistan: FAST-NUCES, NUST, and NUML. The present study uses questionnaires as a method of data collection. The study highlights the effects of verbal bullying on the health, well-being and also on educational career of students. This study concluded that bullying culture is common among the universities of Pakistan which is mainly reflected in the language students use. Keeping in mind the findings of the study, better strategies can be suggested to the educational institutions to deal with the bullying culture in their institutes so that students do not suffer at the hands of the bullies.