Asset or Liability: Who Am I?

I am your constant companion.
I am your greatest asset or heaviest burden.
I will push you up to success or down to disappointment.
I am at your command.

Half the things you do might just as well be turned over to me,
For I can do them quickly, correctly, and profitably.
I am easily managed, just be firm with me.

Those who are great, I have made great.
Those who are failures, I have made failures.
I am not a machine, though I work with the precision of a
machine and the intelligence of a person.

You can run me for profit, or you can run me for ruin.
Show me how you want it done. Educate me. Train me.
Lead me. Reward me.
And I will then…do it automatically.

I am your servant.
Who am I?
I am a habit.

Golden Rules

·         Never cheat with the job responsibility

·         Always respect your elders

·         Always value your family first

·         Never disappoint

·         Always trust on God and self

·         Give at least one hour for personal growth daily

·         Help others as usual

·         Keep balance between personal and professional life

·         Be generous

·         Always remember your beloved ones (Mother, sisters, aunt and fiancée)

·         First understand then understood

 

Team Building

 

Moulding leaders

I  once observed a potter making beautiful pots. He shaped the clay, patiently, with skill and a clear idea of what the pot will eventually look like. If you think about it leaders, too, are like potters with the skill to transform something out of nothing as they develop the potential of people and capitalise from it.

Leading is a process of inspiring, guiding, motivating, attracting and directing effectively. And all this results in change — change in society, change in thinking, change in environment and a change in attitudes, ultimately.

But where does this leadership come from? Who produces leaders? Producing future leaders is the responsibility of our education system. For this reason alone our curriculum, school system in fact the overall education system should be designed in a way that the learners here are provided with an opportunity to exhibit their talents and polish their leadership skills. Furthermore, our curriculum and classrooms should be learner-centred, providing space to the learners to grow and grant them the opportunity to work with a diverse people around them.

But learners here are passive partners in the teaching and learning process as they are more like followers than leaders. Hence they are expected to follow the instructions given to them by their teachers. Their mutely following our instructions makes us proud as we see this as a mark of respect for ourselves. But is this really going to help the children move ahead in life or is it going to hold them back and destroy their hidden self.

Analysing it from the point of view of the students, we need to change our attitude. We should jump from dictatorship to the democratic approach where students are considered active partners in the teaching and learning process. Further, we need to provide them opportunities through which they are able to enhance their leadership skills. Following are some unique strategies through which the schools can help their learners practice their leadership skills inside and outside the school.

Teaching the underprivileged

The students can be encouraged to visit orphanages or childcare centres for general knowledge or language sessions with the children there as these children may not have much access to quality educational facilities. The activity requires being prepared to answer all the children’s queries by inculcating a sense of responsibility and planning which happen to be key leadership qualities.

Social service programmes

Such activities need good planning and execution abilities. The social service programmes may include blood donation
drives, taking care of the elderly, lending a helping hand to the disabled, etc. All these events and the likes can be connected with the social studies curriculum of a school.

Organising school events

As perhaps the finest leadership development strategy, school managements may encourage students to help organise events such as sports day, cultural programmes, music events, singing competitions, quizzes, debate or felicitation programmes.

These are no one-man tasks and require students to work as a team. There would be a need to appoint leaders for every small task and the teachers can guide these leaders by making valuable suggestions or giving useful tips on how to accomplish the work.

Helping the environment

There are still many among us who are actually unaware of environment protection measures. The students can appeal to such citizens to save water and suggest ways of keeping the surroundings clean and tidy by adopting effective waste disposal measures. Tree plantation programmes can be a good activity where the students can be divided into groups with a leader appointed for each. The leader will guide the students on how to proceed with the tree planting. At the same time, they can also prepare charts and banners which will give the people some information about the importance of planting and saving trees.

Sports activities

Playing sports which may involve teams can be great leadership activities for students. The team with a good leader chalking out effective strategies at the right time will obviously win the challenge. Thus sports activities can be considered the best way to develop unity and hard work among the participating students.

Securing the future of our country asks for an investment in our students, the future leaders of this land. Educators need to act just like those skilled potters knowing just what to do to make the best pottery.

 

Gender leadership and professional development programs

Professional development programmes are essential for both male and female teachers and head teachers. Such programmes enhance abilities, capabilities, skills and knowledge of individuals. Literatures suggest that the effectiveness of professional development programmes depend on the participation of male and female teachers. However, the participation of male and female teachers varies from context to context. In developed countries the participation of female teachers and head teachers in professional development programmes is higher than males’ teachers (Johnston, 1998).  Evidence suggests that women more interested in attending professional development programmes than their counterpart male head teachers. The professional development progarmmes are important because they improve the skills and knowledge about teaching and learning (Johnston, 1998; Ramsden, Margetson, Martin and Clarke, 1995).  Johnston (1998) noted that women believe more than male head teachers about the importance of professional development programmes. Women also believe that professional development progarmmes enhances their practices. However, women head teachers less believes on their academic roles than male head teachers. They also feel more alienated and isolated in their work environment.  Furthermore, women seek role models and mentors for their professional development. In Park’s (1996) work on professional development for teachers, he  argues that in most of the world teaching, like other work traditionally classified as 'women's' such as housework, child-care or nursing, is under-valued by society because it is seen to be associated with low level skills and is thought to be instinctive or natural. The notion that teaching comes naturally and that anyone can teach well suggests that these activities are uncreative, unchallenging, and unskilled (Park, 1996).  Such assumptions could readily lead to further assumptions, particularly by men, that professional development and other steps to learn about and improve teaching are unnecessary or a waste of time and resources.  Researchers are increasingly recognizing that perceptions of low self-efficacy may not be a cause of women’s failure to move through the academic ranks, rather the effect of a culture in which they feel under-valued and sometimes alienated (Acker, 1992). As such, it is important to shift the focus away from 'problems' of women, to the problems caused by 'the politics of privilege' (Ramsay, 1995) in which male characteristics and life patterns are made the norm, thereby marginalizing the activities, experiences and characteristics of women.

In various studies it is found that women’s level of participation is higher in professional development activities. Their involvement seems that they enjoy such opportunities and desire to seek out collaborative rather than competitive relationships with colleagues.  Women have greater appreciation of interacting with colleagues in a non-threatening environment which encourages openness and valuing of the individual (Belenky, Clinchy, Goldberger & Tarule, 1986). In the study of Bhalalusesa (2010) demonstrate that women had the intrinsic motivation to succeed in their career and professional development as independent human beings. However, due to traditional values and cultural expectations of their societies, they also felt that starting and maintaining a family was imperative. He also presents that women who want to pursue their career and professional development outside their context, face challenges. Brown (2000) describe that small numbers of women at middle and senior grades in academic departments and in the administration  recommended women are given particular encouragement to undertake career training.  In Pakistan, it has been found that women mangers are quite insignificant, and the general workplace atmosphere is incongruous, unsafe, discriminatory and unequal.  Women are struggling and striving hard against many socio-cultural forces to establish their rights and contribute as an economic and managerial force (Alam, 2009). A number of debates have been made to identify that they type of group should be involved in professional development programmes. The mix male and female group should be effective or single sex group be more effective. Brown (2008) argues that one way of addressing the inequalities which exist in universities is not to hold single sex courses. Men are not always aware of the problems they face and mix groups are useful in that respect.
In traditional norms, women are considering to play reproductive roles while male are supposed to perform productive roles in the society. The finding of Bhalalusesa (2010) suggests that educated women realize that they can also play the role of a provider for the benefit of the entire family while at the same time trying hard to maintain their traditional roles as wives and mothers.

            In Pakistani context, women headteachers’ experiences in educational leadership, particularly professional development programs for educational leader’s remains under researched.  This study, therefore, aims to fill this gap in the knowledge base by providing a contextual perspective on the influence of women public sector primary teachers’ participation in professional development programs on their professional and personal experiences.

Parenting: a real challenge

PARENTING a child is not about simply providing basic necessities like food, clothes, shelter and education to the child. It also demands an effort to understand their emotional requirements and adjust accordingly.

It is about being considerate and sensitive to the growing physical and psychological needs of the child that emerge at various stages of their growth. Children need social and moral guidance as they grow so as not to face any developmental hurdles. In this regard, parents need to provide a framework in which their children can learn to manage their lives without being exposed to growing challenges.

It is imperative that parents maintain an atmosphere in which children can develop their cognitive skills while focusing on their emotional intelligence.

When parents are overly authoritative or critical, their children suffer from lack of confidence and become filled with
self-doubt. This weakness continues to live with them hampering their progress on a number of occasions.

On the contrary, parents who react to the misbehaviour of their children by letting them see the logical consequences of their actions help them rectify themselves by discovering the difference between what is good and what is bad.

Children must be made to feel accepted and loved by their parents. Parents have daily opportunities to show their love to their children which can be shown through words and actions.

Insecurity among children, which is a natural phenomenon, can be addressed by showing concerns and adopting appropriate measures. Parents have to choose when, where and how to address different situations.

Good performance shown by the child must be rewarded as it would motivate them to produce better result next time.

Most parents are so busy that they cannot afford any time to teach their children at home.

They usually send them to coaching classes and feel satisfied if the child spends most of his evening hours there. This attitude generates a gap between the child and the parent as they hardly have any time to sit together for an informal family chat. Parenting a child is not an easy task as it exposes the parent to a host of challenges which keep emerging on various stages of the child’s developmental phase. Parents must never forget that a child learns what he lives and parents play a vital part in shaping the personality of the child and making him what he can be proud or ashamed of.

 

Think and Reflect

 

A Powerful Quotation

 

 

Aways Extend a Hand to Help Others

 

First Women Taxi Driver in Pakistan

 

Give Your Team the Gift of Becoming a Better Boss

1. Inspire team members to high performance.

2. Focus on the big picture.

3. Make work and opportunity to learn.

4. Demonstrate concern for team members.

5. Resolve conflicts and insist on cooperation.

6. Ask team members to stretch.

7. Communicate. Communicate. Communicate.

8. Walk your talk.

 

Speaker and Members of GB Legislative Council