Teachers should adopt ‘critical inquiry’ in their learning, pedagogy

Islamabad

Key speakers at an exclusive workshop engaging teachers, mostly of Islamic studies, argued that they should adopt tools of critical inquiry in both their own research and teaching others. These tools should empower them to question their own notions, without falling prey to hearsay or getting influenced by political ideologies.

These were some of the thoughts expressed at two-day training workshop organised by Pak Institute for Peace Studies (PIPS), a Pakistani think-tank, exploring links between educational institutions, in particular teachers, and religious harmony. Around 36 participants, teaching Islamiat or related courses at higher-levels, all from Khyber-Pakhtunkwa and FATA, attended the workshop.

Keynote speakers to the workshop unpacked the challenges to adopting critical inquiry, given the tense sectarian-political tensions. Notable speakers included Dr. Khalid Masood, Islamic scholar; Dr. Qibla Ayaz, former vice chancellor; Khursheed Nadeem, columnist and scholar; Dr. A.H. Nayyar, educationist; Amar Khan Nasir, Islamic scholar; Romana Bashir, peace activist; and Wusutullah Khan, journalist.

The need for having ‘genuine’ scholars as opposed to knowledge ‘quacks’ was reminded by Khursheed Nadeem in his opening remarks. If scholars stop producing knowledge - knowledge with relevance - quacks with superficial information will take over, he warned. A teacher should be what he called ‘activist’ - in the sense of having relevance to what he or she researchers. An Islamiat teacher of today has many topics of direct impact to the world at large.

Moreover, these teachers should not opt for one ideology or another. Clearly, this is a tough call, given the various ideologies prevailing around and within the campus. Yet, scholar Nadeem argued, the task of the educational institution should be - education. Research should be their forte.

Speakers noted how religion has been invoked in Pakistan’s history to justify political and strategic goals. It is one way to contest India over points like territory or rivers, but it is another to portray the entire relation in the discourse of religion.

To engage students in research, universities should open up to new thinking - something that requires being ready to ‘unlearn’ things afresh, said former vice chancellor of Peshawar University, Dr. QiblaAyaz. “We are influenced by different schools of thought; sometimes, it’s necessary to learn from scratch.”

Dr. Ayaz pointed to the 1980s as the pivotal decade when the country’s socio-political worldview changed - all in the name of religion. Because we lacked critical inquiry, we accepted notions that were never untrue, he argued.

Meanwhile, renowned Islamic scholar Khalid Masood argued teachers should shun negativities around terms like ‘diversity’, ‘change’ and ‘differences’. Diversity, he argued, is our strength.

Taking part in the discussion, PIPS director Amir Rana gave overview of how Pakistanis identify themselves. Quoting surveys, he asked participants to ask as to why there is still confusion on whether we are Muslims first or Pakistani first or ethnic groups first.

Meanwhile, peace activist Romana Bashir enlisted several problems non-Muslims face in existing educational setup of Pakistan: For one, textbooks still are filled with hate material against non-Muslims. “Our syllabus promotes differences among students”, she said, as a result of which, she added, teachers had to face problems.