Building Spiritual Capital through Language Teaching: Analysis of State-Mandated Elementary Language Textbooks in Pakistan

Ashar Johnson Khokhar

Vol. 16 No. 2 (2023) IEJEE

Building Spiritual Capital through Language Teaching: Analysis of State-Mandated Elementary Language Textbooks in Pakistan

Ashar Johnson Khokhar

Published January 3, 2024 | Pages: 253-266 | Views: 120

Download PDF

SHARE

Abstract

Pakistan has constantly been in the news since the September 9, 2001, attack in New York, USA, and its education system and curriculum have seen a lot of interest from academics, researchers, and civil society organizations, both locally and globally. These researchers explored many aspects such as the concept of Jihad and its connection with violence against religious minorities, the construction of ‘Us’ and ‘Them’, the national, religious, and cultural identity but the development, promotion, and preservation of spiritual capital (SC) remained unexplored. This study was undertaken to take stock of the SC considered worthwhile to be preserved and promoted through language textbooks prepared for elementary school children by the Government of Pakistan. The study used a qualitative interpretive/constructivist research paradigm and chose qualitative content analysis as the data analysis method. The data for this study was taken from language textbooks (12 English and 12 Urdu) and semi-structured interview data, collected using a focus group discussion data collection strategy. This study found a very strong link between pupils’ SC and the stories presented to them in the language textbooks showing the rootedness of pupils' SC in Islam, its teachings, and history. The study also showed pupils struggling to modify and expand their SC by including the global SC perspective in their already constructed set of SC. This study recommends that the textbook authorities should make the language textbooks' content inclusive and add global stories emphasizing universal SC.

<p>Pakistan has constantly been in the news since the September 9, 2001, attack in New York, USA, and its education system and curriculum have seen a lot of interest from academics, researchers, and civil society organizations, both locally and globally. These researchers explored many aspects such as the concept of Jihad and its connection with violence against religious minorities, the construction of ‘Us’ and ‘Them’, the national, religious, and cultural identity but the development, promotion, and preservation of spiritual capital (SC) remained unexplored. This study was undertaken to take stock of the SC considered worthwhile to be preserved and promoted through language textbooks prepared for elementary school children by the Government of Pakistan. The study used a qualitative interpretive/constructivist research paradigm and chose qualitative content analysis as the data analysis method. The data for this study was taken from language textbooks (12 English and 12 Urdu) and semi-structured interview data, collected using a focus group discussion data collection strategy. This study found a very strong link between pupils’ SC and the stories presented to them in the language textbooks showing the rootedness of pupils' SC in Islam, its teachings, and history. The study also showed pupils struggling to modify and expand their SC by including the global SC perspective in their already constructed set of SC. This study recommends that the textbook authorities should make the language textbooks' content inclusive and add global stories emphasizing universal SC.</p>

Listen -

References

Ashraf, M. A. (2018). Islamized Ideologies in the Pakistani Education System: The Need for Religious Literacy. Religious Education, 113(1), 3-13.
Barker, M. (2007). Investments in religious capital: An explorative case study of Australian Buddhists. Journal of Global Buddhism, 8, 65-80.
Bliss, C. J. (1975). Capital theory and the distribution of income. Oxford, UK: North-Holland Publishing.
Boettke, P. J. (2010). Spiritual Capital and Economic Development: An Overview. In P. L. Berger & G. Redding (Eds.), The Hidden Form of Capital: Spiritual Influences in Societal Progress (pp. 29-40). London: Anthem Press.
Borup, J. (2019). Spiritual Capital and religious evolution: Buddhist values and transactions in historical and contemporary perspective. Journal of Global Buddhism, 20, 49-69. doi:10.5281/zenodo.3238217
Bourdieu, P. (1986). The forms of capital. In J. G. Richardson (Ed.), Handbook of Theory and Research for the Sociology of Education (pp. 241−258). New York: Greenwood Press.
Braudel, F. (1992). Civilization and capitalism, 15th-18th century, vol. II: The wheels of commerce. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
Budiasni, N. W. N., Ayuni, N. M. S., & Trisnadewi, N. K. A. (2019). The implementation of spiritual capital Saab Mote Craftsmen: Study of the Hindu teachings (study of Saab Mote craftsman in Nagasepaha village, Buleleng). International Journal of Social Science and Business, 3(3), 336-340.
Cannan, E. (1921). Early History of the Term Capital. Quarterly Journal of Economics, 35(3), 469-481.
Cohen, L., Manion, L., & Morrison, K. (2018). Research methods in education (8th ed.). New York: Routledge.
Coleman, J. S. (1988). Social capital in the creation of human capital. American Journal of Sociology, 94, S95-S120.
Creswell, J. W., & Poth, C. N. (2016). Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five approaches. New York: Sage.
Datoo, A.-K. (2014). Predominant Narratives Shaping Education in Pakistan: Historical and Sociological Perspectives. Paper presented at the Revue internationale d’éducation de Sèvres, Paris.
Dsouli, O., Khan, N., & Kakabadse, N. K. (2012). Spiritual capital: The co-evolution of an ethical framework based on Abrahamic religious values in the Islamic tradition Journal of Management Development, 31(10), 1058-1076. doi:10.1108/02621711211281843
Faizi, W., Bibi, W., & Khan, F. (2020). Educational policies (1947-2009) of Pakistan and integration of Islamic values among secondary level learners: an evaluative study. Pakistan Journal of Humanities & Social Sciences Research, 3(01), 79-90.
Farquhar, M. (2016). Circuits of faith: Migration, education, and the Wahhabi mission. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
Fetter, F. A. (1930). Capital. In E. R. A. Seligman & A. Johnson (Eds.), Encyclopaedia of the Social Sciences (Vol. 3, pp. 187-190). New York: Macmillan.
Fisher, I. (1896). What is capital? The Economic Journal, 6(24), 509-534.
Fisher, I. (1904). Precedents for defining capital. Quarterly Journal of Economics, 18(3), 386-408.
FitzGibbon, A. The importance of spiritual capital within human development in Islamic teaching. Retrieved from http://policy.islamic-relief.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Spiritual-Capital.pdf
Fuchs, E. (2010). Introduction: Contextualizing school textbook revision. Journal of Educational Media, Memory, and Society, 2(2), 1-12.
Fukuyama, F. (2001). Culture and economic development: Cultural concerns. In N. J. Smelser & P. B. Baltes (Eds.), International Encyclopedia of the Social and Behavioral Sciences. (pp. 3130−3134). Oxford, UK: Pergamon.
Golparvar, M., Darayi, N., & Khayyatan, F. (2015). Construct of Islamic spiritual capital and spiritual wellbeing short-form scales. Religious Anthropology, 11(32), 167-188.
GoP. (1992). National education policy 1992. Islamabad: GoP.
GoP. (1998). National education policy (1998-2010). Islamabad: GoP.
GoP. (2006a). National curriculum for English language grades I-XII. Islamabad: GoP.
GoP. (2006b). National curriculum for Urdu (compulsory) grades I-XII. Islamabad: GoP.
GoP. (2009). National Education Policy 2009. Islamabad: GoP.
GoP. (2017). Population by religion. Islamabad: GoP.
GoP. (2022). Single National Curriculum 2022. Islamabad: GoP.
Gràcia, C. (2012). Spiritual capital. The new border to cross. Ramon Llull Journal of Applied Ethics, 3(3), 115-134.
Hanifan, L. J. (1916). The rural school community center. Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 67, 130-138.
Hardie, C. (2018). Tibetan Buddhist spiritual capital in contemporary China. (Doctoral thesis), University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
Hefner, R. W. (2010). Islam and spiritual capital: An Indonesian case study. In P. L. Berger & G. Redding (Eds.), The Hidden Form of Capital: Spiritual Influences in Societal Progress (pp. 191-212). London: Anthem Press.
Hennink, M. M. (2014). Focus group discussions: Understanding qualitative research. New York: Oxford University Press.
Keller , J. G., & Helfenbein, R. (2008). Spirituality, economics, and education: A dialogic critique of "Spiritual Capital.". Nebula, 5(3), 109-128.
KpKTB. (2020a). English 6. Peshawar: KpKTB.
KpKTB. (2020b). English 8. Peshawar: KpKTB.
KpKTB. (2020c). Urdu 8. Peshawar: KpKTB.
Kress, V. E., & Shoffner, M. F. (2007). Focus groups: A practical and applied research approach for counselors. Journal of Counseling & Development, 85(2), 189-195.
Krueger, R. A., & Casey, M. A. (2015). Focus groups: A practical guide for applied research (5th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Landes, D. (2000). Culture makes all the difference. In L. E. Harrison & S. P. Huntington (Eds.), Culture Matters: How Values Shape Human Progress (pp. 2−13). Basic Books: New York.
Limacher, K. (2019). Bhangra, Bhajan, Bollywood—Religious Knowledge among Hindu Youth in Switzerland and Austria. In K. Limacher, A. Mattes, & C. Novak (Eds.), Prayer, Pop and Politics: Researching Religious Youth in Migration Society (pp. 161-177). Göttingen: Vienna University Press.
Lozano, J. M., & Ribera, R. (2004). A new chance for management—A new challenge for spirituality. In L. Zsolnai (Ed.), Spirituality and Ethics in Management (pp. 175-185). New York: Kluwer Academic Publishers.
Marshall, A. (1920). Principles of economics: An introductory volume (8 ed.). London: Macmillan.
Marx, K. (1976). Capital (Vol. 1). Harmondsworth: Pelican.
Marx, K. (1978). Capital (Vol. 2). Harmondsworth: Pelican.
Marx, K. (1981). Capital (Vol. 3). Harmondsworth: Pelican.
O’Sullivan, M., & Flanagan, B. (2012). Spiritual capital: Spirituality in practice in Christian perspective.
O’Sullivan, M., & Flanagan, B. (Eds.). (2016). Spiritual capital: Spirituality in practice in Christian perspective. New York: Routledge.
Osborne, K. (2008). Education and schooling: A relationship that can never be taken for granted. In G. D. Fenstermacher (Ed.), Yearbook of the national society for the study of education (Vol. 107, pp. 21-41). New York: John Wiley & Sons.
PCTB. (2020). English 4. Lahore, Pakistan: PCTB.
Prasad, M., & Garcia, C. (2017). How to conduct a successful focus group discussion. Humans of Data. Retrieved from https://humansofdata.atlan.com/2017/09/conduct-successful-focus-group-discussion/
Putnam, R. D. (1995). Tuning in, tuning out: The strange disappearance of social capital in America. PS: Political Science and Politics, 28(4), 664-683.
Sardar, Z., Ryandono, M. N. H., & Ratnasari, R. T. (2018). Implementation of spiritual capital in Islamic perspective to business performance. Paper presented at the 2nd International Conference Postgraduate School (ICPS 2018).
Sen, A. (1999). Development as freedom. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
Shah, A. S., Waris, M., & Basit, A. (2016). Islamization in Pakistan: A critical analysis of Zia’s regime. Global Regional Review, 1(1), 260-270.
Shakil, A. F., & Akhtar, S. H. (2012). Consideration of Islamic values in the educational policies of Pakistan. Journal of Educational and Social Research, 2(1), 297-297.
STB. (2020a). Urdu-7. Jamshoro, Pakistan: STB.
STB. (2020b). Urdu-V. Jamshoro, Pakistan: STB.
Sujana, I. P. W. M., Darmawan, C., & Dasim Budimansyah, S. (2021). Civic education based on the value of Hindu spiritual culture. NVEO, 8(5), 10410-10418.
The World Bank. (n.d.). Overview : Social capital. Retrieved from https://web.worldbank.org/archive/website01360/WEB/0__CON-2.HTM
ur Rehman, F., & Khan, H. U. (2018). The role of educational institutions in Islamization, social reformation and national integration in Pakistan. Journal of Religious Studies, 1(2), 16-31.
Vasconcelos, A. F. (2020). Individual spiritual capital: Meaning, a conceptual framework and implications. Journal of Work-Applied Management, 13(1), 117-141. doi:10.1108/JWAM-08-2020-0038
Vitell, S. J., King, R. A., Howie, K., Toti, J.-F., Albert, L., Hidalgo, E. R., & Yacout, O. (2016). Spirituality, Moral Identity, and Consumer Ethics: A Multi-cultural Study. Journal of business ethics, 139(1), 147-160. doi:10.1007/s10551-015-2626-0
Wortham, R. A., & Wortham, C. B. (2007). Spiritual Capital and the "GOOD LIFE". Sociological Spectrum, 27(4), 439-452. doi:10.1080/02732170701335053
Wrong, G. M. (1924). The teaching of the history and Geography of the British Empire. Canadian Historical Review, 5(4), 297-313.
Zohar, D., & Marshall, I. (2004). Spiritual capital: Wealth we can live by. San Francisco, CA: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc.

Keywords

spiritual capital, language textbooks, Elementary education, Pakistan, Islam

Affiliations

Ashar Johnson Khokhar

Forman Christian College (A Chartered University)

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

How to Cite

Khokhar, A. J. (2024). Building Spiritual Capital through Language Teaching: Analysis of State-Mandated Elementary Language Textbooks in Pakistan. International Electronic Journal of Elementary Education, 16(2), 253–266. Retrieved from https://iejee.com/index.php/IEJEE/article/view/2091