(2022). "Stories That Are Worth Sharing": Insights from Middle Eastern Refugee Migration Stories through an Inquiry into Narrative. Journal of Language and Literacy Education, v18 n2 Fall. This inquiry into narrative explores the often-silenced migration narratives of three refugee students from Afghanistan, Syria, and Iraq. It is centered around two particular wonderings based in a critical literacy framework. First, what tenets of critical literacy seem most prominent in the narratives of refugee students from the Middle East? Second, what critical understanding of their migration experience do refugee students bring to the classroom? The conceptualized framework is understood as "The Centrality of Experience in Critical Literacy," wherein experience is central and valuable. This study applies the framework using stories as the source from which to better understand how individuals make sense of their worlds. Through a five-phase analysis, which included: free coding, literature derived coding, analysis of time and sequence, narrative pattern coding, and analysis of language, I find rich understandings of 1) the political, non-neutral nature of the world,… [PDF]
(2022). Mother Tongue Teaching as a Tension-Filled Language Ideological Practice. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, v43 n4 p323-340. This article focuses on mother tongue teaching in Arabic, Dari, Pashto and Somali as it is practised in a linguistically diverse primary school in Denmark. The article draws on a linguistic ethnography of language teaching across the curriculum, and the analysis focuses on three mother tongue teachers. Drawing on classroom observations and interviews with teachers and children, the article through three cases portrays mother tongue teaching as an inherently tension-filled language ideological practice. The tensions revolve around negotiation of what counts as legitimate and appropriate language(s): What counts as Arabic when Kurdish-speaking children enter Arabic class? How do centuries of language ideological tension between Dari and Pashto in Afghanistan resonate in mother tongue teaching in Denmark? How is dialectal variation in Somalia handled in mother tongue teaching of Somali in Denmark? The language ideological tensions extend across time and space, across generational… [Direct]
(2017). Policies to Support Military-Connected Students. Policy Update. Vol. 24, No. 9. National Association of State Boards of Education With thousands of U.S. troops still stationed in Afghanistan and other posts, the nation's armed forces continue to make significant sacrifices. So do their families. This NASBE policy update explores the unique challenges that military-connected students face and how state boards of education can ensure the success and well-being of these students through effective policies on data sharing and training in data management…. [PDF]
(2023). Higher Education at the Margins — Success Criteria for Blended Learning Systems for Marginalized Communities. Education and Information Technologies, v28 n3 p2579-2617 Mar. Providing access to higher education for people in marginalized communities, in particular for refugees, requires to re-think the traditional ways of teaching and learning in higher education institutions. The challenges of these circumstances both in terms of access to learning materials and the opportunity to collaboratively learn with others require specific support via appropriate didactical settings. Blended learning arrangements, i.e., settings that bring together online learning activities with synchronous, co-located settings show potential for addressing these requirements. In the present study, we examine the success factors in the design of blended learning settings for supporting higher education in marginalized communities. Based on an established model of blended learning success, we explore the specific challenges of the target group via a survey which was distributed to students of different subject areas and of the higher education programs of Jesuit Worldwide… [Direct]
(2018). Evolutionary and Neurobiological Underpinnings of Adult Learning. What Can Veterans Teach Us?. Adult Higher Education Alliance, Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Adult Higher Education Alliance (42nd, Orlando, FL, Mar 8-9, 2018). The role of various neurological structures and their functions play a key role in determining risk versus reward and pleasure versus pain. This neurobiological evolutionary development ultimately drives our motivation or avoidance based exclusively on our desire to survive. Following 16 years of prolonged combat in Iraq and Afghanistan, the military veteran is an exceptional example into how being emotionally distant (Post-traumatic Stress Disorder) can produce unintended barriers to learning. According to Pessoa (2017), the key to adult learning is unlocking the emotional pathways that are interwoven between perception, cognition, motivation, and action. [For the complete proceedings, see ED590245.]… [PDF]
(2020). "I Feel so Happy Now": Afghan Students' Cross-Cultural Adaptation Experiences in Turkey. i.e.: inquiry in education, v12 n2 Article 9. The main purpose of this qualitative case study is to understand Afghan students' cross-cultural adaptation experiences by applying Kim's theory of cross-cultural adaptation. Within the first part of this study, we discuss cross-cultural adaptation theory and give some information about Afghan immigrants in Turkey. Then, Afghan students' experiences are discussed under three sub-themes within the frame of Kim's stress adaptation growth model. The participant group consisted of three middle school students who have come from Afghanistan to Turkey at different times. Data for this study were collected by using semi-structured interviews and analyzed through a content analysis technique. Findings revealed that Afghan students have lived through many positive and negative experiences in the whole process. Similar cultural characteristics, the target language, people's attitudes towards immigrants in the host country, religious and cultural proximity play critical roles in adapting to the… [PDF]
(2020). Transforming Higher Education in Asia and Africa: Strategic Planning and Policy. Global Issues in Higher Education. SUNY Press Drawing on over fifty years of on-the-ground experience, Fred M. Hayward's "Transforming Higher Education in Asia and Africa" analyzes change processes in higher education in eight Asian and African countries. The twelve cases range from the push to upgrade and transform higher education in Afghanistan in the midst of a war, to the successful struggle against apartheid in South African institutions, as well as thwarted efforts in Sierra Leone and Madagascar. Providing both practical lessons learned and hope for communities globally, Hayward demonstrates that higher education change and even transformation, which is more fundamental and structural, can occur even in the most difficult environments. Successful transformation requires well-crafted strategic and budget plans with careful implementation, monitoring, and effective leadership at multiple levels. Yet also critical are a commitment to human development, a desire for freedom and belief in democracy, and recognition… [Direct]
(2014). The "Only" Solution: Education, Youth, and Social Change in Afghanistan. Anthropology & Education Quarterly, v45 n3 p241-259 Sep. This article draws on practice theory to examine aspiring youths' pursuit of higher education in Afghanistan. It finds that plans and actions are mediated through youths' families, communities, and solidarity networks. As a result, the personal improvement and enhanced reputational status that aspiring youth seek is structurally connected to processes of social reproduction and social change. The paper is based on over 100 in-depth interviews conducted with youth in Afghanistan by an undergraduate research team…. [Direct]
(2024). Gender Microaggression Praxis: A Study of Implicit Prejudice Faced by Afghan Male Students in Universities in Delhi. European Journal of Education, v59 n2 e12605. Implicit prejudice can be simply understood as any negative feelings or beliefs people hold towards a particular outgroup without being aware of it. One such form is microaggression, which can be defined as everyday verbal or nonverbal subtle, unconscious putdowns, slights, or negative remarks towards members of an outgroup. One of the most common and harmful forms is gender-based microaggression. Gender microaggression is defined as subtle, unconscious, everyday putdowns, slights, remarks, or insults, whether intentional or unintentional, directed at a particular gender, notably women. Despite a plethora of literature and research on gender microaggression, the focus has predominantly been on understanding microaggressions faced by women in various domains, largely neglecting the experiences of men as victims of microaggression. One such overlooked experience is that of Afghan male students studying in universities in Delhi. Each year, thousands of students from Afghanistan travel… [Direct]
(2021). Students' Perception of Lecturers' Behaviors in the Learning Environment. International Journal of Education and Literacy Studies, v9 n3 p64-69. This study aims to investigate the perception of undergraduate students about their lecturers' behaviours in their learning environment. Behaviour is the explanation of observable outcomes and interaction between students and instructors. Behaviour can be positive, negative, effective or ineffective, and the way in which lecturers behave with their students in the learning environment may affect their learning experience and motivation. A Quantitative research design was employed in conducting the study. A questionnaire with 27 items was used to collect data from 140 randomly selected respondents from Takhar University, Afghanistan. SPSS version 25.0 was used to analyze the data. Descriptive statistics and inferential statistics, i.e., Independent Samples t-test and One-Way ANOVA were employed in data analysis. The findings indicate that the students had a positive perception about their lecturers' behaviours in the learning environment. The study also revealed that there did not… [PDF]
(2015). The Causes and Effects of English Teachers' Turnover: A Case from Afghanistan. Improving Schools, v18 n1 p20-34 Mar. One of the challenging issues that educational organizations in developing countries face in staffing classrooms with qualified teachers is the high rate of teachers' turnover. It creates problems for schools, which eventually leads to substandard instruction and low student achievement. This research explores the causes of English teachers' turnover in a Non-Government Educational Organization in Kabul, Afghanistan. The results indicate that lack of teachers' motivation, low salary, communication gap between management and teachers, market opportunities for English teachers, workload, absence of career path and weak recruitment processes are the major factors contributing to teachers' turnover in Afghanistan. The high teachers' turnover leads to such negative effects as interruptions in learning process, behavioural adjustment of students with new teachers, continuous exposure of students with novice teachers, emotional detachments of students with their teachers and negative… [Direct]
(2013). The Afghanistan National Institute of Music. Australian Journal of Music Education, n1 p76-82. In this article, David Forrest probes Ahmad Sarmast (Founder and Director of the Afghanistan National Institute of Music, Ministry of Education, Afghanistan) about the development of the Institute, its sponsorship, the range of local musicians and music educators that work there, and the student population…. [PDF]
(2020). The Effects of Religious Orientations on Malevolent Creativity: Role of Positive Emotions and Spiritual Intelligence. Creativity Research Journal, v32 n4 p421-430. Creativity has long been touted as one of the aspects of human behavior that truly delineates mankind from all other species. However, sometimes people use creativity in negative ways, whereby it is used to reach goals through harming others. Often these malevolent acts are sensationalized in the media. Previous research found that there is a relationship between malevolent creativity and religious beliefs. This research evaluates the effect of two dimensions of religious orientation, intrinsic and extrinsic, on malevolent creativity through the mediating roles of positive emotions and spiritual intelligence. Data were collected from 862 Muslim students from the countries of Iran, Iraq, Yemen, Afghanistan and Syria. In this research, intrinsic religious orientation was found to reduce students' malevolent creativity while extrinsic religious orientation increased the malevolent creativity. Furthermore, the effect of intrinsic religious orientation on malevolent creativity through… [Direct]
(2020). A Survey of Beliefs and Vocabulary Learning Strategies Adopted by EFL Learners at Shaikh Zayed University. Cogent Education, v7 n1 Article 1829803. This study explored the "Beliefs about Vocabulary Learning and Vocabulary Learning Strategies" among Afghan EFL Learners at Shaikh Zayed University, Afghanistan. The aim of the research was to find out the most and least strategies adopted by the learners. A questionnaire developed by Gu (2018), see Appendix, which contains four components: beliefs about vocabulary learning, metacognitive regulation of vocabulary learning, cognitive strategies of vocabulary learning, and affective strategies of vocabulary learning–was administered to 177 undergraduate students (155 males and 22 females). The data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS 20). The results of the study revealed that learners: (1) preferred learning words through use (contextual learning) rather than memorization; (2) had the ability to identify, select, and understand essential words; (3) preferred more readings in addition to feedback they received; (4) mostly relied on a… [Direct]
(2016). Finding a Way Forward: Conceptualizing Sustainability in Afghanistan's Community-Based Schools. Journal on Education in Emergencies, v2 n1 p11-41 Dec. Community-based educational (CBE) models have gained recognition across diverse contexts for closing access gaps, leveraging local assets, and shaping cost-effective and culturally relevant educational opportunities in marginalized communities. In protracted conflict contexts such as Afghanistan, CBE compensates for weak state capacity by cultivating community engagement and support. This article considers the impact of CBE in the voices of Afghanistan's educational and community stakeholders, gained through interviews and observations with parents, teachers, students, educational officers, and school shuras (councils) across eight communities in two provinces. Against a backdrop of continued insecurity, resource shortages, and uncertain projections for future government and NGO support, conceptions of sustainability emerge as salient but poorly defined, and as lacking common understanding among stakeholders about the purposes and long-term prospects of CBE. We argue that the success… [Direct]