The Inclusion of Psychological theories of Moral Development in Madrassah Reform Initiatives in Pakistan

Abstract

Extremism in Pakistan is a multidimensional phenomenon and, among many precipitating factors, the psychosocial factors play an important role. The act of carrying out extremist activity does not come from a single moment of inspiration but rather from a complex process of cognitive accommodation and assimilation over accumulating steps. There are two phases of this research one phase has been completed in Pakistan and the second phase i.e intervention will be completed in Warwick University. The first phase of my research findings showed the gap in pedagogical skills that was creating problems in moral reasoning in madrassah students. Here I will share only the first phase of my research. This research was conducted in Pakistan in Deobandi madrassah of Punjab. Nine Deobandi madaris from Punjab Province of rural and urban areas were  selected purposively in the study. Stratified cluster sampling technique was used for students and teachers to collect the data. Firstly, to identify the existing syllabus of Deobandi madrassahs   having specific contents of moral education, technique of content analysis was used. To identify values of madrassah teachers considered necessary to teach and pedagogy they apply to teach these contents, semi structured interview was used.