CARC Research in Social Sciences

CORE-CURRICULUM OBJECTIVES AND ITS ASSESSMENT PRACTICES: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF PUBLIC AND PRIVATE ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS OF DISTRICT, DERA ISMAIL KHAN

Muhammad Shahbaz — 2025-12-30

With a focus on how advancements in cognitive science have changed our understanding of assessment, this research examines the connections between curriculum, teaching, and assessment. Since instructors have witnessed pupils struggle to apply classroom abilities outside of the classroom, traditional paper-and-pencil examinations are increasingly viewed as being out of step with active learning. In order to address classroom issues at the primary level, the research sought to create an outcome-based core curriculum, beginning with a clear vision and learning outcomes. Additionally, it concentrated on identifying the assistance that students with disabilities need to participate in general education and making the core curriculum accessible to them. Head teachers' and elementary school teachers' opinions suggested that the core curriculum was useful for formative assessment. 50% of head teachers and 42% of instructors in public schools strongly agreed, compared to 53% and 73.3% in private schools. The null hypothesis was accepted as the investigation revealed no discernible difference in the opinions of stakeholders in public and private schools. The study concludes by highlighting the importance of an outcome-based curriculum and the necessity of ensuring that children with impairments are included. Similar stakeholder attitudes across public and private elementary schools are revealed, and the relevance of the core curriculum in formative evaluation is highlighted.

EVALUATING LABORATORY CONDITIONS FOR SCIENCE EDUCATION: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN DERA ISMAIL KHAN

Muhammad Asif Minhas — 2025-12-30

This research explores the condition of science laboratories in public and private secondary schools in Dera Ismail Khan, Pakistan. A well-maintained laboratory is vital for effective science instruction, as it provides students with hands-on experiences that reinforce theoretical knowledge. Using structured observation tools and qualitative feedback from teachers, this study compares the physical environment, cleanliness, ventilation, safety infrastructure, and usability of science laboratories. Findings indicate that private schools tend to maintain better facilities, while public schools often suffer from deteriorating infrastructure, lack of maintenance, and unsafe or outdated setups. The article concludes with recommendations for improving laboratory conditions to promote equitable science learning experiences across the district.

FEAR, HONOR, AND EVERYDAY SURVIVAL: WOMEN NAVIGATING PUBLIC SPACE IN PUNJAB

Aqsa Zakir — 2025-12-30

This paper considers the experiences and negotiation of women in Punjab in place making that is influenced by fear, cultural honor and the pressures of daily survival. According to eleven ethnographic interviews and participant observations in Rawalpindi, the work demonstrates the state of gendered mobility that is controlled by interacting forces of cultural morality, patriarchal expectations, financial weakness, and habitual harassment. Through use of feminist anthropology, stigma theory and the theories of surveillance and habitus, the research shows that the bodies of women are created as moral spaces where the judgments of the community, the expectation of religion and the control of family meet. These overlapping pressures do not only restrict the mobility of women but also inform them with the emotional landscapes of fear, caution, and strength. In spite of such limitations, women gradually devise methods to move about in the transport, the markets, and the workplaces to balance the economic necessities with the social decency. The results show that female negotiations in everyday life are immersed into a larger system of morality and structure that presupposes such description of space as masculine and such appearance of women as conditional. The article states that to effect useful change it is not enough to improve the infrastructures but necessitates cultural change that subverts honour-based limitations, accepts sexist harassment and the patriarchal control of the women visibility in the social life.

HEADTEACHERS LEADERSHIP STYLES AND THEIR IMPACT ON TEACHER MOTIVATION AND STUDENT PERFORMANCE

Muhammad Ihsan — 2025-12-30

This study looks at how several leadership styles like transformational, transactional, democratic, autocratic, and laissez-faire affect secondary school head teachers' performance. 109 head teachers (65 male and 44 female) in District Bhakkar, Pakistan, were surveyed using a quantitative technique and stratified random sampling. According to descriptive statistics, the most common leadership styles were transformational (M=3.97) and democratic (M=4.08), while autocratic (M=2.39) and laissez-faire (M=2.99) were the least popular. According to Pearson moment product correlation results, teacher motivation was strongly positively correlated with transformational (r=0.64) and democratic (r=0.57) leadership, while morale was adversely correlated with autocratic (r=-0.53) leadership. The findings of the ANOVA showed that there were substantial variations in school performance amongst leadership styles (F=5.68, p<0.01), with transformational and democratic methods producing better results. The results of regression analysis showed that democratic (β=0.52) and transformational (β=0.48) leadership were important indicators of school success. The results showed that female head teachers tended to be less autocratic and more democratic. Transformational leadership also performed better in larger schools (β=0.63 vs 0.39). The results discourage autocratic and passive methods and support collaborative, flexible leadership in educational settings. They also suggest professional development programs to improve head teachers' leadership skills. Fostering gender-inclusive leadership practices and incorporating teacher input into leadership evaluations are two examples of policy consequences

INQUIRY BASED TEACHING: REDRESSING LEARNING LOSS IN ENGLISH LISTENING SKILLS AMONG PUBLIC PRIMARY SCHOOL STUDENTS

Qaisar Abbas — 2025-12-30

A learning loss in English listening skills is a loss in learning that a student faces due to breaks in regular learning activities. The study focuses on the remediation of learning loss among public primary school students in English listening skills, mainly in light of the educational challenges resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, flood disaster in 2025, and smog in 2023 in Punjab, Pakistan. In Pakistan, English is frequently taught using the traditional teaching method in public primary schools. The current study in Punjab tested the effectiveness of Inquiry-Based Teaching (IBT) in the favor of remediating learning loss in English listening skills among public primary school students. The study involved 135 students, with the experimental group taught using IBT and the control group taught using traditional method. The results showed that IBT was more effective than traditional teaching method in addressing learning losses in English listening skills. The study recommends teachers may use IBT to overcome learning loss for remedial learning in English listening skills.