A paper presented at Abuja Muslim Forum Seminaron Child Upbringing:a Divine Obligation, a Complementary ResponsibilityDecember, 1997 By Aisha Lemu
Some years ago I had the interesting experience of working with the NERC (Nigerian Educational Research Council) panel set up to revise the National syllabus for Islamic Studies to comply with the newly introduced 6-3-3-4 system of education in Nigeria.
We began with the Primary level. Initially, we were a workshop of about fifteen or more people. Professors, lecturers and teachers drawn from Universities, Colleges of Education and Schools, as well as some of the Grand Kadis of State Shari'ah Courts of Appeal. We began by listing the things children at Primary level should be expected to learn.
If soon became apparent that we were looking upon these children as bottomless receptacles into which were to be poured as many buckets of information as possible about Islam. The children must learn tread the Arabic text of the Qur'an, the children must memorize X -number of Surahs, the children must memorize the 99 Names of Allah, the children must memorize the compulsory and Sunnah acts of Ablution and Prayer. They must also memorize some Hadith and some dua and the names of the Prophet's father, mother, wet-nurse, uncle and so on and so forth.
In effect, the children's first experience of Islam was to be based almost entirely on the memorization of many sounds and words of unknown meaning, of actions of unknown significance and of facts of no obvious relevance to the question of what is Islam and what does it mean to be a Muslim. This is after all the way most born Muslims are taught Islam, and they tend to feel it is the only way in which it can be passed on to the next generation.
The children are therefore naturally under the impression that Islam is something you memorize and hopefully arc able to repeat when asked, the alternative being some whacks with a stick.
Across most of Africa, (and indeed in many other parts of the world) this is how the majority of children learnslam. So when we wonder why so many Muslims have such little understanding of Islam, we have only to took at the Quranic schools and their modern variants - the 'Mallams' in the Primary schools - to understand why. The curriculum is extremely narrow and the method is more suitable for training parrots. Learning "Islamic Studies" has not helped the growing child to understand anything. It has not given him any insight and he was not encouraged to ask questions. By the time he reaches teenage he is quite likely to drop the subject and therefore to grow up as a "religious lliterate." It is such people with a very weak understanding of Islam who can most easily be led astray - whether by the modem secular culture, or by other religious or extremist groups. They become also the nominal Muslims who sometimes rise to high positions where they constitute an obstacle to all attempts to improve our society by a process of Islamisation.
The Need for Meaningful Islamic Education
It is therefore a matter of great importance that Islam should be taught in a way that is meaningful to the learner, which assists his understanding of the meaning and purpose of life and guides him to think and act as a Muslim in all his affairs:That is the challenge before the curriculum developer and the textbook writer and the challenge facing the teacher.
Islam is a religion whose divine revelation requires us to think, to observe, to inquire, to investigate, to test statements, to reflect and to understand. The whole of the Qur'an is full of challenges to people to use their reason. Islam is not a religion of blind faith. This should be reflected in the way we teach it, using references to the Qur'an where it tells us to consider the creation (e.g. Surah 27:59-64) and draw lessons from our reasoning. Even young children soon start to use their reason, as any parent knows from the daily asking of questions beginning with "why?"
Children really do want to know the reasons. They are very curious and in teaching Islam, we should make use of that curiosity and try to satisfy that wish to find out. For example, children may ask why we pray in the way we do. Some teachers may rightly say that "That is the way the Prophet showed us" but they may also add a lot of reasons why the Islamic form of prayer has other moral, spiritual and social benefits* (* e.g. punctuality, orderliness of lining up, unity and solidarity, showing humility before God, following a leader but correcting him if he makes a mistake, etc.)
In this respect, it is important not to regard Islamic Studies in isolation from other knowledge which the child learns - whether from other school subjects, or 'from the home, or from watching television. Teachers of Islam themselves should therefore read widely and broaden their general knowledge so as to be able to relate Islamic values to the child's other experience and knowledge.
For example, in the arts subjects, Islamic moral values can be related to themes in the poems, novels and dramas studied for Literature in English. The same can be done for events in history. In the sciences there is a wealth of materials - including pictures and video cassettes - which illustrate references in the Qur'an to natural phenomena, the behaviour of animals, the heavenly bodies, human embryology and so on.
Of great importance also is the moral dimension. Islam teaches that human beings are all in a state of loss unless they attain to faith and do good (Qur'an Surah 103). We are taught that it is also obligatory on us to promote what is morally right and to try to stop or resist what is morally wrong. The Qur'an and Hadith go on to define specific examples of good and bad deeds. These are not arbitrary commands and prohibitions but are directly related to what may in the short or long term help us or harm us. Sometimes the reasons are stated in the Qur'an (e.g. "But (since) good and evil cannot be equal, return evil with that which is better, so that the person between you and whom there was enmity may become like a close friend" (Qur'an 41:34) or "And neither allow your hand to be shackled to your neck, nor stretch it to the utmost limit (of your capacity,) lest you find yourself blamed (by your dependants) or even destitute." (Qur'an 17:29).) Sometimes the reasons are not stated but can be deduced by investigation or reflection. For example Qur'an 2:71 where the Prophet is told "They will ask you about intoxicants and gambling. Say: In both there is great evil as well as some benefit for man; but the evil which they cause is greater than the benefit which they bring..."
* Examples: Qur'an 41:ll; 36:36; 15:2; 21:30; 23:14; 10:62
Therefore in teaching children they should be encouraged to think about and discuss what may be the benefit or harm of certain actions. Faith, which is supported by reason, is doubly strong. Moreover, a child who has been taught to reason, grows up equipped to enter into dialogue with non-Muslims. It gives him a feeling of confidence in the superiority of Islam if he can point out the benefits of Islamic practices, duties and prohibitions, and answer any questions that may be put to him. In order to prepare children for such reasoning, they should be encouraged to ask questions about what they don't understand and they should be given reasonable answers.
The Importance of Examples and Role Models
In teaching moral values to children it is advisable to illustrate them with either true stories drawn from the fife of Prophet Muhammad and his companions, or from the earlier prophets, or from respected Muslims of later periods in history, up to the present day. The teacher may also use fables or other fictional stories as parables to illustrate the point. Children - and indeed even adults - find it easier to appreciate moral conduct when it is demonstrated in the behaviour of a particular person, rather than as a set of abstract principles.
This point is important. Surveys conducted" to find out why some non-Muslims embrace Islam, and why some born Muslims grow to become committed Muslims, often indicate that the change took place because they came to know a committed Muslim and admired his or her behaviour and wanted to become like that person. Now ideally, the teacher should be that role model, and he or she should strive to be worthy of emulation by pupils or students. However, we have to acknowledge that many teachers of Islamic Studies do not have an inspiring personality or outstanding moral conduct. Many teach as a job of work in order to earn a salary because Islamic Studies was the only subject they did well in while at school. Therefore it is important that teachers make use of examples of great Muslims, male and female and tell interesting stories to inspire the young to emulate them.
Fitting the Parts Together
We have referred to the need to relate Islamic Studies to other areas of knowledge and to develop an integrated approach where faith and reason support one another.
We sometimes neglect the need to integrate Islamic Studies internally, so that the learner can perceive not only the parts of it but the whole structure, and how the parts fit into the whole. (For example, how are moral values reflected in Islamic economic principles or in our treatment of the environment?) This is often overlooked, with the result that young people may know quite a lot of detail about various aspects of Islam but still fail to understand what it is all about.
The reason for this is the way the subject is broken up into little pieces in order to spread the syllabus over the term, over the year, and over the whole course of studies. For example, a secondary school student may learn Islamic Studies, among ten or more other subjects, three times a week for 40 minutes. On Monday for 40 minutes he learns a bit of Qur'an or Hadith or some moral teachings. Perhaps he learns about the Isnad and Matn of a Hadith. On Wednesday he has 40 minutes of Fiqh and learns what are the things that spoil fasting. On Friday for 40 minutes he has Sirah and learns about the Battle of Uhud.
What does the child make of these fragments of knowledge? How can he know their significance within the framework of Islam if he has no concept of the framework of Islam?
It is rather like doing a jigsaw puzzle when you have not seen the picture you are trying to put together. For example, if you were given a piece of jigsaw puzzle (Figure 1) you might not know what it is. You could not know its use or where it belongs in (he overall picture.
But if you were shown the whole picture, (Figure 2, shown on the back page of this booklet) you would understand the function of the small piece you were looking at, and where it fitted into the picture.
Now the way our children learn Islamic Studies, by merely repeating what the teacher says, without understanding and without knowing how one thing relates to another, is like giving the piece of puzzle to the child and saying "copy this." He may copy what he sees 10 times and copy it well. He may reproduce it in an examination but he still does not understand it or grasp how it fits into the whole.
When a person converts to Islam out of conviction that it is the true religion, he learns about it in quite a different way. He will start perhaps with a book that gives a general outline of Islam. When he meets some new information, or something he doesn't understand, he asks questions or reads more until he is satisfied. Thus his understanding and his conviction grow together in a natural and organic way.
When the convert reads about the life of the Prophet Muhammad (Sallallahu 'Alayhi wa sallam), he reads it continuously and has finished it in a day or a week, leaving a Strong impression on his mind. The born Muslim schoolchild on the other hand will find the life of the Prophet split up onto little units so that it could take him months or even years to cover them all. The overall impression and the magnitude of the Prophet's achievement is not perceived because it is like watching a film in slow motion with constant interruptions.
In effect, as trained teachers will have realized, we are talking about the Gestalt Theory of Learning Psychology. The Concise Oxford Dictionary describes this as "Perceived organized whole that is more than the sum of its parts, e.g. a melody as distinct from the separate notes of it", from the German word Gestalt meaning form or shape. Islam has a unique structure and is characterized by a perfect balance - balance between this world and the Hereafter, between faith and reason, between Allah's grace and human responsibility, between male and female, between work and worship. It is one of the most attractive features of Islam, but the majority of born Muslims are not taught to appreciate it or to see Islam as a whole, as a balanced way of life.
The first Muslims who lived at the time of the Prophet were all converts, and there is much to be learned by teachers from the way converts learn about Islam.
If we wish the teaching of Islamic Studies in schools to be effective in developing Islamic moral and intellectual attitudes and convictions among our youth, we should not assume that because they come from Muslim homes they are committed Muslims. It is safer to assume that they are not, but to regard them as converts or potential converts who all the time need to know "Why? Why?"
Extra-Curricular Activities
Side by side with the classroom teaching there needs to be an effective branch of the Muslim Students Society in the school where the student can hear lectures or watch video cassettes that will broaden his general knowledge of Islam and of other religions. Surveys have shown that a large number of keen young Muslim men and women attribute their Islamic awakening to things they learned through activities of the Muslim Students Society in their schools. The Islamic Studies teacher should give part of his or her free time to supporting MSS activities and guiding them in useful directions. This exposure to the truths of Islam outside the classroom situation is very important in giving the student a sense of the relevance of Islam. It makes the student feel confident to study Islam and practice ft more deeply for himself. Therefore whatever extra time is spent on this holistic approach will pay off great dividends in the long run in terms of the students' motivation to learn more. As every teacher knows, a bored student will make very little progress, while an interested, motivated student will even be reading ahead of the class, and reading any other Islamic literature he can get hold of.
All this leads to the inescapable conclusion that the Islamic Studies teacher (whether a professional teacher or a parent) should be an 'alim not only in the restricted field of traditional Islamic Studies, but should develop wide-ranging interests in the arts and sciences to enable him or her to stimulate the intellectual development of the children and youth.
The training of Islamic Studies teachers needs therefore to prepare them to present Islam as a comprehensive and balanced world view and pattern of life leading to the good of this world and of the Hereafter.
Thus Allah has ordered us to supplicate: "...O our Sustainer! Grant us good in this -world and good in the life to come, and keep us safe from suffering through the fire "Qur1an 2:201
Thursday, February 1, 2007
Friday, January 26, 2007
Thursday, January 25, 2007
5 PILLARS OF CLASSROOM WISDOM
1. Command respect
A good teacher is a person who respects children and whose students, in turn, respect him or her. A person who knows how to make a child feel special. A person who is creative enough to open whole worlds to young minds. The confluence of respect and responsibility navigates the journey to ethical fitness.
2. The Key factor is the "C" word
The key factor that makes students like school, study hard, achieve and stay in school, is the "C" word, but its not "curriculum". The word is "caring". CARE deeply about each student and about that student's accomplishment and growth. It begins with the teacher recognizing the student as an individual who brings particular experiences, interests, enthusiasm, and fears to the classroom. The teacher taking time to acknowledge a student's life outside the classroom, enquiring about the family's welfare or the student's participation in an extra curriculum activity. To teach people enough to school them, we must meet their deep human need to feel cared about.
3. Know, Enthuse and Motivate
Know the subject, convey it with excellence, enthuse the student with the relevance of the subject-matter and motivate them to greater heights.
Teacher competence has aroused much concerns from teacher educators, education professionals and the public. Teacher competence could be classified into two main categories: interpersonal skills and classroom procedures. Interpersonal skills refers to teacher's proficiency in creating a comfortable social atmosphere, and demonstrating warmth and friendliness towards their students. And classroom procedures refers to the actual classroom practices which are teaching methods and techniques.
4. Collaboration
To achieve holistic development of the student, there must be collaboration between the three primary role players in the education of the child; the teacher, co-teachers and parents.
When parents asks, "Does my child have a good teacher?" knowing what we do today about the importance of the home in children's achievement, I ask, 'Does your child have a good parent?" We don't have to be perfect to be good, but we do have to be a team and we do need to make an effort to do our job together.
"A student's success in school starts in the heads and hearts of his or her parents and teachers. The way we see them and the way we make them see themselves is what they will become".
A good teacher is a person who respects children and whose students, in turn, respect him or her. A person who knows how to make a child feel special. A person who is creative enough to open whole worlds to young minds. The confluence of respect and responsibility navigates the journey to ethical fitness.
2. The Key factor is the "C" word
The key factor that makes students like school, study hard, achieve and stay in school, is the "C" word, but its not "curriculum". The word is "caring". CARE deeply about each student and about that student's accomplishment and growth. It begins with the teacher recognizing the student as an individual who brings particular experiences, interests, enthusiasm, and fears to the classroom. The teacher taking time to acknowledge a student's life outside the classroom, enquiring about the family's welfare or the student's participation in an extra curriculum activity. To teach people enough to school them, we must meet their deep human need to feel cared about.
3. Know, Enthuse and Motivate
Know the subject, convey it with excellence, enthuse the student with the relevance of the subject-matter and motivate them to greater heights.
Teacher competence has aroused much concerns from teacher educators, education professionals and the public. Teacher competence could be classified into two main categories: interpersonal skills and classroom procedures. Interpersonal skills refers to teacher's proficiency in creating a comfortable social atmosphere, and demonstrating warmth and friendliness towards their students. And classroom procedures refers to the actual classroom practices which are teaching methods and techniques.
4. Collaboration
To achieve holistic development of the student, there must be collaboration between the three primary role players in the education of the child; the teacher, co-teachers and parents.
When parents asks, "Does my child have a good teacher?" knowing what we do today about the importance of the home in children's achievement, I ask, 'Does your child have a good parent?" We don't have to be perfect to be good, but we do have to be a team and we do need to make an effort to do our job together.
"A student's success in school starts in the heads and hearts of his or her parents and teachers. The way we see them and the way we make them see themselves is what they will become".
Linda Holt
1995 Hawaii teacher of the Year
1995 Hawaii teacher of the Year
5. Information for Transformation through Character Education
Today, the vast majority of Americans share a respect for fundamental traits so character: honesty, compassion, justice, courage and perseverance. Yet, in today's world, all children face great uncertainties in a complex and sometimes troubled society. Therefore our challenge is to provide youth with the self-esteem, stamina, and support they need to survive, to be successful, and to develop into strong, competent, caring and responsible citizens.
Character education presents life with context, inviting students to listen, share, explore and reflect. Cultivating knowledge for purposeful living, students learn through literature, art, humanities and throughout the existing school curriculum the benefits and consequences of behaviour. They learn the power of choice. They learn to appreciate the qualities of being human and to share their appreciation at home, in school, and in the community.
Advice to the Teacher
ECHOES OF THE HEART
As we enter the new academic year we present an extract from Sadullah's paper on VALUE-BASED EDUCATION delivered at the Teacher Development Seminar in Pasadena, USA.
ADVICE TO THE TEACHER
The Holy Prophet Muhammad is reported to have said, "I have been sent as a teacher" and "have been commissioned to complete the pattern of human behaviour". These prophetic traditions emphasize the significance of education, of ethical values and of moral conduct.
AIM OF EDUCATION
It is my contention that the aim of education in Islam is to functionally inform and positively transform the student; i.e. initiate a catalytical reaction leading to continuous development of the student's beliefs, thoughts, actions, potentialities, faculties, expressions, motivation and aspirations.
Our academic institutions and educational systems must be faith-based and value-laden. Learning is meaningful where there is cognizance of its usefulness. Education is beneficial if it transmits and promotes deeply cherished values of sincerely, honesty, integrity, sense of responsibility and concern for the rights and welfare of others.
- - -
As we enter the new academic year we present an extract from Sadullah's paper on VALUE-BASED EDUCATION delivered at the Teacher Development Seminar in Pasadena, USA.
ADVICE TO THE TEACHER
The Holy Prophet Muhammad is reported to have said, "I have been sent as a teacher" and "have been commissioned to complete the pattern of human behaviour". These prophetic traditions emphasize the significance of education, of ethical values and of moral conduct.
AIM OF EDUCATION
It is my contention that the aim of education in Islam is to functionally inform and positively transform the student; i.e. initiate a catalytical reaction leading to continuous development of the student's beliefs, thoughts, actions, potentialities, faculties, expressions, motivation and aspirations.
Our academic institutions and educational systems must be faith-based and value-laden. Learning is meaningful where there is cognizance of its usefulness. Education is beneficial if it transmits and promotes deeply cherished values of sincerely, honesty, integrity, sense of responsibility and concern for the rights and welfare of others.
- - -
Save Islamic Ummah with Children’s Education: Expert
CAIRO, January 14 (IslamOnline) – If Muslims want to change their current status, they have to direct their attention to education and children, Dr. Abdul Hamid Abu Sulayman said in a lecture here Monday, January 13.
President of the International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT), Dr. Abu Sulayman, addressed an audience of around 60 academics, Islamic scholars, students and reporters on the issue of "Violence: An Islamic Perspective", as part of Cairo University’s Faculty of Economic and Political Sciences’ program of dialogue between civilizations.
In order to overcome the crisis that is currently facing the Islamic ummah (nation), Muslims need to address both the curricular and the emotional aspects, he said.
Stressing the importance of children’s education, and school curriculums, Dr. Abu Sulayman, who was one of the founders of the International Islamic University in Malaysia, and served as its rector for ten years (1988-1998), said that the sidelining of religion in schools was a dangerous phenomenon.
The problem with schools in Muslim countries is that they do not sufficiently deal with Islam in a successful way, he said.
Giving an example from his life, Dr. Abu Sulayman.
This is a grave mistake, Dr. Abu Sulayman, who is the author of several books including Crisis in the Muslim Mind, said, because this is exactly the age that these values should be stressed, because children will be able to feel the importance of charity and therefore be able to properly apply the rules of zakah with the spirit that Islam calls for.
On the other hand, if all the child was learning was the technical rules of zakah, then this value will be missing in the ummah, because knowledge without values is pointless, and can be very dangerous, he underlined.
Regarding violence as Islam sees it, Dr. Abu Sulayman dwelt in detail on the Prophet Muhammad’s (pbuh) life and his way of dealing with both internal and international politics.
The Prophet (pbuh) would never use violence to solve a problem within the ummah, Dr. Abu Sulayman said, adding that using violence to solve internal political problems was prohibited in Islam as it is a breaking of relations.
Islam tells Muslims to use all possible peaceful methods to reach a solution to internal problem, and only if there are absolutely no other methods, then the solution is immigration, and not violence.
Regarding international politics, Dr. Abu Sulayman said that any relationship with a foreign country should either be one of peace through agreement or war.
There are two rules regarding the use of force in Islam, he said. The first rule is that it must be in self-defense, a reaction and answer to aggression.
The second rule, Dr. Abu Sulayman asserted, was that there should be no excess in the use of force.
Questions that Muslims must ask themselves include: Are we in a just and necessary war? War should never be waged if it is not absolutely necessary, Dr. Abu Sulayman stressed.
Audience members included Islamic scholar Dr. Ali Gomaa, diplomats and political science professors.
A heated discussion about the West’s perception of Islam’s history and the accusations that Islam faces of being a violent religion followed the lecture.
The International Institute of Islamic Thought is a private, non-profit, academic and cultural institution, dealing with general issues of Islamic thought.
It was established in 1981 in the state of Virginia in the United States.
According to the Institute’s website, it is an “intellectual forum working from an Islamic perspective to promote and support research projects, organize intellectual and cultural meetings and publish scholarly works.”
“The Institute has played an essential role in recognizing and responding to a need felt by the ummah to increase awareness of Muslims in the intellectual dimensions of their faith.
“It also developed the concept of the ‘Islamization of knowledge’, hoping that this would help to integrate various aspects of reform in the life of Muslims,” the website said.
Source: islam-online.net
President of the International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT), Dr. Abu Sulayman, addressed an audience of around 60 academics, Islamic scholars, students and reporters on the issue of "Violence: An Islamic Perspective", as part of Cairo University’s Faculty of Economic and Political Sciences’ program of dialogue between civilizations.
In order to overcome the crisis that is currently facing the Islamic ummah (nation), Muslims need to address both the curricular and the emotional aspects, he said.
Stressing the importance of children’s education, and school curriculums, Dr. Abu Sulayman, who was one of the founders of the International Islamic University in Malaysia, and served as its rector for ten years (1988-1998), said that the sidelining of religion in schools was a dangerous phenomenon.
The problem with schools in Muslim countries is that they do not sufficiently deal with Islam in a successful way, he said.
Giving an example from his life, Dr. Abu Sulayman.
This is a grave mistake, Dr. Abu Sulayman, who is the author of several books including Crisis in the Muslim Mind, said, because this is exactly the age that these values should be stressed, because children will be able to feel the importance of charity and therefore be able to properly apply the rules of zakah with the spirit that Islam calls for.
On the other hand, if all the child was learning was the technical rules of zakah, then this value will be missing in the ummah, because knowledge without values is pointless, and can be very dangerous, he underlined.
Regarding violence as Islam sees it, Dr. Abu Sulayman dwelt in detail on the Prophet Muhammad’s (pbuh) life and his way of dealing with both internal and international politics.
The Prophet (pbuh) would never use violence to solve a problem within the ummah, Dr. Abu Sulayman said, adding that using violence to solve internal political problems was prohibited in Islam as it is a breaking of relations.
Islam tells Muslims to use all possible peaceful methods to reach a solution to internal problem, and only if there are absolutely no other methods, then the solution is immigration, and not violence.
Regarding international politics, Dr. Abu Sulayman said that any relationship with a foreign country should either be one of peace through agreement or war.
There are two rules regarding the use of force in Islam, he said. The first rule is that it must be in self-defense, a reaction and answer to aggression.
The second rule, Dr. Abu Sulayman asserted, was that there should be no excess in the use of force.
Questions that Muslims must ask themselves include: Are we in a just and necessary war? War should never be waged if it is not absolutely necessary, Dr. Abu Sulayman stressed.
Audience members included Islamic scholar Dr. Ali Gomaa, diplomats and political science professors.
A heated discussion about the West’s perception of Islam’s history and the accusations that Islam faces of being a violent religion followed the lecture.
The International Institute of Islamic Thought is a private, non-profit, academic and cultural institution, dealing with general issues of Islamic thought.
It was established in 1981 in the state of Virginia in the United States.
According to the Institute’s website, it is an “intellectual forum working from an Islamic perspective to promote and support research projects, organize intellectual and cultural meetings and publish scholarly works.”
“The Institute has played an essential role in recognizing and responding to a need felt by the ummah to increase awareness of Muslims in the intellectual dimensions of their faith.
“It also developed the concept of the ‘Islamization of knowledge’, hoping that this would help to integrate various aspects of reform in the life of Muslims,” the website said.
Source: islam-online.net
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)