Most Islamic schools in America I believe face the problem of disicpline. Their students don't seem to want to be in those schools and the faculty lack the know on how to deal with their lack of cooperation. What advice can you give from your experiance to deal with this thorny issue?
Answer
Assalamu Alaykum, Sr. Saadia
When children are unhappy they are most likely to act out. I have found that involving children in their own learning drastically reduces behavioral problems.
Also teachers need to be trained to actively watch the children. How often teachers use the children's recess to chat with one another or catch up on paper-work. Often a nasty quarrel among children can be thwarted before it starts if the earliest disagreements or "play-fighting" are recognized.
The biggest problems, in our experience, occur when older children are brought into the Islamic school from another environment. Parents often wait until too late to decide to send their children to an Islamic school, perhaps to "straighten them out'. These are the children who really do not want to be there. Their problems spread through their own classroom and even trickle down to the younger children.
As hard as it may seem we simply cannot help every child. It is unfair to the other children and their parents to expose the entire student body to one or more bad apples.
We interview every child and their parent very carefully if they are above fourth grade. If the child desires to be in our environment even if he/she has had problems it can work, otherwise it generally doesn't, at least in our experience.
Name
Mohammad
- United States
Profession
Question
What weaknesses do most Islamic schools have in N.America and what new approaches can be implemented to deal with these weaknesses.
Answer
Assalamu Alaykum,
In talking to administrators and teachers from many Islamic School, I believe that our biggest problems occur when non-educators get involved in the educational process.
Board members need to be educated on the role of a school board. Too often they want to micro-manage. The administrator MUST be allowed to do his/her job.
These problems often increase when the school is under the direction of a masjid. I have heard many administrators complain that the Imam doesn't support his/her educationally-sound practices. There are also, of course, obvious advantages to being under a masjid. It is very difficult for an independent school to secure the financial support that is needed. Moreover, the relationship can work well if the school is relatively self-governing.
Adequate funding is of course a tremendous problem and one that is going to take years of educating each local community. Those who are most supportive are adults who have grown-up going to non-Muslim schools or immigrants who have lost their children to the dunya. We understand why!
Developing and adhering to a philosophy of Islamic education that is well-founded pedagogically -and sticking to it -is essential. There will always be parents who do not agree with how or what you teach. Schools that are trying to please everyone will never succeed. Such problems are less when there is a choice of Islamic schools in the area.
Another major problem that can occur is when too many older children are newly enrolled. In our third year of operation we were overwhelmed by parents literally begging us to take their children. We gave in and jumped from second to seventh grade. It was a disaster! Some of the resulting problems are discussed in the answer to the first question. It is essential to grow slowly and from within.
I am sure there are other pitfalls, but these are the one that most readily come to my mind. Alhamdulilluh, there are so many resources available now for those who want to open Islamic schools. For instance see www.4islamicschools.org . There are also individuals with experience doing consulting. I highly recommend contacting one of them.
Name
heidi
-
Profession
Question
i'm wondering about isolation from the society in general...how right is it for us to separate our kids from general society in canada and the us, especially that at some point we are always forced to put them back into the system at least for college or university...do muslim school give kids pride in their religion or does it make them self concious for being different and segregated?
i dont have any kids yet, but i am 8 months pregnant and already concerned about raising a muslim child in a predominantly non muslim society.
Answer
Assalamu Alaykum,
A great question! I recently spoke to an Islamic school principal who had just resigned. He told me that the reason he left was that he was unable to reconcile his strong belief in Islamic education with that of the parents. " I wanted to prepare them for this society," he told me. " All the parents wanted was for us to protect them."
I would investigate your local school(s) carefully. There are schools that isolate the children, teach them to fear the "kufar" Christians and/or Jews, and to generally distrust anything "western". However, these schools are few and far between. Almost every school that I am aware of welcome non-Muslim visitors. Our children have a relationship with the alternative high school across the street. They have visited a history class in another highschool and were invited and visited by several other public and private schools last year. They participate in numerous activities that involve non-Muslims,
One of the greatest blessings of an Islamic school is that the children are part of a group. They come to feel comfortable and proud of whom they are. Many of our former students are now adults in our community. I hear many comments about how these young adults take such active roles in the Muslim community and in society at large, and about how well-adjusted they are in comparison to those that grew up in two very different environments between their school and their home, SubhanAllah.
Name
mustafa
- United States
Profession
teacher
Question
What aspects of tradition islamic education dose your school provide
Answer
Assalamu Alaykum,
I wish that our long-time teacher, Brother Abdul Quddus was here to asnwer that question. He was always quick to point out that what most Muslims have in mind when they speak of "traditional” Islamic education is the legacy of a Dickinsonian England. However, if you are asking if we teach according to the way our Prophet taught and dealt with children then we are indeed traditional.
As Muslims we are taught that Islam pervades every part of our lives. Then many schools separate out the Islam from all of our other subjects. I just heard a comment at the ISNA convention, in a discussion about taking non-Muslim children, about how his school had accepted a non-Muslim but agreed not to teach her any Islam. That could not happen in our school. We have had several non-Muslims and the parents are informed that Islam is everywhere throughout our curriculum.
Quranic recitation is stressed primarily with our youngest children, who absolutely love it. After nine years of age we concentrate more on understanding. Classical Arabic is a backbone of our school. Alhamdulilluh we are blessed with two outstanding Arabic teachers. Our preschool and lower elementary classes are bilingual.
We adapt ourselves to the learning style of the child. His/her interests and choices are considered very important. We do not reward or punish by grades, but instead work to develop the Allah-given desire to learn. Developing Islamic character, inquiry and creative thinking are encouraged above memorization of facts.
We apply the developing knowledge about how Allah has designed the brain to learn in the ways that we teach. Insha' Allah this answers your questiion.
Name
Adam
- United States
Profession
physician
Question
If you have a "bad apple" in a school and all efforts to help the child emotionally are unsuccessful, where do you send the child next?
Answer
Assalamu Alaykum,
We don't send the child anywhere. Our new principal has counseling expertise. Last year she worked in that capacity with both parents and children. All we can do is advise the parent to get counseling. Of course, no child is really "bad" but if we are unable to make progress there is no point in simple spinning our wheels trying. More professional help may be needed.
I don't mean to say that we don't work with children. We have some wonderful success stories among children who came to us at nine, ten or eleven. For some reason we have been most successful with refugee children who finally felt at home in our school. We have been least successful with older children whose parents had recently embraced Islam and wanted their children to do the same.
Name
Sultan
- Hungary
Profession
economist
Question
Assalamu aleikum. I have a very basic question. How do you fit an islamic school to the education system of your country? E.g. in my country if you want to issue degrees recognised by the state you have to meet many requirements on one hand to be able to start the school and to be able to provide competitive education.
Thank you in advance.
Answer
Assalamu Alaykum,
Although we must adhere to the standards established by individual states, private schools in the US are given a great deal of leeway in how and what they teach, Alhamdulilluh. I don't believe that there even is any Muslim country that would allow us to teach the way that we do.
I do know of those who have started their own schools in countries with more rigid requirements. The two cases I know of, one in Indonesia and one is Saudi Arabia had to surmount political difficulties before they did anything else.
Name
Sayed
-
Profession
Question
Could you please shed some light on the issue of how to integrate Muslim children in a non-Muslim schools in the West as regarding religious classes, mixing with their non-Muslim classmates? How can a non-Muslim teacher deal with them?
Answer
Assalamu Alaykum,
There is an organization that deals with these questions, the Council on Islamic Education. They have many wonderful resources for addressing the needs of Muslim children in non-Muslim schools as well as materials for teaching non-Muslim children about Islam. Their web address is www.cie.org .
Name
heidi
-
Profession
Question
are the muslim schools in North america linked in any kind of association. is there a website where i can get a list of all muslim scools in Canada? And what about daycare centers for children and infants for muslim mothers who are forced to go back to work shortly after birth- i realize that this is not an ideal situation, but sometimes we dont have many options.
thanks and jazaki-Allahu-khairan
Answer
Assalamu Alaykum,
There is more than one association:
Council of Islamic School in North America (CISNA), Center for Islamic Education in North America(CIENA), Council on Islamic Education(CIE), See www.4islamicschools.org for links and further information.
There are several lists of schools available on line which may or may not be complete. I suggest you do a search on google or elsewhere to find them.
Here in Seattle there are several Muslim sister who have home daycares.
