Abraham Educational Services
"Religious diversity is neglected or ignored in teacher education, leaving teachers with many questions."
- Subedi, B. (2006). Preservice teachers’ beliefs and practices: Religion and religious diversity. Equity & Excellence in Education, 39, 227-238.
- Subedi, B. (2006). Preservice teachers’ beliefs and practices: Religion and religious diversity. Equity & Excellence in Education, 39, 227-238.
While multicultural education and culturally relevant teaching have become preeminent in education circles there is still a large deficit in preparing teachers for culturally relevant teaching of Muslim students, as well as a pervasive lack of knowledge and understanding amongst American educators about Muslims generally. In order to bridge this gap, we offer the following educational seminars. You can learn more about all these topics and how to utilize them in your classroom by registering for our training on April 28th.
Seminar 1 - Islam - Beliefs, Practice, Worldview, and Intellectual Foundations
Martha Bigelow, ESL researcher at the University of Minnesota, and perhaps the foremost academic researcher of the Somali-American community in Minnesota, states that, “It is uncommon to hear Somalis draw a clear separation between what they understand as Somali culture and the tenets of Islam, or Islamic religious practices.” She further states that “Religious diversity is neglected or ignored in teacher education, leaving teachers with many questions (Subedi, 2006).” Since teacher training programs offer virtually no training to build competence in teachers to educate Muslim students it is the mission of Abraham Educational Services to bridge this gap.
Certainly, Muslims encompass a wide array of cultural backgrounds. Yet, it is widely recognized by observers, academics and Muslims themselves that Islam is an integral part of cultural practice, customs, and worldview across cultures where Muslims are predominant. While cultures and individuals are certainly idiosyncratic in their views of Islam there is nevertheless basic tenets, practices, and perspectives of life that comprise the essence of Islam that are universal to virtually all Muslim cultures and serve as a great unifying force amongst them; and understanding these well can serve as an anchor point for educators in serving Muslim students, especially in the areas of relationship building and honoring student identity. Educators will never be able to lay claim to practicing culturally-relevant pedagogy with Muslim, nor maximize their potential in serving Muslim students without learning about Islam from Muslims.
This seminar lays the foundation for that learning. Educators are taken through the beliefs, practices, and perspectives that are at the core of Islamic belief, life, and intellect; and given a view of both its shared and divergent features with historical and modern worldview in Western culture.
Certainly, Muslims encompass a wide array of cultural backgrounds. Yet, it is widely recognized by observers, academics and Muslims themselves that Islam is an integral part of cultural practice, customs, and worldview across cultures where Muslims are predominant. While cultures and individuals are certainly idiosyncratic in their views of Islam there is nevertheless basic tenets, practices, and perspectives of life that comprise the essence of Islam that are universal to virtually all Muslim cultures and serve as a great unifying force amongst them; and understanding these well can serve as an anchor point for educators in serving Muslim students, especially in the areas of relationship building and honoring student identity. Educators will never be able to lay claim to practicing culturally-relevant pedagogy with Muslim, nor maximize their potential in serving Muslim students without learning about Islam from Muslims.
This seminar lays the foundation for that learning. Educators are taken through the beliefs, practices, and perspectives that are at the core of Islamic belief, life, and intellect; and given a view of both its shared and divergent features with historical and modern worldview in Western culture.
Seminar 2 - Historical Influence of Muslim Scholars in World History and Confluence with Western Europe.
It’s often recognized that alternative perspectives and narratives on history play a key role in teaching for equity and culturally-relevant pedagogy. Established even further is the overall tone of Western superiority that underlies the most typical historical narratives that are taught in American education. For Muslims students, the vast majority of whom come from eastern, African, or near-eastern cultures, such narratives leave them without mirrors in the in the educational curriculum.
This seminar introduces educators to a historical perspective that has been long established in Muslim societies, as well as by academics in the higher echelons of education in the West, but altogether without presence in American educational curricula and as well as the West's mainstream societal consciousness. Namely, that the fruition of the much lauded eras of advancement in Western Europe, the Renaissance and the Enlightenment, are in debt to the prior advancements made in Muslim civilizations which were sparked by the advent of Islam.
This seminar offers details of the contributions of Muslim scholars and Islamic scholarship to scientific and civilizational advancement and offers a much important narrative of co-dependence, confluence, productive interchange, and inter-dependence between the Eastern and Western worlds that runs counter to the demagoguery of narratives of Western superiority that have so often prevailed in American education and settled into societal consciousness.
This seminar introduces educators to a historical perspective that has been long established in Muslim societies, as well as by academics in the higher echelons of education in the West, but altogether without presence in American educational curricula and as well as the West's mainstream societal consciousness. Namely, that the fruition of the much lauded eras of advancement in Western Europe, the Renaissance and the Enlightenment, are in debt to the prior advancements made in Muslim civilizations which were sparked by the advent of Islam.
This seminar offers details of the contributions of Muslim scholars and Islamic scholarship to scientific and civilizational advancement and offers a much important narrative of co-dependence, confluence, productive interchange, and inter-dependence between the Eastern and Western worlds that runs counter to the demagoguery of narratives of Western superiority that have so often prevailed in American education and settled into societal consciousness.
Seminar 3 - Stereotypes and Malcharacterizations of Muslims in Western Culture
There is an emerging awareness in the USA and in the field of education about common patterns of racism and stereotyping of African-American, Native-Americans, and Latino people across the spectrum of academics, media, and varying other societal institutions that have played over a long period of history. Yet there is still great unawareness of how similar phenomena takes place, and has taken place historically, in regards to Muslim people and varying subcultures comprised of Muslims.
This seminar will show that in actuality systemic patterns of discrimination, stereotyping, and malcharacterization of Muslims has deep historical roots in Western culture and in many ways, despite a degree of academic awareness and analysis of this phenomena since the 1970s, is trending in a more severe direction in modern times. This seminar will attune educators to how these patterns manifest themselves in curricula bias and imagery, historical anthropology, classical literature, children’s literature, cinema, and media.
This seminar will show that in actuality systemic patterns of discrimination, stereotyping, and malcharacterization of Muslims has deep historical roots in Western culture and in many ways, despite a degree of academic awareness and analysis of this phenomena since the 1970s, is trending in a more severe direction in modern times. This seminar will attune educators to how these patterns manifest themselves in curricula bias and imagery, historical anthropology, classical literature, children’s literature, cinema, and media.
Seminar 4 - Creating Mirrors for Muslim Students
Scarcity of literature with portrayals of Muslims is an oft-lamented issue. This presentation will offer tools to overcome this pitfall with a walkthroughs of books for K-12 reading levels in which Muslims are portrayed positively, that allow for Muslim students to bring their Muslim identity into the classroom, creating a positive entry point for it in their discourse with peers and adults alike. In this seminar we will show specific features in them that can be drawn upon to engage Muslim students as well as teach cross-cultural respect and understanding, along with cross cultural lesson plan ideas and connections to reading standards.
These books will work in compliment to the background knowledge of Muslim students as oppose to against it, drawing on their cultural funds; conversely it can give the experience to non-Muslim native-English speaking students what it is like to lack background knowledge to understand a book and perhaps offer their Muslim classmates to be in the empowered position of providing the class with background information.
These books will work in compliment to the background knowledge of Muslim students as oppose to against it, drawing on their cultural funds; conversely it can give the experience to non-Muslim native-English speaking students what it is like to lack background knowledge to understand a book and perhaps offer their Muslim classmates to be in the empowered position of providing the class with background information.
Seminar 5 - Technicalities of following Islam and Cultural Collision for Muslim Students in School Settings.
There are many technical aspects to following Islam. There are a series of acts that are commanded and mandatory to follow, others that are forbidden. In between that also is another series of acts that can be deemed as recommended or discouraged to do. This seminar will go over the actual stuff and acts of following Islam for the Muslim student. What one has to do, what one would be technically forbidden from doing, and areas where Muslim students often feel conflicted. We will offer specific recommendations for educators in accommodating the religious practices of Muslim students while maintaining the priorities of running an educational environment that is efficient and focused on learning. You can also access our resource blog where some of the details of these matters are discussed.
Seminar 6 - Learning Structures and Traditions in Mosques: Areas of Utilization and Incongruence for Public Schools.
Many Muslim students spend a large portion of their time outside of public school learning in local religious institutions. Mosques are themselves learning environments where habits and perceptions about learning are framed for many of our young students. Yet there remains a long bridge to be crossed in understanding for public school teachers it what type of learning goes on in mosques, how it is done, and how this can frame student perception of learning in public schools, and also how the familiarity of Muslim students with learning habits that are taught in mosques can utilized by teaches to drawn on the students' background experience. This seminar will shed light on learning that takes place in mosques with a pedagogical lens that identifies common areas of incongruency that students may experience in public schools, while also illuminating factors that can be utilized to support student learning.
Seminar 7 - Historical Origins of the Ideologies of ISIS and other Militant Groups in the Muslim World.
The amount of Muslim students or young people who have left the United States or other Western countries to join militant groups over see is exceedingly small in number. Nevertheless, due to the constancy of media attention as well as a $200 million industry in the United States seeking to portray Islam as a religion of violence and Muslims as dangerous people the mental association amongst non-Muslims of Islam and Muslims with terrorist groups is simple par for the course. Ultimately, responsibility does lie on the Muslims to show the fallacy of this association and un-Islamic origins of the ideologies of these groups.
This seminar traces the historical roots of the ideology of these groups and demonstrates that it developed out of a historical phenomenon where the central pillars of the ideology have been actually borrowed from Marxist-Leninist revolutionary ideology, Social Darwinism, and that the tactics employed by these groups are also borrowed from prior military groups with communist leanings. It will further show the results of studies that confirm that radicalization amongst youth is generally drawn out of a mix of identity conflict and rancor at political situations whereas a strong religious identity has actually been identified by counter-terrorism authorities as a deterrent to radicalization.
This seminar traces the historical roots of the ideology of these groups and demonstrates that it developed out of a historical phenomenon where the central pillars of the ideology have been actually borrowed from Marxist-Leninist revolutionary ideology, Social Darwinism, and that the tactics employed by these groups are also borrowed from prior military groups with communist leanings. It will further show the results of studies that confirm that radicalization amongst youth is generally drawn out of a mix of identity conflict and rancor at political situations whereas a strong religious identity has actually been identified by counter-terrorism authorities as a deterrent to radicalization.