Search

This multiple case study examines the attitudes of 14 Islamic education teachers from Israel towards the meaning, causes and consequences of religious extremism among students in their Arab and Muslim-majority middle and high schools. These teachers define religious extremism as belief in absolute religious truth, inflexibility in religious interpretation, or strict adherence to Islamic teachings. In addition, the teachers distinguish the personal (adolescence, family problems and psychosocial needs), religious (unquestioned following of extremist imams or religion scholars; adopting of selective, literal and decontextualised readings of the religious text; influence of partisan teachers) and socio-political factors (students' feelings of fear and anger towards Israel and its unjust and oppressive role in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict) that push students towards religious extremism. Religious extremism, the teachers conclude, may lead to hatred or violence against followers of other religions, antagonism between Muslims and Jews in Israel, increased Islamophobia in Western societies, the rejection of Islam, the oppression of female students and reduced student achievement and diminished future prospects.

This multiple case study explores the obstacles to preparing prospective Arab teachers to deal with values/moral issues, from the perspective of Arab teacher educators in one Arab college of teacher education in Israel. In-depth interviews with 13 teacher educators were conducted and analysed. Four obstacles were reported by teacher educators. The first was the scholastic-oriented curriculum in their college and the exclusive focus on developing the student teacher's technical skills, disciplinary knowledge and intellectual capacities. The second was related to the teacher educators' qualifications--their motivation and professional awareness with respect to dealing with values/moral issues in their courses. The third was related to the quality of the student teachers, their desire to become teachers, their commitment and their understanding of the moral work of teaching. The fourth pertained to the college of education's culture and the lack of a systemic policy of preparation for values education.

The teaching of Islam in Western and non-Western societies may be located along a continuum from critical to non-critical paradigms. Islamic religious education is dominated by the non-critical paradigm and a devotional discourse of religious education. This is true in both Islamic and non-Islamic countries and is relevant to the teaching of both the spiritual and moral messages of Islam. The current essay is motivated by the 'inadequate theoretical reflections on the meaning of education, which gravely hinder the task of thinking about Islam educationally and education Islamically'. The first section reviews the tenets of Islamic religious education from a conservative and devotional perspective. In the second and third sections, the authors address the major shortcomings of this approach and its theory of Islamisation. In the final section, the authors propose a rationale for an alternative paradigm of critical Islamic religious education -- which is rarely discussed in the literature -- and for its appropriateness for living in modern, democratic, multi-faith societies.

In this phenomenological and qualitative study, we explored the experiences of six Palestinian-Arab Israeli Arabic teachers working at K-12 Jewish schools in Israel. We examine the three models of intergroup contact according to Brewer and Miller's theorisation -- category-based, differentiated, and personalised -- and their potential in explaining the interaction between the teachers and their students. The results of this inquiry illuminate how the teachers challenge their students' limited understanding of Islamic and Arab culture. In addition, they clarify the limitations of differentiation-based contact. This means that developing a positive relationship at the interpersonal level may not necessarily lead to a positive change at the intergroup level. We also found that most students to continued holding negative associations at the intergroup level. The findings shed the light on the struggles and dilemmas of minority ethnic teachers teaching in mainstream schools in a conflicted society. Implications for teacher education programs are discussed as well.

In this essay I explain the basic tenets of postcolonial theory and its possible implications for teaching social studies and global issues in American high schools. The use of this theory is becoming increasingly significant, given the growing Islamophobia and Orientalism in the United States, the ongoing uprisings in the Middle East, and the divide between East and West at the political levels. Also, it recognizes the right of the Other for appropriate representation, self-determination, and justice. The essay allows scholars, teachers, and educators to enrich their strategies of critique, and their pedagogical repertoire, and to prepare critically and globally informed citizens.

This article analyzes how concepts of liberal and progressive Islam, which have been developed in the political and theological academic literature, may inform the curriculum of Islamic education and the practice of religious educators in Islamic schools in the US. We investigate the meaning of in-faith Islamic education and how it can conform to the life in a democratic, multicultural, and multi-faith society. Liberal Islam challenges the transmission-oriented and rigid interpretations of Islam and seeks to appreciate and to contextualize the religious claims which are compatible with ideals of reflective education, rational thinking, mutual respect, and equal citizenship. It suggests that students become critical "consumers" of Islam, its moral and civic purposes, and the cultural politics of religious interrogations.

Islamophobia is a specific form of racism that targets Muslims in different ways (physically, psychologically, socially, educationally, and politically) at different times and in different places. The purpose of this study is to review the meanings of Islamophobia, its manifestation in western societies, and its negative effects on Muslim students, and how it should be treated in educational settings. It encourages a justice-oriented and religiously sensitive discourse in education that takes the Muslim students' needs and identities into consideration. Educators and students in public schools are encouraged to deconstruct and criticize the role of the media, state, school textbooks, and popular culture in circulating misinformed, inaccurate, and fearful images of Muslims and Islam. Teachers, after all, are expected to provide all students, including Muslims, with a safe and supportive environment. This environment is crucial for Muslim students' wellbeing, their social integration, and the development of their religious and civic identities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This multiple case study examines how 4 social studies teachers in 2 private Islamic schools in Michigan understand the concept of citizenship education and the dilemmas they face in teaching for unity and diversity and in helping their students negotiate their civics identities within the American sociopolitical context. Data were collected through 2 in-depth semi-structured interviews. The study, which was conducted in 2010, reveals 3 dilemmas that Muslim social studies teachers handle in their classrooms. The first is how to find a balance between education for Islamic and American identities, given the increased Islam-phobia in the larger society and the lack of appropriate materials to show the contributions of Muslims to U.S. history and the world. The second dilemma involves the moral roots of teaching civics in Islamic schools and the contestation between moral absolutism and moral pluralism in the process of teaching for Islamic and democratic identities. Finally, social studies teachers in Islamic schools report that they deal with students' confusion regarding American foreign policies and describe how they approach the tension between students' national and transnational identities. This study adds to our understanding of the complexity of education for religious, national, and transnational identities and shows that citizenship education is influenced by sociopolitical contexts and discourses beyond the classroom setting.