Tag: Social Justice

  • What do I know about Palestine?

    What do I know about Palestine?

    While some Muslim children may know the importance of Palestine for Muslims, many are unable to provide details and/or are unable to articulate the reasons clearly. Even more are unable to support those reasons with evidence (from religious texts, historical, and geographical sources, etc.). It is important for Muslim children to be able to understand and clearly articulate why Palestine is important for Muslims as it is one of the sources of contemporary global conflicts.

    Introduction

    In this question driven lesson (or unit plan), students play a game to explore the importance of Palestine for Muslims. Instead of direct instruction, teachers use well crafted close-ended questions paired with open-ended questions to guide thoughtful classroom discussions, reflect and make connections across topics, and gain deeper understandings. The lesson is intended to be introductory while providing for further inquiry and exploration. Educators can also use the Resources handout to develop a unit plan.

    Download Lesson Plan

    Grade Levels

    3-12

    Subject Areas

    Civics, Current Events, Geography, Language, Religion, Social Studies, World History

    Estimated Time

    Two or more class periods

    Learning Outcomes (Objectives)

    By the end of this lesson, students will be able to:

    1. Articulate in their own words a response to the question, “Why is Palestine important to you?”
    2. List at least three points with evidence to illustrate why Palestine is important for Muslims.
    3. Analyze maps to understand world conflicts.
    4. Discuss how cultural appropriation and erasure can lead to cultural genocide and ethnic cleansing.
    5. Summarize and interpret the events of Isra & Miraaj.
    6. Trace the significance of Masjid Al-Aqsa.
    7. Explain the virtues of Masjid Al-Aqsa.
    8. Reframe the importance of Jerusalem to Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.
    9. Explain the opening of Jerusalem by Muslims.
    10. Illustrate the events leading to the Nakba and the continuing Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

    Materials and Resources

    1. KWL Chart
    2. KWL Chart Rubric
    3. The game “What do I know about Palestine?” on Ahaslides.com (requires a free account to copy the game)
    4. Resources handout on “What do I know about Palestine?”
    5. Smart device per student/student group
    6. Projector or Smartboard to display the game
    7. Computer for teacher to present the game
    8. Internet connection

    Activities

    Activity 1: Focus Activity

    1. The KWL Chart: Ask students to individually respond to the questions on the KWL Chart on the topic of Palestine. Note: Do not pair students at this point. It is important for each student to think on their own at this point.
    2. Pair & Share: Pair up students and ask them to summarize the points they think are important from each student’s KWL chart.
    3. Class Discussion: Regroup as a class and ask each group to share their important points and questions. List the points on the board under each heading: 1. Know and 2. Wonder. Maintain a tally for each point that is also mentioned by other groups of students and rank them according to the tally.

    Activity 2: Play the Game & Discuss

    1. Play the game “What do I know about Palestine?” on Ahaslides.com. Note: Students can play individually or in groups depending on the number of devices available for students.
    2. Provide feedback (background and details) on the answers before moving on to the next question using the Resources handout. Time permitting, have a class discussion using the open-ended questions for each of the closed-ended questions listed on the Cheat Sheet.
    3. Ask students to use the “My notes on Palestine” worksheet to take notes during the game. Note: Model for students how to take notes by summarizing the main points for at least the first two questions.

    Activity 3: Putting it all together

    1. Ask students to complete the “Learned” column in the KWL Chart.
    2. Let students share with class what they have learned. You can also use the open-ended questions as prompts for further discussion.
    3. Ask students the following question: “Why is Palestine important to you?” Make a list of the points shared by students.

    Assessment Suggestions

    1. Contributions in class discussions and group work
    2. KWL Chart: Use the KWL Chart Rubric to provide feedback to students
    3. Summative Assessment: Ask students to respond to the following prompts. Note: Adjust the expectations according to the grade level:
      • Why is Palestine important to you?
      • Why is Palestine important for Muslims?

    Extensions and Adaptations

    1. Adjust the game according to the student’s level by removing/skipping questions.
    2. Develop a Unit Plan from each question in the game using the Resources Handout.
    3. Conduct a jigsaw learning activity using the annotated resources for each question.
    4. Ask students to use the annotated resources for each question to write a “position” paper.

    Share via comments any feedback on the lesson, how to improve it, and share any related resources/strategies that can enhance the lesson so others can benefit.

  • Notes of the presentation “Developing Islamic identity and creating leaders”

    Notes of the presentation “Developing Islamic identity and creating leaders”

    As promised, here are the notes of my presentation titled, “Developing Islamic identity and creating leaders” that I presented at the 1st Annual ISAC Ed Conference on June 4, 2023 at Ajax, Ontario.

    Here are some highlights from the presentation to jog your memory:

    “Use the foundation you already have to get closer to perfect.”

    Don’t start from scratch! Every Islamic school has some things that we are doing right and some things that need to be realigned. We do not need to overhaul the whole system. Additionally, we have a 1400 plus years of rich history and success stories. But more importantly, we have the Qur’an!

    WWMD?

    What would Muhammad ﷺ do? We reflected over how the Prophet ﷺ with Allah’s ﷻ Guidance transformed the Arabs from a nation that was annihilating each other through inter-generation vengeful warfare and drowning in several darknesses to a nation that was united under the banner of Tawhid and became the beacon of hope, progress, and prosperity for the entire world for many centuries to come.

    Education in Islam

    What is the concept of education in the Qur’an? Education according to Al-Attas in his book Aims and Objectives of Islamic Education consists of three terms: 1. Tarbiyah (تربيه), 2. Ta’lim (تعليم), 3. Ta’dib (تأديب). We explored the concept of tarbiyah in more detail through an interactive activity.

    Focus of Education

    Secular education focuses primarily on the cognitive domain. It is about the development of the brain. Think about Bloom’s taxonomy. Even though Benjamin Bloom developed a taxonomy for other domains, contemporary secular education focuses only on the cognitive. What is the focus of education in the Qur’an?

    The Qur’an focuses on the qalb (hear). The word Qalb is mentioned 132 times in the Qur’an. Prophet Muhammad’s ﷺ is reported to have said that in the body there is a piece of flesh which, if it is sound, the entire body will be sound, but if it is corrupt, the entire body is corrupt, verily it is the heart. Teaching is indeed a work of the heart!

    Many of us use cognitively informed strategies in our classrooms. Can we directly apply strategies that focus on the development of the brain to the heart? In other words, will we be comfortable allowing the heart surgeon to operate on us using the tools of a neurosurgeon? But that is what we do on a daily basis with our students!

    Education must emancipate

    Examined how Paulo Freire emphasized the emancipatory role of education in his book Pedagogy of the oppressed. He argued that the purpose of education was for learners to gain agency to challenge oppressive systems and improve their lives. He contented that we need to break away or realign the way we teach because the very tools we use to teach were developed to maintain the status quo that is oppressive to us. The role of education in Islam is also to free us from oppression and all kinds of darknesses and bring us into the light of Divine Guidance (See Quran, Chapter 2, Verse 257).

    The Triple-T Tarbiyah Framework

    We then spent some time exploring the question, “What verses in the Qur’an describe the steps the Prophet ﷺ took to transform his people?” We identified steps, 1. Tilawah (تِلَاوَة), 2. Tazkiyah (تزكية), and 3. Ta’lim (تـعـلـيـم). These three steps form the overarching steps of the dynamic tarbiyah framework. We then examined how Allah used these steps to train the Prophet . We also looked at how these steps align with some popular theories of learning in education such as the Bloom’s Taxonomy and the 5E Learning Cycle.

    The presentation concluded with a message of hope citing verse 40 of Chapter 9 in the Quran.