EDUC 5030

February 5, 2013

Today’s Class

• Religion & education/curriculum: the link

• Madrassas: among the earliest schools

• Questions and answers about Madrassas

• 2-page Draft Paper Assignment: Due Feb. 12

• “Our School” (2008)s

Margaret Mead (1901-1978) Samoan youthThere are several striking differences between our concept of education to-day and that of …the South Sea people……but perhaps the most important one is the shift from the need for an individual to learn something which everyone agrees he would wish to know, to the will of some individual to teach something which it is not agreed that anyone has any desire to know. [curriculum]

Margaret Mead, con’t

…the master did not go seeking pupils; the pupils and their parents went to seek the master and with proper gifts…. persuaded him to teach the [learner]…with the appearance of religions which held this belief in their own infallible superiority, education becomes a concern of those who teach rather than of those who learn

Madrassas: among the earliest schools

Edward Said: سعيد وديع إددوارد

• “How does one represent other cultures? What is another culture? Is the notion of a distinct culture (or race, or religion, or civilization) a useful one, or does it always get involved either in self-congratulation (when one discusses one's own) or hostility and aggression (when one discusses the 'other')?”

• 1935 – 2003

My contention is that Orientalism is fundamentally a political doctrine willed over the Orient because the Orient was weaker than the West, which elided the Orient’s difference with its weakness ....As a cultural apparatus Orientalism is all aggression, activity, judgment, will-to-truth, and knowledge (Orientalism, p. 204).

• “Islamic”• Maktab versus

Madrassa• “the prophet”?• “the empire”?• “machinery of

colonialism”• “Every Muslim

child, girl and boy, is expected to read and recite the Koran early on”

Madrassa CurriculaYEAR SUBJECTS

First Year Biography of the Prophet (Syrat), Conjugation-Grammar (Sarf), Syntax (Nahv), Arabic Literature, Chirography, Chant illation (Tajvid)

Second Year Conjugation-Grammar (Sarf), Syntax (Nahv), Arabic Literature, Jurisprudence (Fiqa), Logic, Chirography (Khush-navisi), Chant illation, (Tajvid)

Third Year Koranic Exegesis, Jurisprudence: (Fiqh), Syntax (Nahv), Arabic Literature, Hadith, Logic, Islamic Brotherhood, Chant illation: (Tajvid), External study (Tareekh Millat and Khilafat-e-Rashida – these are Indian Islamic movements).

Fourth Year Koranic Exegesis, Jurisprudence (Fiqa), Principles of Jurisprudence, Rhetorics, Hadith, Logic, History, Cant illation, Modern Sciences (sciences of cities of Arabia, Geography of the Arab Peninsula and other Islamic countries)

Tertiary

Al Azhar Education system (p. 9)1.Primary: 4-5 years to 11 or 12 years2.Secondary: 12 or older to 16-18 years3.Tertiary: 18 – 22 and olderMiddle school: 4th or 5th year to 8th or 9th year of school

Secondary

primary

Why Madrassas & their curriculum?

– Schools and their curriculum have a history– There is a tie between religion and the first

schools–Becomes international as a culture / religion

spread– There are regional variations with this spread– Indonesia & Bangladesh: Islamic education

(Pesentrens) and also public schools (Alyia)

• Two Page Draft Paper on a Selected Theme, 20%: This theme can be one of the general themes identified in the course schedule, above, or it can be one of the more specific topics listed below. The purpose of this paper is to outline how you will address your topic in the final presentation and paper for the course. This will allow instructor feedback, as necessary, on your approach and topic.

Topics

• basics of curriculum, teaching and learning: What are they and why are they important

• Aboriginal Curricula• Non Western Curricula‐• Curriculum in the West• Inclusive Curricula• OTHER: Discuss with Instructor!

Suggested Topics

• Robert M. Gagne,• Victor of Aveyron,• Islamic Education,• Chinese Education• Education for any other

religious/cultural group• The term “Curriculum” • Cognitive Science• Behaviourism• Constructivism

• The Enlightenment• bell hooks• segregated schools in the

USA• residential schools in

Canada• Koreans in Japan; North and

south Korea• John Dewey• Alternative forms of lesson

planning

First Paragraph

1. What is your general topic area?

2. Why are you/why should we be interested in it?

3. Narrow you topic down

4. What is your position on your topic?

Next few paragraphs

• 2-3 examples, arguments, points, ideas, suggestions, ways of:– Explaining your topic (e.g., Independent schools in

Canada for Chinese students)– Linking related positions on your topic (e.g. TV and

learning)– Describing your position on your topic (e.g., Chinese

versus Canadian family/parenting)– Defending your position on your topic (why is

ecological / green education important?)

Writing is key! (from Peter Horban)http://www.sfu.ca/philosophy/resources/writing.html

• Always present a ”reasoned defense of a thesis.”• There must be a specific point that you are trying

to establish together with grounds or justification for its acceptance.

• Before you start to write your paper, you should be able to state exactly what it is that you are trying to show.

• you should be able to state in a single short sentence precisely what you want to prove

More on writing

• Doesn’t have to be a “hot controversy”• Your method must be that of rational

persuasion. You will present arguments• Assume that your reader is intelligent and

knows a lot about your subject, but disagrees with you.

• Chose the strongest and most important points; often 2-4 will do.

• Clear, grammatical and

• “The difficulty/importance of Dewey’s Pedagogical Creed”

• “Aboriginal curriculum: Its necessity and/or challenges”

• “’Anything can happen:’ the open future in Lozinski’s 1995 documentary”

• “Different forms of learning in ‘The Weeping Camel’”• Madrassa and Western curricula: similarities and/or

differences

The thesis is somewhat clear

The thesis is clear The thesis is clear and original

Understanding of the topic and its relation to course themes or egs. is somewhat demonstrated and applied

Understanding of the topic and its relation to course themes or egs. is clearly understood and applied

Deep understanding of the topic and its relation to course themes or egs. is understood and applied

Some abilities (or potential) for analysis and synthesis of material are demonstrated and some arguments are presented

Strong abilities (or potential) for analysis and synthesis of material are demonstrated and well developed arguments are presented

Exceptional (or potential) abilities for analysis and synthesis of material are demonstrated and strong arguments are presented

The document shows some structured and writing ability

The document is well structured and well written

The document is extremely well structured and well written