our schools’ core mission is to guide our children and provide them with resources to strengthen their faith. The Arabic/Quran track, which had six presentations from seven distinguished presenters, spoke on how, like everyone else, educators had to adjust their private lives while meeting their job requirements. These teachers soon realized that they needed more adaptivity skills because teaching a foreign language requires a certain amount and quality of efforts when there is no eye contact, body language and a face to face connection.
After mentioning how Arabs and converts always want to understand Islam from its main source, she presented a collection of helpful resources for achieving these goals. Lina Kholaki (Arabic language consultant, Los Angeles Unified district) and Nacheda Tizani (New Horizons School, Pasadena, Calif.) delivered several free websites and resources for teachers to use as well as innovative ideas and activities that increase their students’ engagements and maximize their use of time. Dalia El Deeb (director, Ahlul Qur’an
THIS YEAR’S EVENT FEATURED THREE TRACKS: ISLAMIC STUDIES, ARABIC/QURAN, AND CURRICULUM AND INSTRUCTION. A TOTAL OF 530 DOMESTIC AND FOREIGN PARTICIPANTS REGISTERED FOR THIS VIRTUAL CONFERENCE.
This track’s presenters addressed the main current and recurrent challenges confronting these teachers. One presentation addressed general interest in the field; others were more specific, ranging from the importance of being accredited and acquiring a solid background in teaching to appreciating Arabic’s increasing recognition as an international language — it is the third or fourth language of interest at the international level — and connecting it to the Quran. The main focus of most presentations was helping teachers transition to virtual teaching by using technology. The first presentation’s thought provoking title, “Arabic Varieties: Which One to Teach?” allowed Ahmed Khorshid, who has taught at the American University in Cairo for over 30 years, to talk about Modern Standard Arabic, classical Arabic and the numerous colloquial varieties/dialects. His intent was to highlight the need to “avoid unintentional mixing of the varieties.” Most Islamic schools choose Fusha (classical Arabic), and so “it is important for teachers not to let their ‘ammiya (dialect) affect their teaching.” Amal Elhoseiny (New Horizons School, Pasadena, Calif.) reminded teachers about the goal of teaching Fuhsa-style Arabic in Islamic schools so their students can master Arabic gradually and thus connect with the Qur’an and learn how to read it correctly.
Academy) drew attention with her vibrant presentation and videos. She also shared hands-on activities that help keep students engaged in her Arabic virtual classroom while challenging them with rigorous tasks and questions to maintain their interest. Nada Shaath (World Languages and Cultures Specialist, Los Angeles Unified School District), who has helped and coached many Arabic teachers, explained how Islamic school teachers can become accredited. Basmah T. Al Saleem (founder, e-Turn Training & Consulting) spoke about the ECRIF (Encounter, Clarify, Remember, Internalize, Fluency) strategy on how to set up an Arabic class to achieve the lesson’s goals, starting from warmup time to getting the best of the lesson’s prime time, when students can still focus and absorb new material, and ending with the best ways to wrap up an Arabic class. She tackled the ways and means of teaching all receptive and productive language skills, and urged teachers to remain positive and enthusiastic: “Remember that change is hard at first, messy in the middle and gorgeous at the end.” The Curriculum and Instruction track presented opportunities to advance knowledge and its practical application in education. Amaarah DeCuire (president, Paragon Education Consulting) and Rehenuma Asmi (executive board member, Center for Islam in the Contemporary World, Shenandoah
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University) spoke on “Prophetic Pedagogy.” Shaikh Hasib Noor (founder and president,The Legacy Institute) discussed “Educating Modern Muslims.” Douglas Reeves (founder, DouglasReeves.com) addressed “Social and Emotional Learning/ Motivating Students” and Tony Wagner (senior research fellow, Learning Policy Institute) talked about “Preparing Young People to Bring the Skills of Innovation.” DeCuire and Asmi explored how the Prophet humanized his students and approached them as individuals with unique cultures and personalities. Noor analyzed how Islam and secularism impact our youth and their worldview and asked Islamic schools to use the Quranic teaching guidance, and not the public school’s paradigm, to shape their students’ structure, content, pedagogy and culture. During her brief summary of the seven essential elements/concepts in Islamic education, she urged Islamic schools to foster a collective mindset in students, where they become aware and invested in the collective good and can act responsibly toward the umma and the world. Reeves’ highly interactive dialogue about the various strategies for igniting students’ motivation emphasized the implementation of effective grading practices to provide the accurate, specific and timely feedback required to improve student performance. Wagner discussed how knowledge is now a free commodity and how the ability to innovate will guarantee students and our country a prosperous future. He overviewed the five outliers in teachers’ practice that cultivate creative problem-solving in innovative schools, which enables them to break away from traditional schooling methods, and provided valuable online resources. Each session was followed by a Q&A session and a rich discussion of the topics presented. Overall, this track was a great success. This year’s WCEF’s inspiring and informative program attracted unprecedented attendance. Due to the online platform, we even attracted educators from abroad.The positive feedback was very refreshing. The recorded sessions are available at https:// isna.net/education-forums/. ih Leila Shatara is president, CISNA, and head of school, Noor-Ul-Iman School; Azra Naqvi is principal, Hadi School of Excellence; and Thouraya Boubetra, an executive committee member in the Arabic Teacher Council of Southern California, is a former online Arabic education director of the Aldeen Foundation.
