Discipline Devotion And Dissent Jewish Catholic And Islamic Schooling In Canada

The education provided by Canada’s faith-based schools is a subject of public, political, and scholarly controversy. As the population becomes more religiously diverse, the continued establishment and support of faith-based schools has reignited debates about whether they should be funded publicly and to what extent they threaten social cohesion. These discussions tend to occur without considering a fundamental question: How do faith-based schools envision and enact their educational missions? Discipline, Devotion, and Dissent offers responses to that question by examining a selection of Canada’s Jewish, Catholic, and Islamic schools. The daily reality of these schools is illuminated through essays that address the aims and practices that characterize these schools, how they prepare their students to become citizens of a multicultural Canada, and how they respond to dissent in the classroom. The essays in this book reveal that Canada’s faith-based schools sometimes succeed and sometimes struggle in bridging the demands of the faith and the need to create participating citizens of a multicultural society. Discussion surrounding faith-based schools in Canada would be enriched by a better understanding of the aims and practices of these schools, and this book provides a gateway to the subject.

The education provided by Canada’s faith-based schools is a subject of public, political, and scholarly controversy. As the population becomes more religiously diverse, the continued establishment and support of faith-based schools has reignited debates about whether they should be funded publicly and to what extent they threaten social cohesion. These discussions tend to occur without considering a fundamental question: How do faith-based schools envision and enact their educational missions? Discipline, Devotion, and Dissent offers responses to that question by examining a selection of Canada’s Jewish, Catholic, and Islamic schools. The daily reality of these schools is illuminated through essays that address the aims and practices that characterize these schools, how they prepare their students to become citizens of a multicultural Canada, and how they respond to dissent in the classroom. The essays in this book reveal that Canada’s faith-based schools sometimes succeed and sometimes struggle in bridging the demands of the faith and the need to create participating citizens of a multicultural society. Discussion surrounding faith-based schools in Canada would be enriched by a better understanding of the aims and practices of these schools, and this book provides a gateway to the subject.

The American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences (AJISS), established in 1984, is a quarterly, double blind peer-reviewed and interdisciplinary journal, published by the International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT), and distributed worldwide. The journal showcases a wide variety of scholarly research on all facets of Islam and the Muslim world including subjects such as anthropology, history, philosophy and metaphysics, politics, psychology, religious law, and traditional Islam.

This book presents the views of leading scholars, academics, and educators on the renewal of Islamic schools in the Western context. The book argues that as Islamic schools in Western contexts have negotiated the establishment phase they must next embrace a period of renewal. Renewal relates to a purposeful synthesis of the tradition with contemporary educational practice and greater emphasis on empirical research substantiating best practices in Islamic schools. This renewal must reflect teaching and learning practices consistent with an Islamic worldview and pedagogy. It should also inform, among other aspects, classroom management models, and relevant and contextual Islamic and Arabic studies. This book acquaints the reader with contemporary challenges and opportunities in Islamic schools in the Western context with a focus on Australia.

This insightful text examines the impact of Islamic schooling on Muslim youth in French-speaking Canada to consider how these institutions influence the formation of students’ cultural, national, ethnic, and religious identities, and their sense of belonging to Quebec and Canada. Through close qualitative analysis of interviews conducted with first- and second-generation students, as well as parents, teachers, and leaders involved in Islamic high schools, this text explores how far institutions succeed in preparing young Muslims to participate in the broader secular society in Quebec and in English-speaking Canada. As well as investigating the historical and contemporary development of Islamic schooling in Canada, and addressing public perceptions of this educational sector, the volume foregrounds the voices of those directly involved in these schools to illustrate first-hand experiences, and the motivations and objectives of those choosing to support or engage in these schools. Overarching themes include citizenship, integration, and the complex interplay of Muslim, Quebecois, and Canadian values. This book will be of great interest to graduate and postgraduate students, researcher scholars and academics in the fields of religion, education, Islamic studies, multicultural education curriculum studies, and faith-based teacher education.

Political rhetoric and popular concern about the presence in the United States, Canada, and Western Europe of immigrants from predominantly-Muslim societies has remained largely detached from the actual reality of the lives and the contributions of these immigrants and their children. The studies presented here seek to correct this ignorant reaction by presenting objective information from schools that such immigrants have created and sustained. The first looked at seven explicitly-Islamic secondary schools, focusing on the formation of character and American citizenship, while the other studied public charter schools established by immigrants from Turkey, focusing on academic outcomes. Do faith-based schools cause social divisions? Do their students fail to become good citizens who can cooperate with those of other faiths? This familiar accusation against Catholic, and more recently against Evangelical, schools, is now directed against Islamic schools in Western societies. The studies presented here offer objective information from schools established by Muslim immigrants across the United States, with reassuring results. Praise for Muslim Educators in American Communities: "Dr. Charles Glenn takes us inside US Islamic schools and offers a rare insight into the thoughts and emotions of young American Muslims. A must read for Non-Muslims as well as Muslims; his book provides a taste for those curious about what goes on in Islamic schools as well as evidence of the results of an Islamic School education." ~ Sufia Azmat, Executive Director Council of Islamic Schools in North America "Every wave of immigration throughout American history has brought with it an undertow of fear, often centered on the religious schools new immigrants form. In every instance, those fears have proven unfounded and so they are today. Through careful, on-the-ground research, Charles Glenn and colleagues take us into new Islamic secondary schools and discover the important role these faith-based schools are playing in forming virtuous citizens capable and committed to being a positive influence within American civic life. This book is a valuable and timely contribution." ~ James Davison Hunter, Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture University of Virginia

This insightful text challenges popular belief that faith-based Islamic schools isolate Muslim learners, impose dogmatic religious views, and disregard academic excellence. This book attempts to paint a starkly different picture. Grounded in the premise that not all Islamic schools are the same, the historical narratives illustrate varied visions and approaches to Islamic schooling that showcase a richness of educational thought and aspiration. A History of Islamic Schooling in North America traces the growth and evolution of elementary and secondary private Islamic schools in Canada and the United States. Intersecting narratives between schools established by indigenous African American Muslims as early as the 1930s with those established by immigrant Muslim communities in the 1970s demonstrate how and why Islamic Education is in a constant, ongoing process of evolution, renewal, and adaptation. Drawing on the voices, perspectives, and narratives of pioneers and visionaries who established the earliest Islamic schools, chapters articulate why Islamic schools were established, what distinguishes them from one another, and why they continue to be important. This book will be of great interest to graduate and postgraduate students, researchers, academics, teaching professionals in the fields of Islamic education, religious studies, multicultural education curriculum studies, and faith-based teacher education.

Systemic Islamophobia in Canada presents critical perspectives on systemic Islamophobia in Canadian politics, law, and society, and maps areas for future research and inquiry. The authors consist of both scholars and professionals who encounter in the ordinary course of their work the – sometimes banal, sometimes surprising – operation of systemic Islamophobia. Centring the lived realities of Muslims primarily in Canada, but internationally as well, the contributors identify the limits of democratic accountability in the operation of our shared institutions of government. Intended as a guide, the volume identifies important points of consideration that have systemic implications for whether, how, and under what conditions Islamophobia is enabled and perpetuated, and in some cases even rendered respectable policy or bureaucratic practice in Canada. Ultimately, Systemic Islamophobia in Canada identifies a range of systemically Islamophobic sites in Canada to guide citizens and policymakers in fulfilling the promise of an inclusive democratic Canada.