Muslim Educators Relaunch Islamic School Teacher Trainings

On Saturday January 28th, a diverse group of Muslim teachers representing various Islamic schools attended a half-day Islamic Weekend School Teacher Training at the IQRA International Educational Foundation in Skokie, Illinois.

The workshop concentrated on the Prophetic Tradition, Understanding Today’s Child, Sunnah in the Classroom and Qualities of the Best Teacher. Sessions were taught by IQRA Staff, religious leaders and school administrators. Participants also received a gift bag with resources and swag and an IQRA guide for teaching Islamic activities in the classroom after the workshop.

Dr. Rohany Nayan, one of the workshop attendees and an educator for over 30 years, is familiar with IQRA curriculum.

“I have used and adapted many of the educational materials and curriculum that IQRA produced in the context of Weekend School, full time Islamic school and even in secular state university settings.”

As a global leader in the development of Islamic Studies curricula, the Weekend School curriculum offers two tracks: Islamic Ways of Ibadah and Identity of Self as a Muslim.

“I found the sessions on the profile of current American Muslim students and the statistics provided to be very useful in order to understand who our students are and how we can serve them better,” Nayan adds.

According to an ISPU report, Weekend Islamic Schools: Are they Preparing Children for Life Ahead (in partnership with the John Templeton Foundation, 2017) featuring Muslim educators and curriculum experts, “Muslim weekend schools must find a balance between curriculum-based instruction and open-ended spaces for their youth, to build a sense of connectedness and belonging among youth.” The report was intended to identify the needs, opportunities, and challenges for weekend Islamic schools as they relate to character development in students between the ages of 6 and 18.

Noor Kids founder Amin Aaser, who initiated his own research & data and shared his findings with the participants of this ISPU report says, “Weekend Islamic schools have an opportunity to play a critical role in building congruency between American and Muslim identities among children.”

“1 out of every 2 Muslim children between 5 and 9 years old feel a lack of compatibility between being Muslim and American,” he adds.

While the IQRA teacher trainings have existed since the mid-90s when founder Dr. Tasneema Ghazi and her husband and co-founder Dr. Abidullah Ghazi saw the need for people to understand the importance of Islamic education and trained teachers, they have been relaunched recently since the pandemic brought about new gaps and needs for growing Muslim communities.

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“We hope to expand it, reach more weekend Islamic schools Inshallah [in the next 5 years],” says Chief Editor at IQRA, Huseyn Abiva. “Our goal is to get teachers to be better teachers…and help the kids love them and love Islam,” he said.

Other workshops in this series include Lesson Plan Development and Classroom Management Techniques.

To learn more about this department or attend the next workshop, please email training@iqra.org or call 847-673-4072. For other services, opportunities and curriculum-related questions, please sign up at www.iqrafoundation.com/school-signup.