What would an Islamic school Arabic curriculum look like? · What would an Islamic school Arabic...

What would an Islamic school

Arabic curriculum look like?

Nadia Sel im

with

Assoc. Professor Angela Scar ino

[Arabic Curriculum] | [Nadia Selim & A. Prof Angela Scarino]

1. Introduction

2. Important Questions

3. What about the A.C.A.R.A curriculum?

4. ….. And so?

Content


• The presence of Arabic in Australia can be traced back to the Makassan Muslim traders.

• A Sulawesi historical record suggests contact and trade may have begun in 1640 (Ganter, 2008).

• The Makassan Muslims used Arabic for liturgical purposes and took Arabic names etc.

Introduction


• Waves of Arab migration began in the 1880s (Cruikshank, 2008).

• Muslims today constitute 2.6% (2016) up from 2.2% (2011) in the last census.

Language spoken by a person at home (top 5)

2016 2011

# Language % Population Language % Population

1 English 72.7 17,020,417 English 76.8 16,509,291

2 Mandarin 2.5 596,711 Mandarin 1.6 596,711

3 Arabic 1.4 321,728 Arabic 1.4 277,400

4 Cantonese 1.2 280,943 Cantonese 1.3 321,7285 Vietnamese 1.2 277,400 Vietnamese 1.2 280,943

NSW Language CommunityPopulation Number % of Population growth in population and % growth

between 2011 - 20162011 2016 2011 2016

English 5,013,345 5,126,633 72.5 68.5 113,288 2.3

Arabic 184,253 200,825 2.7 2.7 16,572 9

Mandarin 139,822 239,945 2 3.2 100,123 71.6

Introduction


• Arabic was first taught at Australian schools in 1975, when it was introduced at two Catholic schools in NSW.

• In 1980, Arabic became an option for matriculation with 85 registered test-takers.

• By 1988, there were 6000 students registered for the Arabic exam.

(Djite, 1994)

• By 2006, there were 25,449 students enrolled in Arabic at primary and secondary levels (Lo Bianco & Aliani, 2013).

Introduction


• Providers of Arabic to “children”

Introduction


• The first two AIS were established in the 1980s. Today the AIS sector caters for 30,000 students (I.S.C.A, 2016, 2017). AIS offer an Islamic ethos and an alternative to purely secular education (Hall, 1996; Clyne, 2001; Jones, 2012).

• AIS conform to the Australian educational curriculum and standards (Saeed, 2004). The point of difference is the Islamic educational component (Jones, 2013) and the Islamic ethos (Hall, 1996).

Australian Islamic Schools (AIS)

Introduction


• Students learning Arabic at AIS come from a multitude of linguistic and cultural backgrounds.

Arab background Learners

Non-Arab Background Learners

• Arabic is an important component of the AIS promise to Muslim parents and is primarily taught to enable students to read the Quran and religious texts.

Introduction


Diversity?Religion?

Models? Feasibility? Context?

• This is not a comprehensive list of questions or issues, but a case point about the complexity of developing an Arabic curriculum.

Important Questions?

Diglossia?


Generally• We have “textbooks” that incorporate some ideas or components of curriculum

models. Most of these are pitched at university students.

Spirale.g. Alifbaa

(Brustad, Al-Batal, & Al-Tonsi, 2010 )University

Strande.g. Ahlan wa sahlan

Alosh's (2010)University

Semi-latticee.g. Exploring Arabic

Khalek and Sheeran’s (2009)Marketed for Junior high

Linear Models

Important Questions?

(Berbeco, 2011)

• Recent attempts to develop Arabic specific curriculum specifically for school students

Prosperity Marhaba!

• Generally, there are attempts to fit Arabic into existing paradigms and frameworks rather then develop specifically for Arabic and for its distinctiveness and definitely not in the context of Islamic education.


Important Questions?Generally

(Steven Berbeco, 2011)Marhaba Website

(Hesham Metwalli, 2015)Radio Interview

https://www.cheng-tsui.com/browse/marhaba

https://omny.fm/shows/drive-live/education-matters-30-04-2017


What about the A.C.A.R.A curriculum?

• In studying the work of Peter Jones (2013) I conclude that:

1. Most schools take a similar approach to teaching Arabic.

2. 2 hours a week are allocated to Arabic from Years 1 -10.

3. Primary lessons focus on the script and basic vocabulary.

4. Attempts are made to stream the learners by proficiency.

5. Content is repeated and proficiency development is slow.

6. Non-Arab background students seemed far less satisfied.


• The absence of a curriculum pitched to non-Arab learners is felt by these students, which necessitates addressing the gap.

I’m a Muslim, teaching Muslims in an Islamic school, I don’t know why this curriculum does not reflect on the Islamic heritage of the Arabic language and how this can be reconciled with language learning ?

This curriculum is too hard for me, because I don’t have Arab heritage.

I am not sufficiently trained on curriculum design and content development, so I am doing the best I can with my non-Arab students.


How can I satisfy Muslims students with course that is purely secular? (Al-Raqb, 2014, Emerick, 2002)


• I need to confirm my understanding with a specialist on

the development on the ACARA language curriculum.

• Associate Professor Angela Scarino, is based in building

B which is round the corner. I hope she can help me.

• Excellent


… And so?


Language specific issues

Arab

ic cu

rriculu

m

- Past learning experiences- Linguistic, cultural & faith backgrounds- Research into curricular needs of non-Arab Muslims - Goals, needs and challenges - The complexity of the multi-tiered and multi-ethnic

heritage learning process

Learners and their learning

Conceptually:

- Articulating the relationship between language, culture and faith- Articulating how to tackle diglossia and the integration of dialects- Defining the objectives of Arabic learning in the Islamic educational context - Defining Arabic literacy in the Islamic educational context

Structurally: - The time allocated to the study of the Arabic language per week.- The expansion of authentic language use domains within the school- The integration of Arabic language learning with other areas of learning.

Research based development and evaluation

- The nature of Arabic as a “sacred language” - Diglossia and the dialect politics- Paucity of research on school level learning of Arabic- Feasibility concerns e.g. trained teachers, resources and funding- The absence of a comprehensive “Arabic specific” model

- Curricular decisions informed by research

- A curriculum that begins with the learners and not the designers’ thoughts about what should be learned.

Clipart & Images

• General Clipart is licensed © www.graphicsfactory.com

• Muslim characters are free/licensed © http://vectorcharacters.net

• The photograph of the Aboriginal dot painting was taken of a painting my husband and I own.

• If you need a list of references, please email me [email protected]

http://www.graphicsfactory.com/

http://vectorcharacters.net/

mailto:[email protected]

What would an Islamic school Arabic curriculum look like? · What would an Islamic school Arabic...

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