”Everything valuable in a child’s education is not expressed on a test.”
Dr Nadeem Memon,
Changing Education Paradigms
•December 6, 2012 • 1 CommentAlthough this video is almost two years old, it is as relevant – if not more – today as it was when first presented.
Thoughtfully Relevant
•December 5, 2012 • Leave a Comment
Initially when I saw this image at Dangerously Irrelevant, I didn’t agree. And I still don’t. While these technological tools are amazing, there is something to be said for maps and globes and for children manipulating them. Children need to learn with all their senses and being able to read a map is one of those life-long skills that will forever be relevant. Hopefully. Maybe. We’ll see.
Here was his thoughtful update; quite relevant.
Praiseworthy Innovation
•December 5, 2012 • 4 Comments“Addressing pandemic disinterest in the teaching profession with Teach for America and Teach First programs may be a solution to local shortcomings but will not cure the systemic infections that cause current educational underperformance in many countries. We should instead restore the fundamental meaning and values of school education. Without public schools, our nations and communities are poorly equipped to value humanity, equality and democracy. I think we should not educate children to be similar according to a standardized metric but help them to discover their own talents and teach them to be different from one another. Diversity is richness in humanity and a condition for innovation.”
More and more, I feel that while homeschooling is among the best options for children, it is not a viable option for many parents. In order to fill that void, we really need to rethink how we view school and what purpose it serves for society. I am beginning to strongly feel that a complete overhaul is necessary. Thoughts?
Their time is different…
•December 4, 2012 • 2 Comments“Do not raise your children the way your parents raised you;
they were born for a different time.”
Ali ibn Abi Talib
The first time I heard this was during discussions on education with one my mentors, Shaykh Abdallah Adhami. His influence on how I teach and perceive what it means to be educated are immense. He told me, “Raise your children better than you were raised yourself.” I recognize that my parents did an amazing job with the four of us. I also realize that there are places for improvement, never forgetting the lessons I learned especially from my mother. I also know that the time that I was raised in is very different than the world in which my son has been born into. I must raise him based on that understanding. What do you feel are important factors in parenting/educating children in this day and age?
Redefining Education
•December 4, 2012 • Leave a CommentI hold a masters degree in education. I am certified to teach in the US and Canada. I completed high school at one of the best high schools in Ontario known for it’s science and math slant. I am a homeschooler. I am a mother and I am a teacher. I have very strong convictions and ideas on what amazing education can and should be.
My husband, Josh, whom I love dearly, dropped out of high school when he was sixteen years old. He joined the US Navy at the age of 19 to see the world. He loves reading; he loves books. He is one of the most brilliant and educated men I know. His humility and simplicity are unsurpassed and he is my teacher on life.
I believe our son, the Jibbers, will have the benefit of both these worlds and be all the more blessed for it. Everyday, every moment, living in the day-to-day, we redefine what it means to be educated.
What is true education?
•December 4, 2012 • 1 Comment“As the cyclical and seemingly never ending debate about education rages on, the topic – somewhat ironically, often poses more questions than it provides answers.
But what is the value of mainstream schooling? Why is it that some of the most high profile and successful figures within the Western world openly admit to never having completed any form of higher learning?
Paying homage to Jefferson Bethke’s “Why I Hate Religion but Love Jesus”, a piece that received 22 million views in the space of a week, I address a number of these issues in my offering “Why I Hate School, but Love Education”.
With scores of school leavers wanting to further their education with no guarantee of their dream job at the end of it, we should ask ourselves whether qualifications still hold the same value now as they did in previous years?
Does success in the school system correlate to success in life? Or is the school system simply geared towards fact retention and regurgitation?
What is true education?”
Step 4: Assessment
•December 4, 2012 • Leave a CommentThe fourth video in the series by Dr Nadeem Memon, of the Islamic Teacher Education Program, is not about assessing the students, but assessing the curriculum. Something to think about and consider.
http://islamicteachereducation.com/integrating-islam-step-4/
Here are the first three steps of Integrating Islam into your Muslim school curriculum:
What’s all the fuss?
•December 3, 2012 • Leave a Comment“There is no evidence to support the popular view — heavily promoted by companies that sell electronic media — that children must start early if they are to succeed in the digital age. …Great innovators in the computer industry like Bill Gates and Steve Jobs did not even experience computers until they were about 12. But both had wide experiences with hands-on learning when they were young. Gates was a Cub Scout, and Jobs spoke of his love for tinkering with the inner workings of radios and televisions as a boy.”
Found in Julia Steiny: The Jury’s In, Screen Time Hurts Little Kids
black board, white chalk 