Islamic Schooling in the West

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.

Mohamad Abdalla is Professor of Islamic Studies and Founding Director of the Centre for Islamic Thought and Education (CITE) at the University of South Australia. He is a public intellectual and one of Australia's most prominent Muslim leaders. Over the last two decades, he contributed substantially to the field of Islamic studies in Australia. He pioneered the establishment of three Islamic studies centres across few Australian universities. Dylan Chown is Research Fellow and the Program Director for Islamic Education in the Centre for Islamic Thought and Education (CITE), University of South Australia. His research focuses on Islamic pedagogy and aims to further efforts towards Islamic schooling renewal. Dylan has extensive teaching experience at Islamic and non-Islamic Australian schools. Muhammad Abdullah is a PhD candidate at the Centre for Islamic Thought and Education (CITE) at the University of South Australia. He has over 25 years teaching experience at a Government K-12 school in an inner suburb of Sydney. He has been a Chief Examiner of Aboriginal Studies for The Higher School Certificate in NSW and is currently the Supervisor of Marking for the same subject. Abdullah's PhD focuses on a ground-breaking project exploring the Formulation of a Pedagogical Framework for Islamic Schools in Australia.