ISLAMIC PERSPECTIVES By Edris Khamissa

A few pointers  Why are you teaching?  If you teach children how you were taught then you rob them of their tomorrow.  If you stop learning today, you cannot teach tomorrow.’  Information vs transformation  How students learn?

How students learn?  5 % -LECTURE METHOD  10% -WHAT THEY READ  15 % -AUDIO –VISUAL PRESENTATION  30% -WHAT WAS DEMONSTRATED TO THEM  50 % -WHAT WAS DISCUSSED IN GROUPS  75%-LEARN BY DOING  90%-IF THEY TAUGHT IT TO OTHERS

INTRODUCTION  To develop a curriculum that gives the children the best start in life.  What makes an Islamic school Islamic?  Difficult to get dynamic teachers  Islamic Studies not taken seriously.  Due to this scanty and superficial Islamic teaching there is little behavioural difference between the graduate of a secular school and the graduate of a so called “Islamic” school

Action  New Horizons College in Minna set up an “Islamic Orientation Board” to look more closely into “what makes an Islamic school “Islamic”?

Purpose  Each programme adopted by New Horizons College is designed to help the student to grow and think and act as a Muslim.

SECTION 1: SECONDARY LEVEL  1. Self-discovery Adventure (Junior Secondary Students)  2. World Geography – (JSS 2) (1 period per week)  3. World History – (JSS 2, JSS 3, SS 1, SS 2) (1 period per week)  4. Islamic Perspectives (JSS 2, JSS 3, SS 1, SS 2) (Juniors 2 periods, Seniors 1  period per week)  5. Public Speaking (JSS 2, JSS 3) (1 period per week)  6. Islam and Dialogue for Peaceful Co-existence (Senior Secondary 1 and 2) (2  whole days for each class at the beginning of each term).  7. Personal development and Leadership (Seniors)  8. a) Girl Talk (SS 2&3 Girls)  b) Guys’ Gist (SS 2& 3 Boys)

SECTION 1: SECONDARY LEVEL  9. Spouse Selection in Islam: (SS 3 Boys & Girls)  10. Business and Islamic Financial Literacy (SS 1 and SS 2)  11. Career Counselling (SS 1 and SS 2)  12. The Six Thinking Hats (SS 1 and SS 2)  13. Prefects Training Activities  14. Qur’anic Arabic (SS 1 and SS 2)  15. Nasihah (Good Advice) (all students)

SUMMARY OF PROGRAMMES 1. Self-Discovery Adventure (JSS)  This course, designed for students in the Junior Secondary classes, teaches skills and principles for achieving a high level of effectiveness in all aspects of life. The students are introduced to the concepts of ‘planting deep roots’,deliberate and planned habit formation and visual goal setting. They are also provided with practical hints on character building. The aim of the course is to:  awaken the students’ minds to the influence that they are capable of wielding over their lives;  inspire them to make wiser and more fulfilling choices on a regular basis.

Islamic Perspectives  The College recognized that to implement Islamization of Knowledge” (as proposed by some Muslim scholars since the World Conferences on Islamic Education in the 1970’s and 1980’s) would not be feasible or practical in the current secular educational environment.

Islamic Perspectives  Instead of replacing the secular system, the College has introduced a parallel Islamic approach to knowledge. Students therefore learn and fully understand the secular approach to the sciences and other fields of study,but also, under the guidance of a separate teacher, they explore the subjects from an Islamic perspective and thereby enrich their understanding of the subjects and develop a greater appreciation of Allah’s creation and His bounties to mankind. “Islamic Perspectives” also covers a Muslim’s way of thinking and his/her manners and conduct in accordance with the Qur’an and the Sunnah.

Resources  Manners and Social Conduct – by B. Aisha Lemu, Abdullahi Orire and Asiya Rodrigo (available at Ilmi Bookshop, IET Minna).  JSS 2: Wonders of Allah’s Creation: Books and DVD’s – by Harun Yahya in Turkey and Islamic Bookshops in the U.K.  JSS 3: Steps on the Right Path: Selected Hadith on Moral behaviour and other topics – Selected by B. Aisha Lemu and Adama Alhassan Dolley  SS 1: For Men of Understanding: Further material on Allah’s creation, animal behaviour, water cycle, nitrogen cycle. (Ref. Book & DVD,Harun Yahya in Turkey, and Islamic bookshops in the U.K.)  SS 2: Islam the Natural Way: How to live and think as a Muslim in relation to family, community, work place, nation, ummah, people of other religions.

Critical  The teacher may draw on these materials to make his/her own lesson plans. The lesson plans need not be followed religiously – in fact it would be better if the teacher picks what one likes and leaves what he/she is not enthusiastic. The teacher should choose topics that he/she is passionate and deeply enthusiastic about because in order for Islamic Perspectives to retain its vivacity, it must be teacher inspired and student centred. The teacher needs to also be flexible about what topics to teach. It is advisable if possible to give copies of the Harun Yahya books to students due to the richness of the illustrations and text

This is it  Islam is the most Beautiful Deen, we need to present it to our beautiful innocent children in a beautiful way in a world that is increasingly getting ugly

Conclusion  WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO DIFFERENTLY?