Pedagogy

As the course progresses, many Islamic pedagogical principles, which are radically different from those in use in the West, will be discussed. We will illustrate them by USING them, to the extent possible, in this online course. Some require face to face contact, and so these will just be discussed theoretically, and teachers may implement them when they teach their own live courses.

ONE important principle is that a lot of routine chores can be done online, leaving us free to utilize the precious few moments of face-to-face time for valuable interactions between teacher and students, and also within groups of students. Standard methods of lecture based teaching cannot afford to be very interactive because there is a large amount of material to be covered. The basis of the INTERACTIVE classroom is the idea that lectures should be done outside of class, and discussions and homeworks should be done together, inside the class. The MECHANICS of how this is to be done is not very easy. This online course should provide a DEMONSTRATION of how we can do many of the routine chores required in teaching to be be done outside class, leaving precious class time free for more valuable learning activities. Learning about the technical details which go into creating this online course will be part of the TECHNICAL aspects of this multi-dimensional course.

Many important pedagogical principles will be introduced gradually, and discussed on a weekly basis. These will be listed on weekly subpages of this page --

PP1 Intentions : Pedagogical Principles for Week 1 - Clarify INTENTIONS for study. This involves achieving clarity on our purpose of life.

PP2 Articulation: Understanding is not achieved by reading or listening to lectures. It required understanding, absorbing and then expressing and explaining ideas to others. This course will involve DISCUSSING ideas in subgroups, to achieve better understanding.

PP3: Meta-Thought: When we discuss ideas, we tend to get personally involved, take sides, attempt to WIN arguments, and get emotionally involved. Scholars must learn detachment, and debate ideas from a Higher Level -- this involves learning Meta-Level Thinking.