The Power of a Controversial Issue; The Developmental Power of ‘Disruptive Moments’ for Both—Teachers and Students

Ina Ter Avest

doi:10.3390/rel11060272

Abstract

In Islamic primary education the subject of Islamic Religious Education (IRE) has a prominent place in the curriculum. In knowledge transfer and in behaving as a ‘good muslim’, aspects can be in conflict with generally accepted knowledge or customs in the Netherlands. The focus is on the power of a controversial issue (either or not wearing a head scarf) as a ‘disruptive moment’, stimulating pupils’ religious identity development. An example of recently developed teaching material illustrates the actual didactical approach regarding such a controversial issue. For a contextual understanding we start with a sketch of the Dutch educational system, and the position of Islamic education and its Islamic Religious Education (IRE) therein. In the second paragraph we describe the dialogical self theory (DST). DST’s relational understanding of a child’s development, including the developments regarding keeping a secret. In the third paragraph the case study is described, followed in the fourth paragraph by the introduction of Islamic teaching material and its way of approaching the controversial issue of the case study. We conclude our contribution with a discussion and recommendations for the development of teachers’ competencies in responding to controversial issues.

Highlights

In Islamic primary education, the subject of Islamic Religious Education (IRE) has a prominent place in the curriculum
An example of the first approach is noticeable in the method for religious education in the ‘El Amana’ primary school; the last-mentioned approach is characteristic for the schools of the Islamic SIMON3 school board (Aktaran 2008)
We describe the psychological development of children from the point of view of dialogical self-development

Summary

Introduction

In Islamic primary education, the subject of Islamic Religious Education (IRE) has a prominent place in the curriculum. Muslim’ in the Muslim community, mostly understood as knowing and following Islamic codes Both the knowledge transfer and behaving as a ‘good Muslim’ aspects can be in conflict with generally accepted knowledge or customs in the Netherlands. After a short description of the context of Islamic primary schools in the Dutch education system, the focus is on one of the recently developed IRE methods and the way the teaching material is tailored to the psychological and emotional development of pupils age 11–12. An example of recently developed teaching material illustrates the actual didactical approach regarding such a controversial issue. The case study is described, followed in the fourth paragraph by the introduction of Islamic teaching material and its way of approaching the controversial issue of the case study. We conclude our contribution in paragraph five with a discussion and recommendations for the development of teachers’ competencies in response to controversial issues

The Dutch Educational System

Dialogue and Development

IRE-Principles in ‘Worden wie je bent’

Teaching Method ‘Worden wie je bent’

Teachers’ Competencies

Discussion and Recommendations