In the United States, Christianity is the religion of the majority, about 70% of people. Almost 23% are unaffiliated, and slightly less than 7% practice other religions (Sandstrom, 2016). While 7% may not sound like a lot, it means that a growing number of Americans have neighbors, schoolmates, and colleagues who practice diverse, often…

Consistent with national and international trends, K-12 classrooms in the United States reflect the shift towards increased levels of diversity. Elementary classrooms continue to flourish with students who possess an abundance of cultural and personal experiences. The United States is becoming not only more culturally and linguistically diverse,…

Purpose: This article provides an overview of how childhood curriculum in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is designed to serve cultural values. Design/Approach/Methods: The framework of kindergarten curriculum adopts the uniqueness of children laying the foundation for their cultural identity. This paper provides a description of how this is…

This contribution is situated in the discussion on sex education in the Netherlands, in relation to "Islamic Pedagogy," in particular "Islam 'and' Pedagogy," on the one side, and (religious) identity development on the other side. Islamic Pedagogy seems to be the theoretical framework of an example of developed teaching…

Many history departments choose to begin their Year 7 curriculum with an introduction to the nature of history and the processes in which historians engage as they develop, refine and substantiate claims about the past. In this article, Adbul Mohamud and Robin Whitburn report on an such an introductory unit, designed with a specific focus on the…

Almost two centuries of British colonial rule in the Asian subcontinent came to an end in 1947 with the creation of a new state named Pakistan and an independent state of India. On 14 August 1947, the state of Pakistan was born primarily as a homeland for Muslims. The Pakistani constitution states that primary education should be free and…

Frequently, our world seems filled with nations in conflict. The ultimate legacy of nations' inability to cooperate will be inherited by the world's children. Perhaps the most effective solution to creating a more peaceful world in the years to come is to provide high quality education for all children. Such education, however, is more likely to…

What do a rural elementary school in Indonesia and a suburban high school in Maryland have in common? The authors share vignettes and describe culturally sustaining practices in these contrasting teaching contexts.

Teaching the author's fifth-graders about Islam through art was a challenge. Remembering a colleague's "Collective Architecture" project, he reworked the concept using mosque architecture as the basis for a new project. The goal was to introduce Islam and its basic tenets using the visual arts, with the hope of enhancing cultural tolerance and…

There have been many revolutions in the past 500 years but none quite so sustained and "society changing" as the march of secularisation and the move from a theocentric perspective to a scientific world view. The age of scientific discovery has led to the scientific method--put simply, evidence that can be sustained by rigorous…

Islamic patterns were a regular feature in mathematics classrooms, and probably still feature in many wall displays. However, as part of the learning process, these ancient designs appear to have lost any significant contemporary appeal. Here, the power of software is engaged to bring the construction of Islamic type patterns up to date. Forget…

This article provides strategies that are recommended to elementary school teachers to help students in the U.S. understand Islam and its followers. It discusses the importance of cultural and historical studies in making students aware of the value of Islam to its followers. Three strategies described herein are: the concept of similarities, the…

Students come from many different family, cultural, and religious backgrounds. Learning about Islam can help U.S. teachers to understand their students and their own society, as well as to more deeply comprehend history and better interpret current events. In this article, the author recommends some websites (and occasionally books) that can…

The study looked into a descriptive research to evaluate the impact of talibanization on the education of IDP's in NWFP (Pakistan). The study has defined the needs, problems and opportunities, contribution of NGO's and emerging trends of IDP's regarding maddrassa education/ general education. The main focus of the study was the needs and…

We can note a varied use and attitudes to song and music in Islam. In the classroom of Sana--a primary school teacher of Islamic religious education (IRE) in a Muslim school in Sweden--music is an important but not uncontested part of IRE. The music not only supports themes discussed in the classroom but also gives variation to the education. A…