Our current courses
Course 1A: Dialogue in Islamic Classrooms: Using Halaqah to Develop Shakhsiyah
This course will equip Islamic educators with the knowledge and skills to use dialogic Halaqah in their classrooms with the aim of developing shakhsiyah Islamiyah (Muslim personhood).
Course 1B: Implementing, Investigating and Evaluating Dialogue in Halaqah (October 2023)
This course explores the dialogic halaqah and its importance; how dialogic moves contribute to shakhsiyah Islamiyah; and how to plan an inquiry into dialogic practice.
Halaqah Resources
In partnership with Islamic Shakhsiyah Foundation, IELC has been developing resources to be used for educators and families who would like to conduct halaqah with their learners.
About IELC
IELC has been devised and established by Dr Farah Ahmed with support from a team of early career educational researchers who also have extensive experience working in schools and other educational settings.
We have identified a gap in that Islamic full-time and part-time schools could be much better supported through educational research and scholarship on Islamic educational theory. IELC aims to fill that gap. IELC offers a space for exchange between educational researchers and Islamic educators.
The IELC Platform
IELC is a space for dialogic exchange between educators and researchers, with agency for educators and schools to determine what suits their needs. A growing body of evidence demonstrates that a highly effective way of improving learning is for educators to conduct collaborative and reflective inquiry. Through collaborative approaches to inquiry and innovation, educators develop greater shared awareness of how their curriculum and teaching are affecting learning and what needs to be done to improve it.
Our research exchange platform will enable educators to learn with, from, and on behalf of, like-minded colleagues around the world as they develop research studies and innovations. Educators will be able to draw on online courses, webinars and expert advice, as well as examples of effective inquiries from other teachers. And they will be able to share and publish their research in our free-to-access digital library.
The IELC Vision
Islamic Schools and educators will be able to contribute to a growing knowledge base of pedagogical innovations drawn from Islamic educational theory and values, as well as the latest educational research. These contributions can inform policy, practice and improve character development and learning for all – especially the most vulnerable and disadvantaged. By developing a growing global community of active educators and school leaders sharing their work, IELC will promote and improve Islamic educational curricula, pedagogy and practices in classrooms world-wide.
IELC History
IELC grew out of the ‘Cambridge Dialogues: Rethinking Islamic Education for the 21st Century’ project, hosted within the Cambridge Educational Dialogue Research (CEDiR) Group at the Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge. IELC is now a project of Islamic Shakhsiyah Foundation, an educational establishment in the UK aimed at providing high quality academic education in combination with classical Islamic culturing.
What is Camtree?
Camtree, the Cambridge Teacher Research Exchange, is a global platform for close-to-practice research in education. Based at Hughes Hall at the University of Cambridge, Camtree draws on high-quality research from around the world to support educators in carrying out inquiries to improve learning in their own classrooms and organisations.
Camtree hosts a range of educational communities including IELC. IELC upholds Camtree’s ethos of open access and knowledge exchange through educators improving practice through sharing their classroom research.
What is Islamic Shakhsiyah Foundation?
Islamic Shakhsiyah Foundation (ISF) has been nurturing the educational and spiritual needs of young Muslims since 2002. ISF is currently running two schools in London and Slough, and offers consultancy in Shakhsiyah Education which includes prophetic teaching methodologies, and curricula designed to facilitate each individual child’s educational needs. Shakhsiyah Schools aim to develop leaders who play an active part in their diverse local and global communities, serving both the Muslim community and humanity and to prepare children for their future life in modern Britain and the global village by developing confidence in their Islamic culture and respect for other cultures, fostering harmony in the diverse communities.
