IELC Courses

IELC develops courses for educators to work through. Our series of courses. ‘The Prophetic Pedagogy of Dialogic Halaqah’ has been developed alongside other courses on Educational Dialogue and a teacher toolkit for educational dialogue T-SEDA which will soon be available on the Camtree site. At the moment, you can find them on this webpage

The IELC Course Programme

We are running our Courses 1A and 1B from 30th October to 11th December 2023.

Course 1A: Dialogue in Islamic Classrooms: Using Halaqah to Develop Shakhsiyah

Image showing Halaqah

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)

Children learning together

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.

Other Courses Currently Available through Partner Organisations

These are other courses on Educational Dialogue and T-SEDA which will soon be available on the Camtree site.

Educational Dialogue Courses (Camtree)Progress
Course 1: The Fundamentals of Educational DialogueTrialled and available online
Course 2: Conducting a Reflective Inquiry using the Teacher Scheme for Educational Dialogue Analysis (T-SEDA)Trialled as a course and merged with Course 3
Course 3: Supporting your Colleagues through FacilitationTrialled and available online

Different types of Course

Self Paced Course:

All our courses can be taken as self-paced as they are asynchronous. This means that you can work through them at any time that suits you. Each Course is divided into six sections or ‘weeks’ with each ‘week’ taking 2 to 3 hours to complete. As the course is self-paced, you do not need to meet any weekly targets but this structure may help you stay on track. In each ‘week’ you are given a reflective template to record your thoughts, tasks and progress. You are prompted to: 

  • Watch pre-recorded videos 
  • Read some core materials 
  • Do some reflective tasks
  • Discuss, using prompts on a dedicated discussion forum

If you would like to complete a self paced course contact us at ielc@isfnet.org.uk.

Facilitator Supported Courses:

We have found that educators benefit from taking the courses as a group, with a facilitator to support their learning. Your school or school networks may wish to do this.

Our first series of courses has been developed by Farah Ahmed based on research conducted in Shakhsiyah Schools, as part of the Cambridge Educational Dialogue Research Group.

The final piece of work you submit is a reflective report or an inquiry report depending on the course. If you submit a report that meets our criteria, you will be issued a certificate of completion. *This certificate is NOT from the University of Cambridge. It is issued by IELC.

For the first run of each course, we do not charge for the certificate of completion.

Further Details about IELC Courses

Course 1A: Dialogue in Islamic Classrooms: Using Halaqah to Develop Shakhsiyah 

Course Aims:

To equip Islamic educators with the knowledge and skills to use dialogic halaqah in their classrooms with the aim of developing shakhsiyah Islamiyah (Muslim personhood).

Who Is It For?

All teachers and educators 

  • working with any age group including adults 
  • working in any setting, full-time or supplementary schooling 
  • interested in Islamic personhood/ character education
  • interested in learning to use dialogic halaqah to enhance their teaching.

Module Structure:

  • Induction Week
  • Week 1: Two Beginnings – Aims of Islamic Education
  • Week 2: Two Learners – The teacher-learner relationship
  • Week 3: Understanding Shakhsiyah Islamiyah – (Muslim personhood)
  • Week 4: Dialogic Halaqah and Hadith Jibra’il – Tarbiyah, T’alim, T’adib and Tazkiyah
  • Week 5: Developing niyyah and ground rules for Dialogic Halaqah
  • Week 6: Developing high quality cumulative dialogue within Halaqah

Further details:

Course Aims:

To equip Islamic educators with the knowledge and skills to implement dialogic halaqah  in their classrooms, identify dialogic moves and evaluate the quality of dialogue. The ultimate  aim is developing the shakhsiyah Islamiyah (Muslim personhood) of individual learners through dialogic halaqah.

Course 1B Implementing, Identifying and Evaluating Dialogue in Halaqah

Who Is It For?

All teachers and educators: 

  • working with any age group including adults 
  • working in any setting, full-time or supplementary schooling 
  • interested in Islamic personhood/ character education
  • interested in learning to use dialogic halaqah to enhance their teaching.

Course Structure:

  • Induction Week
  • Week 1: What is dialogic halaqah and why is it important?
  • Week 2: What are dialogic moves?
  • Week 3: How do dialogic moves contribute to shakhsiyah Islamiyah?
  • Week 4: How can I identify dialogic moves in my halaqah?
  • Week 5: What practical steps do I need to take for my inquiry?
  • Week 6: How can I reflect on my findings to improve my practice?

Further details:

These courses have been developed out of research at the University of Cambridge. They are not qualifications and are not accredited by the University of Cambridge.