Bridge Action Plan

Bridging The Gap Between Girls & Boys in Education 

Recently, the research on gender differences has concentrated on the low achievement of boys, in schools, in comparison with girls. My partner, Maysam, and I have designed a Bridge Action Plan that may explain the plan of balancing out of achievements between boys and girls.

Click the following link to check our bridge action plan:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=124E8LLo6AW3HHzeLkZ68w_9tSthDJ524 

Hope it will be helpful ❕

Daycare Center for Children

Daycare Center for Children

By: Nassima Najmeddine

Abstract

More and more women are working and completing their education nowadays, especially mothers. But, where’s the problem? In fact, child-mother separation due to mothers’ employment or education process is an international issue that has multitudinous negative impacts on the child’s mental, physical, social, and psychological development. In addition to these impacts, children will be deprived from their mothers’ breast milk which is highly essential for their growth. In an effort to solve this important issue, the following research proposal has been created. In this proposal, researchers are looking for the causes, effects, and solution for child-mother separation problem. Thus, the proposed solution is to open a child daycare center at Lebanese International University. The first step was exploring people’s point of view toward the idea through a Google Form survey. Then, the plan, requirements, and budget for opening the center were set to be approved by the academic director of the university.

Introduction

We propose a solution to a major problem that is spreading nowadays in our societies: increasing number of working mothers and mothers completing their education after marriage have led to separation of the children from their mothers during the most important period of their lives when they need a lot of care, attention, and safety. In order to solve this problem, providing space at the Lebanese International University- Kheyara Campus is requested to open a daycare center for children of age one month to three years old. Opening a daycare center and preparing it costs about $ 40,000 including all requirements. Daycare refers to the supervision, care, and education offered for children kept in the center while their mothers are at work or university. Hence, daycare centers are of great importance for both children and parents. For mothers, the availability of daycare centers offers them a chance to stay at their jobs or to complete their education. In addition, many benefits for children come with early childhood learning offered by daycare centers including mental, social, and emotional development. Ristic said that in the daycare center, children are prepared to enter the kindergarten. Also, they learn to depend on their selves and to respect their friends and teachers. (Ristic, 2016)

Problem

Child-Mother separation due to education and employment and its impact on children.

During the first three years in the child’s life, the child’s brain develops more and faster than any other time as Anthony Lake said: “children’s brains can form 1,000 neural connections every second. A three-year-old’s brain is twice as active as that of an adult and the connections their brain makes are the building blocks of their future”. (Lake, 2017). However, children and mothers nowadays are facing the problem of Infant-Mother separation during this core period.
“Recent statistics show that 75% of mothers work full time in the first year of their child’s life” (Pelcovitz, 2013).

Causes of child mother separation:

Recently, more mothers of young children have entered the labor market. (Huerta, 2011). (Refer to figure1, page 25). However, the increased participation of mothers in the work place has led to a major problem: Child-Mother separation. Moreover, in Lebanon, most jobs offer maternity leave only for two months after giving birth which forces mothers to return back to their jobs when their children are still newborns. In addition to working mothers, the number of college student mothers is increasing. However, trying to balance education and motherhood is too difficult and may lead to the same consequences of mother work.

Effects of the problem:
Negative consequences of child-mother separation, due to employment or education, appear in children. Due to early maternal employment, youngsters are deprived from continuity in child care, time and attention. (Huerta, 2011). Hamilton stated that several behavioral disorders are linked to full-time work of mothers that starts before the first birthday of their children. Such behavioral problems including anxiety, stress, isolation and acts of violence may continue with the child in adolescent years. Also, it was indicated that child cognitive scores of kids whose mothers work full-time are less than that of kids whose mothers doesn’t work at all. Moreover, mother’s stress due to full-time work directly influences children’s ability to concentrate and listen. (Pelcovitz, 2013/ Hamilton, 2014). In case of mother’s education, combination between studying and caregiving to children is hard, thus it pushes many student mothers to dropout. In addition, another effect that comes with the separation of infants from their mothers is related to breastfeeding. Mother employment or education will reduce the chance of breastfeeding prolongation which has great benefits on both mothers and children. Short periods of breastfeeding or formula feeding for children may cause lack in nutrition, immune deficiency, as well as it has very small impact on child’s IQ. Furthermore, non-breastfeeding mothers may be at increased risk of breast and ovarian cancer, non-insulin dependent diabetes, and postnatal depression, in addition to weaker mother-infant bond. (Huerta, 2011).

Plan

Balancing between parenting and employment/education is very hard. Thus, an on-campus daycare center will solve the problem of the child-mother separation. Constructing a childcare center at LIU-Khiara campus is a beneficial plan because undergraduate student-mothers will finish their education, working women will not lose their work, and their children will acquire plenty of useful skills and become socially active. Following this, opening this daycare center requires four rooms and one bath room in block C-ground floor. The center can handle up to 40 children of three groups from birth to 3 years old. Following this, the rooms will be divided as such (as the Child Care Aware of America, 2018 recommends):

•  Infants room (birth to 1 year) needs 1:3 staff-child ratio.
•  Young toddlers room (1-2 years) needs 1:5 staff-child ratio.
•  Older toddler room (2-3 years) requires 1:8 staff-child ratio. (Refer to figure 2 page 25).

In addition, we have a bathroom and an eating room. Furthermore, the number of staff needed for 40 children is 13 including the manager, supervisor, teachers, baby sitters, cookers and cleaners. Also, additional staff is required: “You must have enough qualified providers to be able to replace your regular providers when they are unavailable during breaks or meal times or are absent due to illness or vacation” (Child Care Aware of America, 2018). Another step in the plan is the announcement about the center through advertisement, brochures, or announcement on LIU system.

Qualifications

In order to reduce the effects of child-mother separation and gain mothers’ trust, many qualifications for care providers are needed.

Staff qualifications

•  The manager: minimum 3 years of experience in working as a head of childcare center.
•  The supervisor: a psychologist (able to catch child’s problems as well as monitoring caregivers’ relations with children).
• Caregivers: (1) Teachers: minimum 22 years old, holding a degree in kindergarten teaching or minimum 3 years of experience in in this category. (2) Babysitters: minimum age is 25 years, with experience in caring for infants and toddlers.

Moreover, initial training for teachers and babysitters regarding health, safety and development of young children is essential, as well as a Child Development Associate (CDA) credential is required as recommended by the Child Care Aware of America.

Survey
A survey filled out by 44 people supported the idea of opening on-campus daycare center with percentage 93.2% (Refer to page 14 to see the whole survey).

Budget

Cost of equipment
Because rooms are available in the campus, the budget will only include the cost of the equipment needed to prepare each room. The total cost to start this daycare center is about $40,000. According to Pardee, the cost of good quality equipment is divided as such: (Pardee, 2005): (1) Infant (8 infants) room’s furniture consisting of cots, diaper changing table, soft toys, and strollers: $8500. (2) Young toddlers (10 toddlers) room’s furniture including diaper changing table, educative and musical toys, soft balls along with beds, pillows and sponge chairs: $10500. (3) Older toddlers or preschoolers (20 preschooler) room’s furniture including chairs, tables, painting boards, educating and coloring books, and sand and water toys: $14000. (4) Eating room supplies such as refrigerator, blender…: $2000. In addition to colorful painting of the rooms, televisions, carpets, brochures for advertising…:$2000- $3000.

Tuition fees/child
For infants: $ 250/child – For toddlers: $ 200/child – For Preschoolers: $ 150.

Conclusion

Opening a child daycare center has enormous dividends for children, mothers, and university. The center will prepare the children socially, mentally, and psychologically for the kindergarten, allow mothers to work/learn and feel the motherhood simultaneously, and increase the university’s profits and quality. Following this, your approval on the proposal will be appreciated. Many thanks for your response. Looking forward to discuss this proposal with you anytime you prefer and answer any questions you may have. You may contact me at nassima.9.6@hotmail.com

References

• Pelcovitz, D. (2013, January 3). The impact of working mothers on child development. Retrieved (July 13, 2018) from https://www.ou.org/life/parenting/impact-working-mothers-child-development-empirical-research-david-pelcovitz/

• Hamilton, A. (2010, October 14). The kids are all right: few negative associations with moms' return to work soon after having children. Retrieved (July 13, 2018) from http://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2010/10/working-mothers.aspx

• Huerta, M. (2011, September 6). Early maternal employment and child development in five OECD countries. OECD social, employment and migration working papers, No. 118, OECD Publishing. Retrieved (July 13, 2018) from https://www.oecd.org/els/family/48822253.pdf

•  Lake, A. (2017, January 14). The First 1,000 Days of a child's life are the most important to their development - and our economic success. Retrieved (July 16, 2018) from https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2017/01/the-first-1-000-days-of-a-childs-life-are-the-most-important-to-their-development-and-our-economic-success/

• Ristic, M. (2016, January 17). Six reasons why preschool is good for your child. Retrieved (July 16, 2018) from https://novakdjokovicfoundation.org/6-reasons-why-preschool-is-good-for-your-child/

•  Child Care Aware Organization of America (2018). Staffing needs. Retrieved (July 16, 2018) from http://childcareaware.org/providers/planning-for-success/staffing-needs/

•  Pardee, M. (2005, June). Cost of equipment. Furnishing early childhood facilities. Page 26 Retrieved (July 21, 2018) from http://www.lisc.org/media/filer_public/de/b0/deb03f6a-804e-4a0a-8a70-44a99f55c6a3/2005_cick_guide_vol3_equipping.pdf

Planning the Transition to Employment

♡ All of us pass through a transition state from school to post-secondary education. During this transition, the student tend to find a work and get employed. The beauty of transition is that we have all the resources, agencies, organisations, and challenges.

♡ Transition is about possibilities. This is the time we should learn and explore by:
• starting with end in mind i.e. set a goal to reach
• Developing plan to get there through education and activities.

One should have high expectations and no limitations. For instance, a person shouldn't limit his challenges and abilities to one task; instead, he should explore and increase his limitations to do 6-7 tasks.

♡ If we really want to change the trajectory and criteria of employment, transition is the chance to do that. To start moving so that  employment  is the outcome, all students must be sure that all of them have the same opportunity to be accepted.

♡ Shifting from a "cooperating" model to a "collaborating" model of professional practice is a must for supporting transitions.

•  Where a small inter-professional team commits to working collectively to build and support a set of teaching and learning practices that produce effective transitions..
AND..
• Where each student is actively and consistently engaged in activities that build and support their sense of competence in making successful transitions ...


In addition, regarding collaboration as collective effort, five elements are needed to create and sustain success:

• A common agenda
• Mutually reinforcing activities
•  Continuous communication
• Shared measures of success
• A support structure

♡ Self-determination requires self-efficacy, where self-efficacy is the "sense of being capable" of actually doing what is expected of you. Self-determination differs between students where many young adults don't believe in themselves.  Here, the role of the educator is to support and enhance each student's experience of being capable of doing what is needed to make successful transitions. These are valuable strategies to follow:

1. "Modeling" what is expected
2. Providing "role-playing" activities
3. Providing "elaborated feedback" on their performance

♡ Person-centered planning is a process-oriented approach to empowering students disabilities. It focuses on the individual and their needs by putting them in charge of defining the direction for their lives and making their own choices. Thus, we must be conscious since we're building a person for a whole life.

♡ Positive  Personal Profile (PPP):
It's a method of "take inventory" of all youth traits that will be relevant to job search, employability, job matching, and long-term career development. We use it to collect information from variety of sources - such as interviews, assessments, and discussions. It can be used for :

• Developing resumes
•  Preparing for interviews
•  Developing goals for an individualized education plan
•  Determining further assessments or work experiences
• Determining which businesses to approach
• Developing "features" to "benefits"

Anybody can work. But, let's don't look at the disabilities. Let's look at talents, skills, and what a person can do. To achieve this way of thinking, you should take into consideration these few questions:

• What does student like and dislike?
•  What are their skills and interests?
•  How do they learn best?
• What supports are helpful?
• What assets do they bring?
• What opportunities do they have to prepare for and practice work?
•  What are their work environment preferences?
• What do they need to make connections to employers?

Moreover, work based learning leads to integrated employment. Thus, as much as the student's experiences increase during school - such as school-based enterprises and summer and after school employment- the chance of being accepted increases. These experiences promote awareness and exploration to become well-prepared for employment.

♡ There's something called "customized employment" in which jobs tasks are modified to suit both employer and employee. Employers always want to ear from us that we represent ..
•  Motivated candidates who are excited about working
• Our candidates have skills sets that add value to their workforce.
• We can assist with business solutions that improve the company's productivity and/or workflow.

Now, you're  employed. What if you have gaps?
Bridge  any gaps with training, supports, and accommodations through:

• Instructional strategies
• Natural supports and cues
• Technology
• Environmental modifications
• Compensatory strategies
• Employer negotiations

And Don't Forget to:

• Promote a work ethic
• Teach self-determination
• Include workplace culture - Teach work & work-related skills
• Open doors that enable youth to experience/practice what is expected of them in adult world

Finally, the last important rule: avoid using "yes, but.." since it represents negative bias. Instead, use "yes, and..".

Note: Here's  a useful tool for applying to jobs "ITAP" which refers to Implementing Transition Action Plan. You can fill the job application here: https://www.internationaltaphouse.com/application

Wish you have benefited from this Webinar ☺

Thank you for reading ❤'

     Existentialism

1.     Origin of Existentialism

The main founder of existential is Kierkegaard. He was a religious man who called for faith in the existence of God without an evidence of his existence. But, some thinkers see that God existence is not necessary. A secularist called Sartre considered that man is the essence of existence; "existence precedes essence", Sartre said. Existentialism believes that man's existence is more important than the existence of truth, principles, and laws. Human being is the one who chooses the laws and decides the truth. A man's freedom is his source of existence. According to Existentialism, there's no traditional, social, or religious limits for a man; he's the one who makes the culture. Emotions, feelings, and perception are the characteristics that specialize a human being. Thus, we can't teach human's knowledge; however, he should gain it by himself. (Policepatil, 2011)

According to existentialism, human being is not alone. He has social interaction. Thus, human's essence is not important as human's existence. Existentialism is humanism, according to Sartre. (Policepatil, 2011)

2.     Existentialism and Aim of Education

The aim of education is giving value to the human being and his existence, freeing him from all social and cultural limits, and giving him the freedom to choose and decide what he will do and be. (Policepatil, 2011)

3.     Curriculum

Any subject that supports developing of human being and satisfies his existential needs should be included in the curriculum, in existentialism view. Thus; all of music, religion, drama, art, literature, philosophy, medicine, sports, and games consist the curriculum. (Policepatil, 2011)

4.     Method of Teaching, Role of Teaching & Concept of Discipline

According to Existentialism, children should feel safe in the class. The only principle they should think about is self-evaluation. Thus, children should focus on developing themselves not on intense competitions, fear of failure, and strict discipline rules. Instead, the school should provide a learning environment full of freedom. (Policepatil, 2011)

The role of the teacher in teaching process is a facilitator. He should provide an environment that supports exploration. Teachers should focus on the student not on the teaching programs; thus, mass teaching and testing are without a vail. The schedule must be flexible in order to nurture the freedom of choice. Rewards and punishments are not allowed and they're not considered as growth boosters. Humanness determines the teacher student relationship it should be strong and positive. Thus, existentialism was against mechanical teaching. (Policepatil, 2011)

The teacher is the center of attention. He should response wisely to students’ actions and questions that are sometimes challenging. He should grow in a democratic climate that encourages respecting others and valuing differences. (Policepatil, 2011)

Moral judgments should suit the individual himself. Children should receive positive evaluation from their teachers. Labels, as lazy and slow learner can adversely affect students’ behavior. As mentioned before, existentialism is against mechanization and impersonation methods of teaching. Representation of students by ID numbers, codes, and symbols weakens the student - teacher relationship. The program of the school becomes impersonal and lacks respect. Therefore, using machines in teaching and leads to dehumanization and disrespect the human value. (Policepatil, 2011)

5.     References

o   Policepatil, S. B. (2011). A STUDY OF EDUCATION THOUGHTS OF DR. RABINDRANATH TAGORE AND THEIR RELEVANCE TO PRESENT EDUCATION SYSTEM. Department of Education, POST GRADUATE DEPARTMENT OF STUDIES IN EDUCATION. Dharwad: Karnatak University. Retrieved 10 22, 2019, from https://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/95956/5/05_chapter%201.pdf  

        Pragmatism

1.     Origin of Pragmatism

Pragmatism is an old philosophy; however, its role in education has come between the 19th & 20th century. Many philosophers such as William Kilpatrick, George Counts, and Boyd Bode built this philosophy's education structure; and the creative philosophers John Dewy integrated philosophy with education. (Sharma, Devi, & Kumari, 2018)

The word "pragmatism" is of Greeks origin and it means "work". Pragmatist believes that truth is observable; thus, it may change. For it, truth is absolutely relative and can change according to the happening situations. Dewey claimed that teachers in democratic society must have diverse methods of teaching, where each method might work for a student and might not work for another one. Therefore, pragmatism believes in diversity of students, their thinking of their instruction methods. (Sharma, Devi, & Kumari, 2018)

2.     Pragmatism and Educate Process

According to pragmatism, educative process is all about activity and experience. Pragmatism believes that education system is always going forward. It’s always in progress, and progress refers to change, and change involves more novelty. Therefore, knowledge cannot be given at once. The educative process, then, is pragmatic; which means it is gradual and experimental. (Sharma, Devi, & Kumari, 2018)

3.     Educational Implication

There are five educational implications in pragmatism:

                       i.      Education as Life

Pragmatism believes that the traditional way of teaching became useless. Education is about reorganization, reconstruction, and combination of the race experiences. It wants to maintain the culture of the past, think of solutions to force new situations, then integrate both of them. Thus, knowledge can be only gained through experiments, activities, and life experiences. (Sharma, Devi, & Kumari, 2018)

                     ii.      Education as a Growth

In pragmatism view, child is not born as a blank paper; however, he is born with abilities and tendencies that can be brought out by education. Thus, education is only a mediator between the child's mental ideas and the external world. (Sharma, Devi, & Kumari, 2018)

                   iii.      Education as a Social Process

For pragmatism, social relationships can teach the human being more than books. Thus, children must be educated in a social medium that develops them socially to reach happiness and satisfaction. (Sharma, Devi, & Kumari, 2018)

                   iv.      Education Is a Continuous Restructuring of Experience

Pragmatism believes that education is a journey, not a destination. It's a process of gaining knowledge through reconstruction and adjustment of an experiment. (Sharma, Devi, & Kumari, 2018)

                     v.      Education The Responsibility of State

For Pragmatism, it's any state responsibility to make education a right for any child. Without this right, the state and its children will suffer and fail in the future. (Sharma, Devi, & Kumari, 2018)

4.     Pragmatism and Aim of Education

Pragmatism has no aims of education. It believes that education is always in progress-always developing. Thus, its aim cannot be bounded; it’s dynamic and subjective. For pragmatism, education is about dealing with human life, so it must fulfill children’s need until they feel satisfied. Education should train children to be able to adjust themselves to the new environment when the situations change. (Sharma, Devi, & Kumari, 2018)

5.     Pragmatism and Curriculum

Four principles have been described, by pragmatism, in this field:

                       i.      Principle of Utility

Curriculum should include subjects, activities, and experiences that children need and use in the present and future such as History, Science, Physical training, Language, Geography, Physical wellbeing, and Home science for girls. (Sharma, Devi, & Kumari, 2018)

                     ii.      Principle of Interest

Only activities and experiences that children are interest in should be in the curriculum such as Art, Craft-work, Reading, Counting, Writing, Natural science, and other simple nature practices. Dewey divided interests into four categories: interest in conversation, interest in investigation, interest in construction, and interest in creative expression. (Sharma, Devi, & Kumari, 2018)

                   iii.      Principle of Experience

Child’s activity, career, and experience should be integrated, according to this principle. Any curriculum should contain plenty of learning experiences that improve the child’s thinking, personality, and confidence. (Sharma, Devi, & Kumari, 2018)

                   iv.      Principle of Integration

According to pragmatism, subjects and activities should be integrated; knowledge is one unit. An adjustable, changeable, and integrated curriculum is a must, in pragmatists view, to help the child adapt when he develops, society changes, and demands increase. (Sharma, Devi, & Kumari, 2018)

6.     Pragmatism and Methods of Teaching

Pragmatism’s method of teaching is an activity-based method. For pragmatism, knowledge can be gained through activities and experiments. When students learn through experiments, they become creative, confident, cooperative, and prepared for practical life. (Sharma, Devi, & Kumari, 2018)

Pragmatists depend on experimental methods of teaching where students should discover the truth by themselves. This requires the application of methods that encourage them to discover and increase their excitement toward the truth. According to pragmatism, knowledge is gained through auto-education or self-education method, where the role of teacher and book is secondary. They only support and guide the students in activities. (Sharma, Devi, & Kumari, 2018)

7.     Teacher

Pragmatism describes teacher as philosopher, helper to help students improve and develop their talent abilities, and guide to guide them to solve the problems that he suggests. (Sharma, Devi, & Kumari, 2018)

8.     Discipline

For pragmatism, discipline is about tracking the child’s interests. Teacher and student, both cooperate to solve a problem which shows that education is a social process. In this process, teacher suggests the problem and guides the pupil but all work is done by the pupil. Even in group work, all are equal; there are no rewards or punishments for any student. (Sharma, Devi, & Kumari, 2018)

9.     References 

o   Sharma, S., Devi, R., & Kumari, J. (2018, February 4). Pragmatism in Education. ICNFESMH-2018 (pp. 74-79). India: OM Institute of Technology & Management.

      Al-Ghazali

1.     Biography

Al-Ghazali was born in Tus, Khorasan in 1058 CE. He worked as a teacher in Baghdad in the Nizamaya Madrasa at the age of 29. He was interested in education, so he focused on teaching methods, knowledge, the relationship between teachers and learners, and testing methods and principles. (SOUSSI, 2016)

2.     Al-Ghazali on Early Childhood Education

A learner passes through four main ages: early childhood adolescence, after 20, and around 40. According to Al-Ghazali, interests change from one age to another; thus, teachers should pay attention the interests’ development of their students. In Al-Ghazali view, the teacher’s role is to motivate the learners. (SOUSSI, 2016)

Al-Ghazali was a behaviorism supporter, so he encouraged the idea of rewarding students when they behave good with their classmates and teachers and show good morals. He considered rewarding as a way for motivating the student himself and his peers to rewarded as him. On contrary to “rewarding” there’s “punishment” for bad behaviors-not physical harm. (SOUSSI, 2016)

In Al-Ghazali’s view, teaching should be a gradual process, where the teacher starts with lower-level skill and information and then moves to a higher-level skill. He discussed another important principle regarding infants and children, which is teaching this group of leaners-infants and children-morals like equality between peers, trustiness, asceticism, and geniality due to their high influence by each other in this age. He encouraged teachers to deal with students that have extreme behavior traits as shyness. Also, he was with separation students according to their knowledge level. (SOUSSI, 2016)

3.     Curricula and Knowledge

Al-Ghazali wrote about the concept of knowledge in education, its categories, and teaching methods.

                          i.      Knowledge: The Concept and Categories

In Al-Ghazali’s view, the knowledge of God, his prophets, the heavens, and Shariah was the fundamental knowledge and the source of happiness in the life and after. He considered that natural sciences and religion one complementary and sciences doesn’t contradict religion.  “The best proof of this could be the fact the al Ghazali’s statements about natural sciences were included into the Al Azhar curriculum at the end of the nineteen century”. (SOUSSI, 2016)

                        ii.      Educational Curricula

Al-Ghazali divided higher education into two stages: obligatory, in which religions and related sciences as linguistics are taught; and optional where several subjects are chosen depending on the individual’s capacity and preference. The optional science subjects were divided into revealed, where Fiqh, ethics, Sunna, and Ijmaa are included; and non-revealed sciences such as medicine, history, and mathematics. (SOUSSI, 2016)

However, most artistic subjects weren’t in the optional subjects in Al-Ghazali curriculum. Music, for example, was divided into licit, which is favored and can motivate individuals to do their worships; and reprehensive and forbidden that are for entertainment. Painting and drawing, in Al-Ghazali view, were not accepted if they show man or an animal since they will be representing idols which one Haram in Islam. (SOUSSI, 2016)

4.     Teaching System

                          i.      The Learner 

Al-Ghazali focused on the interaction between the learner and the teacher as the said: “Education is an “interaction” and effecting and benefiting teacher and pupil equally, the former gaining merit for giving instruction and the latter cultivating himself through-the acquisition of knowledge” (in Nofal, p.528). (SOUSSI, 2016)

Following the interaction, Al-Ghazali focused on the relation between the learner and the environment he’s living in. Thus, the leaner’s environment as their personalities affects the teaching process, which should be noticed by the teachers. Diversity- whether it’s racial, gender, cultural, age, ethnic, racial, and social class- is an important issue for the teacher to deal with during teaching since any of these diversities can affect motivation. Al-Ghazali stressed on the importance of comfort of the learner in the classmate in getting knowledge and understanding. Thus, teachers must be prepared for any sensitive reaction from the learner about their diversities as they prepare for new lessons. (SOUSSI, 2016)

                        ii.      The Teacher

For Al-Ghazali, the teacher is a father, model, facilitator, and counselor; not a source of knowledge only. He cared about the “intellectual side of teaching”, where the teachers should think about the students and the subjects they teach. Al-Ghazali claimed that teaching is a complicated combination of mind, ethics, and heart of the teachers, where all should be present at once. Thus, a teacher should always keep their eyes on the students and ask them about their interest in the lesson, rate of understanding and the difficult ideas, learning styles and methods, and the barriers they’re facing in the teaching process. Therefore, the teacher breaks the barriers and obstacles, letting the knowledge pass in, and consequently the happiness of the learner’s soul which is the goal to be reached, according to Al-Ghazali. (SOUSSI, 2016)

                      iii.      Teaching

Al-Ghazali classified the religions studies as the most noble study since it’s the link between the human being and his God; thus, as the link gets stronger, an ultimate happiness will be sent to this person. He assured that knowledge should be practiced since learning is not effective until it’s functional. He described the teacher as “coach” in his natural learning theory. (SOUSSI, 2016)

As mentioned before, AL-Ghazali put a teaching approach named “gradual teaching” approach. He emphasized the importance of teacher’s patience toward their students and gradual teaching of new information. (SOUSSI, 2016)

According to Al-Ghazali, for a student to be a good learner, he should be characterized by having a pure spirit before requesting knowledge and dealing with their teachers in high moral behavior. Then, he should dedicate himself searching for knowledge. Whenever the learner starts at a level, he must master it before moving up to the next level; and last of all, he must specialize in a subject of his preference. Al-Ghazali focused on two main points regarding the characteristics of learner: gradual learning and subject choice. A learner can’t be specialized directly; however, he should move up step by step to choose a preferable subject according to gender and social background, in Al-Ghazali’s view. (SOUSSI, 2016)       

5.     References 

o   SOUSSI, D. K. (2016, November ). AL Ghazali Cultivates Education: A Comparison with Modern Theories. International Journal of Education and Research, 4(11), 425-436.