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11th Annual ISNA Education Forum

ISNA Empowers Islamic Educators
 
The largest annual gathering of Islamic school teachers concluded on April 4th in Rosemont, IL. The Annual ISNA Education Forum marked 11 years of serving Islamic Schools in North America.  This forum included the traditional aspects of the program; pre-conferences, lectures, hands-on workshops, networking breakfast, bazaar and banquets.

The sessions throughout the weekend were aligned to a common theme: "Crayons to College: Empowering Muslim Students to Color a Brighter World". A variety of workshops provided many options for the seeker - from management to best practices, from assessment to accreditation, from reading skills to Quranic Arabic. The forum helped attendees reflect on the purpose of our schools and the importance of educators having self-awareness in order to face the challenges in their daily life. Participants shared their experiences, learned new approaches and practices, and came away with renewed inspiration and enthusiasm to carry on their important assignments of educating our youth.    

The luncheon program featured Dr. Edward Krenson, Vice President of AdvancED, who highlighted the ways in which full time Islamic schools can attain accreditation and how AdvancED works with schools, teachers, and Islamic communities to meet the needs of their students more effectively. During the banquet dinner, the Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to Dr. Freda Shamma for her over 25 years of service to the cause of Islamic Education. Imam Zaid Shakir, the dinner's keynote speaker, addressed Muslim educators as "heros". He reminded that children are an amanah, or trust, and emphasized the need to help students apply Islamic studies curriculum and critical thinking, which he posited as one of the goals of Islamic education.

The concluding session provided feedback for improvement for the next year's Forum. Educators shared what they thought were strengths of the conference and topics they'd like to see in the future. "Every year it gets better" remarked Kathy Jamil, an attendee of the forum. This is evident in the growing numbers each year which reached almost 700 this year.  

See: Education Forum photos