Archive for the 'Leadership and Education' Category

Mar 31 2007

To teach or to not teach?

Published by Asma Maryam Ali under Leadership and Education

This is the first post I ever wrote, but never posted it because I was unsure of myself. I think I will now and its to my own teacher:

‘Teach’ is one of the words I’m uncomfortable with because I feel its misused.

By ‘teach’ we generally mean to convey a thought or method from one being to another. Teaching is really a two-way street. For it to work there must be a message that is conveyed in such a way that it can be understood, and a mind and heart that can receive the message with clarity and locate it in a wider understanding of the world.

Neither of these is guaranteed, oftentimes one or the other is flawed, but I claim to teach.

As a teacher I claim to teach students every day. Every day I wonder how much they are actually learning from me. No doubt they are picking up some knowledge and skills, and they are learning much more than they *might* if they weren’t in a classroom, but how much of this will they actually carry with them into the future? How deeply has this knowledge actually sunk into their minds and hearts?

These sentiments are undoubtedly shaped by my present circumstances and past experiences. I am new to the teaching profession and I have had some of the best learning experiences which don’t compare to those I provide for my own students.

Much of the learning I have ever done happened through experience. It didn’t happen through one or two lessons in a classroom or by memorizing the lines from a book or a teacher. By experience I mean living with or living in a situation where I can freely observe and absorb information, and can work things out for myself. 

Allah (SWT)’s messengers and prophets (AS) were men who taught gradually, with examples, and catered their messages to the experiences and qualities of their companions. This was experiential learning. This is how their companions came to understand their deen.

Students may learn when I teach, but do I really teach? There is a Chinese proverb that says, ‘to teach is to learn.’ More than any subject material, I am realizing very quickly that teaching is a far greater feat than I ever thought it would be.   

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Mar 02 2007

Sisters

Published by Asma Maryam Ali under Leadership and Education, Uncategorized

I wanted to shout out to my sisters who have been reading this: khals, asmaa, aaida, haj, humairah. Already living dreams ;) Do you remember that poem? May Allah (SWT) SWT reward you. I’ve been reading your poetry and checking out your blogs (including safspace) these past couple ’snow days’ and I am very impressed. You are so…rich! And you give us a lot of hope for an amazing future here in shaa Allah (SWT).

All of you (that I know of) are people who have worked on the MSA and have some understanding of what leadership is. In my work with the MSA and MAC, and now in our school, I’ve learned a lot about it myself. I’m very interested in hearing from you about what leadership means to you. And isA I’ll share my thoughts along with you. I’m particularly interested in hearing how your ‘gender’ has shaped your role as a leader. Has it? Are there things a woman can do in such a role that a man can’t, or vice versa? Are there particular things that a woman ought to do, or particular qualities that she has to have as a leader that a man doesn’t have to? How do you feel to be a woman in a position of leadership? Please do share your thoughts on these questions or anything related (or unrelated :) ). And may Allah (SWT) SWT reward you.

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