Early Childhood Education for Muslim Children

Rationales and practices in South Africa

Hasina Ebrahim

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2016
• ISBN:
  9781317437703
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Éducation
• Subtopic: Éducation générale

Early Childhood Education for Muslim Children foregrounds the marginalised perspective of Muslim children aged three to five and examines how they are cared for and educated in centre-based provision in two provinces in post-apartheid South Africa. Both theological and social science perspectives are carefully interwoven to make sense of the construction of service provision for Muslims as a minority group in a secular democracy.

This book uses a qualitative, reflexive approach to amplify the voices of mothers, managers and teachers as the community of agents who shape priorities for young children in the context of a rapidly transforming society. The research demonstrates that the quest to establish an appropriate care network and a sound educative environment for Muslim children is riddled with complexities, struggles and tensions. In the light of changes in the home-based network for early education, centre-based provision has become an important infrastructure for Muslim communities seeking one-stop academic and Islamic education. The internal struggles encountered in this form of provision include inequities in access, struggles to package an appropriate curriculum, and dealing with nurturance specific to the faith and for cultural formations supportive of citizenship.

This book calls for critical engagement with issues of religious education in early childhood, social cohesion, formal systematic teacher education for Muslim teachers, curriculum development and parental support. It will contribute not only to the development of early education from an Islamic perspective, but will also demonstrate how to expand discourses and practices to deal with diversity and faith development in early years. As such, it will appeal to academics, researchers and postgraduate students in the fields of early childhood education, religious studies, race and ethnic studies, and childhood studies

Chapter 1

Contextualising early childhood education in South Africa

Introduction

Despite increasing secularisation of countries with plural democracies, the return to religion continues to invite robust debate. Religious education is viewed as an important vehicle to build identity frameworks and to foster understanding of religions and beliefs which are part of contemporary society. Where it is conceptualised with a variety of stakeholders and implemented in a systematic and thoughtful way, it can contribute to self-development and more social cohesion in plural societies. Children are given opportunities for moral-spiritual development, inquiry and reflection, which helps them to make choices and foster both intercultural and cross-cultural connections (Department for Children, Schools and Families 2010).

In light of the above, it is important to understand how societies deal with religion in particular contexts. The prevailing political atmospheres and the changes in the relationship between the state and dominant religious institutions is affecting how religion is thought of and dealt with in contemporary societies. MacNeill (2000) in his analysis of education in Britain and France shows how the definition of national identity could include a religious element at particular historical times. For Britain, the traditional religion of Christianity and the acknowledgement of other religions is evident in education although not without tension. In France, a more modern civic religion is evident, as the traditional religions are removed from the public sphere. The laicite of public schools used to foster religious neutrality continues to be challenged by minority groups like Muslims. In post-apartheid South Africa, the reconstruction of society after apartheid meant disabling the dominance of Christianity and its worldview to recognise other religions and belief systems. This is embraced in the concept of religion education for public good.

From the above, it is evident that diversity in society contributes to how religion is engaged with. In the United States and Europe, for example, it is difficult to ignore the effects of migration-driven religious diversity. There is religious presence other than Christians in public spaces, and this increases the pressure for legal provisions for religious freedom in society and attention to religious pluralism in fields such as education. For example, in Sweden, which is regarded as one of the most secularised countries in the world, social and educational changes are brought about by public visibility and the institutional establishment of Islam (Schenk, Burhardt and Wohlrab 2015). Religious diversity affects how societies cohere around or polarise against particular worldviews and religious ideals.

In education it is important to examine responsive models for religious education. There are two deprivatised models used to promote religious education in societies outside the family. These are the public-state-based and the private faith-based models. There are also hybrid models where the public state-based religious education is supplement by private religious education. The public model receives state funding. It is premised on the fact that we live in an inter-culturalising world and that education is a vehicle which helps people to grow and develop as they encounter perspectives from religion and beliefs other than their own. Strandbrink (2015) notes that in Europe, a neutralist-secularist tolerance model is used in public education to accommodate plurality of ethical, religious and cultural worldviews. This model enables education systems to be “neutral and non-partisan in matters of faith, identity and normativity” (Strandbrink 2015: 3). Unity and integration is favoured. Religious education from this perspective aims at fostering understanding of religions and worldviews from non-religious belief systems in order to enable personal meaning-making from a variety of religions. This type of education is non-confessional and focuses on tolerance and stimulating enquiry (Chater 2014). Such an approach has potential to shift the discourse and practice of religious education from co-existence in society to projects of reflective religious pluralism (Rosenblith 2008). Attempts in this direction of religious education in public schooling are seen in Europe and the United States. Parents are afforded the opportunity to withdraw their children from religious education if they feel that it goes against the grain of their own belief systems. The depth at which religions are approached and the training of teachers continue to challenge the deprivatised state model of religious education.

The private faith-based model of religious education is used by organised religions such as Islam, Christianity and Judaism to promote specific, close-focused religious education. This model is normally funded by donors, parents and sometimes partly by the state in the state-aided category. The faith-based schools exist as an option for parents wanting religious distinctiveness in the educational socialisation of their children. These faith-based schools are normally set up as alternatives to public education which is perceived as a threat to religious values and identity. Elbih (2012) notes how the growth of Islamic schools in the United States can be attributed to 2 concerns, namely, the dissatisfaction of Western secular philosophies that run counter to the Islamic ideology of tawhid (Oneness of God) and challenges of religious discrimination of Muslim children in the socio-political context of 9/11. She argues that together with other minority groups, such as African Americans and Hispanic populations, Muslim children feel that their history and ancestry is not sufficiently included in a Euro-centric curriculum in public education. In this context, Zine (2006) argues that the Muslim schools in the United States could be viewed as a response to re-centering the Islamic belief system and countering Islamophobia.

The faith-based schools, especially Islamic schools, in highly secularised contexts in Europe and the United States are viewed with suspicion. In Sweden, for example, Schenk et al (2015) notes how the majority of Swedes are against faith-based schools. In Swedish society both Christians and Muslims are reluctant to invoke loopholes for religious expressions in the law and to share information of a religious nature. Religion is viewed as the Other of secularity, and this has particular exclusionary effects for those in faith-based schools. Schenk et al (2015) shows how the perception of radicalisation of Muslim schools in Swedish society was leading to generalisations that faith-based schools were nurturing fundamentalism, which was a threat to societal cohesion.

This book explores the deprivatised response to religious education in faith-based provision for Muslim children. A study of this nature is necessary to foster understanding in the context of high surveillance of Muslim-based institutions and negative perceptions of faith-based institutions in the public sphere. A contextual understanding of early childhood education for Muslim children is explored in a minority context where Christian Nationalism and its fundamental pedagogies gave way to religious plurality. This book shows a navigational path that illuminates the growth of Islam in apartheid South Africa and the transitions effected to educate the young generation of Muslims using the legal loopholes of religious freedom, affirmations of cultural particularism and private provision. In so doing, the book provides a nuanced understanding of early education for Muslim children in context.

It moves beyond the common perception of faith-based institutions as parochial forums. In paying attention to how societal forces shape mindsets and sentiments for action, the book shows how early educational socialisation functions as minority defense. Through the exploration of a faith-based frame of reference, together with the focus on choices in private provision and salient pedagogies for the education of Muslim children from 3 to 5 years in early childhood centres, the book sheds light on understanding of religious nurture and the complexities that arise in adopting certain models and approaches.

Early childhood education for Muslim children

Early childhood is the formative years where the foundations for life are built. There are multiple factors that influence the way in which young children grow, develop and learn. Genetics, family dynamics, socio-cultural beliefs, community support, economic circumstances and political leadership impact on who children are, what they will become and where they find their sense of belonging. During early childhood, parents, extended family members, institutions of early care and education and industries aimed at young children pay particular attention to needs of children and the socialisation environments. These efforts are largely researched and described using framings from secular Western childhoods.

At the margins are knowledge and understanding of early care and education of young children in non-Western societies. This book is concerned about how Muslim children are thought of and readied for society in group care settings, namely, early childhood centres. It engages with critical issues of early education from an insider perspective of a Muslim woman educationist and lived experiences of educational needs in a secular democracy in post-apartheid South Africa, where religious freedom is accommodated.

This narrative has great relevance for disabling dominant constructions of early childhood which create hierarchies and exclusions. The book shows how specific contextual forces lead to in-group cohesion and the struggle to package early education relevant for Muslim children and Islam as a way of life. In so doing, it has broader relevance beyond the borders of South Africa. It taps into theoretical perspectives, methodological issues, early care and education practices that have significance for dealing with diversity and complexity in early childhood.

The above account is also important for the contemporary world taking into account that Muslims make up a significant number in the global population. A demographic study of more than 200 countries indicated that there were 1.57 billion Muslims across the globe (Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life 2009). In 2009, this represented 23% of the estimated 6.8 billion of the world’s population. Eighty percent of Muslims live in Muslim majority countries. One-fifth of the world’s Muslim population (approximately 300 million) live in countries where Islam is not the major religion. Additionally, Islam constitutes the second-largest religious community and is one of the fastest-growing religions.

Taking into account the numerical strength of Muslims in the world, it is significant to study the rationales and practices that shape the nurturance of young Muslim children. This is imperative considering the weight given to faith development, adherence to prophetic traditions, rituals and adopting of particular ways of knowing and being. Scourfield et al (2013: 1) notes that “the idea of a child being socialised into a monotheistic worldview from birth and then, when old enough, attending classes several times a week to learn to read the Qur’an (The holy book in Islam and the collection of messages revealed to the Prophet Muhummad (Peace Be Upon Him) over 23 years in classical Arabic) is certainly outside secular Western childhood”. The Islamic belief system acknowledges the presence of One God, which is central to practices in the daily life of Muslims as practitioners of the faith. Careful attention is paid to religious nurture of children from childhood to adulthood. It is therefore not surprising that in a study on religion and childhood, it was noted that of all the religious groupings in the UK, Muslims are more effective in passing on the faith to the next generation (Scourfield et al 2013).

This book is about how early childhood education (inclusive of care) in a Muslim minority context focused on “preserving distinctiveness” (Scourfield et al 2013: 209). In-groups are inclined to cohere around specific aspects they share with others, for example, religion, culture and language. These groups (by no means homogenous) tend to be assertive about aspects that define them. Panjwani (2004) argues to map a way forward for Islam and education in contemporary times, it is necessary to focus on Muslims as social actors and the practices they use to establish and assert their identity in the context of the forces (historical, economic, cultural, social) that shape society.

This book focuses specifically on how key social actors, namely, Muslim mothers, managers and teachers, use their interpretive frames of reference and translations into practice in order to effect faith development, identity building and nurturance of Islam in early childhood centres. In so doing, the rationales which stem from established ideas and opportunities in specific contexts are foregrounded and their power to seed certain practices are engaged with.

A close-focused account to what happens in early socialisation of young Muslim children is critical. In current times, Muslims across the globe and Islam are subjected to negative publicity. There is a need for studies to foster greater contextual understandings of the multiple ways of being Muslim in the belief system of Islam. This book is set against the backdrop of a country out of apartheid and into a secular democracy. It shows how Muslims have asserted themselves to be visible in terms of their faith. A qualitative study with a small sample of 6 early childhood centres in 2 provinces in South Africa is used to raise critical issues and stimulate debate on early education of Muslim children. Specifically, adults’ perspective and practices for and with young children are highlighted in the loophole created for private provision. In so doing, the book raises issues on models for early childhood education of Muslim children, choices that are made, exclusions that result from these choices and practices associated with transmitting Islam for generational continuity. The nuanced understandings which highlights tensions and complexities show fragmentations that need to be engaged with from both within the community of practice and from outside.

Bearing in mind the multi-dimensional thrust of this book, it is valuable to an audience interested in understanding diversity in early childhood education, faith-based development and Islamic nurturance through early education. How does the subscription to particular worldviews influence perspectives on how children are educated in early childhood? To make sense of this, it is necessary to identify one’s positionality in a belief system and how this feeds into what is perceived as the certainties for action. How do we account for differences in positionality in the context of worldviews that have prescribed ways of knowing and being? What are the social and contextual factors that support and give rise to ruptures in foundational frames of references and what effect does this have on early childhood education? How is centre-based early childhood education put together by a minority group to meet the demands of passing on religion in a secular society? How is curriculum packaged, and what pedagogic techniques are used for strong identification with a religious belief system and related practices? Should early care and education for faith-based communities remain a private affair of parents and families in a minority context? How do we deal with segregation and integration when faith-based early childhood centres become a feature of society?

In an attempt to understand rationales and practices of early childhood education for Muslim children in South Africa, the next major section in this chapter is on the historical development of Islam in South Africa. This discussion shows the struggles to develop Islam in the light of colonisation, white privilege in apartheid and the need for sectarian identity as minority defense in post-apartheid South Africa. There is also a discussion on early childhood provision for children in post-apartheid South Africa. This forms the backdrop to the discussion on private provision for Muslim children. The next major section explains the social science theories which, in addition to the theological perspective fully explained in Chapter 2, were helpful in identifying the rationales and practices of early childhood education for Muslim children. Specifically, attention is paid to social constructionism, frame analysis and the theory of identification. The final section of the chapter presents the organisation of the book.

Historical development of Islam in South African context

Islam is a minority religion in South Africa. The establishment of Islam in South Africa is intimately woven with the human struggle for multiple freedoms, including religious freedom and social justice, in different historical periods. In this section, 3 periods are used to trace the brief history of the Malay (coloureds of Muslim faith in the Cape) (Vahed & Jeppie 2005) and the Indian Muslims in Natal and Transvaal (currently known as Gauteng). These groupings were chosen as they are significant and included in the empirical study in this book. Each period focuses on the context of socio-economic and religio-political problems, the development of Islam in general and the development of education for Muslims in particular. The discussion provides insight into establishing the faith through a focus on sectarian identity, activism and religious socialisation for strengthening the belief system and social justice.

Early history of colonisation

This period highlights the struggles to establish Islam in the context of political expediency and efforts by powerful individuals and communities to be assertive. In the 17th century, the Dutch controlled the East Indies (known today as Indonesia) and the Cape. The arrival of the first Muslims in South Africa is linked to strategies used by the Dutch East India Company (DEIC) to assert their colonial power. Mahida (1993) notes that the first Muslims, known as the Mardyckers (free Muslims), arrived from Indonesia in 1658. Taking into account the need of the Dutch as white settlers to establish themselves in the newfound half-way house for ships travelling between Holland and the East Indies, the arrival of the Mardyckers added numbers to foreign settlers. They also satisfied the labour needs of the Dutch colonists. The Mardyckers were allowed to practice Islam in private. The policies and regulations barred public practice of Islam. The latter would have provided Christians and heathens with an alternative, which the Dutch did not want to encourage. From 1667 onwards, more Muslims arrived in the Cape. They were political exiles who were banished to the Cape because they challenged the political and economic order of the Dutch. The political exiles were wealthy men who made some attempts to ...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• List of tables
• Acronyms
• Acknowledgements
• Glossary of Islamic terms
• 1 Contextualising early childhood education in South Africa
• 2 An Islamic perspective of (early childhood) education
• 3 Contemporary models of early childhood education for Muslim children
• 4 Qualitative research in centre-based early childhood education for Muslim children
• 5 Muslim mothers framing early childhood education
• 6 The social construction of centre-based early childhood education
• 7 The making of Muslim children in early childhood centres
• 8 Conclusion
• Index