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Culturally responsive pedagogy and the Muslim learner

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Dylan Chown explores how educational approaches can be tailored to support Muslim students by integrating cultural sensitivity and understanding into teaching practices.

Image courtesy of interviewee. September 26, 2024

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This video outlines a discussion by researchers affiliated with the Center for Islamic Thought and Education at the University of South Australia concerning culturally responsive pedagogy and its implications for Muslim learners in Australian public schools. Following the tragic Christchurch mosque shootings, the lead author, Professor Muhammad Abdullah, emphasized the importance of confronting cycles of hate and prejudice, inspired by the healing voices from the affected community.

The authors highlight four main rationales for their research focus on culturally responsive pedagogy: 1) the increasing super diversity in Australian classrooms, 2) the complexity within the Muslim community often overlooked, 3) the negative discourses that dehumanize Muslims, and 4) the urgent need for educator training that respects the diverse backgrounds and strengths of Muslim learners.

The researchers argue that culturally responsive pedagogy should move beyond merely teaching about Islam to embracing the cultural and religious identities of students as assets in the learning process. They stress the importance of building relationships and understanding the unique experiences of Muslim learners, rather than relying on decontextualized knowledge about Islam.

Moreover, the text discusses the disconnect between educational policies promoting understanding and the actual practice in classrooms. It advocates for a shift in how educators perceive secularism in education, suggesting that spiritual and religious identities are essential components of learner identities that should be acknowledged and integrated within the classroom.

Overall, the text conveys a hopeful outlook for improving educational practices to create more inclusive and effective learning environments for Muslim students in Australia, acknowledging the work still required to bridge gaps between policy intentions and classroom realities.

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Here are five key points from the video :

1. **Research Focus on Culturally Responsive Pedagogy**: The authors, who are affiliated with the Center for Islamic Thought and Education at the University of South Australia, are engaged in research aimed at developing culturally responsive pedagogy with a specific focus on the needs of Muslim learners. This pedagogy aims to address the challenges posed by the super diversity within Australian classrooms.

2. **Impact of Christchurch Tragedy**: The writing of this chapter was influenced by the tragic events at Christchurch, New Zealand, where 51 people were killed in a targeted attack on Muslims. This event highlighted the need to confront the cycle of hate and prejudice and inspired efforts to better understand the experiences and needs of Muslim learners in education.

3. **Challenges of Prejudice and Misunderstanding**: The authors address the prevalence of negative discourses about Islam and Muslims in society, which can lead to misconceptions and a deficit view of Muslim learners. They emphasize that simply providing more information about Islam is not sufficient to change these prejudiced views or improve educational practices.

4. **The Role of Educators**: There is a pressing need for educators to expand their understanding of cultural and religious diversity in their classrooms. The authors argue that educators must engage in critical dialogue and relational practices to effectively support Muslim learners and utilize their diverse identities as assets in the teaching and learning process.

5. **Hopeful Outlook for Educational Practices**: Despite the challenges, the authors express hope for a shift toward more inclusive educational practices, recognizing that cultural responsiveness and an appreciation for diversity are increasingly being included in educational policy. They advocate for a holistic approach that integrates students' cultural and spiritual identities into the curriculum, rather than treating them as separate or external to the educational experience.

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Here are some key quotes and phrases extracted from the video , highlighting important themes and ideas:

1. **Background and Convideo**:
- "This chapter was written just after... the horrific events of Christchurch in New Zealand."
- "Professor Abdullah... visited the Christchurch community just days after that horrible attack."

2. **Impact of Hate and Prejudice**:
- "They wanted the cycle of hate and prejudice to be broken."
- "I think that was a real driver for Professor Abdullah when he came back."

3. **Reflections on the Tragedy**:
- "The most dishonest thing would be to say that I'm shocked. I'm simply not."
- "This has been coming... the sentiment of the broader Australian Muslim community."

4. **Cultural Responsive Pedagogy**:
- "Cultural responsive pedagogy amounts to good teaching for super diverse classrooms."
- "Knowing their students... know how they learn... demonstrate teaching strategies responsive to the learning strengths and needs of students."

5. **Critique of Knowledge Gaps**:
- "There’s a knowledge gap in Australia about Islam and Muslims."
- "We were very skeptical of such a presumption."

6. **The Role of Educators**:
- "Cultural responsive pedagogy is about seeing the full gamut of learner identity."
- "It's less about competency being competent... and humility to get to want to get to know the other."

7. **Importance of Relationships**:
- "Seeing them as assets to be brought into the classroom instead of to be left at the classroom door."
- "Critical dialogue and relationality are fundamental to getting to know students."

8. **Deeper Learning**:
- "When the lives, the life worlds of learners... can transact in the classroom... it’s more relevant to students' lives."
- "Opportunities for really deep and embedded learning enrich the learning."

9. **Hope for the Future**:
- "I remain hopeful, and I think anyone that's in education has a sense of hopefulness for the future."
- "Education is about creating and recreating the nation."

10. **Challenging Secular Education**:
- "Secular in education... tends to be seen as a total separation of religion or erasure of religion."
- "Spiritual and religious... ways of knowing are part of learners' identities and potential assets for learning."

These quotes collectively emphasize the importance of culturally responsive pedagogy in addressing the needs of diverse learners, particularly in the convideo of the Muslim community in Australia, amidst ongoing discussions around prejudice, identity, and educational practice.

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Here are some articles that explore similar themes of culturally responsive pedagogy, diversity in education, and the experiences of Muslim learners in secular educational convideos:

1. **"Culturally Responsive Teaching: Theory, Research, and Practice" by Geneva Gay** - This article discusses the principles of culturally responsive teaching, emphasizing the importance of recognizing and honoring students' cultural identities in the learning process.

2. **"Inclusive Education for Muslim Students in Public Schools"** - This article focuses on the challenges and best practices for integrating Muslim students into public education settings, advocating for policies and teaching practices that respect their cultural backgrounds.

3. **"Building Bridges: Culturally Responsive Pedagogy in Australian Classrooms"** - This piece examines the implementation of culturally responsive pedagogy in Australian schools and highlights successful case studies involving diverse student populations.

4. **"The Effects of Negative Stereotyping on Muslim Students' Educational Outcomes"** - This research article analyzes how societal attitudes and stereotypes affect the educational experiences and performances of Muslim students in schools.

5. **"The Role of Education in Countering Extremism: Understanding and Supporting Muslim Youth"** - This paper discusses educational strategies that can help foster understanding and support for Muslim youth in the wake of societal challenges, including instances of hate and violence.

6. **"Teacher Training for Diversity: Preparing Educators for Culturally Diverse Classrooms"** - This article emphasizes the need for teacher education programs to incorporate training on diversity and cultural responsiveness to better serve students from various backgrounds.

7. **"Decolonizing Pedagogy: Incorporating Spiritual and Religious Identities in Education"** - This work argues for a teaching framework that integrates spiritual and religious dimensions into educational practices, advocating for more inclusive environments.

These articles provide insights into the implementation of culturally responsive practices, the complexities within diverse student groups, and the importance of supporting Muslim learners in public education settings.

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Let's start with, with a little bit about the background.

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I think, myself, one of the three authors,

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we're members of the Center for Islamic Thought

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and Education at the University of South Australia.

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Uh, we work closely and collaboratively with,

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around research, around culturally responsive pedagogy,

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as you mentioned, with us,

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with a focus on the Muslim learner,

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but within our collaborative

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and within our university, part of the broader effort

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around cultural responsive pedagogy,

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of which we have some leading proponents at our university.

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But I think a really fascinating backdrop

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to this particular chapter,

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is we were the horrific events

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of Christchurch in New Zealand.

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Um, so this chapter was written just

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after that, the lead author, professor Muhammad Abdullah,

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both as an academic,

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but he's also, a religious and community leader.

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He visited the Christchurch community just days

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after that horrific, attack.

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For those that that are not aware,

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an Australian gunman, entered into,

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a series of moss and the result being the slang

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of 51 people and many more injured.

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And from that tragedy

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and from that unnecessary,

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occurrence, professor Abdullah, upon visiting

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that community, he came back

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with a very clear message from the voices,

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from the perspectives, of those that were, I guess,

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healing in that community that they wanted

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to see confronted, I guess.

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Um, they wanted the, the cycle of hate

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and prejudice to be broken.

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And I think that was a real driver

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for Professor Abdullah when he came back.

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Now, I have to say, unfortunately, sadly for us

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as researchers and indeed the Muslim community,

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and I think it's really captured beautifully by

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someone who's quite well known in the media,

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who is a Muslim in Australia, will lead Ali.

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He's, one

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of the producers on what's called

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the project here in Australia.

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And, and he, he said something which really reverberated now

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is, and just to to paraphrase him,

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he said it live on Australian tv.

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The most dishonest thing would be to say that I'm shocked.

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I'm simply not. If we're honest, we will know

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that this has been coming.

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And I think that was the sentiment

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of the broader Australian Muslim community.

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And this is as a backdrop of our research looking well,

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what is the impact, on the

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proj pejorative political and media discourse

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and the othering of Muslims?

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What is the impact on the Muslim learner in the public

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school classroom in Australia?

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Uh, and there are increasing numbers

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of Muslim learners in the classroom.

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So that's the backdrop I think, of some of our work

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around cultural responsive pedagogy and the Muslim learner.

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So our full rationales

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for cultural responsive pedagogy and the Muslim

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Learner, one is the rapid rise

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of super diversity insights of learning,

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definitely a feature in Australia,

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but we can see across the globe two,

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the often overlooked super complexity

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of the Australian Muslim learning learner community.

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Often it centers a homogenous group,

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but there's super diversity within three, as I've mentioned,

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prevailing discourses and narratives that that dehumanize

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and marginalize Muslim peoples

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and potentially impose a deficit view on Islam

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or Muslim peoples four, the urgent need

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to support the professional learning

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and growth of educators so they can be responsive

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to the strengths and needs of Muslim learners.

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And those four rationales,

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are undergirding our research focus.

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So cultural responsive pedagogy has a long history,

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and when we are talking about cultural responsive pedagogy

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in a, in a, in a general sense of which our co contributors,

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are advancing, cultural responsive pedagogy amounts

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to good teaching for super diverse classrooms,

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increasingly in Australia, and I imagine also in in the uk.

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Um, and, and across the world.

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For us, our efforts towards cultural responsive pedagogy

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were, were certainly motivated

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by a key policy text in Australia,

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what's called the Australian

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Professional Standards of Teachers.

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It wouldn't be, alone in the Australian context,

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and there'd be similar policies across,

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but here in Australia,

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the Australian professional standards call for educators

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to one, know their students, two, know how they learn,

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and three, demonstrate teaching strategies responsive

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to the learning strengths

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and needs of students from diverse, linguistic, cultural,

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religious, and socioeconomic backgrounds.

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And this was something that's motivating us

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and motivating, motivating Our research was to examine,

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well, how are educators going about

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and how are they encountering what, what we see

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as a vulnerable Muslim learner cohort in the backdrop

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of this policy imperative to be knowing their learners

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and to be engaging them.

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And when we began thinking about culturally responsive

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pedagogy, our concern was that there's a de, there's a,

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a well-documented and researched finding

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that there's a knowledge gap in Australia about

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Islam and Muslims.

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And the presumption is that if we teach more about Islam

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and Muslims, that that would fill that knowledge gap

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and lead to, well in the context

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of the classroom educators better able to fulfill that.

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And we were very, skeptical of such a presumption.

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Uh, and thus for us, we really tried to broaden this concept

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of culturally responsive pedagogy

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to unsettle the deficit views that are often hold, held,

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in a broader, you know, sphere in society

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around Islam and Muslims.

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And we began to ask, what is the impact of the dominant

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negative discourse on Islam

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and Muslims on the preparedness for educators to engage

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with their Muslim learners in practice?

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And we began to think, well,

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cultural responsive pedagogy is about seeing,

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the full gamut of learner identity.

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So let's take the Muslim identity,

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appreciating their cultural linguistic

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and appreciating that for many who identify with religion

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as one of their identity attributes, that religious

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and spiritual ways of knowing, fundamental

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to their life worlds

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and fundamental to their ways of knowing, their ways

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of being and their ways of doing.

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So, for us, cultural responsive pedagogy is less just about

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picking up decontextualized knowledge about Islam

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and Muslims and being more responsive by drawing on these

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as assets for teaching and learning, decontextualize knowing

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or learning about the other,

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without minus the encounter, minus the relational piece,

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minus the encounter of getting to know, people funda,

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you know, different to yourselves, that it's challenging,

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that dominant, worldview, if you like, that

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that presents itself as all encompassing as generalizable.

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There are, you know,

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we have super diversity in our classrooms, whether the UK

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or Australia, and the,

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and this diversity is an asset now, we, we felt that

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simply decontextualized, learning or,

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and then translating to knowing about the other is not going

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to, translate necessarily to the imperative

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to be more responsive.

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And we, we felt that the, a level of criticality needed

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to be there, an orientation that Veda prepares an educator

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with the encounter, with their Muslim learn

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and critical dialogue to be able to see the cultural,

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religious ways of knowing and the aspects of identity,

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seeing them as assets

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to be brought into the classroom instead of

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to be left at the classroom door.

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Uh, and we felt that would be,

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it's less about competency being competent.

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You can't walk in another person's shoes.

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You can't know what it means to be Muslim,

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or what it means to be aboriginal

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or what it means to be from another background.

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But, that critical dialogue and, and,

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and, relationality

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and humility to get to want to get to know the other,

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we felt, is better preparation for educators who aspire

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to be responsive to the full diversity,

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and in our case, to the diversity of

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what is a vulnerable Muslim learner.

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Some of the exciting implications are, which I think all

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educators are drawn to, is this, is, is deeper learning.

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When the lives, the life worlds of learners, all

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of the assets they bring, their cultural knowledges,

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their religious and spiritual knowledges, even their ways

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of teaching and learning, which we draw from faith,

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from family, from community, when that can, can,

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can transact in the classroom with the official knowledge

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of curriculum, all

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of a sudden it's more relevant to students' lives.

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There's more, opportunities for really deep

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and embedded learning and enrich the learning.

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Uh, these are some, I think of the outcomes now for us,

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the preparedness of, you know, pre-service educators

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or initial teachers initial in,

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in initial teacher education programs.

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Uh, we, we again, suspect or, or,

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or, you know, we suspect

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that simply learning decontextualized knowledge about Islam

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or Muslims is going to feel, allow them to be more confident

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or give them better preparation.

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That we feel that this notion of preparing, educators

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around what it means to be culturally responsive pedagogy

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for all learners, diverse learners,

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but including in this instance with some nuance

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around the vulnerable Muslim learner, that we feel

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that those opportunities, present,

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you know, are very, very hopeful.

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We're seeing an era where I think it's,

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it's moving from the margins

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to finding itself within policy.

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Now, of course, there's many researchers would be interested

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in that gap, that all important gap

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between policy and enactment.

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And I think that's the era that we begin.

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And that's where, I mean, am I hopeful?

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I'm absolutely hopeful,

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and I think anyone that's in education, has a sense

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of hopefulness for the future.

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Uh, education is about creating

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and recreating, the nation, right?

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So of course, I remain hopeful.

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Uh, much work needs to be done though in, in terms of the,

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the enactment and the gap between what, what,

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what fortunately is, is finding itself within policy,

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but then seeing that, translate into practice for us.

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Um, we're, we are currently in the midst of, working

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with initial teacher in, in initial teacher education

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and, through exposure to cultural responsive pedagogy

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and looking at educators that are,

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coming in across cultural responsive pedagogy in the Muslim

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learner, where we are interested in following that journey.

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Uh, we have done some research

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where it's picked up on the initial,

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there are some contestations, I think some of it's around,

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there's a very dominant conceptualization

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of the word secular in education.

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So secular in education,

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which is something we're challenging, tends to,

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in the current era, be seen as a total separation

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of religion or erasure of religion.

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Now, we're not necessarily, we we're certainly not,

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advocating or promoting, the teaching of religion

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for faith formation in public schools.

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We're, we're rather challenging, but spiritual

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and religious, ways of knowing knowledges, are part

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of learners' identities and the potential assets for learn.

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And some educators are very challenged by this because

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I think we've become accustomed to

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that very strong version of secular, which points

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to anti-religion, no religion or eraser of religion.

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Religion. But the reality is we live in a super diverse

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global, global world

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where religions spiritually are not going away.

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Uh, so to ask them to be left at the classroom door,

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where arguing is, is, is can, or intuitive, you could say.

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But further than that, unjust.

00:00  - Let's start with, with a little bit about the background. I think, um, myself, uh, one of the three authors, uh, we're members of the Center for Islamic Thought and Education at the University of South Australia. Uh, we work closely and collaboratively with, uh, around research, around culturally responsive pedagogy,

00:16  - as you mentioned, um, with us, with a focus on the Muslim learner, but within our collaborative and within our university, part of the broader effort around cultural responsive pedagogy, of which we have some leading proponents at our university. But I think a really fascinating backdrop to this particular chapter, uh, is we were the horrific events of Christchurch in New Zealand.

00:41  - Um, so this chapter was written just after that, the lead author, professor Muhammad Abdullah, both as an academic, but he's also, uh, a religious and community leader. He visited the Christchurch community just days after that horrific, uh, attack. For those that that are not aware, um, uh, an Australian gunman, um, entered into, uh, a series of moss and the result being the slang of 51 people and many more injured.

01:10  - And from that tragedy and from that unnecessary, uh, occurrence, uh, professor Abdullah, upon visiting that community, he came back with a very clear message from the voices, from the perspectives, um, of those that were, I guess, healing in that community that they wanted to see confronted, I guess. Um, they wanted the, the cycle of hate and prejudice to be broken.

01:40  - And I think that was a real driver for Professor Abdullah when he came back. Now, I have to say, unfortunately, sadly for us as researchers and indeed the Muslim community, and I think it's really captured beautifully by someone who's quite well known in the media, who is a Muslim in Australia, uh, will lead Ali. He's, uh, one of the producers on what's called the project here in Australia.

02:05  - And, and he, he said something which really reverberated now is, and just to to paraphrase him, he said it live on Australian tv. The most dishonest thing would be to say that I'm shocked. I'm simply not. If we're honest, we will know that this has been coming. And I think that was the sentiment of the broader Australian Muslim community. And this is as a backdrop of our research looking well, what is the impact, um, on the

02:36  - proj pejorative political and media discourse and the othering of Muslims? What is the impact on the Muslim learner in the public school classroom in Australia? Uh, and there are increasing numbers of Muslim learners in the classroom. So that's the backdrop I think, of some of our work around cultural responsive pedagogy and the Muslim learner. So our full rationales for cultural responsive pedagogy and the Muslim

02:58  - Learner, uh, one is the rapid rise of super diversity insights of learning, uh, definitely a feature in Australia, but we can see across the globe two, the often overlooked super complexity of the Australian Muslim learning learner community. Often it centers a homogenous group, but there's super diversity within three, as I've mentioned, prevailing discourses and narratives that that dehumanize and marginalize Muslim peoples

03:25  - and potentially impose a deficit view on Islam or Muslim peoples four, the urgent need to support the professional learning and growth of educators so they can be responsive to the strengths and needs of Muslim learners. And those four rationales, uh, are undergirding our research focus. So cultural responsive pedagogy has a long history, and when we are talking about cultural responsive pedagogy in a, in a, in a general sense of which our co contributors,

03:56  - um, are advancing, uh, cultural responsive pedagogy amounts to good teaching for super diverse classrooms, increasingly in Australia, and I imagine also in in the uk. Um, and, and across the world. For us, our efforts towards cultural responsive pedagogy were, were certainly motivated by a key policy text in Australia, what's called the Australian Professional Standards of Teachers. It wouldn't be, uh, alone in the Australian context,

04:26  - and there'd be similar policies across, but here in Australia, uh, the Australian professional standards call for educators to one, know their students, two, know how they learn, and three, demonstrate teaching strategies responsive to the learning strengths and needs of students from diverse, linguistic, cultural, religious, and socioeconomic backgrounds. And this was something that's motivating us and motivating, motivating Our research was to examine,

04:56  - well, how are educators going about and how are they encountering what, what we see as a vulnerable Muslim learner cohort in the backdrop of this policy imperative to be knowing their learners and to be engaging them. And when we began thinking about culturally responsive pedagogy, our concern was that there's a de, there's a, a well-documented and researched finding that there's a knowledge gap in Australia about Islam and Muslims.

05:24  - And the presumption is that if we teach more about Islam and Muslims, that that would fill that knowledge gap and lead to, uh, well in the context of the classroom educators better able to fulfill that. And we were very, um, skeptical of such a presumption. Uh, and thus for us, we really tried to broaden this concept of culturally responsive pedagogy to unsettle the deficit views that are often hold, held, uh, in a broader, um, you know, sphere in society around Islam and Muslims.

05:58  - And we began to ask, what is the impact of the dominant negative discourse on Islam and Muslims on the preparedness for educators to engage with their Muslim learners in practice? And we began to think, well, cultural responsive pedagogy is about seeing, uh, the full gamut of learner identity. So let's take the Muslim identity, appreciating their cultural linguistic and appreciating that for many who identify with religion

06:28  - as one of their identity attributes, that religious and spiritual ways of knowing, uh, fundamental to their life worlds and fundamental to their ways of knowing, their ways of being and their ways of doing. So, for us, cultural responsive pedagogy is less just about picking up decontextualized knowledge about Islam and Muslims and being more responsive by drawing on these as assets for teaching and learning, decontextualize knowing or learning about the other, um,

06:58  - without minus the encounter, minus the relational piece, minus the encounter of getting to know, um, people funda, you know, different to yourselves, that it's challenging, that dominant, uh, worldview, if you like, that that presents itself as all encompassing as generalizable. There are, you know, we have super diversity in our classrooms, whether the UK or Australia, and the, and this diversity is an asset now, we, we felt that simply decontextualized, uh, learning or,

07:30  - and then translating to knowing about the other is not going to, um, translate necessarily to the imperative to be more responsive. And we, we felt that the, a level of criticality needed to be there, an orientation that Veda prepares an educator with the encounter, with their Muslim learn and critical dialogue to be able to see the cultural, religious ways of knowing and the aspects of identity, seeing them as assets to be brought into the classroom instead of

08:01  - to be left at the classroom door. Uh, and we felt that would be, it's less about competency being competent. You can't walk in another person's shoes. You can't know what it means to be Muslim, uh, or what it means to be aboriginal or what it means to be from another background. But, um, that critical dialogue and, and, and, uh, relationality and humility to get to want to get to know the other, uh,

08:28  - we felt, uh, is better preparation for educators who aspire to be responsive to the full diversity, and in our case, to the diversity of what is a vulnerable Muslim learner. Some of the exciting implications are, which I think all educators are drawn to, is this, is, is deeper learning. When the lives, the life worlds of learners, all of the assets they bring, their cultural knowledges, their religious and spiritual knowledges, even their ways of teaching and learning, which we draw from faith,

08:57  - from family, from community, when that can, can, can transact in the classroom with the official knowledge of curriculum, all of a sudden it's more relevant to students' lives. There's more, uh, opportunities for really deep and embedded learning and enrich the learning. Uh, these are some, I think of the outcomes now for us, uh, the preparedness of, you know, pre-service educators or initial teachers initial in, in initial teacher education programs.

09:26  - Uh, we, we again, uh, suspect or, or, or, you know, we suspect that simply learning decontextualized knowledge about Islam or Muslims is going to feel, allow them to be more confident or give them better preparation. That we feel that this notion of preparing, uh, educators around what it means to be culturally responsive pedagogy for all learners, diverse learners, but including in this instance with some nuance around the vulnerable Muslim learner, that we feel

09:55  - that those opportunities, uh, present, you know, are very, very hopeful. We're seeing an era where I think it's, it's moving from the margins to finding itself within policy. Now, of course, there's many researchers would be interested in that gap, that all important gap between policy and enactment. And I think that's the era that we begin. And that's where, I mean, am I hopeful?

10:16  - I'm absolutely hopeful, and I think anyone that's in education, uh, has a sense of hopefulness for the future. Uh, education is about creating and recreating, uh, the nation, right? So of course, uh, I remain hopeful. Uh, much work needs to be done though in, in terms of the, the enactment and the gap between what, what, what fortunately is, is finding itself within policy, but then seeing that, uh, translate into practice for us.

10:44  - Um, we're, we are currently in the midst of, uh, working with initial teacher in, in initial teacher education and, uh, through exposure to cultural responsive pedagogy and looking at educators that are, um, coming in across cultural responsive pedagogy in the Muslim learner, where we are interested in following that journey. Uh, we have done some research where it's picked up on the initial, um, there are some contestations, I think some of it's around, there's a very dominant conceptualization

11:16  - of the word secular in education. So secular in education, which is something we're challenging, uh, tends to, in the current era, be seen as a total separation of religion or erasure of religion. Now, we're not necessarily, uh, we we're certainly not, um, advocating or promoting, uh, the teaching of religion for faith formation in public schools. We're, we're rather challenging, but spiritual and religious, uh, ways of knowing knowledges, uh, are part

11:46  - of learners' identities and the potential assets for learn. And some educators are very challenged by this because I think we've become accustomed to that very strong version of secular, which points to anti-religion, no religion or eraser of religion. Religion. But the reality is we live in a super diverse global, global world where religions spiritually are not going away. Uh, so to ask them to be left at the classroom door, uh, where arguing is, is, is can, or intuitive, you could say.

12:18  - But further than that, unjust.

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