Teachers and parents make considerable sacrifices to affiliate themselves with Islamic schools. As they commit to Islamic education, they acquire certain expectations that they want their school to fulfill. The purpose of this study was to explore the academic, social, and cultural expectations of five teachers and five parents in an Islamic School on the West Coast in order understand how these expectations could be fulfilled in other Islamic schools across the United States. The main research questions of this study were: What are the academic, social, and cultural expectations that parents and teachers have of their Islamic schools? To what extent are Islamic schools meeting the expectations of parents and teachers? Qualitative, phenomenological research methods were used for the design of this study along with a purposeful sampling of teachers and parents, triangulation of data sources, and a thorough coding process.
Findings from the study supported that teachers and parents expected children to be knowledgeable about Islam in its broadest and deepest interpretations. Additionally, teachers and parents expected children to apply their knowledge of Islam in their everyday lives. Lastly, the degree that expectations were met depended on the support that teachers and parents received from their school community. When teachers and parents felt encouraged by school stakeholders, their expectations were generally fulfilled. Conversely, when teachers and parents felt that their needs were overlooked by school stakeholders, their expectations tended to remain unmet. Conclusions from the study explored ways to bridge the gap between met and unmet expectations of teachers and parents. Implications invited teachers and parents to move beyond expectations toward transformative educational experiences for children in Islamic schools.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:pdx.edu/oai:pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu:open_access_etds-5440 |
| Date | 08 June 2018 |
| Creators | Ahmed, Julia Marie |
| Publisher | PDXScholar |
| Source Sets | Portland State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | Dissertations and Theses |
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