Pedagogy as Dialogue between Cultures: Exploring Halaqah: an Islamic dialogic pedagogy that acts as a vehicle for developing Muslim children’s shakhsiyah (personhood, autonomy, identity) in a pluralist society Farah Ahmed Wolfson College Faculty of Education University of Cambridge Supervisor: Linda Hargreaves This dissertation is submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy December 2017 Copyright © 2017 Farah Ahmed Declaration This dissertation is the result of my own work and includes nothing which is the outcome of work done in collaboration except as declared in the Preface and specified in the text. It is not substantially the same as any that I have submitted, or, is being concurrently submitted for a degree or diploma or other qualification at the University of Cambridge or any other University or similar institution except as declared in the Preface and specified in the text. I further state that no substantial part of my dissertation has already been submitted, or, is being concurrently submitted for any such degree, diploma or other qualification at the University of Cambridge or any other University or similar institution except as declared in the Preface and specified in the text It does not exceed the prescribed word limit for the relevant Degree Committee. i ii For Mustafa Ali iii iv Acknowledgements I would like to thank my supervisor, Linda Hargreaves for her unfailing guidance, support, encouragement and kindness. I am grateful for her willingness to continue to supervise me after a lengthy intermission. I am also grateful to my college tutor, David Frost for his considered advice during intermission, and to Ruth Kershner for her ongoing support as advisor. I am grateful to the SEDA team for including me in their work and to Elisa Calcagni for assisting with the SEDA coding check. I am indebted to the trustees of Islamic Shakhsiyah Foundation, who have supported my research. This thesis would not have been possible without the children and young people who participated. I would like to thank them for their open and candid contributions. I am also grateful to my colleagues in Shakhsiyah Schools, for assisting with some open thematic coding and testing, and for their willingness to lend an ear. I would like to thank my daughters for their prodigious patience with me, especially during school holidays. I am grateful to my parents and wider family for their ongoing thoughtfulness and help during some difficult times. Lastly, I am grateful to my husband for ensuring I remained focused on my aims, and clear about my nīyyah (intention). v vi Abstract This thesis presents an argument for the use of dialogic halaqah to develop the personal autonomy of young Muslims in twenty-first century Britain. It begins by developing a theoretical grounding for Islamic conceptualisations of personal autonomy and dialogic pedagogy. In doing so, it aims to generate dialogue between Islamic and ‘western’ educational traditions, and to clarify the theoretical foundation of halaqah, a traditional Islamic oral pedagogy, that has been adapted to meet the educational needs of Muslim children in contemporary Britain. Dialogic halaqah is daily practice in two independent British Muslim faith-schools, providing a safe space for young Muslims to cumulatively explore challenging issues, in order to facilitate the development of selfhood, hybrid identity and personal autonomy, theorised as shakhsiyah Islamiyah. This thesis examines the relationship between thought, language, and the development of personal autonomy in neo-Ghazalian, Vygotskian and Bakhtinian traditions, and suggests the possibility of understanding shakhsiyah Islamiyah as a dialogical Muslim-self. This theoretical work underpins an empirical study of data generated through dialogic halaqah held with groups of schoolchildren and young people. Using established analytic schemes, data from these sessions are subjected to both thematic and dialogue analyses. Emergent themes relating to autonomy and choice, independent and critical thinking, navigating authority, peer pressure, and choosing to be Muslim are explored. Themes related to halaqah as dialogic pedagogy, whether and how it supports the development of agency, resilience and independent thinking, and teacher and learner roles in halaqah, are examined. Moreover, findings from dialogue analysis, which evaluates the quality of educational dialogue generated within halaqah, that is, participants’ capacity to engage in dialogue with each other, as well as with an imagined secular other, are presented. The quality of the dialogic interactions is evaluated, as is evidence of individual participant’s autonomy in their communicative actions. vii viii Table of Contents Preface 1 Part I A Dialogic Journey 1 Part II Shakhsiyah Schools - Contemporaneous Events 3 Chapter 1 Introduction: Pedagogy as Dialogue between Cultures 11 1.1 Outline of the thesis 12 1.2 The socio-political context 14 1.3 Muslims in the UK, Islamic faith and supplementary schools 15 1.4 Muslims, education and integration 15 1.5 Identity, autonomy and selfhood: Tarbīyah for Shakhsiyah (educating for 19 identity) 1.6 Islamic education, personal autonomy and dialogic pedagogy 21 1.7 Theoretical research questions 24 Chapter 2 Philosophical Contentions: personal autonomy and shakhsiyah, 25 developing an Islamic theory of personhood 2.1 Secular-liberal theory, education and personal autonomy 26 2.2 The liberal dilemma 27 2.3 Secular-liberal societies and faith-education 28 2.4 An Islamic worldview 31 2.5 Islamic educational theory and personal autonomy: the Muslim self in 33 secular-liberal societies 2.6 Defining Islamic Education 35 2.7 Facing difficult questions: Islamic education, teacher authority and 37 learner autonomy 2.8 Autonomy as Selfhood 40 2.9 Shakhsiyah Islamiyah as Muslim Selfhood 41 2.10 Shakhsiyah Islamiyah as a dialogical Muslim-self 43 Chapter 3 Pedagogy: educational dialogue and halaqah, developing a theory of 47 dialogic Islamic education 3.1 Authority and autonomy in the educational dialogue literature 48 3.2 Halaqah: dialogic pedagogy and practice in Shakhsiyah Schools 54 3.2.1 What is halaqah and how is it practised? 55 3.2.2 Halaqah in Shakhsiyah Schools 56 3.3 Synthesising Islamic and educational dialogic traditions: challenges and 61 possibilities 3.4 Traditional Islamic education and the embodied Quranic self 61 3.5 Education as Tarbīyah: halaqah as critical dialogic pedagogy 62 3.5.1 Critical dialogic pedagogy 63 3.5.2 Culture and dialogic pedagogy 65 3.6 Ta’līm: halaqah as cognitive dialogic pedagogy 67 3.6.1 Knowledge, thought, speech and language 68 3.7 T’ādib wa Tazkiyah: halaqah as ontological dialogic pedagogy 72 3.8 From theoretical inquiry to an empirical study 76 ix 3.8.1 Empirical research questions 78 Chapter 4 Methodology and research design 79 4.1 Establishing a research paradigm: locating Islamic research in the 79 indigenous research discourse 4.2 An Islamic research methodology, and halaqah as data collection method 80 4.3 Scrutinising an existing research methodology: Religious identity in 86 Muslim adolescents 4.4 Insider research 88 4.4.1 Researcher Situatedness: Political context 90 4.5 An intrinsic qualitative case study 92 4.6 Data collection, timescales and participants 94 4.7 Ethical considerations 97 4.8 Data Analysis 100 4.8.1 Thematic Analysis 101 4.8.2 Dialogue Analysis 103 4.8.3 Evaluating individual participants as autonomous dialogical 109 Muslim-selves 4.9 Internal and External Validity 111 4.9.1 Internal Validity: Authenticity and Trustworthiness 111 4.9.2 External Validity: Reliability and Generalisation 114 4.10 A unique case study offering insight into the potential for pedagogy to 116 act as a dialogue between cultures Chapter 5 Autonomy, Islam and Shakhsiyah Islamiyah: Findings and 117 Discussion from the Thematic Analysis 5.1. Childhood and adulthood 120 5.1.1 Learning to be autonomous 120 5.1.2 Age of maturity, autonomy, responsibility and accountability 121 5.2 Thinking independently - in relation to authority, to others, and to outside 122 influences 5.2.1 Questioning and critical thinking 123 5.2.2 Being an individual and confident in yourself 124 5.2.3 Parents and family 126 5.2.4 Teachers and School 127 5.2.5 Friends and peer pressure 128 5.2.6 Societal Norms and Islamic norms 130 5.3 Exercising Autonomy - making choices and decisions, choosing to be 132 Muslim 5.3.1 Making the Right choice 132 5.3.2 Choosing to Be Muslim 133 5.3.3 Choosing to practise Islamic teachings and choosing between 141 variations within Islam 5.3.4 Being an autonomous Muslim means being responsible 144 5.3.5 Having a point of reference for making decisions 145 5.4 Shakhsiyah Islamiyah as a Dialogical Muslim Self 147 5.4.1 Character and the Dialogical Muslim-self 147 x 5.4.2 The Muslim’s dialogical relationship with her self: Self- 151 evaluation and reflexivity 5.5 Discussion 152 Chapter 6 Halaqah as Islamic Dialogic Pedagogy for Developing Shakhsiyah: 157 Findings and Discussion 6.1 Halaqah as dialogic pedagogy 158 6.1.1 A collaborative Islamic oral circle of learning 159 6.1.2 Children’s voice and teacher’s role 160 6.1.3 Positioning, dialogue, and differing perspectives 163 6.1.4 Contextual, purposeful, cumulative and thematic learning 165 6.2 Halaqah in comparison to other forms of education 166 6.2.1 Secular mainstream education 167 6.2.2 GCSE and A-Level Islamic Studies 168 6.2.3 Traditional Islamic education 169 6.2.4 Contemporary Islamic education and other halaqah 171 6.3 Developing shakhsiyah Islamiyah