ABSTRACT
Many British Muslim schoolchildren have a dichotomous educational experience; they attend parallel education systems, that is, state-funded mainstream schools during the school day and religious classes at mosques or madrasahs after school. Halaqah is an Islamic oral pedagogy instituted by the Prophet Muhammad, in his tarbiyah of early Muslims, first in Dar-al-Arqam and later in his mosque in Medina. Since then, halaqah are to be found in every Muslim community, in homes, mosques, under trees, in literary and intellectual salons, and within educational institutions. According to participants, halaqah is ‘supportive’ because it encourages children’s voice; however, they also value the teacher’s role in steering and supporting the dialogue to ensure that it is purposeful. Halaqah is conducted daily and is the core of a thematic curriculum, designed to generate contextualised and connected learning that draws on learners’ personal circumstances and existing knowledge, in order to imbue meaning and purpose into schooling.
