Curriculum Competencies

Radicalization of thoughts and beliefs typically stems from marginalization, isolation, lack of belonging, and grievances. Following this course, participants will be able to identify critical steps and precursors that can be attributed to student displacement and disconnection with the potential to lead to radicalization. 

Lack of inclusivity and belonging in schools may cause negative educational and social outcomes for students. Fostering inclusivity improves educational outcomes as well as both student and teacher well-being. During this course, participants will reflect on their classroom management strategies in mitigating biases and explore approaches to improve inclusivity and tolerance in the classroom.

Increasing knowledge of the values and beliefs of Islam can help to increase religious, ethnic, and racial tolerance towards those who practice not only this faith but all faiths. Educators cannot effectively mitigate biases among their students if they do not fully understand and address their own biases. Within this course, participants will review their own understanding of Islamic values and beliefs. Participants will subsequently reflect on how this compares to the lived experiences and perceptions of Muslims. 

Participants will learn through the experiences of scholars, writers, and educators in the fields of psychology, philosophy of education, and anti-bias scholarship. Following this, participants will deepen their learning via sharing and critical reflection of their own experiences and the experiences of fellow educators taking the Voices course. 

To build moral resilience, as an educator, is to build a culture of courage in inquiry, openness in self-expression, and strength of character in the face of bias, witnessed or experienced. Moral resilience counters feelings of powerlessness or futility. Further, this protective tool assists students in becoming resilient towards violent thoughts and action. During this course, participants will learn methods to develop student’s moral resilience in schools to enrich their academic outcomes and social connectedness. 

Violence appears in various forms and can similarly manifest in numerous ways within schools. During this course, participants will analyze different types of violence, methods to mitigate them, and cultivate transformative practices to improve tolerance, understanding, and inclusivity.

Personal positionality can impact how aware one is of biases that occur in schools and curriculums. Being aware of one’s implicit biases can help create an inclusive and open classroom environment. Through this course, participants will be able to explore and become further aware of their positionality.

Social Connectedness can be fostered through community partnerships, mentorship, peer to peer bonds, and amplifying self-confidence. In the course, participants will explore the role of mentorships in social connectedness, methods to build such empowering relationships, and the importance of creating social connectedness in schools. The implications for a lack of social connectedness will be discussed considering its effects on both the educator's relationship to their students but also the relationship between students in the classroom.