The Company was established in 2010 by the author; Sofia Adeem.
ICE Publishers is solely responsible for printing, publication and distribution of all course books and supporting material related to the Course of Character Building.

This Character Building program is founded on basic Islamic and universal moral values that are conveyed in accordance with an eclectic pedagogical approach. Values in this syllabus refer to virtues, ideals and qualities that lay the foundation of attitudes, beliefs, conduct and actions. The term morality refers to the practice of the prescribed ethics that are the embodiment of a divine code of conduct, based in this case on religious values and virtues.

LAUNCHING “CHARACTER EDUCATION” FOR MUSLIM SCHOOLS

The Programme has been initiated in the backdrop of conveying ethics to children pedagogically and effectively. This is an approach that is either neglected, inadequately applied or, let us say, in great need of more attention in most Muslim schools of the day.

The aim of this curriculum is to provide the modern Muslim world with a comprehensive ethical educational programme that enlightens and boosts the values of school-aged children, as well as provide them with the necessary moral, emotional and social skills. It is a complementary subject, taught alongside traditional courses. It is designed to educate Muslim children in the areas of self-awareness, empathy, self-control, moral reasoning, problem-solving, self-reflection, self-evaluation and other pedagogical methods that can increase the chances to succeed in the tests of life by becoming a more enlightened, God-conscious, God-fearing, and righteous human being. Simultaneously, this course aids the faculty to develop necessary skill sets to instil these values with utmost efficiency and delicacy.

The uniqueness of the subject is the advanced pedagogical methods behind it. Numerous efforts in terms of smaller programmes have already been made in several Muslim countries. However, the methods for those are according to my research and 16 years of experience, often limited to a few western skill-training techniques inherited by some schools without proper concerns of context and culture. Or they are simply not comprehensive or sufficient to change the course of the wind.

Another common method is through one-sided preaching. Here the children are disciplined by using the old-fashioned, “raised finger approach,” where they are asked to consider terrifying consequences of their actions, particularly the daunting punishments of Hell and by highlighting the extraordinary rewards of Heaven.

Negative approaches of discipline rarely help to achieve the objectives of a character-building programme. Instead, the chances are greater that they will lead them away from even the thought of “serious thinking” because of the unpleasant memories attached. As educational psychology is a rather new subject, the teachings are not always compatible with the child’s cognitive development and psychology as a whole. Educational psychology is not a widely known concept, let alone it being used in curriculum development in most countries. Hence the techniques and subjects used to train the teachers, or to teach children directly are not always attuned with the child’s cognitive development and even basic human psychology in some cases.

For example, pupils of a tender age at entry level, and even at primary level, cannot comprehend with abstract concepts such as Hell and Paradise properly at this stage. Instead, they need to be confronted with examples and issues that relate to their own understanding, experiences and reality in order to properly adapt to the concepts conveyed.

This aspect of learning is probably the most sensitive issue in the making of the whole community and even societies at times. And this very issue has always failed to gain serious attention though most of us are aware that it is a problem. This course tries to give a very practical execution strategy of how ethics can be delivered accurately and efficiently to sensitive and tender minds of children with every passing grade while they climb the ladder every year.

Moreover, the teaching material of religious institutions is too often heavily reliant upon stories from “olden times” and references to historical and religious events. Such approaches alone are not suitable for children of the modern era, as they can often be perceived as alienating.

Effective ways to have the children adopt moral values require comprehensive, familiar, interesting, involving and motivating methods as positive reinforcement. This Character Building curriculum is an attempt at teaching morals based on various methods of educational psychology that are grounded in pedagogical concerns. It also takes into consideration the different levels and styles of learning.

The approach of this course, should In Sha Allah be a turning point in the educational traditions of religious education for Muslim communities all over the world. All types of stories, real events, audio stories, role-playing, creative and involving pedagogical activities and exercises, involving questions, training forums of problem-solving and mediation, methods of positive reinforcement (which is in line with the teaching of Islam), skill training techniques and strategies, coaching and cueing, motivational self-reading, humour and jokes with a purpose, appropriate use of quotations and sayings, delicately placed Quranic verses and Hadiths – have creatively been compounded in an attempt to involve, motivate and develop the pupils mind-sets.

With almost no homework and no grading, but lots of stories, interactive communication, playing, untraditional activities and exercises, which are all presented with a touch of entertainment, we hope this course will become one of the children’s favourite subjects. What is the use of worldly education if our children do not develop to be good human beings? This is a subject where a child’s basic roots are strengthened as well as instilling in them an Islamic foundation. It has been said by learned educationists that this complete ethical grooming programme might be one of the first serious international attempts of Integrated Character Education for Muslims in modern times. A need which has been left unaddressed for too long, but now finally available. It is my sincere wish and prayer that this syllabus may inspire teachers, educators and parents to reach out to children and teenagers with ethics conveyed in more creative and motivational teaching styles. Approaches of teaching that go hand in hand with:

• The psychology of the child.
• Methods that motivate and boost children’s moral characters in a natural rather than imposing manner.
• That are constructive as well as effective in the longer term.

May this effort, by the grace of Allah, be a beginning of a trend of teaching ethics through the institution of school and home schooling based on Islamic values and pedagogical methods of teaching. Ameen.