Cambridge Dialogues: Renewing K-12 Education in Islamic Contexts

Why Cambridge?

The University of Cambridge Faculty of Education has long-standing historical links with the movement that emerged from the World Conferences on Muslim Education which ran between 1977 to 1996. These conferences aimed to decolonise education in the Muslim-majority nations that had emerged through independence movements that had dismantled colonial empires. They sought to build educational models based on Islamic philosophies of education that could renew intellectual life and rebuild civil society in these newly emergent nations. A key architect of these conferences, Syed Ali Ashraf had settled in Cambridge and founded the Islamic Academy in 1983. The Islamic Academy published the Muslim Education Quarterly Journal between 1983-2006. The Islamic Academy also had an ongoing collaboration with colleagues at the Faculty of Education and its precursors at the University of Cambridge. A complete set of the journal can be found in the Faculty of Education library. 

The Cambridge Dialogues project aims to build on this legacy and develop a roadmap for renewal in the 21st century. 

How do we build this roadmap?

Through dialogic webinars, academic colloquia and ‘stakeholder’ workshops Cambridge Dialogues produces position papers and toolkits to support school leaders, teachers, educators and educational researchers to renew their practice. 

Cambridge Dialogues Phase 1: 2021-23

Cambridge Dialogues members worked collaboratively to produce three ‘Position Papers’. Each of these has been developed into a corresponding toolkit.

1. Paper 1 explored existing projects that are attempting to build an educational model based on Islamic educational philosophy. It led to a toolkit to help school leaders evaluate: How Islamic is my school?

2. Paper 2 created a conceptual map of Islamic pedagogies for educators to think through. It led to a toolkit for school leaders and educators to introduce Islamic pedagogies into their classrooms.

3. Paper 3 developed a multiplex approach to educational research. It led to a toolkit for educational researchers.

Academic Colloquium - 13-15 December 2023

Following regular online sessions over eighteen months, an in-person colloquium was held to bring together the collective work of the group. Over three days in December 2023 core members of the Cambridge Dialogues project gathered at the Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge to chart a roadmap for renewal. We re-explored the foundational questions that had led to and emerged from preparing the draft Position Papers and set a plan for finalising and publishing them. We also shared our own work to identify overlapping threads and priorities for future work.

UK Islamic Schools Stakeholder Workshop - 11-12 December 2023

Full-time Islamic schools in the UK have undoubtedly made significant strides over the past decades. Increasingly, Islamic schools’ top academic rankings, and are acknowledged for significant social impact. Yet, internally, there remains a looming angst over the absence of an educational model we can call our own. As Islamic schools increasingly grapple with how to centre the ‘Islamic’ more deeply and authentically, many are embarking on a process of renewal (tajdid). In the spirit of tajdid, this two day workshop brought together three groups into dialogue, namely, school leaders, university-based academics, and seminary leaders - each contributing with constructive insights from complementary vantage points.

This workshop led to a White Paper published in 2024. The paper identifies themes for further dialogic workshops.

Cambridge Dialogues Phase 2: 2024-26

Phase 2 of the project will involve further online webinars and an in-person academic colloquium and stakeholder workshop is planned for late 2025/early 2026.