Education in a Warzone [Podcast]

In some regions of the Middle East today, conflict impacts students' daily educational experience. Since the 2003 invasion of Iraq, militants have targeted educational establishments, thousands of academics have fled the country, and up to 70% of schools have been closed. People in this region maintain their high regard for education in the face of adversity, as this podcast relates.

Recorded in 2008 to commemorate the fifth anniversary of the allied military invasion of Iraq, this podcast is made by Iraqi journalists about the daily life experiences of Iraqi children trying to pursue an education during a period of war. Young Iraqis report dodging bombs on their way to schools, being forced to discontinue their studies, and having to complete homework assignments without electricity.

ABC Radio National, Speech is Silver, Silence is Gold, April 13, 2008, http://www.abc.net.au/rn/streetstories/stories/2008/2208266.htm (accessed July 1, 2010). Annotated by Heidi Morrison.

Gülen Movement [Literary Excerpt]

Despite media reports in the West that often link Islamic education with radical Islam, there are varieties of modern Islamic education. One such example is the Gülen movement. It has inspired the creation of hundreds of schools funded by Turkish entrepreneurs who are members of the Gülen movement, motivated by Islamic principles but offering nonreligious education, whose students often excel in academic achievement, science competitions, and university admittance rates. Founded in Turkey by Fethullah Gülen and now active in over 50 countries, the Gülen movement is an offshoot of Said Nursi's (1879-1960) Nurcu movement and derived from an understanding of Islam shaped by the secular Turkish context and by ideas formed in conservative Islamic circles. The Gülen movement seeks to implement Islam at an individual level rather than a state level, emphasizes science education rather than religion alone, and conducts interfaith dialogues. Some Turkish secularists believe that he is trying to transform Turkey into an Islamic state under the guise of peacefulness and goodwill, so Gülen lives in self-imposed exile in the U.S. Education of children in the Middle East, like anywhere in the world, is an arena in which larger social issues play out.

Fethullah Gülen, "The Significance of Reading," November 26, 2004 Fethullah Gülen: Understanding and Respect, http://www.fethullahgulen.org/religious-education-of-the-child/1888-the-significance-of-reading.html (accessed July 1, 2010). Annotated by Heidi Morrison.

Education in Post-Colonial Algeria [Newspaper Article]

In the immediate aftermath of independence, post-colonial governments in the Middle East prioritized education as a cornerstone for economic growth. This included revamping the curriculum, turning classrooms, in many instances, into battlegrounds in political and ideological fights. When Algeria obtained its independence from France in 1962, for example, after 132 years of colonization, Algerians determined to forge an identity free from western influence. The arabization of the Algerian school curriculum began in earnest in 1971, banning French and requiring Islamic law and the study of the Qur'an. Today the Algerian government is trying to reverse the momentum of Islamists and aims to reengineer the Algerian identity through the schools.

Michael Slackman, "In Algeria, a Tug of War for Young Minds," New York Times, June 23, 2008, <a class="external" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/23/world/africa/23algeria.html?ref=world">http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/23/world/africa/23algeria.html?ref=world</a> (accessed July 1, 2010). Annotated by Heidi Morrison.

Taha Hussein, Minister of Education [Motto]

In the mid-20th century, countries in the Middle East struggled to establish a post-independence identity. Educational reformers and government officials tried to create national cohesion through expanded schooling, closing the gap between elites educated in private Francophone or Anglophone schools, and the masses of ordinary Egyptians. Taha Hussein (1889-1973) became a towering figure of educational reform in Egyptian 20th-century history. Despite being blind and coming from a poor, rural family, he achieved a high degree of education and power. With an advanced degree from the Sorbonne, Hussein served as academic advisor to the Minister of Education and then as Minister of Education (1950-1952).

Hussein provided a conceptual framework for the development of a centralized national education system focused on schooling for all. He held that schools should be secular, promoting democracy, defending national economies, and maintaining a country's political independence.

Taha Hussein's commitment to spreading literacy is embodied in this motto. When Gamal Abdel Nasser's socialist regime took over in 1962, free education became a way to correct the disparities created by colonialism. Taha Hussein's legacy remains in Egypt until today, particularly because he achieved a high degree of education and erudition despite being blind and coming from a poor, rural family. The Taha Hussein Library at the Bibliotheca Alexandrina provides technological resources to the blind and visually impaired.

Taha Hussein, Motto, c. 1950. Annotated by Heidi Morrison.

"Girls' Education is the Basis of Civilization and Moral Refinement" 1907 [Magazine Article]

At the turn of the 20th century, Tehran published magazines intended to reshape social practices, to "civilize" and "modernize" the nation. Many magazines addressed the education of girls, contending that uneducated mothers resulted in uneducated children and hence a nation that could not advance.

These calls for reform of girls' education came at a time when many countries in the Middle East began to demand independence from colonial powers. They debated the merits of "modernity" (which some understood as "western") and "tradition" (understood as "eastern"). For many nationalists and feminists, "modernity" meant greater education rights for women with the goal of strengthening the nation and its quest for independence from colonization and/or western imperialism.

As part of the nationalist efforts, an increasing number of girls began to be offered access to education. The curriculum for girls usually centered on learning home-making and parenting skills so that the girls could grow up to properly raise the next generation of citizens.

"Girls' Education is the Basis of Civilization and Moral Refinement," True Dawn (February 1907), in Sources in the History of the Modern Middle East by Akram Fouad Khater (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004), 89–90. Annotated by Heidi Morrison.

British Parliamentary Papers [Official Documents]

Despite efforts to resist, by the end of the 19th century, almost all of the Middle East had fallen under the control of European powers. Whether in the form of a protectorate or colony, European powers made changes to the indigenous educational system that impacted children.

Europeans offered European-style education to a very small elite group of Middle Eastern students and this education was intended to shape the children into abiding colonial subjects by teaching them that their civilization was backwards. These government schools created under the Europeans charged tuition that most families could not afford. The majority of children were deemed unfit for modern education and colonialists circulated the idea that Middle Eastern parents did not value education.

Expansion of educational opportunities for non-elite classes was also gradual in Europe, the timeline of legislation similar to policies in lands under colonial rule or protectorates. Efforts to provide basic literacy and prepare students for specific types of career training also followed a pattern of using religious institutions as a base of expansion, adding training in reading, writing, arithmetic, and other subjects to enhance the skill set of future workers and identify talented youth for further training in specialized schools. Such children would receive scholarships or stipends to attend boarding schools organized under military-like discipline. Examples of such institutions were the Muhammad Ali's schools of engineering, military science, and medicine.

The following selection relates to education in Egypt under the British protectorate. The single most common feature of most Egyptian childhoods during the British protectorate was participation in the labor force, particularly the cotton industry on which the Egyptian economy was almost exclusively based. During the protectorate, the demand for labor of children and the acquisition of literacy were inversely related.

Many villages circulated petitions demanding the colonizers provide them with schools, but colonial administrators did not fund widespread education efforts. The British justified a lack of investment in indigenous education by saying it was not desired by parents who were too “dead” to know the value of education, as the following selection indicates. The British also attempted to pit the minority Christian Egyptian parents against Muslim Egyptian parents in their efforts to keep the Egyptian population uneducated.

House of Parliament, "Reports by Her Majesty's Agent and Consul-General on the Finances, Administration, and Condition of Egypt and the Sudan in 1899," (1900). Annotated by Heidi Morrison.

Ottoman Decree, 1856 [Legal Document]

The Ottoman Empire undertook extensive reforms between 1839 and 1876, a period known as the Tanzimat (reorganization). Europeanized Ottoman bureaucrats and a series of decrees from the sultan shaped these reforms that sought administrative, military, legal, and educational improvements. A series of reversals in wars with European powers during the 18th century and the realization that the West had outstripped the Ottomans in scientific and technological advancements, forced the Ottoman government to reevaluate its institutions and introduce changes to the traditional education system.

At the heart of the new direction lay the intent to quell growing nationalist agitation in the European provinces, secure the loyalty of Christian subjects, and break down the millet system that administered legal and communal rights within religious communities. The goal was for secular identity and a common Ottoman citizenship to replace religious affiliation.

This decree highlights the emphasis on placing schools under a central ministry to establish an educational system outside the control of the religious authorities. As in many societies of the time, including those in Europe, children's primary education took place in village and neighborhood religious institutions. There they learned to recite scripture, often acquired basic literacy and numeracy, and were socialized into the rites of their respective religious tradition. These schools were typically staffed by the imam or a person known for learning in the area and paid by the parents through donations or via charitable endowment or donation.

Sultan Abdul Majid, "Islahat Fermani Decree," February 18, 1856 in Akram Fouad Khater's Sources in the History of the Modern Middle East (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004), 16. Annotated by Heidi Morrison.

Devshirme System [Gravure]

The devshirme system began in the late 14th century. Christian boys were recruited by force to serve the Ottoman government. The boys were generally taken from the Balkan provinces, converted to Islam, and then passed through a series of examinations to determine their intelligence and capabilities. In special palace schools, they learned Arabic, Persian, Turkish, math, calligraphy, Islam, horsemanship, and/or weaponry. Working in the sultan's personal services was also part of the overall education, and this entailed assigning the boys to various rooms in the palace to look after such items as the sultan's hunting birds or the sultan's valuables. At the conclusion of each stage of the boys' training, the boys passed through a selection and promotion process. The academic education at the palace schools was one of the finest in the Islamic world and among its aims was to produce obedience, as well as high morals. Because of their loyalty to the state, the boys would become guards, gatekeepers, scribes, pages, governors, soldiers, or prime ministers, depending on their merit and seniority. Although the boys were essentially transformed into state slaves, most considered it an honor as it led to a highly privileged position in Ottoman administration. This system lasted through the 16th century. There is some evidence that some families (including Muslim families) voluntarily put forth their children to be admitted into this system because of the opportunities it provided.

This image shows a group of boys when they were first conscripted. The boys were dressed in red to avoid their escape. Boys were recruited from anywhere between 8 and 20 years of age.

Miniature illustration of the Devishirme, Topkapi Palace, Istanbul. Annotated by Heidi Morrison.

Illustration from The Maqamat of al-Hariri [Painting]

During the Abassid period and onward, children four or older in villages and urban centers began attending schools (maktabs) attached to mosques to obtain a basic education in religious matters. Students in a maktab sat in a semicircle on the floor around the teacher writing their lessons on a tablet and then repeating it back for correction. In this illustration, one boy recites for the teacher while another boy takes his turn pulling the ceiling fan. Attendance at maktabs was voluntary; typically, wealthier families paid for their child to attend and poorer students exchanged the running of a teacher's errands for tuition. Successful students could go on to study with individual scholars at madrasas, which were supported by an endowment.

Generally, girls did not attend schools and when they were educated, if at all, it was in separate facilities or by private tutors. Some women made notable contributions to Islamic scholarship in the medieval period, routinely giving lectures, traveling for knowledge, transmitting and critiquing hadith, and issuing legal decisions. They did so within the cultural conventions of modesty and avoiding, to the extent possible, mixing with men.

Illustration from the Maqamat of al-Hariri, painted by Yahya ibn Mahmud al-Wasiti, from Baghdad, Iraq 1237. Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris. Annotated by Heidi Morrison.

'Abd al-Latif al-Baghdadi's Autobiography [Personal Account]

In medieval times, education was a key factor of Islamic society. It was considered the purpose for which God created man. As such, belief and education were not separated from one another. The first revealed verse of the Qur'an is "Read," demonstrating the value placed on knowledge and learning. Islamic civilization created a golden age of education during the European dark ages. For example, in the 9th century the library of the largest monastery in Europe contained 36 volumes, while Islamic cities, like Cordoba and Baghdad, at that time built public and private libraries with more than 400,000 books. Many of the achievements of the European Renaissance were later based on the accumulated knowledge of medieval Islamic civilization.

The selections from this document provide a glimpse into the education that made a great scholar of the Islamic Middle Ages. During childhood, such an education left little time for rest and play. Also, fathers played a large role in decision-making about a child's academic path. The selections from this autobiography document the important role blind people played as tutors for children in the education system.

Selections from the autobiography of 'Abd al-Latif al-Baghdadi (1162-1231). In Interpreting the Self: Autobiography in the Arabic Literary Tradition, ed. Dwight Reynolds (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2001), 158–9. Annotated by Heidi Morrison.