With partners:
Professional Development, Humanities and Interpersonal Development Resources
Languages Multicultural Education Resources Centre (LMERC) has many videos and texts relating to religions and cultures. For example, useful information about Islam:
- Muslims in Australia, Video Education Australasia, 2001. 305.6971094 MUS video
- Muslim Communities in Australia, UNSW Press, Sydney, 2001. 305.6971094 MUS text
- Negus, G., The World from Islam, Harper Collins, Sydney, 2003. 261.2 NEG text
- Ben Jelloun, T., Islam explained, New York Press, New York, 2002. 297 BEN text
Check LMERC’s catalogue at http://www.sofweb.vic.edu.au/lem/lmerc/lib_online_cat.htm
Many religious and welfare organisations can provide information, guest speakers and workshops. These organisations can also assist with excursions. For example the Australian Intercultural Society, which seeks to promote interfaith dialogue and harmony, has a website which carries information about religions and festival dates. This site also includes an events calendar which has information about matters such as mosque open days: www.intercultural.org.au
There are many organisations which support students from Arabic-speaking backgrounds, for example:
- Victorian Arabic Social Services: http://www.vass.org.au/index.html
- Australian Lebanese Welfare Inc: Level 1/ 233 Sydney Rd, Brunswick 3056, ph: 9380 9637; Welfare Services: 11 Munro St, Coburg 3058, ph: (03) 9383 3166.
The Australian Federation of Islamic Councils has information about the Islamic religion and Muslims in Australia. This information is pitched at a level which could be adapted without difficulty for the secondary classroom: http://www.afic.com.au/apislam.htm
Islamic Network Groups (ING), a US based group, seeks to eliminate stereotypes through education. It has compiled tips for teachers covering: how to deal with personal views; information about the backgrounds of Middle Eastern and Muslim students; and how to discuss current Middle Eastern political issues in the classroom:
http://www.ing.org/prevent_hate/pdfs/tips.pdf
Professor Abdullah Saeed of Melbourne University, as part of a federal government project looking at the role of religion in Australia, has written a brief introductory text aimed at the secondary school student: Muslim Australians: their beliefs, practices and institutions (2004). It is available at http://www.amf.net.au.
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) website has brief, clear overviews of many religions, including Islam. It also includes links to related sites both within the BBC and externally. See http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/
The Islamic Council of Victoria website has information about its services which include social and community activities and Islamic education as well as general information about women and Islam, the history of Muslims in Australia etc. http://www.icv.org.au/index.shtml
The University of Western Sydney’s 39 page publication Working Together with Muslim Clients (2004) focuses on three key areas: cultural diversity awareness theories, Islamic history and teachings and intercultural communication. It is an excellent resource for teachers seeking background information about religion and culture and advice on improving cross-cultural communication, for example, discussions with Muslim parents. Use this link to reach the website, then search for Working Together: http://www.adcet.edu.au
Visit 'Australian MADE' - a not-for-profit organisation concerned with Muslim adolescent development and education. They offer a range of programs that will provide ideas to assist teachers working with Australian Muslim students : http://www.australianmade.org.au/index.htm
The US based website IslamiCity.com is a huge general site on Islam. Among other sections it has an education centre with general information about Islam and Arab culture, history and language: http://www.islamicity.com/education/
The American Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) has produced well-presented, accessible multimedia resources associated with its DVD Islam Empire of Faith. The DVD and resources focus on Islamic arts, faith and culture. Although obviously designed to work with the film, the website houses educational resources which come with suggestions on how activities can be altered for use without the film:http://www.pbs.org/empires/islam/index.html