About the Art of Knowing Curriculum
Research-designed curriculum
The Art of Knowing Curriculum grows out of our relationships with local schools, communities, families and youth. We began teaching a class at a local Muslim elementary school in fall 2022 that was the foundation to our curriculum. This class eventually led to our research partnership with Medina Montessori School. In the 23-24 school year, we studied a year-long class, as we taught The Art of Knowing curriculum with a community artist-educator, as a weekly extracurricular class. Through the research study, we explore the possibilities of teaching science through a non-western perspective and creating a space for young people to imagine possible futures through thinking not only about what is taught, but also about the teaching practices, activities, and artifacts in the classroom. Through the teaching, we have produced a curriculum that draws from classical Muslim structures of knowledge, and utilizes pre-colonial literature from the Muslim world to explore with students through engaging with art and storywork how they know what they know and how they relate to and act on what they know.
Why are we doing this?
This project brings the philosophy of science to elementary education to envision more culturally responsive and sustaining science learning. We believe teaching culturally responsive and sustaining scientific literacy in relation to ethical decision-making and current environmental questions are central to social studies and civic education.
The current environmental crises and the recent public health crises highlighted the importance of science education in political and public life. Civic engagement in STEM courses has become a necessity as science should be taught and practiced with consideration of its political and moral implications. The challenges of recent and current health and environmental crises calls for a cultural-historical perspective of scientific knowledge that re-orients scientific education. Furthermore, religious epistemologies play a significant role in civic education, hence the importance of inviting a Muslim perspective on science and welcoming Muslim ways of knowing to science curriculum.
