Virtual Learning as a Tool for Civic Engagement: Lessons from Al-Fatih Academy

• In Event: Faith-Based American Muslim Education: Challenges and Achievements

Abstract

The ubiquity of virtual media in the everyday lives of youth has fundamentally altered the ways in which K-12 educators design and implement the curriculum, raising novel questions over the ethics of online learning. Against the backdrop of research on the negative outcomes of online learning on student mental health and academic progress during the COVID-19 pandemic, this study explores why the experiment went so smoothly at Al-Fatih Academy, a private K-8th grade Islamic school in Reston, Virginia (Johnson 2021; Smith 2022). Its overarching goal is to describe how the cultivation of rahma, Islamic term for compassion, is both engendered by and propels an existential American story of remaking a pastoral ideal through the very technological advancements that otherwise threaten to fracture us into warring tribes.

The growing suspicions surrounding virtual learning in the field of K-12 education reflects long standing critiques of technology in academia. Critics argue that technology often fragments communities into binary identities based on gender, class, race, and other social categories. This framing creates an “us vs. them” mentality, leading to echo chambers where stereotypes resurface and empathy declines (Fuchs 2017; Noble 2018). In contrast, cyberfeminists like Plant (1997) and Haraway (1991) embrace digital technology, positing that it has the potential to transform human relationships and challenge gender norms. One of the most contentious norms is motherhood. It is commonly assumed that digital technology alienates mothers from their children, as both parties passively consume the screen to meet societal expectations of their respective identities at the expense of neglecting the quality time needed to nurture their bond (McRobbie 2009; Wood 2021). However, the aspirations of Reston’s developers to design a network of cyber villages where new advancements in digital technology consolidated work, leisure, and family time has empowered the Muslim women educators at Al-Fatih Academy to redefine motherhood. They view it as an active, engaging role that incorporates emotional intelligence for both students and their families into the curriculum, thereby elevating the seemingly domestic role of caretaking and nurturing as essential for professional growth and development.

To thread a link between Reston’s developers and Al-Fatih’s educators regarding a shared vision of a healthy community, I collected the prospective visualizations (images, renderings, and simulations) of Reston before the town was built and conducted fieldwork, shadowing and interviewing Al-Fatih Academy’s principal, and holding semi-structured interviews with teachers, the counselor, and head of Parent Teacher Association. The visuals allude to the resurgence of motherhood in the age of digital technology while the fieldnotes point to an emergent religiosity which the images do not foresee, Islam. Central to the narrative is the daily afternoon zuhr prayers on Google Meet, which allowed all the stakeholders (staff, students, and their families) to sustain fellowship during the COVID-19 lockdowns.

Ultimately, this case study illustrates that technology is not a neutral entity but rather a medium through which women develop specific ritual practices of communicating that are grounded in their insights on emotional intelligence from caretaking responsibilities, thereby redefining motherhood in the educational landscape.

Author

• Sher Afgan Tareen