INSTRUCTOR

What does an ideal Fawakih-Powered Instructor look like?

The ideal instructor aligns with the mission and values of the Fawakih curriculum. This includes a foundation in Arabic (having formally studied grammar, morphology, and rhetoric), but additionally, a passion and deep connection with the language of the Qur’an.

The best instructors will align closely with the Fawakih curriculum and slides, and will utilize the full breadth of resources available. They will support and encourage students to make progress on quizzes, as well as utilize the textbook and any other resources (like the vocab app) fully.

Whereas typically Arabic instructors focus on Muhadathah (speaking), the Fawakih program does not require this from students nor instructors, as priority is given to input (comprehension) and not output (speaking and writing skills). Most instructors do have the ability to communicate in Arabic, but more critical than that is the ability to effectively teach the concepts in English.

Fawakih has historically aimed to cultivate and train instructors from underrepresented groups, including females, those of non-Arabic speaking backgrounds, and new Muslims. Though over a decade of effort in this area, we are proud to have a very diverse instructor body, including majority of whom are originally non from Arabic speaking backgrounds and we have maintained nearly a 50:50 male to female ratio of instructors over the years.

What does being a part of the Fawakih Instructor Network provide?

Fawakih has a wide network of over 50 Qur’anic Arabic instructors, which include current and former Fawakih teachers (as well as graduates from the 6-level program) and can provide some basic recruitment advice and connections, as needed.

Instructor Training, Retreats, and Summits

Fawakih has run a number of instructor trainings and retreats. These are done online as well as offsite locations, in which instructors from a variety of teaching environments, using the Fawakih curriculum, can gather, share experiences and best practices, challenges, and support one another. This is also an opportunity for the Fawakih team to update instructors on new resources, curriculum updates and enhancements, as well as upcoming programs.

When an instructor joins a Fawakih-Powered program, they are provided with:

1. Onboarding

   The instructors gain access to the Fawakih lesson-by-lesson PowerPoints that drive the live learning, Kahoot gamified learning modules, as well as sample lesson videos to preview prior to teaching

2. Instructor training

   Given instructors are joining at various times in the year, often, the training will be self-guided and through videos. At certain times in the year, there will also be live instructor onboarding sessions.

3. Ongoing support (see Fawakih Support).

How to become a Fawakih-Powered instructor?

STEP 1:

Intructors should fill out the following form, including bio, background, your goals, passions, interests, and how you heard about us, any institutional affiliations, and years of experience.

Once this form is completed, the Fawakih team will provide access to additional resources, including access to the instructor portal, which includes the materials students will see, in addition to teaching materials, including slides and tips.

STEP 2:

Instructor takes the Placement Assessments via the link below. When taking these, they should indicate the name of the affiliated Fawakih-Powered institution, as well as forward them the results:

http://fawakih.org/assessment

STEP 3: Instructors will receive slides to teach from, and access to the course materials on the Fawakih learning portal. Once access is gained to the portal, instructors familiarize themselves with the Fawakih Curriculum and instructor slides.

These slides provide the following:

1. Save instructors time from having to make their own slides.

2. Save time within the class and help with pacing

3. Ensuring the standardization and adhering to the lesson at hand or quickly returning back to it if there are certain questions that go beyond the scope of the lesson.

4. Provide visual to help keep students engaged. 

STEP 4: Instructors must take all level 1A quizzes (or whichever level they are teaching)

• Instructors take the 12 Level 1A quizzes, midterm, and final. This is normally done ahead of the semester, so that they have a good sense of the quizzes the students will be taking, and thus, they can offer better support.

• These quizzes are an essential part of the Fawakih learning process, and thus, we require all instructors to take them and familiarize themselves with the assessment process.

STEP 5: Preparing to Teach

The more preparation an instructor puts in, the more likely that the Fawakih curriculum adoption will go well, particularly the first time they teach the material. In addition to the above, ahead of teaching, instructors are encouraged to:

1. Watch all the lesson videos that the students are required to watch ahead of the classes, as part of the Fawakih Inverted Model

2. Carefully look through the lesson in the textbook of PDF, including the exercises and the answer key.

3. Run through the full course slides and ensure they are familiar, not just with the content, but also with the pacing and animations. 

FAQ:

Can Fawakih provide or find us instructors?

Fawakih has a wide network of hundreds of potential instructors. In some cases, there is alignment with a powered institution, and when possible, we can help with the identification and selection of an instructor. Our ability to do this is highly dependent on the lead time given, as well as the institution’s location, reputation, and budget. However, the interview and contracting process is determined by the powered organization.

What differentiates a high-quality powered program?

A high-quality powered program is distinguished by its attention to detail and ability to create redundancy in their teaching team. Students often value Fawakih’s punctuality, continuity, and reliability. Conversely, one of the understandable struggles that powered institutions face is maintaining class continuity, despite instructor circumstances. This may come from an instructor’s travel, moving, or being unable to teach for various reasons.

How do we manage instructor absences and substitutions?

The first step is to expect some level of instructor unavailibility and how to prepare for that. This includes having TA’s for a class, having a small team of instructors that can cover for one another or add on levels and sections, and cultivating a pipeline of future instructors that can be deployed on short notice. As a backup, in certain situation, Fawakih can potentially martial its broader network or in-house instructional team to provide substitute instructors. This often would require the session to be conducted online.

How do we evaluate potential Quranic Arabic instructors for the Fawakih-Powered program?

The ideal instructor aligns with the mission and values of the Fawakih curriculum. This includes a foundation in Arabic (having formally studied grammar, morphology, and rhetoric), but additionally, a passion and deep connection with the language of the Qur’an.

Successful instructors are:

1. Highly responsive

2. Supportive of students

3. Open to feedback

4. Have basic technological skills

5. Succinct and clear

6. Timely

7. Able to simplify complex principles

8. Have the ability to inspire and motivate students along their journey

The best instructors will align closely with the Fawakih curriculum and slides, and will utilize the full breadth of resources available. They will support and encourage students to make progress on quizzes, as well as utilize the textbook and any other resources (like the vocab app) fully.

Whereas typically Arabic instructors focus on Muhadathah (speaking), the Fawakih program does not require this from students nor instructors, as priority is given to input (comprehension) and not output (speaking and writing skills). Most instructors do have the ability to communicate in Arabic, but more critical than that is the ability to effectively teach the concepts in English.

DEMO LESSON

We advise Fawakih-Powered institutions to include instructor demo videos in the interview process. This assists in assessing an instructor’s teaching abilities, enthusiasm, as well knowledge of Fawakih content. Demo videos are 5-7 minutes, in which the instructor chooses and teaches a concept from Level 1A. They record this video as if they are speaking to students in a live setting. Often, instructors will make their own slides and use annotations.

Another option is for the demo session to be done in-person for a powered institution. The format of this could be similar, yet adjusted to the situation. In this situation, the session should be video recorded in order to allow for review.

We request videos and/or recordings to be shared with support@fawakih.com, in order for us to advise on Powered instructor hiring and/or training. That being said, Fawakih serves purely on an advisory capacity, and hiring, training, and performance evaluation is primarily the responsibility of the powered institution.

Below is a sample of our assessment process, in which we do a peer-review, so that leadership as well as fellow colleagues can provide feedback on an instructor’s teaching style.