Can Islam and Democracy Coexist?

Melissa L. Blair

Introduction/Rationale

This unit features lessons about a political ideology that students think they know quite well, democracy, and a religion that students tend to poorly understand, Islam. The intent of this unit is to expand students’ current knowledge of democracy and encourage them to not only learn about the basic elements of Islam but also the role that this major religion plays in the development of democracies around the world, particularly in the Middle East and North Africa. Undeniably, discussing ideology and politics together can create friction in the classroom. Adding religion in the mix makes such discussions still more difficult. However, it is imperative that teachers explain the relationship between ideologies, politics, and religion in order to help them make sense of government and politics in diverse countries. At the conclusion of the unit, students should no longer view democracy and Islam as being two separate entities; rather recognize that they jointly function together in many parts of the world. Islam and democracy are most definitely compatible.

Although I have travelled to parts of the Middle East and lived in India, I find that I am still not comfortable teaching about the religion of Islam, even though I have been exposed to some Muslim culture. For example: I have been inside a mosque, studied “Islamic art,” and I have good friends from Oman and Jordan whom I converse with frequently over coffee. For the most part, I decided to take the “Islamic Thought and Culture” seminar because I wanted to enhance student understanding of the religion from an academic viewpoint and to provide a deeper context to the concerns permeating today’s headlines. In addition, I hoped to address real history and potential stereotyping together and to treat the subject matter with more confidence in a classroom setting. Overall, I was concerned with not only content, but also with what I should focus on, and I wanted to be able to anticipate what my students already knew about the material and help them understand the lives of Muslims today.

From the beginning, I knew I wanted to strengthen an introductory unit titled “The Post-9/11 World: The New Political Paradigm” in which the students address the difficulties and challenges of the relationship between religion and state in the Middle East and critique U.S. involvement in the region. Key concepts addressed in the unit include: understanding Bush’s administration reaction to the attacks of September 11th, explaining the impact of the United States’ invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 on global politics, detailing the impact of the United States’ invasion of Iraq in 2003 on global politics, and understanding the changes brought forth by the Obama administration. Moreover, I wanted to introduce students to Islam and democracy (both qualities and variations of it) jointly and to finish with an analysis of America’s place in the new world order. Even though most of these topics will not appear on the A.P. exam in May, I thought it was critical for students to have current knowledge of world affairs pertaining to the United States before starting to examine other countries. However, if this course was taught in only a semester, I would not have enough time to teach this unit. My major priority would be adequately covering the introductory topics and the case studies. The content covered in this unit is arguably ambitious because there are multiple topics or themes tackled in such a short time period (I could easily spend a month covering the complex attributes of Afghanistan). Over the course of eight weeks, students assess the aftermath of 9/11, learn about the impact of George W. Bush’s “war on terrorism,” identify the “true motives” for going to war in Afghanistan and Iraq, and study the lingering discontent in the Muslim world. Towards the end of the unit, students briefly study Islam and democracy to determine if both can coexist in the Middle East.

After working with a similar group of students last year, I concluded that most of them had limited exposure to important modern issues in the Middle East. Most importantly, these students were also part of a generation growing up in a post 9-11 world shaped by a culture of fear and a distrust of minorities. In short, I discovered through formative assessments and whole-class discussions that most students did not even know the reasons for the Arab-Israeli conflict or the motives behind going to war in Iraq and Afghanistan despite the lengthy U.S. presence. This isolationist perspective proved to be problematic when we did a case study on Iran and they had to understand the reasons behind Iran’s tense relationship with the U.S.

Demographics

Conrad Schools of Science (CSS) is grade 6-12 magnet program focusing on excellence in Biotechnology and Allied Health. With outside funding from companies such as AstraZeneca and DuPont, the mission of the school is to prepare students of varying abilities for higher education at college or universities, or post-graduate entry into health care professions. Therefore, it provides a concentrated, focus curriculum coupled with real-world experiences and project-oriented work. The school has been in operation for five years and serves a diverse school population. I currently teach both sixth grade and an Advanced Placement comparative government course (9-12) that’s academically rigorous and requires students to take an end of the year exam administered by the College Board. If a student receives a passing score of a “3,” they are eligible to receive college credit. I’ve taught sixth grade for five years and A.P. comparative government for just two years. Prior to teaching this course, I had no formal background in political science. Consequently, I still spend a lot of time outside of the classroom preparing for lectures and in class discussions.

The goal of the course is to create informed global citizens with skills necessary to fully understand the world’s diverse political systems. The students use the following countries as case studies: Great Britain, Mexico, Nigeria, China, Iran, and Russia. The case studies give the students concrete examples of comparative political concepts. Examples of concepts include methodology, power, civil society, institutional structure, democratization, and globalization. I typically spend about four to five weeks on each country.

A.P. Comparative Government is currently taught as a yearlong distance learning course with A.I. high school. The student enrollment is approximately twenty students. Since this is a distance learning course, I had to learn new and creative ways for incorporating web 2.0 tools into the classroom and re-evaluate the delivery of my instruction. For example: I now maintain a website, a blog, and I use online videos and Gmail chat. In short, few technological limitations exist in the lab, greatly influencing how I am able to implement my units.

Since this high school political science course is not nearly as popular nation-wide as other A.P. social studies courses, it has proven difficult to find offered College Board workshops and appropriate seminars or lectures to improve my comprehension of this material. To the best of my knowledge, this course is only offered at Conrad Schools of Science in Delaware, making it impossible to locally collaborate with other A.P. teachers for suggested lessons and/or strategies. Furthermore, unlike a standard history course, this one requires me to stay particularly current with the six countries focused on throughout the year. It is not unusual for a multiple-choice or a free-response question to reference a very recent political event such as an important election, protest, or judicial ruling. In respect to my high school students, most of them lack a formal background in international affairs or Islam (historical and cultural). The upper level students have some prior A.P. experience (strong skill set in reading and writing, proper time management, general study skills) but often lack deep knowledge and a balanced viewpoint of the Middle East and African countries such as Nigeria (a major focus in this course). The younger students sometimes struggle with the pace of the course, compelling me to limit the number of readings assigned or omit some content due to time constraints.

Arguably this course is incredibly unique because it provides students with an opportunity to focus on real-world content and to learn about “unpopular” but important countries in depth, places on the globe often neglected in U.S. social studies curriculum at the middle school and high school level. I firmly believe that more courses of this nature need be offered at the high school level to mold students into global citizens and to encourage them to be “more human.” It might seem clichéd, but I want my students to be able to watch the evening news or read an online newspaper and have a balanced perspective on a political event. Furthermore, civic knowledge prepares students to be watchdogs of liberty, helps them make better decisions, and informs them about public decision making.

I also believe that students need formal instruction in government, history, law, and democracy, devoid of ineffective approaches such as rote memorization and a heavy reliance on textbooks because studies show that young adults have ambivalent views of the political realm and their place in it and assessments of public knowledge and attitude show the consequence of neglecting education of government. On a positive note, studies have indicated that students who take civics classes are more likely than young people to volunteer, be actively engaged in community, and believe in the importance of voting. i Therefore I think it is imperative that my students learn how to “think like political scientists.”

Enduring Understandings

The essential questions and understandings are revisited throughout the year, especially when I teach a unit on Iran and Nigeria. My ultimate goal is to give students multiple opportunities to interact with the content.

Essential Questions

Islam and Democracy

Religion has always been an important source of group identity and continues to be in the modern world. The religion of Islam is a vital source of identity for Arabs. In our seminar, I learned that Islam is a religion based on the teachings of the Koran, the religion’s holy book. Followers of Islam, known as Muslims believe that God revealed these teachings to the prophet Muhammad through the angel Gabriel around A.D. 610. Islam teaches that there is only one God-the same God that is worshipped in Christianity and Judaism. In Arabic, God is called Allah. Muslims also believe in the prophets of Judaism and Christianity. Muslims actually refer to Christians and Jews as “people of the book.” That is because Christians and Jews received divine revelations from scriptures in the Bible. Today, Muslims live in southwestern and central Asia and parts of Africa. Muslims show their devotion by performing acts of worship known as the five pillars of Islam. These include faith, prayer, fasting, and a pilgrimage to Mecca.

The recent revolutions (major revision or an overthrow of existing institutions) in Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, Syria, Bahrain, Yemen, have shaken the Muslim world. In some instances, corrupt old systems fell and new opportunities now exist to create a democratic political system free of corruption that truly represents human rights. These Arab revolutions are watershed events and each one will take a different trajectory for change. For example: Tunisian and Egyptian revolutions were quickly successful while far more complex Libya almost developed into a full blown civil war. But many wonder, will it be a smooth transition for all? How will each country build a democratic political system? What role will Islam play in shaping the democratic process of each country?

Although students think they know the term democracy, it’s often hard for them to clearly articulate its meaning. Students need to understand the distinction between democracy, authoritarian regimes, and semi-authoritarian regimes (common in Middle East). Though democracy takes many different forms, more and more nations are turning toward some form of popular government. One broad, essential requirement for democracy is the existence of competitive elections that are regular, free, and fair. By this standard, a number of modern countries or states that call themselves democracies fall into a grey area that is neither clearly democratic nor clearly undemocratic. Liberal democracies display other democratic characteristics such as civil liberties (freedom of belief, speech, and assembly), rule of law (equal treatment of citizens and due process), neutrality of the judiciary, open civil society (allow citizens to lead private lives and mass media), and civilian control of the military. Liberal democracies are also called substantive democracies. Countries that have regular, free, and fair competitive elections, but are missing other qualities are called illiberal democracies or procedural democracies.

One major concern of the West is that Islamists (groups that embrace a political view of Islam and reject secular forms of government) will hamper democratic movements in the Middle East. However, this unit puts forth a reformist viewpoint that Islam and democracy can truly coexist. The West also feels that these groups are anti-western. But religious ideals within Islam favor democracy! In our seminar we learned that the Koran contains a number of ideas that support democratic ideals. Therefore, teachers should encourage students to examine Islamist parties such as the Muslim Brotherhood in recent elections in Egypt, Tunisia etc. Students also need to know that all countries undergoing a “revolution” will be semi-democratic during this transitional period and it will take years before a real democracy can flourish. Additionally, progress toward real democracy will require numerous reforms including “ political-party development, enhanced civic education, the inclusion of broad segments of society in political life, controlling corruption, ensuring the independence of the judiciary, increasing horizontal accountability, and achieving genuine civilian control of the military.” ii

Strategies

I recognize that strictly relying on lecture as a sole teaching strategy in the classroom is going to lead some students to fail. Therefore, I use as many teaching strategies as possible and intentionally limit most lectures to no more than thirty minutes. On balance, I prefer discussions to lectures because they give students the chance to sort content, generate questions, and play “what if” scenarios.

Lecture

Since this is supposed to mimic an introductory college level course and due to the complex nature of the content, I find that some form of direct instruction, typically a lecture is a necessity. But lecture in my course is not exclusively teacher driven. Rather I often use videotaped lectures from organizations such as Foreign Policy Research Institute, T.E.D. Talks, World Affairs Council, or the Choices Program to supplement my instruction because the recordings feature experts in the field. These free videotaped recordings last approximately 15 minutes to an hour and it is possible to just use smaller segments. As the students watch the videos, I always require

them to answer content specific and conceptual analysis questions. Processing thoughts in writing helps refine them, challenges students intellectually, engages them, and improves the overall quality of their ideas and writing. At the end of this unit, I will reference appropriate options on the web.

Graphic Organizers/Vocabulary Development

Graphic organizers are used frequently in my course to aid in students’ comprehension of the material. In particular, I use them to help students with their vocabulary development due to the sheer volume of vocabulary terms covered throughout the year (300 plus terms). In the first month alone students must learn 60 new vocabulary terms. It is essential that students internalize the vocabulary terms and apply them in multiple contexts. For example: if a student cannot define democracy and describe the characteristics of it or give me examples of an institution, then that student will undoubtedly struggle to answer multiple-choice questions and free response questions on the actual A.P. exam.

At the beginning of each unit, I pass out a graphic organizer with a list of the vocabulary terms along with a knowledge ranking system. This pre-assessment asks students to identify which words they already know (1), which words they somewhat know (2), and which words are completely new to them (3). This helps students tap into their prior knowledge and prioritize which words they should focus on. Aside from ranking the words, students are often asked to generate examples, non-examples, and identify characteristics of each term. As a teacher, I ensure that they receive multiple opportunities to interact with the vocabulary by requiring them to maintain a Quizlet account to create electronic flashcards, play games, and quiz themselves (a great anchor activity), encouraging peer instruction (students create games using SmartBoard tools i.e. jeopardy, wheel of fortune), and quizzing students on a frequent basis (fill in the blank, matching, multiple-choice). During whole class discussions, students are required to speak the “political science lingo.”

Collaborative/Group Work/Peer Teaching

I put students into heterogeneous groups and I permit students to change seats often in order to improve student motivation and learning. I encourage group work because the novelty and variation provided by other learners increases learner momentum and relevance. Furthermore, I put students into groups because consistent feedback helps learners improve framework for learning and gather critical feedback. I make sure that cooperative activities are structured so that students can take ownership for major information points.

Technology

Technology is undoubtedly an incredibly powerful, appropriate, and relevant pedagogical approach for social studies teachers. Technology can help students in A.P. comparative government analyze and interrogate both historical and contemporary events and issues from multiple perspectives. This pedagogical approach is considerate of the newest crop of students, currently in K-12, who developed under the digital wave and became completely normalized by digital technologies. It is a fully integrated aspect of their lives. Many students in this group are

now using new media and technologies to “create new things in new ways, learn new things in new ways, and communicate in new ways with new people-behaviors that have become hardwired in their ways of thinking and operating in the world.” iii The use of technology in the classroom is an appropriate approach worth exploring because American classrooms must prepare students for future careers in institutions (business, industry, medicine, government, and science) which will expect them to be proficient in the use of computers and to be innovative and creative thinkers. Basically, they will be expected to harness the power of various technological tools in an increasingly interconnected world. But teachers should determine how technologically proficient students are and what their attitudes and beliefs are towards innovation before implementing anything in the classroom. Furthermore, teachers need to educate themselves (informally or formally) and be open to learning about different types of technology.

Tool of Inquiry: Political Cartoon

I often incorporate political cartoons into my classroom as a “hook” for instruction. I direct students to do the following when analyzing political cartoons: describe what’s going on in the political cartoon (who? what? when? where?), identify any symbols portrayed in the cartoon and analyze what they represent, determine the message in the cartoon and the purpose, and agree or disagree with the cartoonist’s message. Students can fill out a worksheet available on National Archives website. It’s important that students interact with political cartoons because studies indicate that “roughly 25% of young people from 1960-1970 reported that they followed public affairs most of the time, but by 2000, that number had declined to 5%. iv In addition, political cartoons often cover a lot of high-level concepts (metaphor, simile, hyperbole, satire, irony) that are harder to convey in text. Cartoons can be a terrific tool for teaching higher-level thinking skills.

Tool of Inquiry: Current Events

If students are to begin to examine situations from multiple perspectives, they need multiple opportunities to view the same event or issue from different perspectives. Providing students with multiple sources for information and descriptions of the same event or issue gives them an excellent opportunity to see how an event can be viewed in many ways. v Current events offer students a chance to learn about social, political, economic problems around them. They cover a wide range of subjects and connect to all areas of curriculum, build language, vocabulary, reading comprehension, critical thinking, oral expression, problem solving, listening skills, develop informed citizens and lifelong learners, help learn media literacy skills, can open up communication between parents and students, offer ideal opportunities for cooperative group discussion, classroom discussion and debates, purposeful follow-up writing, prompt students to be citizens of the world, to be volunteers, all within the scope of an international curriculum.

Students who study news or watch television news are more interested in current events than those who do not, according to a large body of research cited in a report from the National Center for Education Statistics. This data revealed that elementary and high school students are not intrinsically interested in current events, least of all in foreign news and U.S. politics, which is why it’s important for students to read the news from multiple sources. Another study also revealed that students who participate in classroom discussions about current issues have a

greater interest in politics, improved critical thinking & communication skills, had more civic knowledge, and a greater interest in discussing public affairs outside of school. vi To make this information easily accessible and to encourage student interest, I put web links to various media outlets (foreign, national, local) such as C.N.N., B.B.C., Time, and the News Journal on my webpage and post links to other forms of media such as videos. Educational company Flocabulary posts weekly video segments titled “rapping in the news.” Arguably, educational context is enhanced when hip hop and other forms of popular culture become part of formal school curriculum. And yet another way to address different point of views is through the use of visual mediums such as illustrations in newspapers and magazines.

Socratic Seminar

The Socratic seminar model is an instructional strategy that relies on student dialogue and discussion. The Socratic seminar model is supposed to help students construct personal understandings through a logical examination of a variety of ideas about a specific topic or problem. This model does not rely on memorizing discrete pieces of information. vii Rather than rely on teachers to randomly call on students for quick and often rushed elicited responses, this student-centered model encourages the learner to critically think about a particular topic after considering a number of perspectives. The Socratic Seminar model asks students to think critically about a text through a cooperative and respectful discussion. The other major benefit of the Socratic seminar model is that it gets students to use sophisticated academic skills as they discuss important topics by summarizing, paraphrasing, making explanations and interpretations, analyzing ideas and assumptions.

Socratic seminars also force teachers like me to use higher-order thinking questions (conceptual) and to not rely on lower-order questions (factual). The basic steps in the model for the teacher include: choosing a text (but not limited to reading), planning and clustering several questions that allow students to take a position and that reflect what the teacher knows about their readiness and interests. After introducing the model, the teacher conducts the discussion but does not dominate the discussion. It should ideally be a student lead discussion with little prompting from the teacher and with lots of open-ended questions. Lastly, the teacher reviews and summarizes the discussion and evaluates it, but not just verbally. Teachers should hand out a rubric and have the student self-evaluate themselves using the following questions: What new information did you learn from the text? What do you think was your most beneficial contribution to the seminar? Why do you think the Socratic seminar is a useful tool? What was best and worst part of participating in the seminar? In sum, Socratic seminars encourage students to plumb the world deeply and the task involves a rich and challenging text, a central question, and the multiple interpretations that are brought to bear.

Jigsaw Activity

In the jigsaw activity, students are first assigned to a group. Then the teacher puts them into smaller groups (expert groups) with the people who were given the same article. They discuss it and use guided questions provided. The purpose is for them to become an expert on the article. The second part of the activity involves peer teaching. The teacher puts students into different small groups with people who had different articles. Each person’s job is to explain to the

“teaching group” the highlights of the article using questions discussed with the “expert group” as a guide. Each member of the teaching group explains their particular section in turn. Once everyone in the group has shared their material, the teacher should have them discuss questions that tie in with the main focus of the unit. Simpler options are to have the students read the assigned selections and then summarize the main points expressed in it. Due to the reading level of the text, this activity would be most appropriate for advanced students but teachers can modify the lesson by shortening the reading selection or by using quotes from the articles. Cooperative learning opportunities such as the one mentioned above have been attributed to gains in three major areas- academic achievement, intergroup relations, and social and affective development. viii

Classroom Activities

The lessons below can easily be modified for use in a regular high school setting. In particular, the joint topics of Islam and democracy are relevant to most high school curriculums (world history, U.S. history, U.S. Government) and the pedagogical approaches within each lesson tie in well with state standards and G.L.E.s. Students read the first two chapters in their main textbook and an introductory chapter of the Ethel Wood’s book concerning the essential themes, topics, and vocabulary prior to starting this unit. I have them read the Ethel Wood’s book because it does an excellent job of “chunking” the content and simplifying abstract concepts. I have also found that the main textbook is typically too advanced for most students.

Lesson 1: Brief Introduction to Islam and Democracy

Anticipatory Set: First, pass out a graphic organizer (Frayer model) and ask students to define democracy, list the characteristics of it, and generate examples and non-examples of it. After students record their answers, inform them that though democracy takes many different forms, more and more nations are turning toward some form of popular government. Next, ask the students to fill out the first two columns of a K.W.L. chart (know, want to learn, learned) for the term Islam. Since I will go into further depth about Islam when I do a six week unit on Iran, I will only give a small overview of it. Since time is an issue in my class, I intend to pass out small reading pack on Islam in advance of the class, giving them an overview of the religion. Afterwards, I will introduce the essential questions, essential understandings, and ask students to respond to the main question for the unit: Can Islam and democracy coexist?

Activity: Distribute a handout with the questions below to accompany online lecture titled “Islam and Democracy” found on F.P.R.I. website. The video is 92:44 minutes long, including questions from the audience, but you can just show the first hour of it. Have students answer the questions below and then review and discuss answers.

Assessment: Have students modify their original answer to the essential question. This can be done in a blog. Remind students to write their answers as an extended response

Lesson 2: Arab Uprisings

Anticipatory Set: Introduce the topic: Arab uprisings. Show Absolut Vodka video. ix There is no reference to alcohol in the video. It shows protesters in the street at a standstill with the police and after a few seconds, the protestors start a huge pillow fight with the riot police while upbeat French music plays in the background. This video is less than two minutes long and a fantastic hook! After discussing the satirical video with the students, stress that democracy is often messy and that protests have been occurring for a long time in the Middle East.

Activity: Have students conduct independent research to analyze the potential impact of the ongoing protests on democracy and stability in the Middle East and North Africa. First, distribute a map of the Middle East and North Africa to familiarize the students with the region (location matters). Next, assign students one of the following countries to research: Jordan, Libya, Tunisia, Egypt, Bahrain, Oman, Syria, Lebanon, Yemen, and Saudi Arabia. Ask the students to find the following information on their assigned countries: the type of government (authoritarian or democratic regime), current leader of government and length in office, role of social media and extent of coverage, type of protestors (including demands), U.S. government response to this country, protests and changes in the country, type of legitimacy in the country (rational-legal, charismatic, traditional), existence of political parties (Islamist, moderate, conservative etc.), and political attitudes (reactionary, radical, liberal, conservative). Require students to apply their own definition of democracy to their assigned country and consider the likelihood of the country democratizing. Both B.B.C. and Al-Jazeera offer excellent websites with interactive content pertaining to the Arab uprisings.

Assessment: Check students’ progress on their projects.

Lesson 3: Arab Uprisings Part Two

Anticipatory Set: Encourage students to write down any questions or concerns regarding the project. Offer guidance to those struggling with the assignment.

Activity: Have students report findings to class via PowerPoint. Create a graphic organizer for students to write down information from the presentations. Afterwards, have students use a numeric ranking system to determine which countries they consider to be the most “democratic” according to the original definitions created (1-5 scale, 1 being the most democratic). Next, stress that the notion of Islam and democracy varies from country to country and emphasize the problematic nature of Islam. For example: Sunni Islam has no organized structure, theoretical framework, hierarchical leadership which causes fragmentation and no clear consensus. Furthermore, tell students that Islam is not part of the problem or solution, that reorganizing in politics provides opportunities for Islamists and secularists and that non-Islamist parties struggle to provide services such as clientielism and patronage.

Assessment: Require students to apply their own definition of democracy to their assigned country and write an extended response considering the likelihood of the country democratizing. If time permits, direct students to the Freedom House website and have them find their assigned countries’ overall rankings in the report titled “Freedom in the World 2011.” (Rankings range from 1-193, 1 being most free). This annual publication is the standard-setting comparative assessment of global political rights and civil liberties. Published since 1972, the survey ratings and narrative reports on 193 countries are used by policymakers, the media, international corporations, civic activists, and human rights defenders to monitor trends in democracy and track improvements and setbacks in freedom worldwide. Students may also use the highly recommended tab found on the main webpage titled “Turning Point in the Middle East.” Students can easily find more background analysis on the Middle East, recent articles, and a table showing all Middle Eastern countries together. The table details the freedom status (not free, partly free, and free), rankings for both political rights and civil liberties (1 represents the most free and 7 the least free ranking). Arrows in the columns for both political rights and civil liberties indicate an improvement or decline in ratings or status since the last survey. Another program is “Democracy Web,” which is affiliated with Freedom House and it’s geared toward students. It features a great tab titled “Map of Freedom.” It presents users with an instant, visual portrait of the state of freedom around the world and provides access to: basic information about each country; a link to all the country profiles in the study guide; and links to the relevant sections of all Freedom House reports, including “Freedom in the World.” The study guides feature the following relevant concepts: rule of law, human rights and freedoms from state tyranny, freedom of expression, freedom of association, and freedom of religion.

Lesson 4: Case study of Turkey: A Model for Democracy in the Muslim Middle East?

Anticipatory set: Write on the board: Is Turkey a model for democracy in the Muslim Middle East? If possible, require students to answer the question as an extended response or have students move to different sides of the classroom (strongly agree, agree, strongly disagree, disagree) to gauge how students feel about the question.

Directed Instruction: Tell students that Turkey has a population of seventy-seven million Muslims and is a working example of a liberal democracy in a Muslim country. In free elections, the Justice and Development Party (AKP) has successfully maintained Turkey as a secular, free-market society since 2003. Remind students that Turkey is not the sole example in the world. Others point to Indonesia and India, two countries with significant Muslim populations that have molded democracy to accommodate local cultures and customs. Caution students that these countries may not be the best blueprints for the mostly undemocratic Arab world. But their successes offer welcome evidence that Islam and democracy can coexist, maybe even integrate.

Activity: Using teacher discretion chose articles that present opposite viewpoints about whiter or not Turkey is a model democratic country. See students’ list of resources for suggested articles. Do jigsaw activity or Socratic seminar as explained earlier.

Assessment: Have students modify their answers to the original question written on the board.

Lesson 5: Extension Activities

Extension Activity # 1: Current events assist students in making the connections between the concepts in their readings and the ones covered in class with current examples to further explain

an idea. The AP exam questions often reflect key concepts in current event topics. You can require students to maintain a current event journal using this simple format: date, topic, source, political concept (must be in alignment with current unit concepts), summary (two-three sentences), analysis (brief paragraphs), and two questions to start a class discussion. I always tell my students that the topics chosen must connect to current unit concepts, that they may not choose the same topic from the same source, and the same topics may be chosen if another source presents a different twist on the issue. Lastly, I tell them that at least two sources must be from a major news organization (one must be from a newspaper or magazine, one may be from television or radio), and the third source can be something creative such as a political cartoon, lobbyist groups, television shows (Daily Show, West Wing), interviews, and biased media sources. While covering this unit, have students’ track events in countries such as Egypt and Tunisia (both preparing for a series of elections) or examine the prominent role of the Muslim Brotherhood in North Africa and the Middle East.

Extension Activity # 2: Present a political cartoon of your choice to the whole class or put one on a handout and require the students in pairs to answer the following questions:

Extension Activity # 3: A great tool on the web for students to use is blogging. This activity can take place in or out of the classroom. Essentially, the teacher posts a question, an image, or an article for students to examine and they put their responses into an electronic format accessible to all. This activity is particularly beneficial for students who do not voice their opinions frequently in class. Another benefit of blogging is that students can also comment on each others’ work.

Teacher and Students’ Resources

Access Islam. http://www.thirteen.org/edonline/acessislam/index.html . This website features nineteen video segments from a PBS series about Islam, lesson plans, a timeline, glossary, and links to other resources.

Abramowitz, Morton and Henri Barkey. "Turkey: Democracy, yes, but no model." Politico. February 19, 2011. http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0211/49837.html. Use this article for the case study of Turkey.

Allen, Janet. Yellow Brick Roads: Shared and Guided Paths to Independent Reading 4-12. Portland, ME: Stenhouse Publishers, 2007.

Almond, G. A., G. Bingham Powell, Jr., R. J. Dalton, & K. Strom. Comparative Politics Today: A World View, 9th Edition. New York: Pearson Publishing, 2009. This is the college level textbook used in the A.P. comparative government and politics course.

AK Group. "Tunisia Won't Use Islamist-Led Turkey as a Model, Rebel Leader Says." Excerpt from Turkish Press. March 16, 2011. http://www.hudson-ny.org/1970/tunisia-wont-use-islamist-led-turkey.html. Use this article for the case study of Turkey.

Bunt, Gary R. IMuslims: Rewiring the House of Islam. Chapel Hill: Chapel Hill Publishing, 2009.

Cagaptay, Soner. “Sultan of the World.” Foreign Affairs. November 2010. http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/67009/soner-cagaptay/sultan-of-the-muslimworld?page=show.html. Use this article for the case study on Turkey.

Calvert, John. "Shiism: What Students Need to Know." Foreign Policy Research Institute. April 2010. http://www.fpri.org/footnotes/1502.201005.calvert.shiism.html . This publication is appropriate for students and teachers alike to use because it does an excellent job of describing Shiism.

Calvert, John. "Sunni Islam: What Students Need to Know." Foreign Policy Research Institute. April 2010. http://www.fpri.org/footnotes/1501.201004.calvert.sunniislam.html. This publication is appropriate for students and teachers alike to use because it does an excellent job of describing Sunni Islam.

Cook, Steven. “CFR: Islamist Political Power in Turkey-Challenges for Brussels and Washington.” Council on Foreign Relations. November 2007. http://www.cfr.org/content/publications/attachments/Cook%20article.pdf.html . Use this article for the case study of Turkey.

Democracy Web. http://www.democracyweb.org/ An appropriate website for students in 6th-12th grades that features a “Map of Freedom” which presents users with an instant, visual portrait of the state of freedom around the world and provides access to: basic information about each country, : a link to all of the country profiles in the study guide; and links to the relevant sections of all Freedom House reports, including “Freedom in the World.”

Douglass, Susan. "An Introduction to Islam." The Arab World in the Classroom Teaching Module 7 (2010): 1-16. This publication provides a short and concise overview of Islam.

Douglass, Susan and Munir A. Shaikh. "Defining Islamic Education: Differentiation and Application." Current Issues in Comparative Education, Teachers College, Columbia University (2004), 5-18. This publication offers suggestions for how to teach about Islam.

Freedom House. http://freedomhouse.org . An invaluable website that is particlularly helpful for the first two lessons.

Garfinkle, Adam. "What Our Students-And Our Political Leaders-Don't Know About the Middle East." Foreign Policy Research Institute. December 2011. http://www.fpri.org/footnotes/1611/201111.garfinkle.middleeast.html. This publication, written

for the general public, reminds us all of the importance of teaching about the Middle East and Islam.

Gibson, Cynithia, and Peter Levine. The Civic Mission of Schools. New York: The Carnegie Corporation of New York, 2003.

Gillies, Robyn M.., & Adrian F. Ashman. The Effects of Cooperative Learning on Students with Learning Difficulties in the Lower Elementary School. Journal of Special Education, 34 (1), 19-27, 2007.

Green, Hannah, & Celia Hannon. "Their Space: Education for a Digital Generation." 2007.

http://www.demos.co.uk/files/Their%20space%20-%20web.pdf .html.

Gunter, Mary Alice. Instruction: A Models Approach. Boston: Pearson Education, 2007.

Hanley, Charles J. "Enough! the Arabs say, but will it be enough?" Associated Press. http://www.articles.boston.com/2011-03-20/news/29351678_1_third-wave-democracy-arab-world.html. This article assesses the impact of the Arab Spring.

Inbar, Efraim. “Turkey’s Changing Foreign Policy and Its International Ramifications.” Foreign Policy Research Institute. February 2011. http://www.fpri.org/enotes/201102.inbar.turkey.html . Use this article for the case study of Turkey.

"Islam and the Arab Revolutions." The Economist, April 2, 2011. A short article about how Islam is shaping the Arab revolutions.

Kahne, J, and E Middaugh. "High Quality Civic Education: What Is It and Who Gets It?" Social Education, 2008: 34-39.

Kahne, Joseph, and Joel Westheimer. "Teaching Democracy: What Schools Need to Do." Phi Delta Kappan, 2003: 34-66.

Kenyon, Peter. "The Turkish Model: Can It Be Replicated?" National Public Radio. January 2012. http;//www.npr.org/story/14475185/the-turkish-model-can-it-be-replicated.html. Use this article for the case study of Turkey.

Lake, Snell, Perry & Associates, The Tarrance Group. Short-Term Impacts, Long-Term Opportunities. New York and Washington DC: CIRCLE, March 2002.

Kesselman, M. & J. Krieger. Readings in Comparative Politics: Political Challenges and Changing Agendas. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2006. This book features a series of scholarly articles about comparative government and politics.

Maddy-Weitzman, Bruce. "North Africa's Democratic Prospects." Foreign Policy Research Institute. December 2011. http://www.fpri.org/enotes/2011/201112 maddy-weitzman.northafrica.html (accessed January 4, 2012). This publication assess the potential for long-lasting democracies in North Africa.

Martin, Frankie. "Turkey Can Model Democracy for the Arab World." CNN. February 2011. http://www.edition.cnn.com/2011/OPINION/02/16/martin.egypt.turkey/?hpt=sbin.html . Use this article for the case study of Turkey.

O, Neil, P. H. Essentials of Comparative Politics, 3rd Edition. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc, 2010. This textbook can be used for an A.P. comparative government and politics course.

O’Neil, P. H. & R. Rogowski. Essential Readings in Comparative Politics, 3rd Edition. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc, 2010. This book features a series of scholarly articles about comparative government and politics.

PBS Frontline: Muslims. 2012. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/muslims/ (accessed January 2012). This documentary provides an up close look at the lives of muslims.

PBS: Islam-Empire of Faith. http://www.pbs.org/empires/islam/lesson5.html . This PBS dvd recounts the history of Islam,

Sanati, Reza. “Political Islam is here to stay-U.S. must accept and adjust.” Christian Science Monitor. February 2011. http://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/Opinion/2011/02/09/Political-Islam-is-here-to- stay-US-must-accept-and-adjust.html. This article details the growth of Islam in the United States.

Shafak, Elif. "Finally, Turkey Looks East." New York Times. February 2011. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/23/opinion/23Shafak.html?ref=middleast.html. Use this article for the case study of Turkey.

Skladony, Thomas W. “Tunisia’s and Egypt’s Revolutions and Transitions to Democracy,” Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy. April 2011. http://www.csidonline.org/annual-conference/12-annual-conference/607-csids-12th-annual.html .

Stock, Raymond. “The Islamist Spring: What Mubarak Got Right, What Obama Got Wrong.” Foreign Policy Research Institute. December 2011. http:// www.fpri.org/enotes/2011/201112.stock.Egypt.html (accessed January 4, 2012).

Taylor, Scott M. “A Globalized God: Religions Growing Influence in International Politics.” Foreign Affairs 89, No. 6 (2010).

Wollack, Kenneth. “Assisting Democracy Abroad: American Values, American Interests.” Harvard International Review (2010), 20-25.

Wood, E. AP Comparative Government and Politics: A Study Guide, 4th Edition. Reading, PA: Woodyard Publications, 2010. This supplemental textbook simplifies concepts pertaining to comparative government and politics.

Appendices

A.P. Comparative Government and Politics is a college level course offered nationwide that does not necessarily follow any state standard, especially since they highly vary. Rather each A.P. teacher is held responsible for devising a rigorous curriculum (semester or yearlong) that will ultimately prepare students for the comprehensive exam issued annually each May. But since this content can be taught in a regular high school course, I will identify the most relevant Delaware state standards. The content in this unit mostly targets civics and history standards for high school students. Civics standard one and three are both considered essential for ninth grade students while history standard three is considered critical for eleventh graders.

Civic standard one requires students to analyze the ways in which the structure and purposes of governments around the world reflect differing ideologies, cultures, values, and histories. All lessons in this unit provide ample opportunities for students to examine the differing governmental structures in the Middle East and to determine if Islam dominates each country’s culture and political ideologies. In particular, lesson two and three really compel students to compare multiple countries to make sound conclusions about Islam and how it dictates governmental policies. On the other hand, part of standard three requires students to understand that citizens need to participate in the civic process. Basically, it means students must be able to critically think about political issues in multiple contexts (all lessons target this standard).

Lastly, history standard three asks students to compare competing historical narratives, by contrasting different historians’ choice of questions, use and choice of sources, perspectives, beliefs, and points of view, in order to demonstrate how these factors contribute to different interpretations. Lesson four, which features a case study about Turkey, encourages students to read articles that present a differing opinion on whiter or not Turkey can be a model democratic country.

Notes

Curriculum Unit

Title Author

KEY LEARNING, ENDURING UNDERSTANDING, ETC.

ESSENTIAL QUESTION(S) for the UNIT

CONCEPT A CONCEPT B CONCEPT C

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS A ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS B ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS C

VOCABULARY A VOCABULARY B VOCABULARY C

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION/MATERIAL/TEXT/FILM/RESOURCES