This Check for Understanding question will help you reflect and apply your learning from the session you attended at Conference Week 2021. It will also confirm your attendance in the same.

Session Description and Speaker Bio

Why Muslims seem so strange?: The largest growing religion in the world is Islam. Almost 25% of the world are Muslims, that is 1 in every 4 people. The fastest growing population in  Canada are Muslims. Yet, emerging polls show that Islam is also the most misunderstood religion in the world. The growth of a Muslim population means that the likelihood of non-Muslims and Muslims meeting at work, school, or in general social situations, is on the rise. How is it, then, that a generally peaceful population that is growing so fast is also sustaining a negative reputation among their fellow citizens? There are many reasons why Islam is perceived as strange or as “the other.” This session will delve into these reasons and support teacher candidates in supporting their Muslim students.

This session will be presented by Dr. Asma Ahmadi who is a certified teacher and a certified principal in Ontario with over 15 years of experience working in classrooms. Asma has a PhD in Critical Policy, Equity and Leadership Studies. Her research, in the past eight years, has been looking into Muslim students.  Currently Asma is writing a book called: Lifting the Fog: A Guide for Parents and Educators Navigating Two Systems, helping Muslim parents decided on public or private schools. She also has worked as an instructor at Western University at the pre-service Teacher Education Program.  Asma’s work has been featured in numerous media outlets such as the National Post, Ontario Principal Council Magazine and Canadian Association of Principals’ Journal. Asma was invited to present her work in the Forum of Ministry of Education in Toronto during her PhD candidacy. In the past five years she has been working as an Education Consultant and Senior Instructional Designer, in schools across the country, coaching and training teachers . She also worked at GoodLife as a personal trainer. Asma is a mother of four and she lives in Mississauga. Her newfound interest is dabbling into a minimalist health conscious lifestyle.