A place for informal learning in teaching about religion: The story of an experienced non-Muslim teacher and her learning about Islam

Teacher learning about religion has remained an under-researched topic in spite of the professional accountability placed on teachers to teach about religion in a constitutionally permissible and pedagogically sound way. Using data collected from interviews, the purpose of this study is to describe and examine how and what an experienced Non-Muslim teacher of the world’s religions learned about Islam in today’s climate of accountability and negative imagery of Islam. The findings of this study suggest that informal learning through independent reading and interaction with a local Muslim community can be a means to enculturate teachers of world religions into ways of learning about Islam.

► Informal learning is a means to enculturate teachers into learning about Islam.
► Independent reading about Islam increases knowledge about Islam.
► Interaction with a local Muslim community is one way to learn about Islam.
► There exists no single, monolithic Islam, no absolute interpretation of it.