Are Butterflies in the Qur’an? is heavily influenced by my foray into education philosophy and pedagogy. As I work toward developing competency as a homeschooling parent, I find myself gravitating towards Jerome Bruner’s constructivist theories on learning and cognitive development and resultant theories on discovery learning.
Discovery learning “encourages learners to build on past experiences and knowledge, use their intuition, imagination and creativity, and search for new information to discover facts, correlations and new truths. Learning does not equal absorbing what was said or read, but actively seeking for answers and solutions.” (eLearning Industry)
In many ways, I feel I naturally gravitate towards this student-centered, inquiry-based, active learning approach. You may have picked up on this from some of my Instagram content.
Interestingly, I wrote my first draft of Are Butterflies in the Qur’an? years before I was even a parent or had any inkling that I’d be homeschooling. The skeleton was there, but I needed the parenting experience and time to study pedagogy and learning theories to flesh out my own beliefs on educating children. Of course, the more I learned, the more I realized the first draft of my book simply would not do justice to the learning experience I wanted it to convey. I rewrote it, and am so thankful to Allah I didn’t publish it years ago.
Are Butterflies in the Qur’an? depicts a learner-centered approach in which the protagonist, Safura, takes an active role in her own learning, with her teacher serving as a guide and facilitator. Safura discovers connections between what she already knows and what she wants to learn and extends her understanding through experience. The book also takes inspiration from Visible Thinking routines developed by Harvard’s Project Zero.
I hope that parents and teachers who read this story, especially those providing Islamic instruction, will welcome even the most whimsical inquiries from their learners and facilitate the discovery process to make learning more meaningful and fulfilling for them. Many Muslim kids grow up feeling that Islamic instruction is closed to exploration and inquiry. To allow this limiting attitude is a loss to both the educator and student.
In writing this story, I pursued the real-life inquiry of my niece, who asked me when she was close to five years old, “Are butterflies in the Qur’an?” I am grateful to her for sending me on this very special journey of discovery.
I’m anxious to share this book with you all in the Fall in sha Allah. While we wait, I’m sharing the cover!
Golden Butterfly Books 