Research Directions: Moving across Languages, Literacies, and Schooling Traditions

Millions of children participate in both Qur’anic schooling and public schooling. For the majority, this double schooling entails learning (in) two different non-native languages. Seeking to understand the double-schooling experiences of Muslim children for whom the language of literacy in both of their schools is not their native language, Moore conducted research in a Fulbe community in northern Cameroon, and then in the Somali immigrant-refugee community in Columbus, Ohio. In this article, she draws upon both projects in order to provide insights into the schooling and literacy experiences Somali children and other Muslim immigrants may bring to public school from their other school. She discusses Qur’anic schooling in the Fulbe community, describing the organization and the significance of this schooling tradition for participants, as well as the recent rise of double schooling and changes in Islamic educational practice. She then shifts her focus to the Somali immigrant-refugee community in Columbus, discussing changes in Qur’anic schooling that have arisen in this diasporic context. After discussing how Qur’anic school experiences may affect Muslim language-minority children’s second language and literacy learning in public school, she concludes with reflections on how knowledge of Qur’anic schooling and Qur’anic school-based literacies might impact the practices of public elementary school educators.