Ramadan Considerations for Teachers During Distance Learning
Ramadan is almost here! Friday April 24 will be the first day of Ramadan. For those of you who don’t know, Ramadan is the 9th month in the lunar calendar and it is an incredibly holy month for Muslims. Many Muslims, including some of your Muslim students, will be fasting - abstaining from any food or drink (yes, even water) - from dawn to dusk for 30 days to focus on personal growth and reflection.
This year’s Ramadan is going to look and feel different for many Muslims around the world, including the ones in your virtual classrooms.
Here are some reminders and resources for you as you begin to think about how to best support the students that are distance learning and simultaneously observing Ramadan.
First and foremost, make sure that you are educating yourself about what Ramadan is and why it is so important for Muslims. Please make sure that you are not making students responsible for educating you or their classmates about Ramadan. Here is a good starting point.
Now that many standardized tests have been canceled, teachers might feel freer to actually carry out a lesson about Ramadan in their distant classrooms. Check out this resource from Teaching Tolerance and this resource from Teachers Pay Teachers.
An easy way to make your Muslim students feel connected is to wish them a “Ramadan Kareem” or “Ramadan Mubarak” which both loosely translates to “Have a Blessed Ramadan.”
Many teachers already have great relationships with the parents/guardians of students - utilize that relationship at this time! Reach out to parents and ask about how you can specifically support their child during the month of Ramadan.
Students who are fasting are going to be exhausted. Not only is this still a pandemic, but it is a tradition for families to wake up before dawn (dawn is at 4:55 AM right now in NJ) to have a meal before beginning the fast (known as suhoor), and it is a tradition for some to also stay up late praying with their families. Since Muslims are no longer able to pray together in a Masjid, students might be spending even more time in front of a screen for virtual worship activities, in addition to their virtual learning. Adding a suggestion I saw online for teachers of older students - make assignments due at 11:59 pm. Or even later!
The days will be LONG. Please keep that in mind! Here in NJ, Muslims who are fasting won’t be eating or drinking from around 4:55 AM to 7:42 PM. Ramadan is for an entire month, therefore a student’s energy will fluctuate over the course of that month.
Prayer is important for Muslims all year round, and praying on time is also incredibly important, especially during Ramadan. Some families might want to pray together during the day because they are at home, even if students are expected by their teachers to be in a virtual class. You can look up the prayer times in your area and allow your students to miss a few minutes of virtual learning during those times if they wish to pray.
It might also be helpful (especially for younger students) if you avoided lessons or class activities that revolved around food, eating, or drinking during the month of Ramadan as well.
This suggestion is SUPER optional, but it might be nice if you so desired. Ramadan is supposed to be a very spiritual but also communal month. It is spent with family and friends especially when it is time to eat. When it is time to eat, at dusk, it is called “iftar” which literally means “break of a fast.” Students might miss having communal gatherings, which is why you might feel inclined to invite your students to a Zoom Iftar (or any other virtual platform). This is absolutely NOT mandatory and please don’t feel obligated to do so. Just a thought!
Lastly, here is a list of books about Ramadan that you might wish to use in your classrooms, or read yourselves!
It is very important to remember that just because your student is Muslim, does not mean that they will definitely be fasting. Muslims are excused from fasting when they are traveling, ill, elderly, pregnant, or menstruating. Some Muslims might be struggling with eating disorders and some might just be struggling with the fast for a number of reasons. Please don’t assume that a student is fasting or ask them why they aren’t fasting. Some Muslims also choose to explore other aspects of their spirituality and religiousness during this month which can manifest itself in different ways. For example, Muslim girls might decide to try wearing hijab and some Muslim students might choose not to listen to music. Please keep in mind all of these decisions do not dictate a person’s religiosity, and as teachers, our job is to create spaces in which our students feel comfortable exploring their identities, however they choose to do so.
Thank you for caring about the well-being of all of your students, and especially the well-being of your Muslim students during this beautiful month of Ramadan.