Muslims at International College of Engineering and Management - Case Study Example

International Collage of Engineering and Management (ICEM) Name of University, College and Department: Name and ID Number of Student: Course Name Submission Date: Case Study on International College of Engineering and Management Executive Summary This essay will focus on some of the issues that affect students of Muslim backgrounds in modern colleges(DIRKS, 2014, p. 91). One of the reasons why parents take their children to specific schools is the lessons that they have taught these children since childhood because they do not want their cultural, spiritual and social beliefs to be comprised by school ideologies that are related to this (BESLEY, 2012, p. 47). The essay will also point out some of the suggestions that the students had in regards to what they were told since they were not happy with being told to wear trousers now that it is against their Muslim beliefs. The essay will also point out some of the decisions made by the ministry of higher education. The decision by the dean of students is also one that requires to be looked at in a scenario where the college rules are against the beliefs of Muslim students. Integrating Islamic education into modern education and mixing it with western culture has become one of the most contested and controversial topics in many societies in the modern world and this is because it is often associated with Islamic politics and Islamic religion which is believed to be a bit uncivilized by many beliefs. These beliefs are often associated with inequality especially when the topic of discussion affects the women rights on how they are treated and the kind of things that they are forced to do by their culture. Muslim culture and modern education has had massive debates over the years and many researchers have come up with different ideologies that are both for and against it. The essay will also examine the SWOT analysis of some of the factors that affect modern education in relation to Muslim culture. The reality of Muslim education is one that is viewed from very different perspectives in modern education and this means that there are many Muslim students whose education process is affected by western culture since it does not correspond to their cultural and religious beliefs. This case study will shine some light on some of the possible solutions to these problems with the main intention of making it easy for Muslim students to acquire education without having any form of interference to their cultural and spiritual beliefs. The case study will also look at the positive results of Muslim education to their children and how it impacts them with main focus being on their cultural traditions and their religion. The case study will focus on the issues that seem to affect the students and in this case the focus will be on their things like learning facilities and other educational programs of the school and so on (KRISHNA, 2012, p. 77). Issues such as inadequate technological resources in the college is one of the issues that will be discussed in this essay and possible solutions given by the ministry of higher education in Oman. The ministry of higher education decided to negotiate with the school administration and the dean of studies in this college to ensure that the Muslim women in the college find a conducive learning environment and they did this through ensuring that some of the rules such as wearing of trousers are compromised to enable effective learning. Who are you? Being the advisor of the ministry of higher education, I will have to discuss some of the issues that affect the studies of Muslim students in this college and also point out how the school operates in regards to the rules put since the school does not easily compromise these rules and regulations since they are the ones that define the goals and objectives of the college. The main intention of advising the ministry of higher education is to ensure that there is a conducive teaching and learning environment for both the students and the teachers and ensuring that there will be a consensus between the two parties (BUANG, 2014, p. 53). Finding a long-lasting solution to this problem is crucial since this will enable the college to have a permanent solution to this problem and this means that other Muslim students who will join the college in the future will not be affected by a similar problem. Negotiating across cultures is not an easy thing since this means that two different parties come together with already existing ideologies on how education ought to be done. Who is your client? The top management of this international college of engineering and management wants the Muslim students in the college to adhere to some of the college rules in order to have a conducive learning environment for everyone (SHAH, 2016, p. 77). The top management of the college wants all the Muslim students especially the women to come together and explain their cases and ask them to offer possible solutions to their own problems. This is to enable students to make crucial decisions so that they do not end up claiming that the decisions that was made towards solving their problems was biased by the top management of the Engineering College. Overview of the current situation Some of the possible assumptions that one can have in regards to the problems affecting the education of Muslim students in this college are such as religious and cultural discrimination and so on (KENNEDY, 2014, p. 39). In the manner in which the college wants the student’s uniforms to be changed into trousers and yet it is against their religious and cultural beliefs shows that the school is either against that culture or its either the school does not want to have students of Muslim culture to fit in their education system. One can also assume that the college favors certain culture than others and this is evident in the way the school’s top management tries to force students to lean towards a specific culture in order to learn within the system. Cross-Cultural Managementin Colleges As part of assessment, it important for universities to have a deeper understanding of the cultural behaviors of their students through understanding their backgrounds since can facilitate in understanding how to teach them and even assess the progress of their learning. In a situation where there are Muslim women whose religious and cultural beliefs do not allow them to wear trousers, the uniforms should be forced on them or should not be put in a way that makes them uncomfortable (DIRKS, 2014, p. 97).Cross-cultural communication focuses on how people from backgrounds that are dissimilar converse and understand their ideas and behaviors in the learning process. When looking at the assessment of students from different backgrounds in a university set up, one may argue that the way in which native English speakers are treated better in comparison to how other students such as Muslims are treated in colleges. SWOT ANALYSIS on International College of Engineering and Management Strengths Some of the factors that contribute to effective education and a conducive learning environment in this college are such as; availability of firefighting safety systems, having a unique training centre, having firefighting employees and having competent teachers. The security in the college is guaranteed by the fact that there is a central civil defense within the environs of the school and that the school is also situated in the city centre (Muscat) making it easily accessible (KRISHNA, 2012, p. 83). The school management department is also one that ensures that all the issues affecting students are well dealt with and in this case the issues affecting Muslim students is the main focus on this department since they want every student to learn in a well-organized system and this depicts that the top management is supportive in many ways. The courses offered in this international college also shows one of its strengths especially if one was to compare it to another college since it has unique majors such as Fire engineering management, health, safety and environment management. The other strength of this college is that when students complete their studies, most of them easily get job employments and this is one of the biggest advantages that the college has against other colleges within the environs. Weaknesses Some of the notable weaknesses of this college are such as; low salary of the teachers, instability of the management department, resignations of the staff members which in the process affects the students learning process, not having advanced technology and so on. When a college does not have most of these things, then it affects the learning of their students since these are some of the basic things that the school requires in order to meet the competitive standards of the educational systems in the modern world (HEFNER, 2010, p. 29). The students also complain about the building and other learning equipment that does not seem to be available and those that are available are either old or worn out and so on. Insufficient budgets for acquiring more learning equipment in the college also depicts the weakness of the college in relation to their organizational abilities and so on. The college does not have sufficient teachers and staff members and this is also another weakness that affects the studies of students since this means that there are courses that are either not taught effectively or are behind the curriculum and this means that when it comes to doing an exam, the students might fail drastically. Opportunities As much as there are a number of notable challenges that the college is facing, there are also a number of opportunities that the students find in the school settings. The college is able to look at some of the challenges noted in regards to equipment and learning materials and so on and make an effort to improve all these things in order to improve the overall performance of the college (BESLEY, 2012, p. 63). The school has a training program for the teachers that takes place after every six months and this is an opportunity that the college has and can impact the students in many ways. The college can increase their annual budgets so that they are able to acquire new equipment, build more facilities and pay the teachers better towards improving the students’ performance and the overall performance of the college. The school also has an opportunity to buy new computers and improve the technological department of the school, install Wi-Fi systems and so on. Threats There are a number of notable threats that this college has in relation to the overall performance of the college. The school faces a threat of losing some of the competent teachers that they already have due to poor salary and this will affect the college in many ways since this means that some of the students will not be having some courses going on or they will be behind the curriculum (AL-BALUSHI, 2016, p 82). The government might change some of the policies, rules and acts that will affect the existence of the school and also affect the learning of the students in this college and so on. There will be lack of students and scholarships offered to the university from the ministry of higher education due to poor performance of the University and this might lead to the closure of the University. The other notable threat that the university might face is loss of affiliation to some of the biggest Universities that they are currently affiliated to such as University of Central Lancashire, United Kingdom and so on. The mi9nistry of higher education might also force the university from operation due to some of the negative reputations that it has acquired through the complaints of the students and this will mean that the students in this college will have to join other competitive colleges. Another great threat that the college might face is getting their college to be relocated to a new location and this will pose a lot of inconveniences to both the students and the University management in many ways. Conclusion In conclusion, assessment is an integral part of learning in the modern world since it cuts across different aspects of teaching research and it is the central part of colleges and Universities in the modern world (KLAUSEN, 2005, p. 51). Within a University set up, there are many things to consider and important factors such as education performance of individual students, the overall performance of the university and that of their learning environments. This essay focuses on some of the crucial cultural issues affecting International College of Engineering and their management. Bibliography AL-BALUSHI, S. M. (2016). Science Education Research in Oman: Opportunities, Trends, and Challenges. BESLEY, T., & PETERS, M. (2012). Interculturalism, education and dialogue. New York, P. Lang. BUANG, S., & CHEW, P. G. L. (2014). Muslim education in the 21st century: Asian perspectives. New york, Routledge. DIRKS, C., WENDEROTH, M. P., & WITHERS, M. (2014). Assessment in the college science classroom. HEFNER, R. W., & ZAMAN, M. Q. (2010). Schooling Islam: the Culture and Politics of Modern Muslim Education. Princeton, Princeton University Press. http://public.eblib.com/choice/publicfullrecord.aspx?p=646757. KLAUSEN, J. (2005). The Islamic challenge: politics and religion in Western Europe. Oxford, Oxford University Press. http://public.eblib.com/choice/publicfullrecord.aspx?p=422637. KENNEY, J. T., & MOOSA, E. (2014). Islam in the modern world. New York, Routledge KRISHNA-HENSEL, S. F. (2012). Religion, education, and governance in the Middle East: between tradition and modernity. Farnham, Surrey, England, Ashgate. SHAH, M., & NAIR, C. S. (2016). A global perspective on private higher education. Cambridge, Chandos publishing. Read More