Modern secular concepts of education have generated a ‘factory’ approach according to some modern thinkers.  Children are shuttled in large numbers into, through and out of a system which is designed to ‘educate’ them. It has been frequently observed that many are at one stage or another somehow lost in and to the system. Without a human approach in a human-scale environment we will always struggle to cater for individual children. The human-scale education movement seeks to promote the benefits of such frameworks.

The Islamic concept of education (tarbiyah) as the fulfilling of human potential requires knowing a child/student on a personal level; understanding their personality, individualities and needs. The ultimate goal is Shakhsiyah Islamiyah (Islamic Personality) and this is the foremost work of the teacher in partnership with parents. This requires us to establish teacher-child ratios which facilitate this. We began our home-schooling groups with 5-6 children which generated an exceptional opportunity for those children, most of whom were soon working 1-2 years ahead of their peers in state schools. More valuable than this was the impact on their confidence, Shakhsiyah and relationship with their teacher. On registration with the DfES in 2002, as it was then known, financial pressures increased the numbers to 8 per class. More recently we have had to further expand to 10 per class. With the addition of even single children into any class we notice a slight dilution of the cherished teacher-student relationship in Islam. Nevertheless most children continue to work one year ahead of their peers in the state sector.

The human-scale ethos does not end there; small classes must operate in a small ‘school’ i.e. only one class intake per year will mean around 70 children in a primary school. This enables a community atmosphere where everyone knows each other and no child goes unnoticed. When the framework is implemented in its entirety, bullying is non-existent and the usual school culture of small groups of children looking down on each other whilst one or two individuals are completely left out from social groupings does not happen. Any sign of this will quickly be rectified by staff and indeed other children in such a small school. Further, children are taught that they are not ‘friends’, rather all children are their brothers and sisters, and have a right over them. They are also encouraged to give naseeha to each other and encourage the brotherhood of Islam amongst themselves.

In the glorious history of Islam there were schools of a huge size; Abu Qassim Al-Bulkhi had a kuttab of 3000 pupils. However that was in the context of an Islamic society where the Shariah was the norm and the education system was just a part of a society which was geared around Islamic values. Children may have been educated from the age of 7 however their tarbiyah began early in the home and by the extended family, community and wider society. In western societies where families are living in flats isolated from the community, large classes are problematic. The human being has been created to need the support and security of a community and this is even more crucial fro the natural development of the innocent child.

In our experience the human-scale model, www.hse.org.uk as part of the wider framework of the ‘Shakhsiyah Model’ enables the development of a ‘Learning Community’ and the implementation of Islamic education principles.