New student anxiety: A lesson from the Prophet’s (S) Life

One of the perks of a teaching career is summer vacation. While friends and family grind through the summer — as they do all year long — educators and students are afforded the luxury of leisure. But with August on the horizon for educators, the specter of lesson plans may loom. Between that leisure and specter, however, one group of children may escape the minds of teachers and administrators: new students. While children run through sprinklers, prospective students’ thoughts and emotions race about the unknown that is the new school transition.

Don’t underestimate how psychologically sensitive your new student will be on that first day of school. I recall my first day of first grade and the anxious bundle I was: our teacher handed out a worksheet and instructed us to write our name at the top. I froze. When I came to, I glanced at the worksheet of the student next to me, searching for help on what to do. Without thinking, I copied his name onto my worksheet! That’s the anxiety that comes from trying to acclimate to a new environment.

So, how can Islamic schools acclimate their new students? Well, remember that lesson you taught about the Prophet’s Hijrah? You probably had your students learn Tala’al Badru Alaina, and explained to them how the Prophet (s) paired a Madinan Ansar with a Makkan Muhajir. That blessed pairing epitomizes what we call today the buddy system.

It will take more than you and your staff to provide a smooth transition for your new students. You’re an authority figure, and your stature may intimidate them. But a willing student peer can allay the fears of a new student. Returning students imbibe the school culture and spirit you create, and they may be a more effective transmitter of it to your new little bundle-of-nerves, backpack in tow, wishing for his or her nightmare to end.

Here’s what we propose: take that buddy system and model it upon the Prophet’s partnering between the Ansar and Muhajirun. Begin your first lesson on how the Prophet (s) paired the Ansar and Muhajirun; hit upon the virtues of both groups, and give examples of the lasting friendships that developed between them. Ask for Ansar volunteers and pair them with your new student Muhajir. Have an Ansar introduce his or her Muhajir every day. Get special tags that indicate the Ansar/Muhajir pairing, with the intent to celebrate them throughout the school.

Such an initiative fulfills one of the great hallmarks of effective teaching: ownership. Educators often struggle for ways of giving students ownership over their education, even though it is one of the most useful tools in the teacher’s toolbox. Most importantly, your entire school will be fulfilling a Sunnah, the ultimate example in model teaching.

Be an Ansar yourself … if within the first week of school you get two worksheets with one name, it may not be cheating, it’s a student trying to figure it all out!