8th Annual Australian Islamic Schooling Conference (AAISC8)

16 August - 17 August 2025

Australian Islamic Schools aspire to foster wholeness - spiritual, intellectual, physical, moral, ethical, imaginative, and social aptitudes. But pressures to perform academically create two challenges for our schools: a) standardised test scores unknowingly become the marker of success and b) assessing that which cannot be measured (e.g. morality and spirituality) is left open-ended. The conundrum is this: Australian Islamic Schools are undoubtedly graduating students with high academic performance but how do we measure impact on fostering wholeness? This year’s conference aspires to raise the difficult question we often don’t collectively get to explore: do we assess what matters most and if so, how? 

This year’s conference extends our collective commitment to drawing from the Islamic Worldview to think about education in Australia anew. The focus on assessment will allow us to hone in on a critical area of our work in schools rarely problematised. Our aim is to push thinking and encourage renewed practice that holds true the very aspirations we have for Australian Islamic schooling. 

Key themes of the conference include: 

1. Islamic Worldview in relation to assessment 
2. Assessing moral, spiritual, and ethical development
3. Early years assessment 
4. Opportunities within Australian assessment and evaluation policy and practice 
5. Research and practice related to alternative assessment and evaluation 
6. Assessment and evaluation in Islamic Studies  
7. Assessment and evaluation in Arabic Studies  
8. Key debates on standardisation of assessment and evaluation 
9. Student, parents, community perspectives, expectations, and aspirations related to assessment and evaluation 
10. Rethinking school evaluations and teacher appraisals in relation to the Islamic Worldview.

KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

Professor Pasi Sahlberg

"Beyond the Test: Reclaiming Purpose and Possibility for Flourishing Learners"

Pasi Sahlberg is a professor of educational leadership at the University of Melbourne, an internationally recognized thought leader, and a school improvement activist.

His extensive career in education spans roles as a schoolteacher in Helsinki, a curriculum reform leader at Finland’s National Agency of Education, and a senior education specialist at the World Bank in Washington and the European Commission in Italy. He has also been a visiting professor at Harvard University. Pasi works at the intersection of education research, policy, and practice, collaborating with teachers, principals, school communities, and governments worldwide to transform teaching and learning. He is passionate about exploring futures of education and helping schools to be the best at continuously getting better.

Pasi’s lifelong work in education has been recognized globally with numerous awards and honors. He has received the 2012 Education Award in Finland, the 2013 Grawemeyer Award in the U.S., the 2014 Robert Owen Award in Scotland, the 2016 Lego Prize in Denmark, and the 2021 Hedley Beare Award in Australia. A well-known writer whose work has appeared in newspapers and magazines around the world, Pasi is the author of over 20 books, including Let the Children Play: How More Play Can Save Our Schools and Help Children Thrive (2019), In Teachers We Trust: The Finnish Way to World-Class Schools (2021), and Finnish Lessons 3.0: What can the world learn from educational change in Finland? (2021).

Pasi moved from Helsinki to Sydney six years ago, where he served as a professor and deputy director of the Gonski Institute at UNSW. He now lives in South Melbourne with his wife and two sons.

Sr Elma Harder

Elma Ruth Harder is Program Specialist for Sakinah Circle, an alternative KG – Grade 6 program in Edmonton Public Schools, Alberta, Canada that delivers public school curriculum through the lens of the Qur’anic worldview. Her work focuses on the pedagogy of teaching and learning with the Qur’anic worldview, integrated thematic learning, and the development of resources to meet curriculum learning outcomes through the Qur’anic worldview.

An experienced educator, curriculum writer and author, Elma’s academic background includes a Master’s degree in Continuing and Vocational Education (University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1986), Bachelor of Science in Home Economics (1984), Bachelor of Education (1980), both from the University of Saskatchewan, and Bachelor of Theology (Canadian Mennonite University, 1977). She has taught at schools in rural Saskatchewan and Alberta, the International School in Islamabad, Pakistan and homeschooled her children.

Elma is the author of Concentric Circles, Nurturing Awe and Wonder in Early Learning, a foundational approach (2006). Her other publications include Lives of the Prophets (1999) and Living Ramadan, for children who think (2004).

Elma lives in aspen parkland on Treaty 6 territory near Edmonton, Alberta

Hosted by Australian Islamic College - Perth