Alhawsawi, Hajeej: Teacher educators teaching approaches to Islamic education in the University of Saudi Arabia
The government of Saudi Arabia has placed a priority on developing the processes of teaching and learning in the country’s teacher education programs. Teacher educators are increasingly recognised as important to the quality of teacher education in Saudi Arabia, particularly in the teaching of Islam and Islamic education.
Teaching Islamic education in Saudi Arabia is not only about the acquisition of knowledge per se, but also about the growth of a Muslim from the perspective of faith and worship, i.e. the ‘Deen’. Muslims are encouraged to constantly develop their intellectual capacity, which allows them to question and understand the world around them.
In this context, this paper examines teacher educators’ teaching practices in the subject of Islamic education at a teacher education university in Saudi Arabia. This paper specifically discusses the teaching practices of the teacher educators at the university. It is also discusses the historical development of teaching practices during different periods of Islam in order to contextualise the teaching practices of Islamic education found amongst this study’s participants. The data for this paper is based on a three year qualitative research project, using interviews, classroom observation and document reviews to explore teachers’ practices in-depth.
The findings of this study highlight the diverse teaching beliefs and approaches of teacher educators in teaching Islamic education at the university level. It argues that teacher educators mainly use teacher-centred teaching practices, though some teacher educators use student centred approaches. The paper explains the reason for these approaches in relation to the participants understanding of Islam and teaching Islamic education. This paper argues that teacher educators’ teaching approaches of the subject are conditioned by their beliefs and understanding of what constitutes Islamic knowledge.
The paper contributes to debates about teacher pedagogy by shining the spotlight to a neglected field and bringing into focus countries in which Islamic Education is the official national curricula framework. As such, it highlights the complexity of attaining the SDG5 for education in various Muslim countries.
