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Medieval Islamic Scholars on Pedagogy of Teaching and Learning
Abstract
This paper investigates the implicit and explicit assumptions underlying a set of medieval Islamic texts on pedagogy. An Islamic way of education produced between the 9th and the 14th centuries did not have a pedagogy of its own as we think of it in the contemporary era, but it shaped the traditional approach to the methods and principles of teaching and learning in Islam for hundreds of years to come up until now. Islamic scholars’ main concerns in the given time period were Islamic theology and jurisprudence, teaching sciences, production and transmission of knowledge, and conducts of learning and teaching. Influential scholars of this era were Ibn Sahnun and al-Jahiz (9th century), Ikhwan al-Safa and al-Farabi (10th century), Ibn Sina (late 10th and early 11th centuries), al-Qabisi and Miskawayh (11th century), al-Ghazali and al-Zarnuji (12th century), and Ibn-Khaldun and Ibn Jama‘ah (14th century). In this pre-modern era, it was acknowledged that learning and teaching with the concept of “tawheed’ (unity of God) at its core was important for perpetuation of religion as a set of moral principles that guided people throughout their lives. According to Adel Al-Sharaf (2013), several medieval scholars who produced work on education approached it not as a separate subject field but more of a sub-field of larger societal and philosophical questions because Islam meant a way of life rich in moral concerns that had to guide the individual in every aspect of their daily interactions. Through content analysis of the works of the aforementioned medieval scholars on education, this study investigates what guided them in their identification of the aim(s), objective(s), curriculum, pedagogy, and the etiquette of an Islamic way of learning and instruction in the Medieval Islamic Era. In other words, what were the medieval concerns for the betterment of the individual and accordingly the society so that Islam as a way of living could be holistically warranted? An analysis of the educational theory produced in this era will also help analyze its potential implications for contemporary Islamic schools whose worldwide numbers are increasing rapidly. Current findings show that central to the work of those medieval scholars was that God and knowledge were inextricably linked; hence learning should lead to God. In addition, education was seen as a social necessity for perpetuation of the religion.
Discipline
Education
Geographic Area
All Middle East
Sub Area
None