The Need For an Islamic Pedagogy

INTRODUCTION

Egypt has a population of about 82 million; it is split into 26 governorates with about 90% of the people living on the 10% of the land around the Nile, and the currency is the Egyptian pound. Egypt is ruled by an authoritarian regime that has ruled by marshal law since 1981. This emergency law is the primary obstacle to change in Egypt, including in the field of education-not to mention that 1.3 of the 1.7 billion in American funding is spent on support of the military which upholds these policies (Boustany, 2008; Kelly, 2006; Zuhur, 2007, pgs. 2, 18 )3 .

Egypt has the largest educational system in the Middle East (Sadik, 2006, p. 87). This is mainly due to the tremendous population explosion over the last half a century, which has also caused a great decline in per student expenditure (at 40 percent per five years in the 1990s) and is getting worse (World Bank, 2009, p.12). Education in Egypt is very centralized and controlled by the Ministry of Education- with two “sub” ministries. The main educational system in Egypt is governed by a sub ministry called the Ministry of Education and Learning and is divided into two stages: the first compulsory stage, from ages six to fourteen, is split into two cycles, five then three years (only about ten percent of the population can afford any level of private education). At the end of the second preparatory cycle, students take a high-stakes national final exam which will essentially determine the rest of their life, whether they go to general or technical secondary education (Leavitt, 1992, pgs.96-97). If admitted to general education, the second stage is two years of general studies and one year specializing in a particular subject. The type of certificate granted at the end of the third year depends on the score achieved on the final national exam which will determine potential entrance into a university, and if admitted, the field qualified for out of the student’s list of preferences (i.e.: Arts, Engineering, Medicine, etc.). This final exam covers every course taken in high-school and is such a catastrophic event that some students commit suicide every year from sheer stress (Elhakeem, 2008)! “The Ministry of Education has repeatedly defeated efforts to change the national exam” (Leavitt, 1992, p.97). For the other half of the student population that get tracked into technical secondary education, about 1 percent get admitted to a university while the rest usually enter a trade or end up unemployed (Leavitt, 1992, pgs. 96-97).

There is also the parallel Islamic educational system of Al-Azhar, which is administered by the sub ministry Al-Awqaaf, and was established 975 CE. Al-Azhar has a four year primary stage, a three year preparatory stage, a four year secondary stage, and higher education (Leavitt, 1992, p. 97). Both the main educational system and the parallel Al-Azhar system have public, private, and semi-private branches with the main difference between these being that the size of the classroom decreases and use of international languages such as English (for instruction) increases as one moves down the spectrum from public to private. Correspondingly, under both ministries public schools are free, semi-private at varying costs, and private rarely within reach except for the elite class-of course aside from tuition, there are

numerous indirect expenses like transportation, uniforms, books, and other materials.

The demanding nature of the national exam at the end of secondary school combined with the poor quality of curriculum/ instruction cause millions of dollars to be wasted each year on private tutoring and bribes to get around the educational system. Ethnographic research from the Culture and Education in Egypt Working Group (CEEWG) of the Middle East Awards Program explicated how private lessons have become a market themselves due to the tremendous failure of the educational system. Linda Herrera’s work with teachers allowed for discussions that highlighted the importance of improving the regular learning experience so students would not have to purchase their education on their own--which of course condemns most of the poverty-stricken of Egypt. However, these conversations also highlighted the need to motivate teachers to put forth more effort and enthusiasm in their teaching (despite the institutional obstacles) and acknowledge their social responsibility towards their students (Herrera and Torres, 2006, pgs.100-118).

In regard to teaching methods and content, Egyptian education has been reduced to rote memorization of dated textbooks. Students, from basic through secondary education, are lambasted with facts and figures with no guidance on how to practically apply such knowledge or its relevance (Herrera, 2006, p. 9). During basic education, students learn manners and some academic content (like language, communication, agriculture, and industrial skills) in this manner (Leavitt, 1992, p.97). In preparatory and secondary education, the curriculum changes little, aside from an increased workload and having the opportunity to specialize during the last year (in general secondary education). In Al-Azhar schools, curriculum consists of the same Ministry of Education and Learning curriculum with added Islamic sciences. The minute percentage that can afford Western private schools either receive a Western curriculum, usually in English or French, or a language acquisition curriculum; there are some special education schools as well (Leavitt, 1992, p.98).

Regarding Universities, Said laments:

“Universities in the Arab world are generally run according to some pattern inherited from, or once directly imposed by, a former colonial power…classes populated with hundreds of students, badly trained, overworked, and underpaid faculty, political appointments, the almost total absence of advanced research and of research facilities, and most important, the lack of a single decent library in the entire region…the few promising students who manage to make it through the system are encouraged to come to the United States to continue their advanced work…the patronage system in scholarship, business, and research makes the United States a virtual hegemonic commander of affairs…the Arabic and Islamic world remains a second-order power in terms of the production of culture, knowledge, and scholarship” (Said, 1979, pgs. 322-323).

This is how Edward Said described Higher Education in the Middle East in 1979 and it has not particularly changed much except for the fact that all of these issues have only gotten worse, primarily due to authoritarian

political regimes that hinder any possible change that might put their power at risk, lack of planning/organization in ministries of education, widespread corruption, lack of resources, and the population boom mentioned previously (Christina, 2003).

There are many issues that need to be addressed in Egyptian education including curriculum (Herrera & Torres, 2006, p. 9), funding (Zuhur, 2007, p.19), teacher training (NCERD, 2000, p.7), and early childcare education (NCERD, 2000, pgs.7-14), but what has been seen over the last 2 decades to the common observer-and of course professionals in the field as well (AREME 2003; Birdsall, 1999, p.3; Herrera 2006; ; UNESCO, 2007)-to be the greatest problem in improving education in Egypt has been quality. Aside from the horrible economic prospects for employment, Egyptian education does not motivate students to intellectually grow and it produces citizens who have merely memorized and forgotten a lot of books. This pattern is quite ironic given that traditional4 (pre-colonization) Islamic pedagogy centers on a case-based learning approach where students practically apply knowledge through an apprentice-style relationship with their teachers and cooperative group work which allows them to participate in their own moral and cognitive growth. Due to the complexity of political constraints in improving many institutional aspects of Egyptian education, enhancing teachers’ abilities to teach will empower them to change what they can-their classroom.

PURPOSE

The objective of this research is to develop an Islamic pedagogy that inspires an active approach to creating change in one’s society by changing oneself and working to be an active contribution to societal change simultaneously. This thesis focuses on Islamic Pedagogy as it relates to two branchesdeveloping caring student/teacher relationships and utilizing these relationships to apply a case-based learning approach where students learn how to apply knowledge directly from the educator and from their peers. To stimulate such relationships, I have focused on utilizing metaphysical (Islamic) motivation in improving teacher effort/ability. Muslim teachers who practically live according to the belief that teaching is an act of worship-through the way proper education produces active citizens who improve society-are more effective teachers. Through such relationships, I have concentrated on utilizing case-based learning to stimulate critical thinking, which enhances the quality of education.

Islamic pedagogy, with its high emphasis on caring apprenticeship relationships between teacher and student allows teachers to utilize their personal relationships with students to scaffold them to higher concepts. When teachers draw on classroom occurrences/ disturbances to model appropriate behavior and elaborate on various academic concepts, they will construct live learning experiences inside the classroom. I will provide specific examples of how to accomplish this. More generally put, every moment in the classroom is a learning experience. This is what I intend by case based learning.

Through the aforementioned student-teacher relationships and teaching methods, educators set a certain example for students, thereby not only directly guiding students’ moral/cognitive development, but also creating “mini role models” among them to affect peer influence. Complimentary group activities in such an environment would allow students to help each other morally and cognitively develop. Given that family and peers have been two of the biggest indicators of children’s future academic and social achievement globally (Hanushek, 2007, p.277), empirical research appears to support an approach that does not neglect peer influence. A common theme on the parts of teachers and students I will highlight is Ihsaan-worshipping God as if you see Him, and even though you don’t see Him you live according to the acknowledgment that He sees you. The potential of this concept in addressing motivation will be elaborated on. From my research and personal experience in Egypt, I have seen the potential for these aforementioned threads due to the very social nature of Egyptian society.

Research questions

In order to craft a pedagogy such as what has been described above, it will have to be asked first and foremost, what is Islam and what are the epistemological definitions of knowledge and education within this belief system; are there different types of the former or latter? What is the purpose of seeking knowledge in Islam; how and with whom should it be done? What do we intend by pedagogy and has a particular Islamic pedagogy ever

been outlined before by scholars in the past or present? Subsequently, these questions will lead us to a framework of what an Islamic pedagogy might look like.