Towards Designing a Unified Teacher Education Curriculum for Modern Muslim Settings: An Overview of Some Major Issues

Towards Designing a Unified Teacher Education Curriculum for Modern Muslim Settings: An Overview of Some Major Issues

Saheed Ahmad Rufai*

 

ABSTRACT

Existing literature suggests that there is an ideological crisis in the Muslim world. The literature traces the crisis to the nature of the educational system among Muslims especially their system of teacher preparation. The literature posits that since the teacher is the live-wire of any educational system, any challenge recorded in teacher education will most probably affect the entire system. The literature reveals that Muslim scholars in various parts of the world have continued to clamour for a teacher education programme that would be truly Islamic-based and capable of satisfying the educational needs of the Muslims, in a manner that is in consonance with Islamic teachings and principles. This paper seeks to fulfill the long-felt need for such an Islamic-based teacher education programme among Muslims. It attempts to translate relevant Islamic educational principles to philosophy and learning experiences, for teacher education among Muslims. The paper is primarily aimed at proposing the philosophical foundations and curricular provisions of a unified curriculum of teacher education, for Muslim settings. Employing a combination of curriculum criticism and philosophical methods, the paper exposes the deficiency in the existing teacher education curricula in the contemporary Muslim settings, by articulating the nature of man and the concept of knowledge in relation to the purpose of creation. The critical analysis in the paper finds that only such a unified Islamic-based teacher education programme, as proposed in this regard, can effectively prepare teachers for effective implementation of school curricula in Muslim settings.