A Systematic Review of Holistic Islamic Education Conceptual Frameworks

• In Event: Toward Fuller Expressions of Knowledge, Being, and Truth in Rethinking Islamic Education

Abstract

Decolonial attempts to examine classical Islamic educational thought, centre learner needs, and educator responsibilities, reveal a holistic approach to the pursuit of knowledge and disrupt current education philosophies that privilege neoliberal benefits of schooling. Islam has a rich tradition of critical thinking within holistic education, but its contributions remain marginalised in education discourse (Memon & Zaman, 2016). In postcolonial Muslim educational contexts, dichotomous divisions between ‘secular’ and ‘Islamic’ education prevail, leading to the false assumption that Islam and the secular are at odds with each other, reinforcing narratives that pigeonhole Islamic thought to archaic reasoning. Often, contemporary applications of ‘Islamic’ education fail to incorporate questioning, reflection, and engagement with ‘secular’ ideas when practitioners subscribe to a false ideology that Islam does not address current issues.
Conceptual Framework
A tawhidi (holistic) approach can heal this breach and offer more critical, emancipatory modes of education grounded in Islamic thought and practice. This paper attempts to make sense of what holistic Islamic PK-12 education might look like in contemporary contexts. How do existing syntheses of classical Islamic educational thought and contemporary educational philosophies intersect? How do they contribute to a Muslim indigenous framework centering the pursuit of knowledge as an embodiment of faith? Consistent with Muslim diversities, how might these educational syntheses address multiple social, cultural, political and economic realities facing Muslim learners?
Methods
This paper offers a systematic review of decolonial conceptual frameworks, broadly situated within an Islamic framework, which aim to reformulate education in Muslim contexts for learners ages three to 18 years old (PK-12 education). We conducted a robust systematic review of Islamic classical and contemporary frameworks that lay a foundation for holistic applications promoting critical, emancipatory discourse rooted in Islamic thought and practice. Attending to diversities of local socio-political contexts in our review, we depicted ontogenetic, pedagogical, and curricular development practices centering the needs of contemporary Muslim learners globally. We included empirical studies in English (1977–present) and theoretical essays (classical and modern periods) that addressed Islamic education, knowledge, and/or pedagogy. Our collaborative work was structured by specific inclusion and exclusion criteria applied to a common set of academic databases and Islamic education libraries, and the assignment of primary and secondary coders to elicit thematic coding to represent shared findings.
Results
Preliminary analysis indicates emergent themes: tawhid (holism); untapped richness of classical educational thought and relevance to modern challenges; internal plurality of thought with a dynamism to meet local contextual needs; and critical, emancipatory discourse that disrupts standardization in globalized education. Three gaps were identified that led to further work, as illustrated in this symposium.
1. Dynamic conceptual frameworks are required to articulate internal plurality of thought and practical application.
2. Islamically-relevant research paradigms and principles are needed for contribution to a methodological gap.
3. Knowledge-exchange models are needed to empower educators and schools to enact transformative education reform.
Significance
This paper offers a systematic review and synthesis of decolonial holistic Islamic thought to date, thereby laying a foundation and providing direction for an important emerging field.

Author

• Farah Ahmed, University of Cambridge
  Presenting Author