MISHKAT

MISHKAT

Educational and Pedagogical Principles for the Teaching Profession Inferred from Qur’anic Applications of the Ḥayāt Term

Document Type : Original Article

Author
Assistant Professor, Department of Islamic Studies, Farhangian University, Tehran, Iran
Abstract
Approaching Qur’anic key terms from an educational perspective is a method that can open up pathways for understanding and deriving foundational principles of teaching and education. The key term ḥayāt (life) is among the frequently occurring Qur’anic concepts whose usage pattern in the Qur’an, together with an analysis of the expressions associated with the verses in which it appears, can offer guidance for articulating pedagogical and educational principles relevant to the teaching profession. Accordingly, the present study aims to examine the term ḥayāt in the Qur’an through an educational lens, with a view to deriving such principles .Given the multifaceted nature of the subject, the research employs a combined methodology. In the stage of examining Qur’anic verses, a descriptive-phenomenological approach is used. The data are then analyzed and coded using a grounded-theory strategy with MAXQDA software in three stages: open coding, axial coding, and selective coding. Finally, qualitative content analysis is conducted inductively to extract the educational implications for the teaching profession.The findings indicate that the theoretical pattern of the term ḥayāt can be classified into six categories: stages of life, degrees of true life, ways of knowing life, life-giving factors, features of life, and fruits of reflection on life, each of which is further divided into more specific subcategories. In addition, five pedagogical and educational principles can be derived from this theoretical and conceptual pattern for the teaching profession: the necessity of attending to learners’ implicit questions; responding to these inner questions through concrete models; fostering knowledge and understanding through contrasts; directing attention to the different degrees of life; and emphasizing the intentionality and purposiveness of life.
Keywords
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