Islamic education teachers' teaching approaches in inspiring the practice of prayers among school students in Gombak district, Selangor

Abstract

Prayer (Salat) is one of the pillars of Islam, and is obligatory to all Muslims. However, previous studies show that primary to tertiary level Muslim students still have problems carrying out this principal duty. There were many contributing factors, such as family background, peer influence and learning environment. This study aimed at investigating the teaching approaches employed by three Islamic Education teachers (IETs) in inspiring the practice of prayers among their Form 2 students. This study also intended to ascertain the students’ perceptions of their IETs’ approaches in inspiring them to pray. Besides, challenges faced by teachers in inspiring their students were also examined. Since the students were attending afternoon sessions, the researcher chose two afternoon prayer sessions (Dzuhr and ‘Asar) to observe students’ behavioural or attitudinal stances. The research employed a qualitative method in which data was collected through semi-structured interview sessions. The interview was conducted with the three IETs and six students from 3 regular day schools in Gombak District. The findings showed that all the teachers combined both teacher-centered and student-centered approaches in inspiring their students to perform prayers. They incorporated explanations, exemplary stories, giving advice, monitoring the students, practice sessions, role-modelling and memorizing. Information Technology accessories such as slide presentations, CD or YouTube watching and using QR codes to scan exercises, were alternately utilized during the teaching. Students’ responses revealed that listening to teachers’ explanation was the most effective approach in motivating them to perform prayers. The main instigators were the exemplary stories and persuasive advice provided by the teachers. This study also revealed various challenges and obstacles faced by the teachers, including the coverage of many topics in the KSSM syllabus itself, time constraint, as well as the school administration and the students themselves. Several suggestions were put forward to overcome the challenges and some proposals were recommended for further research regarding the same issue.

Keywords: “Salat” (Prayer), Prayer Negligence, KSSM Islamic Education, Teaching Innovations.