Exploring Values Muslim Teacher Trainees attach to Teaching as a Professional career at the International Islamic University Malaysia

ABSTRACT

The study investigated the underlying values Muslim Teacher Trainees attached to Teaching as a professional Career at the International Islamic University Malaysia. The purpose of this study was three fold; to explore reasons why Muslim teacher trainees chose Teaching as their career, to find out what Muslim teacher trainees understood by Teaching as a profession and to understand the underlying elements of their perceived self-esteem to be effective Muslim teachers. This was a case study that applied a qualitative research approach. It involved two informants who were IIUM undergraduate students, offering Bachelor of Education (Teaching English as a Second Language). The research instrument used was interviewing and the voices of the informants were transcribed and coded into repeating ideas and themes.

From the onset, the Muslim teacher trainees showed great interest in teaching career.

The most salient and overriding finding was that they attached the value of the notion of “change’’ to teaching profession. According to them, teaching career is about affection to interact with the learners in order to help them change their behaviors and attitudes towards learning. They chose teaching career as early as primary level and their teacher role models influenced them greatly. The English language was one of the major factors that influenced their decision. The study discovered that the MTT preferred English language as a subject because they wanted to study it and teach it in high school. In relation to English, the research found that the MTT wanted to correct the misconception of some Muslims that English is a language of non Muslims and therefore, Muslims should never dare study it. In their own perspectives, they defined teaching profession as an act of changing the behavior of students. The study discovered that the values they attached to an effective teacher were that he/she must be patient, a master of content, students’ safe haven, students’ comforter and responsible. They attached the values of a good Muslim teacher as one who should be orderly, and systematic as well as ethical. The study found that the MTT preferred to establish a school of Islamic morals with manageable subjects. It was discovered that the MTT attached the value of the relationship between the teacher and his/her students as that of a surrogate-parent relationship. They characterized a teacher as a parent, friendly, motivating, understating and guiding. The MTT described themselves as teachers with self responsibility and willpower to teach. They perceived their strengths majorly as endurance and the quest to learn something new and their weaknesses as lack of teaching experience, poor time management and inaudibility in a crowded classroom. The findings showed that the MTT anticipated the challenges of handling naughty students and naughty parents whom they said use confrontational means to solve school related problems. They revealed that in some incidences, teachers had been hospitalized because of students’ and parents’ undisciplined code of conduct in some schools. The study revealed that the MTT attached to the teaching career the value of knowledge advancement because a teacher and a student in the teaching learning environment both contribute to knowledge. They believed that teaching profession is the backbone of all academic fields.

The study made some recommendations some of which were; teaching of English Language at the INSTED should put a great more emphasis on the importance and benefits of teaching English as a language. The Academic staff at INSTED should maintain the Islamic code of conduct and observance of Islamic ethics at all times because the teacher is a mentor whose demeanor reflects the students’ future characters. The concept of teaching profession should be expounded further because some undergraduate teacher trainees seem not to understand it properly. The curricular for teacher preparation programmes at the INSTED should not be congested to enable teacher trainees comprehend them better. Islamic values at IIUM should be maintained and emphasized both in letter and spirit. School practice with micro-teaching at the INSTED should be over emphasized as an integral part of teacher preparation programme.

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