Student Involvement Within Islamic Teacher Education: For a Future Profession

Abstract

The purpose of this article was to explore student involvement in teaching and learning, focusing on the experiences of third-year students in the Indonesian Islamic Education Study Program teacher program. Student involvement was defined as having three aspects: students exhibit active classroom participation, students influence the curriculum design, and students feel they are part of the community. The findings were reported based on interview studies and process analysis, the involvement of learning methods, and the motivation for student involvement. The findings revealed that students had multiple understandings of student involvement and that the level of involvement depended on student and lecturer involvement, expectations, and responsibilities. Student lecturers also linked student involvement to the use of teaching methods, learning, and their future professions as teachers of Islamic religious education. Students mainly discussed intrinsic motivation (beneficial for learning) for student involvement, but traces of altruistic motivation (civics learning) were also observed. Extrinsic motivation (university benefits), however, was absent. Voices of resistance to student involvement were also present; these students preferred lecturer-led education and were unaccustomed to high levels of involvement. Student understanding of engagement challenges the lecturer–student role in the education of teachers in Islamic religious education specifically, and in Islamic higher education in general. Acknowledging students’ diverse understanding of student involvement is important. Overall, based on student experience, involvement creates participation and the motivation to study here and now and for future professions. Studies show that student involvement has inherent value beyond the benefits of measurable outcomes, in which the use of teaching, engagement, and learning methods for future professions is promoted.