The Facilitator as Murabi: Exploring the Teacher-Student Relationship in Light of a Holistic Learner Experience Framework in an Islamic University in Egypt

Indiana University Press. 601 North Morton Street, Bloomington, IN 47404. Tel: 800-842-6796; Tel: 812-855-8817; Fax: 812-855-7931; e-mail: iuporder@indiana.edu; Web site: https://scholarworks.iu.edu/iupjournals/index.php/jems/

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25

Foreign Countries; Teacher Student Relationship; College Faculty; College Students; Transformative Learning; Active Learning; Males; Student Centered Learning; Islamic Culture; Muslims; Holistic Approach; Humanism

2641-0044
2641-0052

This paper explores the transformative potential of FIRST (Focusing, Interacting, Reviewing, Sequencing, and Transforming), a new learner's experience framework that promotes active and deep learning within a higher education setting. Based on the reflective experience of a university professor teaching a course on Maxims of Islamic Jurisprudence to 4th-year male students, as well as the experience of his students, this study addresses the following question: How is the FIRST framework transforming the learning experience in a traditional university setting taking into account the teacher-student relationship? The research adopts a case study methodology employing interviews, surveys, and observations of videos of the course lectures. Findings suggest that the FIRST framework can instigate a paradigm shift in how the teacher conceptualizes their role re-envisioning the student's image. Through implementable practices involving adopting the FIRST framework in teacher professional development programs, FIRST aims to gradually transform the classroom into a learner-centered one, potentially empowering teachers to humanize their pedagogies and thereby strengthen the teacher-student relationship as well as their connection with students, to reclaim and revive the forgotten role of the murabi in Islamic heritage. This novel study also adds to a pertinent area of research that needs further development: strategies promoting teacher-student relationships. Despite the focus being on higher education in Egypt, the study's findings can be generalized to other educational settings and international contexts.

As Provided

2025

EJ1489344