Teacher Formation for Islamic Education: The Experience of Sultan Qaboos University

Sultan Qaboos University is the prime address for teacher education in the Sultanate of Oman. The B.ed. for Islamic education is one of the core programmes of the College of Education, complemented by the M.A. and Ph.D. for Curriculum and Instruction, with a focus on Islamic education. The paper presents the College’s particular pedagogical approach to the formation and training of Islamic education teacher candidates. It gives an overview over the development of educational institutions of the country, the vision and mission of the College of Education, SQU, and discusses challenges and prospects of Islamic education teacher formation in Oman.


Introduction
The development of Islamic education curricula and teaching methods in the Islamic and non-Islamic world has become a field of interest for academic scrutiny. This is particularly true with the duality of instruction that takes place in most parts of the Islamic world today, where scientific curricula are often imported or taught in a foreign language (Abdul Kabir, 2016).
The assessment of teacher training and educational programmes is a point of major concern, not only in the developing world (Al-Ayasrieh, 2005). Changes in demography, societal and labour market demands, have, sometimes in unison with neoliberal privatization policies, led to calls for changes in the educational system over the last decades. Studies on students' performance worldwide and their discussions may be witnesses to these developments.
Teachers are regarded as agents of change and key to improving the quality of education (Chapman et al, 2012); probably more so in striving countries in the developing and Islamic world than elsewhere. Teacher education and commitment is a vital indicator for the success of the endeavors for improvement.
In this vein, this paper provides insight into the formation of teachers for Islamic education in Oman, more particularly at the College of Education, Sultan Qaboos University. It discusses the historical background of Islamic education in the Sultanate, its most important developments, the integration of Islamic education into the public school system. It details the Islamic education teacher programme at SQU and discusses various points of interest, related to degree plans, practical training, accreditation, employability, and others. In conclusion, it opens the discussion on possibilities for further development.

Background: Oman And Its Educational History
The people of Oman embraced Islam during the lifetime of the Prophet, p.b.u.h. The first mosque was built by Māzin b. Ghaḍūbah, who accepted Islam after meeting the Prophet, p.b.u.h. The mosque is still to be found in Samā'il, a small town between Muscat and Nizwa.
Earliest mosques in the country show traces of two qiblas, alluding to their construction even prior to the changing of qiblah in 2 A.H. Many Sahabah are of Omani descent. The Tābi c ī Jābir b. Zayd, considered to be the first Imam of the Ibadhi madhhab, hails from Oman.
Islamic scholarship therefore has a long tradition in the country. Becoming home to the Ibadhi school in Umayyad times, the region followed its own way in many aspects and was largely self-ruled either in independence from or formal affiliation to the Umayyad, Abbasid and Ottoman States. Omani history is also a history of numerous internal and external wars, impacting the educational system over the centuries (Al-Salmi, 2001, p.55).
The Sultanate of Oman had approximately 4.4 million inhabitants as of 2016, with an expatriate percentage of nearly 45%. About half of the country's inhabitants reside in the capital Muscat. Life expectancy at birth is 74.9 years for males, and 79.3 for females (Statistical Yearbook 2017). Rapid Population growth and average age need to be taken into account upon planning future needs for teachers generally and Islamic education teachers in particular. In 2014, nearly 56% of the population were under 25 years of age (Ladewig, 2017, p.19).
Oman has a longstanding tradition in Islamic scholarship and education. Locally reputable schools and libraries date back to the 3 rd century AH/ 9 th century AD. Most reputable in the Islamic sciences were the schools of Maḥbūb b. Al-Ruḥayl in Sohar; Mūsā b.a. Jābir al-Izkawī; the school of Ibn Barakah in Bahla as well as the schools of Nizwa and Rustaq (Sultan Qaboos Higher Institute of Culture and Sciences, 2013, p. 340ff). Famous were also the Ya c rūbī school in the fort of Jibrin in the 17 th century AD, or the school of al-Khalīlī in Samā'il in the 19 th century, and the school of Nūr al-Dīn al-Sālimī in Biddiyah in the 19 th /20 th century (Al-Salmi, 2001, p.65f). The latter have been influential on teaching Islamic sciences far into the twentieth century. Outstanding contributions have also been made in the fields of medicine, astronomy, history, geography and language, to name but a few. Many of these schools yielded a considerable educational outcome over the centuries (Sultan Qaboos Higher Institute of Culture and Sciences, 2013, p. 340ff). While basic Qur'anic education was traditionally present in any mosque, higher education was available in particular schools. Education was organized around two circles; the first comprised learning to read the Qur'an and write, dictation, principles of the Arabic language, fundamentals in c Aqīdah (Dogma) and Fiqh (Law), as well as basic arithmetic, and memorization of poetry. The second circle comprised the science of c aqīdah, tafsīr (Qur'anic exegesis), fiqh and uṣūl al-fiqh (Law and its theoretical foundations), rules of inheritance, and the sciences of Arabic language, as well as logic, history, sīrah and Sunnah (the life and example of the Prophet Muhammad). The student was only transferred from one study circle to the next if he had complete mastery of the subject (Sultan Qaboos Higher Institute of Culture and Sciences, 2013, p. 340). There was therefore no difference in the educational administration and conceptualization as compared to other parts of the Islamic world through the ages. The traditional ijāzah system was active and functioning in Oman as well as in other places in the Islamic world. Education was holistic in that it corresponded to the exigencies of Islamic culture and concepts with the basic education in Qur'an and Sunnah, Fiqh and Uṣūl al-Fiqh, Arabic language and grammar.
Among the features of the traditional system of instruction of the Islamic sciences was that the sheikh or teacher, who was usually remunerated by the state or through the waqf system, had a small number of students. This enabled him to focus on both excellence and student needs.
Education and scholarship were considered an c ibādah (an act of worship) in the first place and not subject to the commodified learning-against-diploma-against-job-transactional system to the extent we find it today. The educational methods used, rather than being only rotelearning with physical punishments (as is anecdotally repeated in parts of the contemporary literature) were guided by the Qur'an and Sunnah. The writings of earlier scholars, as well as the teachers' biographies testify to this (Al-Salmi, 2001, p.72). Negative aspects of the system may have been the lack of accessibility for every child in some areas and a focus on memorization and dictation, at least in the earlier stages of education (Al-Salmi, 2001, p.73).
The advent of modernity in education, or rather, an interruption or sidelining of the traditional system of learning and teaching of the Islamic sciences may have had a different picture in Oman than it had elsewhere in the Islamic world, as accessible formal institutionalized modern education started only with the advent of Sultan Qaboos Bin Said in 1970. Oman, and more particularly the hinterland, used to be a largely secluded place up to the 1970s. In addition, there was no directly implanted colonial system of education comparable to North Africa under French rule. The incorporation of Islamic education into the system of formal education took place in a very succinct time period as compared to other countries in the Islamic word, due to the comparatively late exposure and exponential growth of the public school system. Problems and perspectives may, however, be comparable to some extent.

Pre and post 1970 teacher education in the Sultanate of Oman
The number of "modern" schools combining religious and secular knowledge in the Sultanate of Oman was only three schools (in Muscat, Matrah and Salalah) enrolling 909 boys in 1970, prior to the rule of Sultan Qaboos b. Said, with a staff of thirty male (mainly Palestinian) teachers. (Ladewig, 2017, p. 180). In the same breath, it is generally mentioned that there was only one modern hospital and only 10 km of paved roads (Al-Salmi, 2001, p.79). This is more than just a foundational myth. The Sultanate has seen mind-boggling developments, not only in the field of education, within the last four decades. While the World Bank Report of 1974 evaluates the educational programme in the Sultanate as being of "poor quality and with little relevance to the national needs" (Ladewig, 2017), the 2006 World Bank Report describes the Omani educational system as being "massive, unprecedented and unparalleled compared to other countries" (Al Barwani 2016, p.163). In 1972, 50% of teachers had never completed secondary education and a mere 8% held tertiary qualifications (Ladewig, 2017, p.189). It is vital to bear these facts in mind while talking about the modest beginnings of the introduction of modern schools which integrate different specializations from math and science to foreign languages, physical and musical education to Islamic education.
These developments need to be seen as against the larger background of decolonization, modernization and the economic possibilities of the oil boom as well as the establishment of nation states in the Islamic world. Upon the establishment of the Ministry of Education in 1971, a similar level of public schooling to that of other Arab countries was prescribed.
Initially the Lebanese curriculum was adapted for other subjects, then replaced by the Qatari curriculum (Al-Salimi 2011, p.149).
Prior to 1970, change occurred in Oman with the foundation of the Sa c diyyah school in 1940.
While textbooks for other specializations were imported from Arabic countries, the Islamic education still relied on Nūr al-Dīn al-Sālimī's Talqīn al-Ṣibyān as a basic text. Education in Oman prior to 1970 was available in four types of education: the Qur'an school, the mosque, the sheikh's (private) schools and modern primary schools. General education until 1970 was limited to the primary stage. There was no department or ministry of education to supervise these institutions, nor a teacher education programme. After 1970, state education was organized along four lines: general Islamic, technical, and further education, with the introduction of secondary schools from 1973-74 (Al-Salmi, 2001).
The first training programme for Islamic education was established in 1976-77. Length of study was one year for students who had completed grade 7; but only some 25 students graduated from this programme. In 1977-78, male and female secondary teacher institutes were established for students who had completed grade 9. The programme lasted three years, with graduates eligible to teach Islamic education in primary schools. Curriculum focused on Islamic studies and Arabic, but also starred educational theory, science, math and physical education. Over the years, teacher programmes became more demanding and sophisticated.
The initial programmes showed some development in organization and content; real breakthrough in pedagogical and administrative terms was made with the establishment of SQU and the College of Education (Al-Salmi, 2001, p.87ff).
Post-1970, teaching Islamic education was entrusted to Arab graduates of Islamic education institutions such as al-Azhar, and of Omani graduates of mosque schools. These teachers may have been lacking in their pedagogical training and attitude. For the female side, things looked even worse; there were only some three or four Omani female teachers for Islamic education in the early 1970s (Al-Salmi, 2001, p.85f).
The dearth of trained Omani teachers, however, remained during the 1970s. Expatriates from Arab countries such as Jordan, Egypt, Sudan, Tunisia and Algeria filled the gap (Ladewig,184).
In the academic year 1998-99 and with the goal of modernization, the Ministry of Education introduced the current educational system, which is based on a primary stage of ten and a secondary stage of 2 years (Al-Salmi, 2001, p.82f). This system was not initially introduced country wide, but rather gradually, beginning with 17 model schools. It emphasizes science, mathematics and IT, with English being introduced in primary grade 1.
Currently, there are some 1,000 schools under the auspices of the Ministry of Education, enrolling over 600,000 male and female students and a total of 43,000 teachers, most of them being Omani, under the supervision of the Ministry of Education (Al Barwani 2016, p.63.) Al  aptly summarizes: "Over the forty-year history of formal education in Oman, the recruitment of teachers evolved from being an open access job to being a highly selective one and from being a job that needed practically anybody who was willing to teach, to being a job that requires qualifications with highly specialized knowledge and skills" (p. 162).
The challenges in quantitative terms give way to qualitative concerns. As Al  states, "Oman experienced a decline in the quality of its graduates as the system continued to rapidly expand" (p.163). Major reforms attempted to accommodate these changes, starting with the 1998 reform process Vision 2020 which involved professional development programmes, with limited achievements in student outcomes. In its wake, employment examinations were put in place for teacher candidates (Al Barwani, 2016, p.164). The newly developed Vision 2040 reinforces the need to prepare students with the necessary skills needed to survive the challenges of a rapidly changing world (Al Barwani and Bailey, 2016).
With the passage of time, ministerial educational policies have changed. Vision 2020, a national strategic plan aiming at the economic development of the country, called for modernization of the educational system. Shifting from the general education programme effective prior to 1994, which largely emphasized on teacher-centered instruction and rotelearning, the basic education system focused on a new curriculum and improving instruction in grades 1 and 2 (Chapman et al, 2012, p.393). Critics state that secondary school teachers in the country lack professional capacity. In this sense, SQU graduates are in a better starting position than other school teacher preparation programmes due to the intake requirements (Chapman et al, 2012, p.394). In 1977, the Omani Ministry of Education developed its own curriculum. Islamic education was made compulsory from grades 1 to 12. The Ministry implemented the new curriculum by utilizing but also updating traditional teaching methodologies, as "education in Oman already preserved a strong connection between teacher and pupils, and the Ministry of Education sought to preserve the positive aspect of the system" (Al-Salimi, 2011, p.149). A specialized department in the Ministry of Education initially controlled mosque schools (for the elementary level) in five towns, namely Nizwa, Bahla, Izki, Sinaw and Biddiya. Those schools, up to their closure in 1996, offered a different curriculum for Arabic and Islamic education and no music or art lessons. The goal was to preserve the traditional structures while modernizing "so that tradition was not discarded too suddenly in those cities" (Al-Salimi, 2011, p.150). A number of Islamic education institutes in the country, as in Khasab, Sohar, Ja'lan and Salalah, functioned between 1988 to 1998. They taught both secondary school classes and four-year university degree courses and were closed due to the provision of other higher education options in the country (Al-Salimi, 2011, p.150). In the new millennia, curriculum shifted the focus "from dogma and doctrine to Islamic culture and civilization" (Al-Salimi, 2011, p.155), favoring a cultural rather than religious approach. As compared to other countries in the Arabic and Islamic world, the Sultanate's policy has succeeded in integrating traditional scholarship (with the establishment of institutes and colleges of Islamic sciences) while modernizing the Islamic education curriculum without considerable resistance from traditional scholarship (Al-Salimi, 2011, p.151). The high demand for teachers in Islamic education in the country is still to a large extent met by an expatriate working force, where Islamic education teachers for private and government schools are still recruited from other Arabic countries, mainly Egypt. By 1980, 92 percent of teachers in Oman were expatriates (Chapman et al, 2012, p.392). Omanisation of the sector took effect with domestic teacher programmes, with 38,000 Omani teachers or 89 percent of teachers in Oman (Chapman et al, 2012, p.392). Due to the excess of teacher supply, recruitment into the profession after graduation is no longer automatic (Chapman et al, 2012).

Teacher Education at Sultan Qaboos University, College of Education
MoE qualifying tests prove to the advantage of SQU Islamic education teacher graduates with a 100%, success rate of SQU teacher candidates in Islamic education. Intake requirements for SQU are highly competitive. While female students currently need a general high school diploma of more than 90%, male students may be accepted from 85% onwards. It is the university's policy to have a 50/50 intake distribution between male and female students per year. Female high school graduates have had a higher percentage over the years; therefore, affirmative action for the male graduates is one of the university's policies.

Programme: Islamic Education
Upon registration at SQU, the student registers the specialisation of his choice. The Deanship of Admission generally distributes students on the basis of the percentage acquired in the general high school diploma rather than proclaimed interest, with the highest percentage needed for Medicine. Anecdotally, this policy leads to students being admitted who may have chosen Islamic education as a last resort; while excellent students wishing to become Islamic education teachers may be absorbed by other specializations.
Female teachers constitute 75 percent of the teaching force in grades 1-6, due to a MoE policy demanding that primary schools should be co-educational and staffed by female teachers only (Chapman et al, 2012, 392  and reduces hours to 8 am-1pm during the summer break. Textbooks are provided for free.
SQU students and staff generally are highly esteemed in the country.

Degree plan and Instructors of the Islamic education teacher training programme
The degree plan for the B.A. in Islamic education combines content knowledge (core subjects) and pedagogical, psychological and administrative subjects.
Students generally have to go through foundation courses before they enter their specialised studies in the colleges, where they are to take courses in English, Math and IT in the Time and further research is needed to assess the extent to which the accreditation procedure affects the quality of teacher candidates, and in how far this change may materialise in better standards of education in schools if it yields positive results, or whether it affects the academic achievements of teacher candidates and students at school at all. This is true for student development in schools generally, as incorporating teaching of Islamic education. Though acknowledging positive aspects of the process, critical voices may see in the procedure a mere focus on formalities, a change in shape, rather than development in content (Bouzenita, 2015).
As a positive by-product of teacher education at SQU, degree plans changed in that the teaching practice period has been raised from 150 to some 420 hours during the student teachers' final semester (Al Barawani, 2016, p.165). Even if we suggest an enhancement in the teacher training process, a weak spot may remain in the stability of teachers after graduation (Al p.165;Chapman and Al Barwani: 2012). Induction and performance at schools and general job satisfaction may be dependent on factors the college programme cannot tackle as they are dependent on Ministry directives.

Teaching diploma
The educational qualification diploma programme is an educational programme offered by the College of Education in which graduates of different disciplines qualify as teachers in two semesters. The candidate takes 36 credit hours, distributed over a variety of courses in curriculum and teaching, psychology, educational administration, and educational technology.
The second semester is devoted to field training with 7 credit hours and a 2-hour graduation project.
Practical training units in teacher education constitute the vital link between theory and practice. The implementation of the practical training units vary from university to university in the Arabic world. At SQU, the student teacher candidate used to be exposed to the school reality one day of the week in semester 7, and two days in semester 8 (Ayasrieh, 2005).
Lately, the full last semester (semester 8) has been devoted to practical training. Student The study found an average effect on developing positive attitudes toward the teaching profession. Most difficult problems faced were related to the lack of facilities and timetable.
Interestingly, the study found no significant differences between SQU student teachers and college of education student teachers in the dimensions of difficulties and attitudes.
A focus on student-centered and e-learning is part of the SQU strategic plan (SQU Strategic Plan 2016-2); Aspects of critical thinking in teacher education generally have been a major focus of contemporary research (Neisler et al 2016, Ladewig 2017. Traditionally, teacher education focuses on content knowledge and content related pedagogical skills (Neisler et al, 2016, p.2). International accrediting agencies, such as NCATE (now CAEP) do not list critical analysis for the acceptable level, but the target level only (Neisler et al, 2016, p.2). With critical thinking and analytic skills being part and parcel of the Islamic sciences particularly, it may be asked why students of these sciences and teacher candidates seem not to be endowed with them. Ladewig's analysis suggests that female Islamic education teacher candidates are, among other College of Education teacher candidates, least inclined "to endorse SQU's understanding of Critical Pedagogy or to demonstrate a preference for learning experiences that require critical thinking." (Ladewig 2017, p.337). Chances are that the teacher candidates identified critical thinking as a Western, non-Islamic concept, rather than a concept that may be contextualised Islamically. While previous teacher centered rote learning experiences may have contributed to this evaluation, it should be taken into consideration that international evaluations on these skills may be decontextualised or distorted by cultural ambiguities. On another note, the teaching of Islamic sciences itself may have become decontextualized through its adaptation into a hybrid system. It is therefore questionable if the focus on conveying these skills through the educational system can be successful without prior analysis of the root problem. Ladewig suggests an Islamic framing of the intended reforms so as to make them acceptable to the stakeholders (Ladewig,p.384f).
Exigencies of the job market are increasingly voiced in the discussion on teacher formation.
As Chapman et al (2012) state, there used to be a tacit understanding that graduates of the teacher formation programmes at SQU were to be employed by the Ministry of Education. As a matter of fact, the programme was so bound by the demand of the workforce that two specialisations of the programme were closed over the years due to lack of teachers. In turn, concerns about the employability of CoE graduates with regard to growing demands in view of internationalisation and globalisation are raised (Al  Emphasis, however, is on the preservation and promotion of the Omani Islamic identity. Arabic language and Islamic education therefore remained an integral part of the curriculum (Ladewig 2017, p. 184 These are further broken down; the diversified teaching, for instance, states: "Graduates of the College of Education diversify their methods of teaching in a way that takes into consideration all learners who are central in the learning process. They believe that every child is capable of learning. They continuously reflect on their teaching and utilize findings of current research in pedagogy and learners' characteristics to improve their work." The distinguished graduate, according to this concept, "is a leader who is empowered with specialized knowledge, expert skills, values of the field and society, and has the ability to utilize contemporary research findings to maximize self-learning through reflective practice and life-long learning in order to provide diversified optimal learning experiences for all students." (CF for CoE, www.squ.edu.om) Due to the accreditation process, all programme outcomes and course outlines need to be aligned with this conceptual framework. Students are exposed to the conceptual framework in the beginning of the semester with the introduction of the course outline.
Al-Ayasrieh and Mustafa (2009)  have been produced in that specialisation since its inception in 1995 to 2008. The study recommends, among others, that the masters thesis be more in line with the demands and societal priorities and be designed to aid the development of the curricula. It also recommends broadening the scope of the theses from the narrow service application to an epistemological focus. This is indicative of what is amiss. We have to rely on newer studies covering the last decade to assess in how far change has taken place here.

Possibilities for further development: specialization
In the past, the teaching of Islamic sciences occurred within an overall Islamic culture. There was no specialisation as we have it now; in fact, the most outstanding Islamic scholars had a firm knowledge of all the available sciences at their time and age, rather than being "experts" in one field of knowledge. Incorporating Islamic education into modern teacher training is part of a general emphasis on a special field. This may be one of the exigencies of our time and age, given that the sheer bulk of available knowledge surmounts individual capacity.
However, to avoid the negative backlashes of specialized cocooning in education (and elsewhere), it is advisable that the education student is exposed to contemporary knowledge and general societal developments so as to enable him to understand his role in society. The current degree plan provides exposure to general knowledge but could be developed accordingly.
As far as educational, psychological and administrative background knowledge is concerned, the degree plan seems to provide the necessary foundations. The cooperation between the departments of curriculum and instruction and psychology at CoE attests to this fact. What may be missing, however, is a general introduction to the history, vision and mission of Islamic education or education in Islam and the function and responsibilities of the Mu c allim.
This induction is being informally taken care of by the department's academic staff.

Conclusion
Islamic education teacher formation and training at SQU is embedded in and needs to be understood against the background of demographic, socioeconomic and political developments in the Middle East and cultural and historical particularities of the region. The future of training programmes for Islamic education teachers in Oman and beyond is likewise dependent on internal and external factors.
Improving teacher education is considered to be one of the highest priorities of countries across the Middle East (Chapman, 2012, World Bank Report 2008. However, efforts have not always paid off (Chapman, 2012). Academics who are critical of current developments in the educational systems in the Islamic world may find fault in the initial analysis and methodology. The question may be in how far imported solutions, standards as represented in the accreditation process will lead to an overall improvement of teacher education programmes generally and Islamic education teacher programmes in particular, or in how far a new epistemology is needed. Previous research has already alluded to this missing link.