Week 5

 Western Perspectives on Education & Schooling

In this topic, I would like to share about the comparison between Islamic and Western's perspectives on education. The Islamic approach to education is very balanced because it focuses on both spiritualism and materialism aspects. Although the main sources of Islamic education are Al-Quran and Hadith, it does not mean that Islamic education discourages man to use reasonings. As the Quran repeatedly invites its readers to think about the signs of God in universe and within themselves. In total there are about 750 verses of the Quran that encourage its readers to study nature, history, the Quran itself and humanity. Moreover, the Islamic education  also focuses on the cause of the development of society, the realization of universal justice, the development of individual's taqwa and the development good khalifa (the vicegerent of god) and abd (the servant of god). Last but not least, Islam views education as the process which helps man in acquiring wisdom. Speaking on Islamic education, Al-Attas stated that man is regarded as potentially the vicegerent of god on earth. God has given man the authority over the entire creation. However, in order to realise this authority in actual life, man must acquire wisdom which transform him into a good man and at the same time turns him into a wise master. So, education is that process which helps man in acquiring this wisdom.

On the other hand, the western approach to education is quite different with Islam. While Islam focuses on both spiritualism and materialism aspects, the western education focuses on the development of all human potentials except the spiritualism aspects. This is because western use secular education that excludes the teachings of religious beliefs. According to Al-Attas, the western secular education is totally devoid of revealed knowledge and it approaches life from a secular perspective, considering man no more than a physical entity and rational animal, Furthermore, the main sources of western education are critical intelligence and human reasonings and religion is not used forn developing moral values but instead they emphasize more on secular morality. Lastly, the western scholars claim that the western education system is less rigid and less authoritarian as it gives more freedom to students for decision-making. According to them, this system teaches humanities, encourages freedom of ideas and accommodates multicultural and multinational students.