The Development of Islamic Education Curriculum in Light of the Learner's Needs and the Demands of Society A Foundational View

Abstract

This study intended to investigate the rapid cognitive, value and social developments that are common in contemporary society, which require the educational curricula to be constantly revised and developed in order to respond to the learners' needs so as to succeed in their lives, and to meet society's expectations of the school as one of the most important social institutions. The study focused on the principles that would make the developing of Islamic education subject responsive to the learner’s needs and the demands of the community. These principles are: epistemology and its impact on determining what the Islamic education subject is, and the conceptual and value principle and its impact on developing the structure of the subject syllabus. The study concluded that the subject of Islamic education, as a response to the needs of learners, both male and female, and a principal demand of society, the discussion of modifying and developing it must be beyond the various ideological trends, and that the curricular choices be within the common agenda agreed upon by the community. The subject of Islamic education is an academic subject that draws from Sharia knowledge derived mainly from Islamic revelation and heritage, but it is an educational subject that has its own program, vocabulary, teaching and methodology that distinguishes it.