Gifted education and Islamic educational philosophy: A neat convergence

Introduction

The article will begin by exploring changes over the years in conceptions of the limits of the notion of gifted education, most especially focussing on the broadening of definition from singularly cognitive measures (e.g., high IQ) to multiple developmental measures (e.g., creativity, emotionality, sociality, etc.), and furthermore to the notion of “less visible” or “underserved” sub-groups by all developmental measures. The effect of this latest recognition has been in widening the search for individuals and groupings that might have slipped, or continue to slip, through the cracks of earlier conceptions of giftedness through narrow defining of the notion, be it in terms of cognition, creativity, or any other measure. The article will then turn to a review of dominant conceptions of learning criteria to be found in Islamic educational philosophy, ancient and modern, searching for clues regarding a convergence with the earlier expounded broadening of understanding to be found in gifted education philosophy. It will finish with an attempt to illustrate how the convergence has potential both to strengthen conceptions, and sometimes correct misconceptions, of Islamic education, as well as bring them into a fortified interface with gifted education for the purposes of mutual benefit.

Gifted education: Changing conceptions

Lewis Terman, the 20th century educationist, stands as an early authority on gifted education. He defined the gifted as those who were in ‘the top 1% level in general intellectual ability, as measured by the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale’ (Terman, 1925, p. 43). By this definition, gifted education was understood to pertain exclusively to those who excelled in the cognitive domain. Hence, for educational purposes, the gifted were those whose superior intellectual abilities could be identified and measured by a reputable, standard intelligence test. The Marland Report of 1972 (Marland, 1972), a report on the education of gifted and talented delivered to the United States Congress, attempted to define the field in a more inclusive way to incorporate students with a variety of educationally relevant gifts and talents. Renzulli (1978), however, proffered that the attempt failed largely because the definition was overly vague, leading to a gap between the policy proposed in the Report and the extant practice in the field.

Gagne (1985) was among those who persisted in the call for broader understandings of the notion of giftedness. Likewise, Sternberg (2004) offered a critique of overly simple conceptions of giftedness, underlining the importance of clearly defining a notion that had too often been imprecisely labelled.

Giftedness is not a single thing: there are multiple forms … (it) involves more than just high IQ … (it) has noncognitive components … as well as cognitive ones.’ (Sternberg, 2004, p. xxiv–xxv)

Sternberg’s reference to “multiple forms of giftedness” is suggestive of the influence of expanding theories of intelligence on conceptions of giftedness. In this regard, the “multiple intelligences” theory of Gardner (1998, 2011) was especially important. Hence, as instances, day-to-day wisdom, quite apart from IQ, can be regarded as an important facet of giftedness (Sternberg, 2000), along with creativity (Runco, 1993).

Furthermore, Plucker et al. (1996) identified issues of ethnic minority and adverse socio-economic circumstance as significant in giftedness potential, issues that have continued as the focus for much research (Baldwin & Reiss, 2004). These are among the examples of less visible, or underserved, sub-groups of gifted populations that have characterised the focus of much research in the field in recent times (Davis et al., 2017; Montgomery, 2009; Webber, 2017). The topic of underserved populations, along with the relevance of sociality and emotionality (Hebert, 2020), identification and definition (Roach & Bell, 1986) continue to challenge the gifted education field, as does the issue of curriculum (Callahan & Gertberg-Davis, 2017). Among the curriculum issues are those concerned with subject discipline in a field that has a tradition of being narrowly focussed, especially in the STEM disciplines.

Modern insights in neuroscience have also influenced expanded thinking about the nature of gifted education, its rightful population, and ways in which to approach teaching this population (Gottlieb et al., 2016; Shearer, 2020; Sousa, 2009; Tirri, 2017). The expanded thinking leads naturally to the conception of gifted education as holistic in its definition and identification. That is, the notion of multiple intelligences necessarily implies the allied notion of multiple gifts and talents. Especially important to the purpose of this article is research that has delved into the form of intelligence labelled “spiritual” (Emmons, 2000; Vialle, 2007; Zohar & Marshall, 2000) and more so how this notion might apply to gifted education (Tirri et al., 2007; Ubani, 2007; Walton, 2017).

Both the issue of underserved or less visible sub-groups and the issue of subject discipline are relevant to consideration of Islam and gifted education. Both issues coalesce in consideration of gifted education and religion or religious education, on the one hand, and, on the other hand, gifted education that is especially germane to Islam and Islamic education. Studies have focussed on gifted education and religion or religious education (Cope, 2012; Lovat, 1984; Simpson, 2012; Whittall, 2009) and on gifted education with specific reference to Islam (Alawfi, 2016; Almutairi et al., 2021; Alqefari, 2010; Fitzpatrick, 2012; Yusof, 2014). This article will focus on the convergence of these two research focusses by exploring distinctive features of Islamic education, ancient and modern, that are peculiarly germane to contemporary perspectives on gifted education.

Islamic education as holistic

Archetypal principles of Islamic education can be described as holistic (Lovat, 2019a, 2021) in the sense that Islamic education, as espoused, is critical of education oriented exclusively or primarily at intellectual achievement. As such, elements of Islamic educational philosophy fit well with updated interest in gifted education around issues of underserved and/or less visible cohorts. Al-Zeera (2001), for instance, challenges the predominant focus in Western education on the intellectual and physical aspects of human development. She contrasts this preoccupation with what she describes as the methodological aim and structure of Islamic education that are directed towards forming a “whole and holy” human being. Al-Zeera (2001) speaks of Islamic education as a “transformative methodology”, modelling and guiding the student towards holistic transformation:

For a student to be able to think holistically, she or he must be trained and equipped with methods that both develop the mind and discipline the soul. (p. xxvii)

She says of the dominance of Western assumptions in education:

…they create unbalanced human beings that have advanced intellectual abilities, yet spiritually are poor and weak. (p. xxvii)

Reflecting the holism of Islamic education, Halstead (2004) says that its distinctiveness is in its focus on individual development, both socially and morally, in addition to the acquisition of knowledge. Sultana (2012) contrasts Western educational assumptions that concentrate mainly on intellectual formation with the principal educational goal in the Islamic tradition concerned with whole person development. Furthermore, Nasr (2010) speaks of the emphasis in Islam on the balanced and comprehensive curriculum needed to achieve Islam’s holistic educational aims. Nasr refers to the madrasah of early and medieval Islam, Islamic schools that influenced earlier forms of Western education, as notable for the balanced curriculum targeting holistic development.

Al-Attas (1979) warned that the increasing incursion of Western education’s influence in Islamic lands put the essence of Islamic education at some risk. Central to this essence was the need for balance between intellectual and broader developmental aims. He inferred that Western educational philosophy was increasingly based on pragmatic, most easily measurable outcomes, rather than those concerned with holistic human achievement. For him, this was oppositional to the essence of Islamic education and the balance of intellectual with broader human developmental outcomes. Nasr’s reference to the early madrasah suggests that these holistic perspectives on education were there from the very earliest days of Islam.

Ghuddah (2010) speaks to the central role of education from the time of Islam’s revelation era, casting the Prophet as, among other things, a renowned teacher whose vision of the individual accorded with modern notions of holistic development. As it is conceived, this holism saw Islam quickly establish a reputation for leadership across a vast array of disciplines, from science and medicine to philosophy and theology. Hamarneh, 2017 refer to ways in which this holistic approach to education influenced conceptions of health care in early Islam, ones that emphasised notions of healing, including not only the skills of physical repair but also of the kindness, mercy and compassion needed for mental and spiritual repair.

Al-Talbi (1993) refers to the goal of Islamic education being ‘to lead the individual to perfection … the goal of humanity’s existence in this world is to attain happiness, which is the highest perfection—the absolute good’ (p. 356). Al-Talbi quotes one of Islam’s doyen scholars, Nasr al-Farabi (870-951CE), as seeing education as both a rational and ethical pursuit, instilled best through a balanced curriculum aimed at each individual’s needs and dispositions. For Al-Farabi, he says, a distinctive feature of Islamic education was that it was for all citizens, appropriate to their talents and station in life. Unlike in the dominant religious cultures that surrounded Islam, education was not just for an intellectual or social elite. To achieve these holistic goals for all, education must take account of each citizen’s needs and learning strengths.

Ali Ibn Sina (980-1037CE) shared al-Farabi’s high-minded view of Islamic education. For him, education was akin to a divine enterprise aimed at bringing each citizen to their destined fulfilment. It was not just a pragmatic venture, aimed at intellectual advancement but a moral one aimed at whole person development, according to God’s plan for each person. He laid emphasis on the moral nature of teaching, and therefore the lofty duties imposed on the teacher, to model the morality that lay at the heart of education’s goals. Ibn Sina’s ideas about teaching methods were so aligned, having not just pragmatic ends in mind but education’s moral and spiritual ends as well (Nowrozi et al., 2013).

Similarly, Hamid Al-Ghazali (1058-1111CE), regarded widely as one of medieval Islam’s most influential educationists (Gil’adi, 1992), held that education in Islam was guided by God and so was reflective of the comprehensive oversight of God. In a word, it could not be limited to mere cognitive achievement because that was just one facet of God’s plan for human development. He also placed emphasis on the practical application of knowledge across all domains of knowing because, in God’s eyes, ungrounded knowledge is pointless. Of all the knowledge that counted in God’s eyes, formation of character by instilling good behaviour was far and above the most important (Attaran, 1987).

Gil’adi (1992) proffers that al-Ghazali’s conception of education was in tune with many modern conceptions of education, especially those underpinned by educational research, if not always Western educational policy and practice. In line with updated insights in educational neuroscience (Narvaez & Mrkva, 2014), he underlined the role of stimulating students’ imagination and creative impulses as an imperative if optimal learning was to be achieved. Furthermore, in the context of stimulation, and reflecting again neuroscientific insights into the teacher-student relationship element of pedagogical proficiency (Clement & Lovat, 2012), it was not just the teacher’s technical prowess that mattered but their relational capacities as well. Kindness and encouragement were deemed more effective than punitiveness (Orak, 2016).

Islamic education: A holistic values pedagogy

In an earlier study, a link was drawn between the holism implied in Islamic educational philosophy and Western forms of values education (Lovat, 2019b). The link was based both on the conceptual underpinnings of the two exemplars as well as practical ways in which Islamic schools engage with values education that demonstrate Islam’s age-old principles. The Australian Values Education Program (Australia, 2003–2010) included a 5-year longitudinal study focussed on values education interventions in 312 schools following holistic educational principles outlined in the National Framework for Values Education in Australian Schools (DEST, 2005). The longitudinal study encompassed two projects, first, a practical curriculum intervention, named the Values Education Good Practice Schools Project (DEEWR, 2008; DEST, 2006) and the Project to Test and Measure the Impact of Values Education on Student Effects and School Ambience (Lovat et al., 2009).

The said principles in The National Framework (DEST, 2005) proffered values education as promoting the kind of holistic learning that ensured not just efficacious academic achievement but one that encompassed inculcation of values such as respect, tolerance, and compassion, to be both modelled and taught explicitly by teachers. There were three elements to its implementation: Process entailed a cooperative pedagogy that ensured values transmission through interaction with others; Content connoted explicit teaching and learning about the nature and meaning of values; and Application explored ways in which the values being learned could solve academic and/or interpersonal problems. It was proposed that values education constituted a means of achieving efficacious holistic learning.

Findings from the Values Education Good Practice Schools Project (DEEWR, 2008; DEST, 2006; Lovat, 2017) revealed consistent links with outcomes commonly noted in literature concerning both effective learning and teacher self-efficacy (Narvaez et al., 2008; Garcia Gutierrez & Duran Narvaez, 2017; Zaida, 2021). Positive effects were demonstrated across a range of developmental items, including those pertaining to affectivity, sociality, morality, and academic diligence. These effects were ultimately endorsed in the Project to Test and Measure the Impact of Values Education on Student Effects and School Ambience (Lovat & Dally, 2018; Lovat et al., 2009) that moved the evidential base from largely anecdotal claims to empirically verified ones, utilizing both quantitative and qualitative methodologies. Results confirmed the “Double Helix Effect” (Lovat & Toomey, 2009) that conceives of values education and quality teaching as two sides of the coin that represents efficacious learning.

Throughout the project work, it became clear that the tenor of values education, understood in this way, fitted especially well with the philosophy of education pursued in Islamic schools (Lovat, 2019b; Lovat et al., 2010), as well as serving to address some of the problems of disenfranchisement and alienation being experienced by Muslim students in public schools. In terms of their direct involvement in the values education program, a proportionally high number of Islamic schools participated and several of the more memorable projects involved these schools. In one project, Islamic and public schools collaborated in an intervention that challenged students in both sectors to address the unhelpful perceptions of each towards the other. Through organised excursions that took students from both sectors into the others’ space, as well as neutral space, along with within-school pedagogy, students came to an understanding of the other that challenged the unhelpful perceptions. Students reported on the outcomes in the following ways:

I found that we all liked similar things no matter where we came from.

In later work, the values education principles were utilized explicitly in a government project designed to enhance the integration of Muslim students into the mainstream of Australian education. This constituted a separate but related government initiative, Muslim Youth Summits (DIC, 2008) that utilized the principles of the National Framework for Values Education in Australian Schools (DEST, 2005) to guide the initiative.

This initiative is designed to complement and build on the Australian Government’s existing initiatives in civics, citizenship education and values education. (DIC, 2008, p. 32)

Student happiness, wellbeing and holistic achievement were measured against the terms of the National Framework. Findings from the project were disseminated in the form of showcases wherein the project investigators outlined key findings and teachers and pupils involved in the education of Muslim youth, in public, religious and specifically Muslim schools, conveyed their experiences.

Issues that became quickly apparent are reflective of the low visibility/underserved notions to be found in updated gifted education. In many ways, Muslim students generally could be seen as a low visibility and underserved population whose needs, dispositions and preferences are not considered in the assumptions, policies and structures of education as it currently exists. Students reported on negative experiences with both teachers and fellow students who were insensitive to their Muslim identity and the resulting ill effects these experiences had on their learning:

In many instances, young Muslims felt discriminated against on the basis of religion. Name calling and other forms of harassment, in particular targeting female Muslim students wearing the hijab or other religious attire, were also of concern. Young Muslims in some states claimed that they felt unfairly treated by educators who were perceived to have a bias against Muslims. A number of participants noted a preference for attending Muslim specific schools as a result of racism and bullying present in mainstream schools. In common with experiences in the workplace, participants noted that a lack of understanding of the religious requirements of Islam has contributed to barriers to success in academic achievement. (DIC, 2008, p. 13)

Experiences were contrasted with more recent ones in schools following a values education pedagogy:

Hence, values concerned with acceptance, respect, care, integrity and social responsibility were targeted for attention by way of modelling and transacting, and the issue of Muslim/non-Muslim dialogue was managed in this context. The result was an increased sense that Muslim culture and identity were respected and so they, as Muslims, were seen as being of value to the wider society. There were comments made about the improvement this had made to their general functioning in the school, including in terms of their academic work. (Lovat, 2019b, p. 5)

Gifted education and Islamic education: The convergence

Ongoing research has confirmed the viability of links between gifted education, as thinking has developed recently in the West, and Islamic educational philosophy. Alawfi (2016) completed doctoral work titled, Gifted Education in Western and Islamic Scholarship, with special reference to developing understandings of the issue in Saudi Arabia. Employing in part the perspective of multiple intelligences (Gardner, 1998), Alawfi’s work focussed on the particular relevance to Islam of recent research in emotional, spiritual and moral intelligences (Emmons, 2000; Mayer, 1999; Zohar & Marshall, 2000). These intelligences ‘provide a practical view of giftedness, which includes the manner in which individuals portray their gifted nature and use it to the benefit of their society’ (Alawfi, 2016, p. 101). Alawfi cites Zohar and Marshall’s (2000) definition of spiritual intelligence as being especially germane to Islamic educational philosophy. In their understanding, such intelligence connotes the following:

the way in which we deal with and resolve issues of meaning and values, place our behaviour and lives in a broader, deeper and more meaningful context, and the way in which we can evaluate and compare the importance of a particular action or life-path over another. (p. 3–4) (Alawfi, 2016, p. 105)

Alawfi draws on the medieval scholarships of al-Farabi and al-Ghazali, as well as more recent scholarship, such as al-Attas, to reinforce that in a sense all Islamic education represents a form of spiritually inclined intelligence and is holistic in that its overwhelming charter is to create a ‘balanced growth of the total personality … through training man’s spirit, intellect, rational self, feelings and bodily senses … such that faith is infused into the whole of his personality’ (Al-Attas, 1979, p. 158):

In the Islamic educational system, the purpose of acquiring knowledge is to create perfection in all aspects of human life. (Alawfi, 2016, p. 156)

Alawfi’s research illustrates how education is first conceived of as a means of attaining the perfection that is rightly the destiny of all of God’s creatures, and that giftedness must be understood in this context:

Islamic scholarship considers giftedness as an intricate concept influenced by emotional, spiritual and moral intelligences. (Alawfi, 2016, p. 175)

Alawfi refers to the perspectives on education of al-Ghazali, along with Abdullah (2012), Gil’adi (1992) and Umaruddin (1970), in making the point about the need to integrate spiritual, moral and emotional intelligences in order for any education to be effective:

In the context of gifted education, Islamic scholarship recognized the following concepts: knowledge, intellect and intelligence, spiritual education, emotional education and moral education. (Alawfi, 2016, p. 177)

Alawfi notes that in Saudi Arabia, this integration had been the effective practice in religious education but not in “secular” or mainstream education and that this lack of integration in the mainstream had resulted in a negative effect on gifted education.

Such an approach was repeatedly identified as flawed because of the holistic, multi-dimensional educational needs of gifted students. Therefore, there is a need to reform Saudi gifted education with these aspects and needs in mind so as to make it efficient and workable, ensuring students’ entire advancement and unrestrained development across all intelligence domains. (Alawfi, 2016, p. 176)

Alawfi points to the works of Cook (1999), Ambrose and Cross (2009) and Mazurek et al. (2000) in illustrating how Muslim nations have succumbed to Western influence during the colonial era, including in education. Like al-Attas, one of the challenges he points to for education in these nations is to re-mould it according to Islamic educational philosophy, while at the same time retaining its fit for purpose for a globalised era. This includes approaches to gifted education:

Understanding how this can be done is possible only where the impact of each specific culture on gifted education is comprehended and distinguished. (Alawfi, 2016, p. 199)

Alawfi concludes his project by identifying which elements of Western and Islamic educational philosophies Saudi Arabia needs for a long-term balanced and comprehensive gifted education policy and practice. While there is much to commend Western education, he notes the influence of an instrumentalist turn that has influenced Saudi education to proceed along lines of rote learning that lead to passivity and inquiry free procedures, the very educational processes that Al-Ghazali warned against as being antithetical to Islamic educational philosophy (Al-Ghamdi, 2007; Alnahdi, 2014; Alqefari, 2010):

An intelligent person in the Islamic tradition of scholarship is one possessing a solid knowledge base and an understanding of the links between various life phenomena and facts … Knowledge complemented by analytical skills and creative thinking enables a person to achieve their personal and social objectives. I believe the most critical point of gifted education is to equip an individual with the skills and abilities allowing them to serve society in order to foster its development and growth. (Alawfi, 2016, p. 263–264)

Conclusion

The article has attempted to illustrate how two fields of research, namely, Islamic educational philosophy and updated gifted education philosophy, possess points of convergence beyond what is normally understood. The points of convergence comprise those of general holism and inclusiveness in the conception of education’s encompassment and boundaries and, more specifically, concern with cohorts that might be considered less visible or underserved, those who might slip through the cracks of more limited educational encompassment. In both fields of research, students whose gifts are not well understood, respected and catered for, and so might slip through the cracks of extant learning structures, are especial focusses for inclusion.