Ahmad Faizuddin | Sunway University (original) (raw)

The Jakarta Post by Ahmad Faizuddin

Indonesia is one of the world’s largest consumers of technological gadgets. When a new “smart” pr... more Indonesia is one of the world’s largest consumers of technological gadgets. When a new “smart” product is launched, Indonesians are most likely the first in line to get their hands on it. Despite the high price, many have high-tech televisions, smart gadgets and other advanced devices. Everything today is “smart”. Smart phones, for instance, have surely increased the smartness in our daily life.

New Straits Times by Ahmad Faizuddin

What would you do if you notice your child or a neighbour’s child, once playful and happy, is sud... more What would you do if you notice your child or a neighbour’s child, once playful and happy, is suddenly quite and gloomy? As a parent or adult, you would be concerned. Upon investigation, you find out that a relative is sexually abusing him. What’s your next step?

The Star by Ahmad Faizuddin

The Star, 2024

Asking open-ended questions fosters classroom discussions that include a range of viewpoints.

Today’s education system and teachers focus on teaching to pass examinations only and neglect stu... more Today’s education system and teachers focus on teaching to pass examinations only and neglect students’ character. Parents on the other hand are busy with their work and cannot spend quality time with their children. While many employers seek graduates of good knowledge as well as of good character, how can students find employment then?

Serambi Indonesia by Ahmad Faizuddin

Gema Baiturrahman by Ahmad Faizuddin

Bulletin LAMURI by Ahmad Faizuddin

IIUM Today by Ahmad Faizuddin

Papers by Ahmad Faizuddin

IIUM Journal of Educational Studies, Dec 30, 2016

In this age of free access to information one wonders if university education still matters today... more In this age of free access to information one wonders if university education still matters today. In his book entitled Academic Diary: Or Why Higher Education Still Matters, Les Back, a Professor of Sociology at Goldsmiths, University of London, summarized three decades of his academic career. He pointed out daily aspects of campus life that have reshaped the process of education, presenting the journey of university life in a smart and humorous way. His diary not only examined the scholarly argument about the importance of higher education, but also criticized the impact of its commercialization.

Kuala Lumpur : Kulliyyah of Education, International Islamic University Malaysia, 2020, 2020

Majalah Akademika, Nov 29, 2022

This study aims to determine a pattern of harmonization of urban Muslim education in interfaith r... more This study aims to determine a pattern of harmonization of urban Muslim education in interfaith relations and forms of harmonization in Christian-majority schools in Manado. This research was qualitative research through a case study method. The research data were collected through in-depth interviews, focus group discussions (FGD), observation, and documentation. This research was conducted at the Manado State Senior High School, with the research subjects are the principal, teachers, and students. The results show that the first pattern of harmonization that occurs in urban Muslim education in the city of Manado is accommodation. Second, harmonization of urban Muslim education in Manado occurs in four forms, namely: (1) the existence of Islamic religious teachers; (2) the availability of Islamic education facilities and infrastructure; (3) the ease in performing praying for Muslim students and teachers; (4) the freedom to wear Muslim clothing for women and to use symbols of the Islamic religion in the school; and (5) the facilitation provided by the school to celebrate Islamic holidays (PHBI).

Frontiers in Education

Continuous professional development (CPD) is important for educational leaders to improve institu... more Continuous professional development (CPD) is important for educational leaders to improve institutional performance and students’ learning outcomes. Yet, organizing effective professional development programmes are often more complex than we might assume. The current study aims to explore the challenges of managing CPD for high school principals in Indonesia. Six high school principals and three officers of the Ministry of Education and Cultures (MoEC) were interviewed. Qualitative data from the interviews were analyzed and coded thematically using ATLAS.ti. Several themes and main points emerged from the transcripts of interviews. The findings revealed some challenges in managing CPD programmes at schools. They include resistance to change, technicality and workload, almost zero follow-ups, unprofessional recruitment, and unclear training syllabus. Among the suggestions to improve the CPD programmes are building personal approaches, developing professional skills, establishing a pr...

International Journal of Evaluation and Research in Education (IJERE)

Effective school leadership has a massive impact on excellence and success. This study was conduc... more Effective school leadership has a massive impact on excellence and success. This study was conducted to identify distributive leadership and professional learning communities (PLC) practice in cluster primary schools of excellence (CPSE) in Kedah, Malaysia. This study also aimed to analyze the extent of principals’ distributive leadership influencing PLC practices and examine the relationship between these two variables. A total of 162 respondents from randomly selected five primary schools participated in the survey. The findings showed that the level of distributive leadership (M=4.4, SD=0.4) and teacher PLC practice (M=4.3, SD=0.4) were very high. The findings also showed a strong and significant positive relationship between principals’ distributive leadership and teachers’ PLC practice (r=.72). Furthermore, the findings indicated the existence of a strong influence for all dimensions of distributive leadership on PLC practices (r2=.60, p<.05). The findings of this study can ...

Bangladesh Journal of Integrated Thoughts, 2021

International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) has been contributing to the holistic developmen... more International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) has been contributing to the holistic development of human capital through Islamization of human knowledge. It has also been developing young leaders by inculcating the values and resilience needed to survive as good leaders in the 21st century. This study aims to investigate the levels of perceptions and practices of student leaders’ leadership competencies (LCSL), Islamic Spiritual Intelligence (ISI), Emotional Intelligence (EI), and Islamization of Human Knowledge (IOHK) at IIUM. The current study employs a quantitative cross-sectional survey with a stratified random sampling technique. The data were collected using a self-administered questionnaire, distributed to 372 student leaders in the year 2018/2019. The results from the descriptive analysis revealed that student leaders’ practices and perceptions of IOHK (78%), EI (78%), ISI (91%), and LCSL (79%) exceeded 50%. The results of this study may contribute to the previous models ...

UMRAN - International Journal of Islamic and Civilizational Studies, 2022

The main objective of the current study is to explore the understandings of school leaders in Pon... more The main objective of the current study is to explore the understandings of school leaders in Pondok Modern Darussalam Gontor (PMDG) about the concept of integrated Islamic schools in the present day. Using a qualitative case study approach, 10 school leaders from PMDG were interviewed. They included six school leaders, three senior teachers, and one senior staff who have important roles at PMDG and involve directly in students’ activities. Based on a thematic analysis, the findings revealed five main themes, namely (1) combining Islamic and modern education, (2) building school and community relationships, (3) integrating theory and practice, (4) producing open-minded persons, and (5) producing future education leaders. This study concludes that Indonesian Islamic schools combine pedagogy of learning based on Islamic principles and worldwide values. In terms of leadership and capacity building, a new strategy is enforced to produce well-balanced human beings for the success of both...

Islam discourages the believers from keeping envious feelings in their hearts. In modern psycholo... more Islam discourages the believers from keeping envious feelings in their hearts. In modern psychology, envy is linked with a group of negative mental health outcomes, such as depression, anxiety, and aggressive behaviors. This study is an attempt to develop a scale of envy management based on the teaching of al-Ghazali, one of a Muslim scholar known as Hujjat al-Islam, The Proof of Islam. The Benign and Malicious Envy Scale (BeMaS) developed by Lange & Crusius (2015) was administered to 200 Muslim students of an Islamic higher learning institution in Malaysia to evaluate their benign and malicious tendencies towards envy. Additionally, the Islamic Envy Management Scale (IEMS) was developed in accordance with al-Ghazali‟s proposition on how to eliminate envious feelings among Muslim adults and was administered to the sample. Principal Components Analysis yielded two factors, namely knowledge and action, with a total variance extracted of 55.5%. The resultant scale had a Cronbach Alpha ...

IIUM Journal of Educational Studies, 2020

Rapid external changes demanded that the Ar-Raniry State Islamic University in Banda Aceh, Indone... more Rapid external changes demanded that the Ar-Raniry State Islamic University in Banda Aceh, Indonesia reformulate a strategic plan for its lecturer development that is appropriate and relevant to the current time and situation. This study aims to explore the steps taken by the university in identifying strategic issues as guidelines for the formulation of its lecturer development strategy. Using the qualitative case study approach, the data for the current study were collected via semi-structured interviews and document analysis. Six informants from the university’s top management were purposively selected for the interviews. The interview data were then compared and analyzed with relevant document reviews to finally draw conclusions on the steps taken. The findings revealed that several strategic issues were considered to inform the steps taken in formulating a strategic plan to develop lecturer competency at the Ar-Raniry State Islamic University. The steps included revitalizing un...

IIUM Journal of Educational Studies, 2016

Arabic is an important language for Muslims but teaching the language is not an easy task. It nee... more Arabic is an important language for Muslims but teaching the language is not an easy task. It needs efforts to improve and simplify the learning process through creative teaching strategies. Creative teaching involves the development of materials and approaches that foster students’ interests and motivation in learning. This study explored the experiences of Arabic teachers in fostering students’ interests by developing creative approaches in teaching Arabic as a foreign language at Adni Islamic School, a private Islamic secondary school in Malaysia. In collecting the data, semi-structured interviews were used as part of qualitative research. The findings indicated that teachers have been using creative teaching strategies in the teaching and learning process. These are categorized into three strategies: (1) creativity in making daily lesson plans, (2) creativity during the teaching and learning process, and (3) creativity in evaluating and assessing the outcomes of teaching. The ap...

ULUMUNA, 2017

Character building is important for every Muslim as the Prophet Muhammad SAW was sent to perfect ... more Character building is important for every Muslim as the Prophet Muhammad SAW was sent to perfect the character (akhlāq). An attempt to instilling good characters, Islamic education should focus on two main issues, i.e. the content of knowledge and the methodology for imparting the knowledge. Muslim scholars have proposed the concept of knowledge in Islamic education. One of them is Imam al-Zarnūjī. He developed the basic principles of education in Islam and his teaching methodology which has been widely used in educational institutions and learning in the Muslim world. This article examines the ethical aspects of learning from al-Zarnūjī’s monumental work, Ta‘līm al-Muta‘allim Ṭarīq al-Ta‘allum, including intention (niyah), seriousness (jidd), respect (ta‘ẓim), and trust in Allah (tawakkul). Using the method of content analysis, this study argues that according to al-Zarnūjī, knowledge is a means for character building. The ethical aspect of learning as proposed by al-Zarnūjī is sig...

TARBIYA: Journal of Education in Muslim Society, 2016

Al-Hayat: Journal of Islamic Education, 2020

The current study explores the experiences of working students, especially in higher learning ins... more The current study explores the experiences of working students, especially in higher learning institutions in coping with the challenges of working while studying. It is expected that the suggestions and recommendations from the study can improve working students’ experiences to be successful in both working and studying. This qualitative research investigates the experiences of working students at the International Islamic University Malaysia. Some working students were purposively chosen and interviewed to know the challenges they faced and how they overcome the problems. The findings of the current study show that the informants fully understood the concept of working while studying and considered it as a financial necessity and self-improvement. The informants exposed several challenges of working students such as time constraints and commitment to their studies. Despite the challenges, the informants considered working while studying as a motivation to further develop themselve...

The Star, 2024

Asking open-ended questions fosters classroom discussions that include a range of viewpoints.

IIUM Journal of Educational Studies, Dec 30, 2016

Kuala Lumpur : Kulliyyah of Education, International Islamic University Malaysia, 2020, 2020

Majalah Akademika, Nov 29, 2022

Frontiers in Education

International Journal of Evaluation and Research in Education (IJERE)

Bangladesh Journal of Integrated Thoughts, 2021

UMRAN - International Journal of Islamic and Civilizational Studies, 2022

IIUM Journal of Educational Studies, 2020

IIUM Journal of Educational Studies, 2016

ULUMUNA, 2017

TARBIYA: Journal of Education in Muslim Society, 2016

Al-Hayat: Journal of Islamic Education, 2020

Journal of the International Institute of Islamic Thought and Civilization, 2018

Research on collegiality in the field of educational management and leadership has been conducted... more Research on collegiality in the field of educational management and leadership has been conducted all over the world, but there were limited studies about collegiality from Islamic perspective. This article aims primarily to analyze the concept of collegiality from Islamic Perspective based on the Qur’anic and Sunnah principles and approaches, which may contribute to the awareness about its practice in educational institution. It also discusses a brief comparison between contemporary collegial models and Islamic perspective of collegiality. The result is expected to be a guideline for educational leaders to successfully apply the concept of collegiality in Islamic educational institutions. This paper argues that the concept of collegial model is related to the concept of “Jamaah”. Thus, it is vital for Muslims to highlight and advocate the Islamic principles of collegial model in the mainstream of intellectual discourse corpus. From the analysis of the relevant Qur’ānic verses and H...

School has a significant role in community development. The schoolcommunity linkage must take int... more School has a significant role in community development. The schoolcommunity linkage must take into account the 21 century needs of students. Consistent with the demands of the 21 century, the goals of academic and community improvements are to reinforce mutual priorities in cultivating collaborative school-community development. This article highlights the challenges to improve educational qualities in Indonesia by reviewing relevant literature on quality education. It is argued that a school council comprising principal, teachers, parents and fellows of community is a typical instrument to promote community participation in education. One prominent method of improving educational quality is by strengthening community participation in the educational process. However, the conventional view sees the role of the school council as commonly to do fundraise from parents and fellows of the community. Hence, this article proposes to broaden the roles of community to support and advise scho...

The condition of knowledge in the globalization era can be easily commercialized with the support... more The condition of knowledge in the globalization era can be easily commercialized with the support of advanced technology. The transformation of technology in the 21st century has changed the way learning is acquired and exploited. Globalization also has brought new challenges to higher education in terms of economy, politics, culture and technology. This scenario has expedited the process of adopting commodification of education. As a result, higher education institutions are becoming more like suppliers of the education market where students are primarily consumers. Educators and policy makers have drifted away from advocating integrated education as social good to produce good human beings (al-Insan al-Saleh). Some educational programs have been commercialized in pursuit of monetary gain for the survival of universities’s life span. Instead of preserving the noble maqasid of al-shari’ah and Islamisation, integration, and comprehensive excellence, universities have been pressured t...

UMRAN - International Journal of Islamic and Civilizational Studies

Professional development is crucial for organization’s success to improve teaching-learning progr... more Professional development is crucial for organization’s success to improve teaching-learning programs at higher learning education institutions. Many countries have developed various programs for lecturer training and development. However, there are barriers preventing them from taking the opportunities, especially finding the right time and the appropriate programs. This study explored the construct of lecturers’ professional development in teaching and learning after attending various trainings and workshops. The main objective of this study is to identify the underlying factor of the instrument based on Kirkpatrick’s Four Level Evaluation Framework namely reaction, learning, behaviour, and results. Using an 18-item instrument developed for an explorative inquiry, the present study measured and analysed responses from 100 higher education lecturers from randomly selected Public Higher Learning Institution, Private Higher Learning Institution, and Malaysia Technical University Netwo...

IIUM Journal of Educational Studies

This study focuses on the practices of human resource management among headmasters in primary sch... more This study focuses on the practices of human resource management among headmasters in primary schools across Malaysia. It concentrates on how headmasters perceive the concept of human resource management and translate it into practice. The qualitative research design is applied on six headmasters, four males and two females who serve in selected national and private primary schools. The qualitative data from the interviews are organized into themes and sub-themes. The major findings of this study reveal that a majority of the headmasters perceive human resource management as a shared responsibility among teachers and school administrators while the headmaster is the key manager. It also reveals that headmasters in national schools believe that human resource management is important to reach the educational goal. In contrast, a majority of headmasters in private schools believe that it is important for sustainability. In addition, this study also reveals that the headmasters of natio...