This article explores the methodological convergences between the Sufi concept of spiritual perfection and the constructivist approach that has shaped much of contemporary learner-centred pedagogy. Classical Sufi authors describe education as a gradual unfolding of the spiritual capacities already deposited in the human heart, a process that requires a competent guide, dialogical companionship, constant self-observation and participation in a value-saturated community. Constructivism, building on the works of J. Piaget, L. Vygotsky and J. Bruner, likewise maintains that the learner is not a passive receiver of information but an active constructor of meaning whose prior experience, social interaction and reflective activity condition all genuine learning. By placing these two traditions in a conceptual dialogue, the article shows that both give priority to process over product, to inner motivation over external pressure, to guided interaction over authoritarian transmission and to the holistic formation of the person over narrow cognitive achievement. At the same time, the paper underscores the different teleological horizons of Sufism and modern constructivism and proposes a way to integrate Sufi-inspired values into learner-centred curricula in Muslim educational contexts.
The Harmony Between The Sufi Concept Of Spiritual Perfection And The Constructivist Approach
DOI:
Keywords:
Abstract
Downloads
References
Al-Ghazali A. Ihya’ ‘Ulum ad-Din. – Cairo: Dar al-Fikr, 2004. – 4 vols.
Rumi J. Mathnawi-yi Ma‘nawi. – Tehran: Entesharat-i Safiyan, 2003. – 756 p.
Ibn al-‘Arabi M. Al-Insan al-Kamil. – Beirut: Dar al-Kutub al-‘Ilmiyya, 1999. – 312 p.
Al-Qushayri A. Al-Risala al-Qushayriyya. – Beirut: Dar al-Kutub al-‘Ilmiyya, 2002. – 432 p.
Baha’ ad-Din Naqshband. Maqomat va risolalar. – Tashkent: Fan, 1993. – 186 p.
Piaget J. The Construction of Reality in the Child. – New York: Basic Books, 1954. – 386 p.
Vygotsky L. S. Mind in Society: The Development of Higher Psychological Processes. – Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1978. – 176 p.
Bruner J. Toward a Theory of Instruction. – Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1966. – 176 p.
Dewey J. Experience and Education. – New York: Macmillan, 1938. – 91 p.
Rogers C. On Becoming a Person. – Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1961. – 420 p.
Mezirow J. Transformative Dimensions of Adult Learning. – San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1991. – 272 p.
Lave J., Wenger E. Situated Learning: Legitimate Peripheral Participation. – Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991. – 138 p.
Elias M. J. et al. Promoting Social and Emotional Learning: Guidelines for Educators. – Alexandria, VA: ASCD, 1997. – 179 p.
Nasr S. H. The Garden of Truth: The Vision and Promise of Sufism. – New York: HarperOne, 2007. – 320 p.
Schuon F. Sufism: Veil and Quintessence. – Bloomington: World Wisdom, 2006. – 262 p.
Rahman F. Islam and Modernity: Transformation of an Intellectual Tradition. – Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1982. – 172 p.
Watt W. M. The Faith and Practice of al-Ghazali. – London: Allen & Unwin, 1953. – 153 p.
Hattie J., Timperley H. The Power of Feedback // Review of Educational Research. – 2007. – Vol. 77, No. 1. – Pp. 81–112.