Sejahtera Academic Framework (SAF)

118 117 Education for Sustainable Development The Education for Sustainable Development category of the UniCORE is to especially undertake Mission 2 of IIUM,which is to produce better quality intellectuals, professionals and scholars by integrating the qualities of faith ( ʾ īmān) , knowledge (‘ilm) , and good character (akhlāq) to serve as agents of comprehensive and balanced progress as well as sustainable development in Malaysia and in Muslim world. It consists of three courses Sustainable Development and Usrah in Action (UIA) 1 and 2. Carrying the name of ‘ Usrah -in-Action’, these courses will be divided into two parts. The first part will be Community Profiling where the students are expected to build rapport with the designated community and run a need analysis on the issues in the community. The second part of Usrah -in-Action will take place in the next year of students’ academic study years as they are more equipped with the knowledge and skills of their major course and now ready to contribute more to the community. The second part will be the implementation of a community engagement project based on the need analysis in the first part. Both courses of Usrah -in-Action will be preceded by an Introductory Course of Sustainable Development as the pre-requisite course. The Unicore Agenda Beyond UniCORE UniCORE only provides a basic foundation in the areas listed above. For the objectives of UniCORE to be truly fulfilled, students should be given various opportunities to extend and apply the knowledge and skills gained in these courses throughout their student life. This may be in the form of student clubs, student societies, course assignments, discussions and seminar (formal and informal), kulliyyah activities -- the possibilities are endless. What this requires is a conscious effort by other members of the University to learn more about the content and implementation of UniCORE and be able to connect with their own areas of expertise or activities. Students should also be proactive in approaching lecturers and instructors and fellow students on ways to extend their knowledge beyond these UniCORE courses. PEDAGOGY As befit the overarching principle of humanising education, the pedagogical practices shall reflect more student-centred learning (SCL) rather than teacher-led instruction. An SCL environment is not an environment where the students are always right, and their desires are pandered to. Instead, it is an environment where they are engaged and take responsibility for their own learning. The instructors will provide the environment and opportunities towards this end. With both fulfilling their amānah , the classrooms (including labs, studios etc.) will become dynamic spaces buzzing with intellectual discourse and the genuine pursuit of knowledge and skills. Towards this end, the University will not be prescribing specific pedagogical practices to be uniformly applied by all. Instead the University will provide the infrastructure and training necessary for instructors to create this dynamic learning space. This includes providing avenues for the instructors to acquire the teaching competencies needed. Discovery learning, blended learning, transformative learning, flipped classrooms would be some of the terms that will no longer remain alien to anyone in the University, be them directly involved in the classroom or indirectly so. Intuitive learning and indigenous knowledge could form part of the approaches informing our pedagogy. The pillars of learning and the philosophy of education will continue to inform the instructors as they plan their meeting sessions. Lecturers should leverage on the empowerment and flexibility given to them to expand on their repertoire of pedagogical practices, and to innovate and develop novel practices; all the while being mindful of their accountability. Lecturers should keep up on the pedagogical approaches for face-to-face meetings, and also the technological tools available to facilitate their remote learning practices. A useful framework to base the murabbi competency is the ESD teacher competency framework (UNECE, 2019). The adapted version is presented below. A handbook on Teaching and Learning based on this Murabbi competency framework for better implementation of SAF will be produced, not to be prescriptive, but to provide guidelines for best practices. Murabbi competency framework Able to create and provide transformative learning opportunities for learners to develop as Insān Sejahtera Pedagogy - Know a repertoire of HE pedagogies - Pillars of learning - Constructively aligned; incl, assessment - Continual quality improvement • Previous learning experiences and background knowledge • International, intercultural and community • Values, attitudes, languages and lifestyles • Available in and out of classrooms Content - Course learning outcomes - Course synopsis and course objectives - Relevant body knowledge - Include real-life context incl. maqā ṣ id ash-sharī ʿ ah Technology - Choice of appropriate technology to facilitate students' learning - Blended learning Cultural Competency (Able to address the diversity needs of the students)