Critical Islamic educational leadership: investigating how Islamic pedagogic models shape leadership practices

Supriyono, Sumintono, B., & Hakim, L. N. (2025). Critical Islamic educational leadership: investigating how Islamic pedagogic models shape leadership practices. British Journal of Religious Education, 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1080/01416200.2025.2542225

 

ABSTRACT

Despite the growing scholarly interest in Islamic educational leadership across diverse global contexts, studies in this area are noted to lack a critical approach. Guided by a critical transformative paradigm, this study seeks to address the gap by exploring the potential of adopting certain Islamic pedagogic models in shaping leadership practices. This qualitative case study delves into two Islamic boarding schools with different education models in East Java, Indonesia. This research utilises documents, focus group discussions, interviews, and observations for data collection, subjecting the data to thematic analysis. The findings demonstrate that adopting different pedagogical models indicatively yields distinct leadership practices. The school with a moral disciplining model (ta’dib) generates strong patriarchal tendency, fostering an authoritative leadership style with an exclusive school culture and autocratic decision-making. Conversely, the school with a critical pedagogic model (tarbiyah) creates a balanced power dynamic, facilitated by critical thinking and critical dialogue between leader and followers, further supporting the transformative leadership practices with an inclusive school culture and deliberative decision-making. The findings indicate a reciprocal connection between education model and leadership, signifying the need to reform the school’s education system – by employing a critical pedagogic model – to enhance the critical transformative leadership practices.


Effective Leadership for Turnaround Schools: An Indonesian Perspective

Hariri, H., Sumintono, B., Mukhlis, H., Mutohar, A. (2025). Effective Leadership for Turnaround Schools: An Indonesian Perspective. In: Liu, P., Thien, L.M. (eds) Turnaround Leadership in Southeast Asian Countries. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-96-7894-5_6

 

Abstract

Leadership is pivotal in the success of a school, particularly when it undergoes a transformation from a low-performing school to an effective one, referred to as a turnaround school. However, little is understood about the notion of turnaround school, especially in developing countries like Indonesia. This research aims to reveal the leadership strategies implemented in Indonesian primary schools that have successfully executed a turnaround from unfavourable conditions. Employing a qualitative interpretive approach to deeply explore the intricate dynamics of educational leadership in Indonesian schools, we conducted in-depth interviews with three principals recognised for bringing about significant change in their institutions as well as ten teachers who worked in those schools.


School Leadership Resilience During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Indonesian Experience

Mutohar, A., Sumintono, B., Julianto, V. (2025). School Leadership Resilience During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Indonesian Experience. In: Zainuddin, Z., Sumintono, B., Perera, C.J. (eds) Resilient and Sustainable Education Futures. Sustainable Development Goals Series. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-96-4971-6_12


Islamic Leadership and School Resilience in Times of Crisis: Lessons from Indonesian Primary Schools Post-COVID-19 Pandemic

Hariri, H., Mukhlis, H., Sumintono, B., Supriyono (2025). Islamic Leadership and School Resilience in Times of Crisis: Lessons from Indonesian Primary Schools Post-COVID-19 Pandemic. In: Zainuddin, Z., Sumintono, B., Perera, C.J. (eds) Resilient and Sustainable Education Futures. Sustainable Development Goals Series. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-96-4971-6_13


Navigating Teacher Agency: Implementing an Innovative Literacy Teaching Model in Indonesian Classrooms

Durriyah, T.L., Dewayani, S., Parlindungan, F. (2025). Navigating Teacher Agency: Implementing an Innovative Literacy Teaching Model in Indonesian Classrooms. In: Zainuddin, Z., Sumintono, B., Perera, C.J. (eds) Resilient and Sustainable Education Futures. Sustainable Development Goals Series. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-96-4971-6_17


School Digitalization Strategies in Non-strategic Setting: Insights from Islamic Boarding Schools in Rural Indonesia

Supriyono, Numan, M., Mumtaz, M.F. (2025). School Digitalization Strategies in Non-strategic Setting: Insights from Islamic Boarding Schools in Rural Indonesia. In: Zainuddin, Z., Sumintono, B., Perera, C.J. (eds) Resilient and Sustainable Education Futures. Sustainable Development Goals Series. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-96-4971-6_11


Conclusion: Global Implications and Future Directions of Resilient Education Systems in the Post-pandemic Era

Zainuddin, Z., Sumintono, B., Perera, C.J. (2025). Conclusion: Global Implications and Future Directions of Resilient Education Systems in the Post-pandemic Era. In: Zainuddin, Z., Sumintono, B., Perera, C.J. (eds) Resilient and Sustainable Education Futures. Sustainable Development Goals Series. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-96-4971-6_20


Reinventing Sustainable Learning in Malaysia and Indonesia: Lessons Learned from COVID-19

Zainuddin, Z., Perera, C.J., Sumintono, B. (2025). Reinventing Sustainable Learning in Malaysia and Indonesia: Lessons Learned from COVID-19. In: Zainuddin, Z., Sumintono, B., Perera, C.J. (eds) Resilient and Sustainable Education Futures. Sustainable Development Goals Series. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-96-4971-6_2


Background: Resilient and Sustainable Education Futures

Perera, C.J., Zainuddin, Z., Sumintono, B. (2025). Background. In: Zainuddin, Z., Sumintono, B., Perera, C.J. (eds) Resilient and Sustainable Education Futures. Sustainable Development Goals Series. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-96-4971-6_1


The Global Ikhwan Women’s Experiences in Polygamous Marriages in Malaysia: Polygamy as Means to Be Closer to God

Nurmila, N. (2025). The Global Ikhwan Women’s Experiences in Polygamous Marriages in Malaysia: Polygamy as Means to Be Closer to God. In: Othman, N., Nadarajah, Y., Mohd Isa, R. (eds) Polygamous Marriages in Peninsular Malaysia. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-97-9104-0_12 

 

 

Abstract

As one of the ways to recruit more membership for Global Ikhwan and to counterbalance the negative image of polygamy, Global Ikhwan launched the Polygamy Club on 15 August 2009. This chapter will elaborate the Global Ikhwan women’s experiences of living in polygamous marriages. Based on my interview with 14 Global Ikhwan members consisting of 3 polygamous husbands, seven first wives and four second wives, this chapter shows that all polygamous marriages among Global Ikhwan members were arranged by their leader, Buya Ashaari. All of the research participants have communal life arrangements, in which each member contribute economically to the jama`ah (the community of the Global Ikhwan) and in return, their basic needs are fulfilled by the Global Ikhwan.None of the wives receive maintenance from their husband, reducing economic conflict among the wives. However,this does not mean that the wives have no problem in their polygamous marriages. They must suppress their feeling of jealousy and in doing so, they were trained by their leaders to overcome this feeling by trying to be closer to God, “cleaning” their “selfishness” to have their husband for only herself.