NURTURING MUSLIM TEACHERS’ EMOTIONAL RESILIENCE DURING STRESSFUL TIMES: REVIVING AL-BALKHI’S CLASSICAL COGNITIVE FRAMEWORK
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.55197/qjssh.v7i4.1346Keywords:
emotional resilience, Abu Zayd Al-Balkhi, cognitive framework, Islamic educational psychology, Muslim teachersAbstract
Psychological distress among teachers is becoming a critical global challenge, however, within the contemporary educational psychology, faith-centred personalised interventions remain scarce. Thus, this short communication aims to introduce a specifically constructed intervention to nurture Muslim teachers’ emotional resilience for their wellbeing during stressful times. Abu Zayd al Balkhi, a classical scholar in the 9th century, initiated cognitive strategies which can be a practical pathway for teachers’ wellbeing. Therefore, based on the insights of Al Balkhi’s discourse, Sustenance of the Body and Soul, this study revives his cognitive framework and proposes shielding, reframing, and anchoring as practical tool for teachers during their stressful time. This proposed framework integrates cognition, emotion, deeds, and spirituality as preventive measures as it can assist teachers to regulate emotions and manage thoughts. This study is expected to contribute to the body of knowledge specifically in the field of Islamic Educational Psychology by providing a beneficial pathway to educational institutions, teachers’ professional development program and policy makers to sustain the quality of teachers’ professionalism by nurturing emotionally resilient teachers.
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