Action research in Islamic education at primary schools in Bahrain

In order to accomplish, the objectives of the study and applies a variety of methods in the context of the existing research. I have perceived that qualitative research is the appropriate approach, as it enables me (as a researcher) to obtain a deeper understanding of the topic and thereby offers me a chance to explore the matters from the viewpoints of teachers and students; to discuss their interpretations and reflect on Problem Based Learning (PBL) in teaching and learning; as Flick (2009) argued that enhancing perceptions and the academics’ reflects on their studies as part of the procedure of data construction. In the same light of the thoughts of Siegel (2002:1), confirms that the data in qualitative research does not approach by specific questions to answer or hypotheses to test but through ‘’ understanding behaviour from the subject’s own frame of reference’’. For achieving my main goal of developing students’ higher thinking skills and abilities to face problems in primary school in Bahrain, I found Action Research (AR) is a suitable strategy for achieving my aim. The purpose of using AR in my research, was to generate new knowledge which can support into a new theory, develop learning and improve practice. Therefore, the research is furnished towards enhancing the processes of learning and teaching in Kingdom of Bahrain. Throughout the investigation, the researcher will use a multiple of research methodology to gather the data. In addition, the studies will be conducted in two stages to integrate theory and practice: The first stage, aims to investigate the teaching methods of IE in primary schools, in KB to identify the teaching method employed by the teachers and how it relates to the subject at hand. This section, demonstrate the current teaching methods in IE in KB, in order to discover the varieties of pedagogy by which Bahraini students are taught, this stage investigates the context: what’s currently happening in classrooms? Data collected through face-to-face interviews with three sector Quality Assurance (QA), specialist supervisors in IE, and Islamic teacher in state schools. The second stage, the therapeutic stage, examines the impact of PBL on students taught via the ‘Learning Pack’ which was designed based on the PBL approach. This stage, is managed by a multi-methods approach including: teachers’ dairies, co-teaching, observation, weekly discussion with team teaching, initial focus group discussion, second focus group discussion plus face-to-face interviews with team teachers and students. In addition, a positivist measure will be used to augment the results through pre-tests and post-tests both of which provide additional measurements for the purpose of using numerical results, to help provide me with a complete view of the data and to support my understanding. The multiplicity of approaches assists me to easily organise and analyse unstructured information. The investigation will take place in primary schools to boost students’ and teachers’ performance, in order to provide solutions to classroom issues. Hence, the research bases on qualitative approach and the test assess the students’ higher thinking skills uses and the process of PBL.