Firda Prasetyowati, Ulfi Maula Saniya, Syifa Fauzia, Samsul Susilawati

Transformative Leadership for Integrating Islamic Values and 21st Century Skills: A Conceptual Framework for Contemporary Islamic Education

Introduction

Transformative leadership for integrating islamic values and 21st century skills: a conceptual framework for contemporary islamic education. Proposes a transformative leadership framework integrating Islamic values & 21st-century skills for contemporary Islamic education. Enhances relevance, ethics, & innovation, fostering character & 4Cs.

Abstract

Purpose – This study aims to propose a conceptual framework of transformative leadership that integrates Islamic values with 21st-century skills to enhance the relevance, ethical grounding, and innovation capacity of Islamic educational institutions in the digital and global era. Design/methods – The research employed a qualitative library research approach by systematically reviewing scholarly articles, books, and institutional policy documents. The method involved inductive thematic analysis to extract leadership constructs aligned with Islamic ethical paradigms and 21st-century educational competencies. Findings – The study identifies that effective transformative leadership in Islamic education must synthesize spiritual integrity, ethical governance, and future-oriented competencies. Core elements include participatory decision-making, value-based curriculum design, digital integration, and teacher empowerment grounded in Islamic pedagogical values. These strategies facilitate character formation alongside the acquisition of critical thinking, creativity, collaboration, and communication (4Cs). Research implications/limitations – This conceptual study is limited by the absence of empirical field validation. Future research should explore how the proposed model functions across diverse institutional contexts using mixed-method or case study designs to test applicability, impact, and scalability. Practical implications – The framework offers guidance for policy-makers, school leaders, and teacher educators to align leadership development, curriculum reform, and institutional transformation with both Islamic values and global skill demands. It supports strategic planning and institutional capacity-building for faith-based schools. Originality/value – This paper contributes original insight by bridging Islamic epistemology with global transformative leadership theory. It challenges the binary between religious tradition and modern innovation, presenting Islamic education as a moral-intellectual paradigm suited to contemporary educational challenges.

Review

This conceptual paper offers a timely and highly relevant framework for integrating Islamic values with 21st-century skills within contemporary Islamic education. The stated purpose of enhancing the relevance, ethical grounding, and innovation capacity of these institutions is particularly crucial in our increasingly digital and globalized world. The authors demonstrate originality by bridging Islamic epistemology with global transformative leadership theory, effectively challenging a perceived binary between religious tradition and modern innovation. This ambitious undertaking provides a much-needed moral-intellectual paradigm for addressing current educational challenges, positioning Islamic education as a dynamic and future-oriented field. The methodology, employing qualitative library research through a systematic review of scholarly articles, books, and policy documents, is appropriate for developing a robust conceptual framework. The inductive thematic analysis effectively extracts leadership constructs that synthesize spiritual integrity, ethical governance, and future-oriented competencies. The findings clearly articulate core elements of effective transformative leadership, including participatory decision-making, value-based curriculum design, digital integration, and teacher empowerment, all grounded in Islamic pedagogical values. These elements are thoughtfully linked to the development of critical 21st-century skills such as the 4Cs, illustrating a coherent vision for character formation alongside intellectual development. The practical implications are significant, offering valuable guidance for policy-makers, school leaders, and teacher educators in strategic planning and institutional capacity-building. While the study presents a compelling and well-reasoned framework, its primary limitation, as acknowledged by the authors, is the absence of empirical field validation. As a purely conceptual paper, the proposed model's real-world applicability, impact, and scalability across diverse institutional contexts remain untested. Therefore, the call for future research utilizing mixed-method or case study designs is not merely a suggestion but a critical next step to move this framework from theory to practice. Nonetheless, this paper lays a strong theoretical foundation, offering an invaluable starting point for transforming leadership and educational practices within faith-based schools and inspiring further empirical investigation into this vital area.

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