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In Chapter Two, I explained how, over centuries, the Qur’an is taught from an early age in the Maldives. Children are taught that they must recite the Qur’an word-for-word. They are not necessarily taught its meaning or inferences. This cultural practice is associated with religious rituals and principles in practising Islam in the Maldives. Through this rote learning, recitation, children learn to recite the Qur’an fluently in order to perform prayers and other religious activities when they grow older. Some research participants (Alia, Shaina, Yusra, Lamha and Zeena - see Chapter Six) shared experiences related to the learning of recitation of the Qur’an. These participants had similar

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According to Shaina and Alia, this practice is often carried out by elderly people or grandparents at home. As these participants explained, children do not need to understand what they read, rather they only need to rehearse and drill until they become fluent in the recitation of the Qur’an. This particular cultural reproduction process suggests that learners may begin to value this practice of learning. Jenks (1993) argues that certain customs form habits in individuals within specific cultures. He further asserts that “cultural reproduction allows us to contemplate the necessity and complementarity of continuity” (p. 117), suggesting the replication of such experiences in person’s later life. Hence, cultural practices can be understood as a “baggage of collective knowledge” (p. 13). Further, though people have the potential to freely act upon their experiences, they also tend to imitate experiences in a given culture (Richardson, 2001). This means that for some of my participants who have studied overseas (Faiha, Raufa, Meera, Zeena, Lamha, Yusra, Dhimna), their cultural givens were not necessarily changed. Instead their values of learning continued with their early experiences once they returned home to familiar, patterns of practices, beliefs, and expectations. Cultural reproduction sometimes

continues with people even when later experiences might change some of their beliefs or practices.

This argument is strongly supported by the findings of many researchers who argue that individuals’ cultures may influence their conceptualisation of pedagogy (Kukari, 2004; Wong, 2005). For example, Kukari (2004) reported that participants in his study had pre- understandings of what it means to teach and they were influenced by their own cultural practices in Papua New Guinea. Wong (2005) found that her participants from Hong Kong had some cultural influence of their spiritual value of music that was reflected in their teaching of music. However, neither Kukari nor Wong discussed specific cultural practices and their influence on their participants’ conceptualisation of pedagogies. My research found that some teacher educators’ practices were greatly influenced by the specific cultural practice of recitation of the Qur’an and the way it is learned and taught in the Maldives.

Shaina, for example, formed a cultural habitus through her early experiences of learning recitation of the Qur’an with her grandmother. Shaina’s vignette (see Chapter Seven) suggests that when certain practices are culturally embodied they can become an unconscious aspect of individuals’ lives. According to Bourdieu (1977), individuals generate habitus unconsciously, which then influence them to do things in a certain way. Shaina’s understandings of learning (learning knowledge without making it meaningful) and the practices that she later formed (concentration on knowledge delivering) were influenced by the cultural practice of learning recitation of the Qur’an in the Maldives.

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She valued her grandmother’s teaching and her own ability to recite the Qur’an without understanding. She also believed that “the way Qur’an is taught is a very helpful way of learning” (FG). Bourdieu (1977) argues that “perceptions, appreciations and actions” (p.72) are associated with an individual’s habitus. Shaina’s case illustrates the formation of a cultural habitus through the influence of her learning recitation of the Qur’an without understanding as a child.

Shaina’s view was not, however, fully representative. Others did not completely agree with the idea of the impact from this cultural practice on their pedagogical thinking. In order to clarify this, I later discussed it with teacher educators in focus group discussions, many of whom (Zeena, Faiha, Lamha, and Yusra) rejected the idea. However, the majority agreed that it could have some impact on the way they teach. For example, Haula, Meera, Shaina, and Alia thought that it might impact on their existing pedagogies. Participants valued how they learned the Qur’an though it has nothing to do with

understanding and making meaning of what they learn. But, whether they recognised it or not, it may have influenced their views of how people learn. My participants have, whether they agreed with Shaina or not, formed certain dispositions about rote learning pedagogies.

The influence of culture on some participants can also be understood differently, for example, with Zeena, Faiha, Yusra, Nisha, Meera, and Lamha. These teacher educators gained their qualification overseas, unlike Shaina who had no experience of this. These participants, however, agreed that rote learning pedagogy is common practice, perhaps because it is a both familiar and routine method with the institution. Lamha and Yusra argued that learning the Qur’an compared with other subjects is very different and can depend on the purpose of these subjects. They argued that learning the recitation of the

Qur’an is more about gaining Thawabu (blessing from God) hence that kind of learning

does not apply to other subject areas. Data suggest that the practice of rote as a common strategy was influenced by the religious/spiritual value placed on recitation.

In addition, since all research participants are Muslims, certain dispositions of learning are embodied with their religious principles. These include the authoritative acceptance of received knowledge (Engineer, 1986; Sabki & Hardaker, 2012; Talbani, 1996). These researchers describe the traditional learning of religious subjects and learning of the

Qur’an through rote learning and memorisation in the context of Arabic speaking

communities, but not the Maldives. Learning to recite the Qur’an in these countries is likely to be different, as Arabic-speaking children are more likely to understand the meaning of what they read. The Qur’an is written in Arabic, but Arabic is not taught to

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Maldivians regardless of its necessity in learning to recite the Qur’an. This is a significant point of difference. This recitation and rote learning of the Qur’an in the Maldives is not accompanied by understanding since Arabic is a foreign language. The implication is that learning to recite is received knowledge which is more important than understanding. This has ramifications for my research participants’ pedagogical knowledge, practices and beliefs. Thus, it is crucial to understand whether what teacher educators have

practised has any link with their Islamic principles of authoritative acceptance of received knowledge. I argue that this cultural practice has at least a partial influence on their forming of certain beliefs about learning and teaching in the Maldives.

My research makes connections between this learning practice of recitation of the Qur’an and participants’ later formed pedagogies because those teacher educators in terms of their pedagogy, concentrate on teaching content knowledge without necessarily attempting to make it meaningful for the learners. The literature clearly supports this claim (Faiz, 2007; Mariya, 2012; Mohamed, 2006; Nazeer, 2006; Shareef, 2010). These researchers claim that rote learning pedagogy is pursued because it suits the classroom practices in the Maldives. This specific cultural practice of concentrating on content knowledge has affected teacher educators’ own view of learning, and their perceptions of their students’ learning, hence their approach to pedagogical content knowledge.