English abstract
This descriptive analysis study discusses self-development towards success in life according to the Holy Quran for the General Education teachers in the Sultanate of Oman. Despite the critical need and the high demand for self-development courses and programs that aim at achieving success and happiness, these programs have been greatly criticized by researchers- most notably- for not being based on scientific grounds. The Ministry of Education in the Sultanate of Oman has given great attention to the training and professional development of teachers. However, such effort has not focused on providing specialized programs on self-development of teachers, as reported by a number of studies that highlight the importance of such programs in the development of the teachers' personality and the enhancement of their self-motivation and professional performance. Hence, the present study aims at establishing a self-development approach towards success in life according to the Holy Quran, developing a practical framework to self-development and measuring the Oman's public education teachers' degree of compliance to such an approach. The current study employs a descriptive analytical approach. An analysis of the 'falah' verses in the Holy Quran was conducted using Quran tafseer books. After proving that the term 'falah' is the most precise and comprehensive to self-development, five basic principles for self-development were prepared and a practical methodology for self-development was constructed through the design of six (6) pathways to success in the light of the verses of 'falah'. From these pathways, three main steps for self-development were identified: 'tazkiyah al-nafs' meaning 'purification of the self', readiness and learning, work and stability. Each stage included a set of practical rules for self-development. In the light of these paths, the questionnaire was devised. After checking the validity and the reliability of the instrument, it was applied on 388 male and female teachers using a stratified random sample of general education teachers in the Sultanate of Oman from four educational governorates: Muscat, The Interior, North Al Batinah and South Al Batinah. The results of the study indicated that the degree of compliance of the study sample to self-development was between large and medium. It was great in purification of the self, work and stability, while it was medium in readiness and learning.
