The Levels of Acquiring Caring Principles for Students with Disabilities among Islamic Educational Teachers from the School Principals’ Perspectives

Abstract

There are many questions raised about Islamic education teacher preparation programs in dealing with students with special needs and the competencies that must be possessed to work with people with special needs, and this is what the current study will attempt to achieve. This study explores the levels to which Islamic education teachers possess the necessary competencies to work with students with special needs. This study adopted the descriptive survey approach, where an instrument was distributed that included three areas: educational and professional competencies, competencies related to scientific characteristics, and competencies related to personal traits. The sample included 82 principals from Abha, Saudi Arabia. The results found agreement among the respondents in performance on the tool. The performance competencies necessary for working with the disabled were average due to the program's focus on the theoretical aspect at the expense of performance skills. The results found the absence of differences in the degree of special education trainee teachers' possession of the necessary competencies to work with people with special needs according to the study variables. All these Islamic education teachers were trained only in three disabilities, and this is considered a shortcoming in the training program by the universities.