Abstract
Problem: Throughout history, Muslims have given great importance to memorizing the Qur'an. Memorizing the Qur’an in the Republic of Turkey, the responsibility of the Presidency of Religious Affairs (DİB) has continued in the Qur’an courses. With the new arrangement, the project of memorizing the Qur’an with formal education is implemented in Imam-Hatip Secondary Schools. The aim of the project is to help students complete and strengthen the Qur’an memorization without interrupting formal education. In addition, the Presidency of Religious Affairs has been trying to develop different Qur’an memory projects in recent years. One of these is the practice of memorizing the Qur’an with theology education at the university. In this project, students can receive Hifz education without interrupting their undergraduate education. In this study, it was aimed to evaluate the two project mentioned above through the eyes of administrators, teachers and students. The analysis of the Qur’an memorization projects together with formal education in the light of scientific data obtained from stakeholders is important for the development of such practices from a scientific perspective.
Method: This research is a case study. In the study, a semi-structured interview form consisting of open-ended questions prepared for administrators, teachers and students was used. The working group consists of administrators, teachers and students selected from the schools that provide memory education at the secondary school level and the Qur'an courses that provide the hifz education at the theology education level. Purposeful and maximum diversity sampling was created. In the research, interviews were made with 2 administrators, 8 teachers (hifz teacher) and 16 students. Descriptive analysis technique was used to analyse the data. The answers given by the participants to open-ended questions were interpreted under different themes created based on the sub-problems of the research. With the data obtained from the study group, different dimensions of the Qur’an memorization together with both secondary and theological education were tried to be enlightened. The data obtained in the study were analysed around the structure and organization, purpose/importance, instructor and student quality, student selection, transition to memorization, memorization methods, tools and materials, guidance and sociocultural activities, measurement-evaluation and physical conditions, respectively.
Conclusion and suggestions: As a result of the research, it was seen that the Qur’an memorization together with formal education was found to be highly important by the participants. The participants are aware of the importance of the projects examined in this research. The participants stated that the Qur’an can be memorized without losing time with such projects and this is also very important. According to them, the fact that the personnel infrastructure and institutional identity of the projects are not sufficiently caused many problems. Students mostly criticized the teachers involved in the project on memorization method, communication and guidance. It is noteworthy that the majority of the participants expressing such criticism were students who had difficulty in the Qur’an memorization or left this education. On the other hand, administrators and teachers who participated in the research found the quality of the students in the project weak. According to them, students have deficiencies such as self-control problems, low motivation, not working enough or not wanting to work, indifference and unwillingness, not participating in studies. It can be said that all the problems are closely related to student selection for such project. Indeed, the participants criticized the selection of students for both projects. In the light of the opinions, it is understood that the commission created during the student selection process and the way this commission works created many problems. In the student selection examination, it was clearly criticized that the students were asked questions that measure academic knowledge rather than questions related to the Quranic memorization. In particular, students pointed out that there should be a special exam for memorizing the Qur'an in student selection. It is understood that some students entered the projects examined in the research unconsciously.
As a result, it is understood that there are many positive and negative aspects in the structure and operation of both projects examined in the research. The projects need to be improved from a scientific perspective, considering the issues criticized by the participants. In this context, the human, legal and institutional infrastructure of projects for the Qur’an memorization with formal education should be improved, and especially the faulty aspects should be resolved. At this point, the most important issue is the selection of qualified hifz teachers. In addition, current teachers need to be trained urgently on issues such as guidance, instructional strategies, communication, measurement and evaluation. The commission created during the student selection process should be reorganized, the commission members should be formed with a healthier and participatory approach, and the questions in the student selection examination should be strong in terms of measurement and evaluation. At this point, it is necessary to prepare questions for measuring candidate students' memorizing ability. It is necessary to put Qur’an memorization methods and assessment and evaluation practices abandoned to the personal experiences and initiatives of the teachers on a scientific basis, and to conduct new and original researches on transferring the scientific experience and examples of good practice in different educational areas to the Qur’an memory area.