This literature review will focus on Western literature...

This literature review will focus on Western literature regarding moral education and outline one of the closest analogues to Islamic pedagogy-the Ethic of Care-including the specific teaching methods that would logically accompany such a philosophy of teaching.

Theory Lev Vygotsky, a psychologist by profession, was one of the earliest academics to comment on the importance of reconnecting the link between cognitive and affective factors when researching the human psyche (Goldstein, 1999, pg.648).Vygotsky defined a zone of proximal development as “the distance between the actual developmental level as determined by independent problem solving and the level of potential development as determined through problem solving under adult guidance or in collaboration with more capable peers” (as cited in Goldstein, 1999, p.649 emphasis added).

Therefore, using a customized student-centered pedagogy, an educator could scaffold a student along to higher, more intricate concepts (building on their previous knowledge) depending on the supportive guidance received either from the teacher or other peers who had comprehended the concept (Goldstein, 1999, pgs.649-654).

Vygotsky realized that learning is not simply an individual activity (otherwise not much disciplinary analysis would be needed outside of a psychological lens), and that more insightful analysis of educational development needs to be discussed in relation to the social interactions that take place between the actors involved. Accordingly, by developing deeper relationships with their students, educators can consciously care for students in a way that provides a suitable environment for growth.

Such deliberate attention to students’ needs on the part of the educator would also provide a role model for other students to help each other grow in cooperative learning settings. As will be highlighted, the quality of the student-teacher relationship is pivotal to Islamic pedagogy as well. Many academics5 have elaborated on the nature of this affective and caring relationship between teacher and student (Bailey, 2000; Noddings, 1984; Rogoff, 1990).

At the time that Nel Noddings wrote Caring: A feminine approach to ethics and moral education (1984), she was responding to a growing sentiment (as evident through the increasing moral education literature) that more attention should be paid to treating students like humans who need time, attention, and guidance to intellectually and emotionally develop (Lickona, 1991).