Vol. 2 No. 3 (2026): Global Journal of Islamic Education (GAJIE)

This study examines why local wisdom should be built into the planning of Islamic education curricula, as a way to strengthen cultural identity and moral values. Bringing local wisdom into Islamic religious education matters because it lets schools meet the demands of a changing world without abandoning ancestral values. The study is qualitative and uses a literature review to examine relevant sources. The findings show that local wisdom can enrich teaching materials and methods, make learning more relevant to the local context, and support a more inclusive and adaptive curriculum. Integration also faces obstacles: lack of awareness, perceived mismatch with global needs, resistance to change, limited resources, the dominance of foreign cultures, and uncertainty about outcomes. Overcoming these obstacles requires education and outreach, community participation, teacher training, and stronger local institutions. Integrated in this way, local wisdom can strengthen students' character and identity and make Islamic education more relevant and effective as times change.

This study examines the strategies the Islamic education Foundation uses to improve the performance of the madrasah principal. It starts from the premise that educational institutions need sound management and deliberate methods of development, and that the principal plays a strategic role in running the school. Better principal performance is believed to carry over directly into the performance of teachers and staff. The study is descriptive qualitative, with the principal of madrasah as its object. Data were collected through interviews, observation, and documentation, and analyzed through data reduction, data display, and verification. The foundation's strategies were: (1) administrative selection of prospective principals; (2) involvement of prospective principals in educational forums and organizations; (3) establishment of the Al Khoziny Teachers' Forum (GUA), which assesses the principal's performance across the roles of Educator, Manager, Administrator, Supervisor, Leader, Innovator, and Motivator; (4) opportunities for professional development training; and (5) authority for the principal to run the institution independently within applicable regulations, with the foundation remaining the organizer and supplying the Islamic concepts on which the institution's vision and mission rest. The principal's performance improved in several roles and stagnated in others, and these gains also influenced the performance of teachers and staff

This study maps the intellectual structure, thematic trends, and collaboration networks of Arabic Language Education (PBA) research in Madura, Indonesia, through a comparative bibliometric analysis of Google Scholar and Scopus for the period 2016–2026. A descriptive-comparative design was employed, combining performance analysis, keyword co-occurrence mapping, and co-authorship network analysis, supplemented by qualitative content analysis for the small Scopus corpus. The findings reveal a radical volume disparity: 342 documents in Google Scholar versus only twelve in Scopus. Local research is dominated by instrumental pedagogy, classroom action research, and conventional instructional media, while the rare Scopus-indexed articles engage critical-conceptual themes such as sociolinguistics, cultural identity, and digital literacy. Co-authorship networks remain institutionally fragmented, with minimal cross-institutional and virtually no international collaboration. The study concludes that the limited global visibility of Madurese PBA research stems not from an absolute deficit in quality but from a paradigmatic divergence between local and international scholarly expectations, compounded by systemic barriers and academic isolation. A future research roadmap is proposed, prioritising critical sociolinguistics, pesantren ecolinguistics, and neuro-linguistic bilingualism, alongside strengthened cross-institutional partnerships

This study aims to describe the Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) of Islamic Religious Education (IRE) teachers at MI Mambaul Ulum Dagan, particularly in selecting teaching methods, instructional strategies, learning media, and understanding students’ characteristics. PCK refers to the integration of subject matter knowledge and pedagogical knowledge that enables teachers to present learning materials according to students’ characteristics and learning needs. This study employed a qualitative approach with a case study design. The research was conducted at MI Mambaul Ulum Dagan, Lamongan, Indonesia. Data were collected through observation, interviews, and documentation involving the principal, vice principal for curriculum affairs, IRE teachers, and students as research informants. Data were analyzed using the Miles and Huberman model through data condensation, data display, and conclusion drawing. Data validity was established through source and technique triangulation. The findings indicate that the PCK of IRE teachers at MI Mambaul Ulum Dagan is categorized as good. This is reflected in teachers’ ability to select teaching methods according to learning materials, objectives, and students’ conditions; apply instructional strategies that support student participation; select and use learning media according to instructional needs; and understand students’ diverse characteristics and learning needs. The findings further show that teachers are able to adjust the delivery of learning materials to students’ conditions and levels of understanding. Thus, the implementation of PCK supports the organization of learning that is appropriate to students’ characteristics and learning objectives and contributes to the professional competence of IRE teachers at the Madrasah Ibtidaiyah level

This study aims to analyze the conceptual framework of strategic control in Islamic education management, explore how control is integrated within the strategic planning cycle, and identify influencing factors and implementation challenges. A qualitative library research approach was employed, analyzing articles published between 2021 and 2026 from Google Scholar, Garuda, SINTA, and Scopus databases using thematic content analysis. The findings reveal that management control in Islamic education operates across three interconnected levels: philosophical-normative, structural-procedural, and operational-technological. At the philosophical-normative level, control is understood as part of religious accountability (amanah) grounded in values such as hisbah, ihsan, and amanah. At the structural-procedural level, control is manifested through internal audits, periodic monitoring and evaluation, and quality assurance systems integrated within the strategic planning cycle. At the operational-technological level, control is implemented through management information systems enabling real-time monitoring and evidence-based decision-making. Effectiveness is influenced by strategic leadership, organizational culture rooted in Islamic values, and stakeholder participation. Key challenges include qualitative output measurement, goal ambiguity, policy-implementation gaps, and complexity of causal relationships between managerial interventions and educational outcomes. The study contributes an integrative framework bridging strategic management perspectives with the distinctiveness of Islamic education, emphasizing that control cannot be reduced to conventional management techniques but requires understanding of spiritual, cultural, and ethical dimensions