Explaining Student Silence from the Perspective of the Islamic Approach to Action and Its Implications in Educational Interaction

Introduction

Although classroom interaction includes dialogue and silence between teachers and students, the role of dialogue is often emphasized, while the role of silence is either overlooked or considered negative and indicative of non-participation. However, this silence can have different meanings, and non-participation is just one of them. This study introduces another meaning of silence, viewing it as a human action that can play a role in educational interaction. Attention to the meaning and concept of student silence has also been considered by some researchers, some of whom have tried to reveal the meanings of silence and assist teachers in communicating with their students. Examining the presented meanings shows that some of these silences can also be considered the students̕ actions; however, this point has been overlooked. This study aims to explain the nature of the action of silence based on the perspective of human agency. This perspective arises from the anthropological view of the Islamic approach to action, which posits that human behaviors, possessing cognitive, affective, and volitional foundations, can be considered human actions and hold the agent responsible. This study aims to answer two questions:  1. How can student silence be considered their action? 2. what educational implications does their action of silence entail?
 
Method
The methodological approaches in this study are conceptual analysis and inferential methods; therefore, to answer the research questions, we first used the conceptual analysis method to achieve the conceptual framework of the action of silence and then, according to it, we presented the corresponding educational implications using the inferential method. This method is the same as Brody’s derivative method, which responds to educational questions with a philosophical perspective. This practical response is extracted from and inferred philosophical foundations (Bagheri, 2009, p. 101). In other words, in this section, the philosophical basis of agency is the perspective that responds to the educational issue related to the interaction of teachers with silent students. That is, to deal with student silence, attention must be paid to the agency of both the teacher and the student in a practical syllogism, which includes the following three stages:

The teacher should realize educational interaction. (normative proposition)
Realizing educational interaction depends on a safe emotional atmosphere and the negation of protective silence. (realistic proposition)
The teacher should provide a safe emotional atmosphere and eliminate protective silence to realize educational interaction. (normative proposition)

 
 
Results
The findings are presented in two sections. First, silence can be considered a human action with cognitive, affective, and volitional foundations, leading to various types of actions, including silence due to ignorance, imposed silence, domineering silence, protective silence, silence as a sign of respect, silence as a sign of protest, and contemplative silence. Paying attention to student silence as an action in interactions increases sensitivity to it; therefore, teachers need to appropriately address the foundations of these actions to achieve constructive interaction.
In the second section, the educational implications and principles are discussed. These implications include the necessity for teachers to regard student silence as an action, to identify different types of student silence, and to respond appropriately to each type of silence while adhering to corresponding educational principles. These principles include guiding silence due to ignorance, providing an atmosphere for contemplative silence, transforming domineering silence into critical dialogue, ensuring a safe atmosphere for protective silence, breaking protest silence and inviting dialogue, avoiding imposed silence, and fostering silence as a sign of respect.
 
Discussion and Conclusion
This study introduces student silence as a responsible action. Understanding student silence as an action and identifying its various types can open new perspectives for educators, helping them achieve constructive interactions with students, clearly understand their questions, and strive to enhance their learning. This paper emphasizes the complexity and ambiguity of the concept of silence and the sensitivity of the action of silence, highlighting the need for educators to pay special attention to student silence in education. Educators should not overlook any silence, as delayed attention to it may lead to serious consequences.