The Degree of Soft Skills Possession by Islamic Education Lecturers and Strategies from the Perspective of Students at Al-Aqsa University

Abstract

The study aimed to identify the degree of soft skills possession by Islamic Education lecturers and Strategies from the perspective of students at Al-Aqsa University. A descriptive approach was used for its suitability for the study's purposes. The study sample was intentionally selected from 191 male and female student teachers studying the Islamic Education and Strategies course. To collect the study data, a questionnaire was developed covering nine areas of soft skills, the validity and reliability of which were verified. The results of the study showed that the ninth axis (creative thinking skill) ranked first with an arithmetic mean of 4.30 and a percentage of 90.86%, while the eighth axis (critical thinking skill) came in second place with an arithmetic mean of 4.26 and a percentage of 85.2%, and the fifth axis (leadership skill) came in third place with an arithmetic mean of 4.24 and a percentage of 84.8%, and the sixth axis (planning and goal setting skill) came in fourth place with an arithmetic mean of 4.23 and a percentage of 83.02%, while the seventh axis (time management) came in fifth place with an arithmetic mean of 4.22 and a percentage of 84.4%, and the third axis (teamwork skill) came in sixth place with an arithmetic mean of 4.14 and a percentage of 82.8%, and the second axis (decision-making and problem-solving skill) came in seventh place with an arithmetic mean of 4.12 and a percentage of 82.4%. The fourth axis (continuous learning skills) came in eighth place with an arithmetic mean of 4.11 and a percentage of 82.2%. The first axis (communication skills) came in ninth place with an arithmetic mean of 4.10 and a percentage of 81%. The presence of a statistically significant difference between the sample's average assessment of the degree to which Islamic education lecturers and their strategies possess soft skills is attributed to the gender variable in favor of females. There were no statistically significant differences regarding the third and fourth level variables. The study recommended: • Focus on developing and improving the soft skills of Islamic studies students, represented by skills (personality development and growth, communication skills, leadership skills, etc.), as these are essential skills for their future success.