The intent of this explanatory sequential mixed-method study is to examine Islamic teachers' thoughts on improving critical thinking skills in elementary schools in the Southwestern province of Saudi Arabia. This study involves the collection of quantitative data and an explanation of the quantitative results with qualitative data. In the first phase, a survey was administered to Islamic teachers in Saudi elementary schools to assess their opinions on improving students' critical thinking skills and to identify the factors that influence or hinder their implementation of critical thinking instruction. In the second phase, qualitative data was collected using semi-structured interviews with a number of Islamic teachers in order to explore more fully their perceptions toward improving students' critical thinking skills in Saudi elementary schools. The reason for collecting both quantitative and qualitative data was to obtain a better understanding of the gathered information than would be possible using only one of these methods.In regard to the barriers for improving the critical thinking ability of elementary education students, the participants reported seven major obstacles, which are student ability, ii teaching methods, classroom structure, Saudi society and the school community, pre-service teachers preparation programs and in-service teacher professional developmental programs, and the Islamic studies curriculum. The highest ranked obstacle was student ability, with an overall mean of 4.31on a 5-point scale. Teaching methods, with a total mean of 4.29, was the second most cited barrier. The third was classroom structure, with a total mean of 3.72. The study participants ranked society and school community as the fourth obstacle, with a total mean of 3.70, and pre-service teachers preparation programs and in-service teacher professional developmental programs with a total mean of 2.69. The Islamic studies curriculum was ranked sixth in obstacles to improving critical thinking for elementary education students, with a total mean of 2.57.These findings suggest there is a need to also examine female Islamic teachers' perceptions toward critical thinking in the Southwestern region of Saudi Arabia in order to identify the similarities and differences between the perceptions of male and female teachers.It is vital to investigate perceptions of teacher of other disciplines, such as language art, social science, English, and math, in an effort to provide policy makers in the Ministry of Education with a holistic picture of the Saudi educational system. Qualitative studies, interviews with students, and classroom observations can be carried out to investigate students' perceptions as to how critical thinking is taught in the classroom and whether teaching style is a primary obstacle to it being taught. There is an urgent need for an in depth examination of the influence society and the school community has on teaching students' thinking in general and critical thinking in particular. Finally, more research is needed...

The paper explores the preparation for transformative work environment: faculty member’s responsibilities for promoting life skills among learners at the high education institutions. This research is a descriptive study that explain the faculty member’s responsibilities for promoting life skills among learners at the high education institutions. By using qualitative research approaches, the researcher analyzed number of studies and governmental reports. Findings revealed that the main responsibility of higher education institutions is to prepare learners for professional life by enhancing college students’ life skills through different educational strategies such as project-based learning, workshops, and long and short-term training in the business work environment. Also, faculty members are responsible for developing learners’ efficacy in their lives and about. This study is among the first to investigate, particularly, the preparation for transformative work environment: faculty member’s responsibilities for promoting life skills among learners at the high education institutions in the context of Arab countries.

The paper explores the Islamic teachers’ perceptions of using questioning for improving Saudi high students’ schools learning engagement. The research conducted with a total of 150 male students attending Saudi high schools. By using the mixed-method research approaches, the researcher will collect the study data by survey and observation. Findings revealed that questioning fosters a sense of student competences and provides students with autonomy support. Also, it establishes positive teacher-student relationships and improves students high-ordered thinking. However, questioning sometimes supports class disruptions. Finally, the study recommended investigating perceptions of teachers in other disciplines, such as language arts, social science, English, and math toward using questioning in the classroom setting. Moreover, it is essential to students the effect of questioning on students learning acquisition, and learning achievement in Saudi high-schools. This study is among the first to investigate, particularly, the Islamic teachers in enhancing Saudi Secondary School Students' Learning Engagement in the context of Arab countries.

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