Integrating Islamic Ecotheological Values into Practical Life Skills Education for Ecological Responsibility in Islamic Schools

Abstract

Environmental crises increasingly challenge Islamic schools to develop educational approaches that connect sustainability knowledge with practical competencies, moral values, and everyday behavior. This study examines the integration of Islamic ecotheological values into practical life skills education and its contribution to students’ ecological responsibility. Employing a qualitative case study design, the study draws on semi-structured interviews, participant observation, and document analysis involving school leaders, teachers, and students in Islamic educational settings. Data were analyzed thematically through coding, theme development, and cross-source triangulation, with attention to credibility, dependability, transferability, and confirmability. The findings show that the concepts of khalifah, amanah, mīzān, and rahmah were integrated into curriculum, school routines, teacher modeling, and environmental activities. Sustainable practical life skills were developed through waste management, gardening, water and energy conservation, food management, self-management, and environmental projects. Repeated participation transformed these activities into ecological habits and strengthened students’ awareness, responsibility, empathy toward nature, and collective participation. Religious motivation provided moral meaning for sustainable behavior, while practical experience enabled students to embody ecological values in everyday actions. The study proposes the Relational Ecological Responsibility Model, which conceptualizes ecological responsibility as an outcome of the interaction among ecotheological meaning, practical competence, repeated habits, relational attitudes toward nature, and collective action. The study contributes a practical and relational framework for strengthening sustainable character formation within Islamic education contexts.