Teacher agency and curriculum development in Islamic religious education: a systematic review of learning goals, content selection, pedagogical experiences, and assessment

Abstract

Background: Islamic Religious Education (IRE) curriculum development requires meaningful teacher participation to ensure pedagogical relevance, curricular coherence, and responsiveness to students’ needs. Purpose: This study synthesizes evidence on teachers’ roles in developing IRE curricula, focusing on learning objectives, instructional materials, learning processes, and evaluation. Methods: A systematic literature review integrated thematic analysis and bibliometric mapping of publications from 2020 to 2025. Using Publish or Perish, a PICOC-informed search identified 655 records, reduced to 652 unique records after deduplication. PRISMA-guided screening through Covidence resulted in eight included articles, which were analyzed thematically and mapped using VOSviewer. Findings: Teachers contributed to curriculum planning, material development, pedagogical implementation, and assessment design. Research predominantly emphasized curriculum planning and instructional design, whereas teachers’ involvement in evaluation development received comparatively limited attention. Bibliometric mapping identified interconnected research clusters concerning curriculum development, learning design, and teacher participation. Novelty: This review integrates thematic and bibliometric perspectives to identify imbalances in research coverage across four curricular components and highlight evaluation as an underexplored dimension. Limitations: The synthesis was constrained by the 2020–2025 publication window, search strategy, and small number of included studies. Recommendations: Future research should examine teachers’ evaluative agency, contextual adaptations, and evidence-based curriculum improvement across diverse IRE settings.