IMPROVING STUDENTS' CRITICAL THINKING IN THE ERA OF THE BOOK LITERACY CRISIS: FATHUL MU'IN'S LEARNING TRANSFORMATION THROUGH THE DISCOVERY LEARNING MODEL

Abstrak

The decline of critical thinking among Islamic boarding school students (santri) amidst a broader crisis of kitab turats (classical Islamic text) literacy presents a pressing challenge in traditional religious education. Learning approaches for texts such as Fathul Mu’in remain dominated by rote memorization and one-way instruction, limiting students’ analytical engagement. This study explores how the Discovery Learning model can transform the learning process by fostering critical reasoning and deeper comprehension of fiqh content, particularly in the Rub’ul ‘Ibadat section. Employing a qualitative case study approach, data were collected through classroom observations, in-depth interviews with teachers and students, and document analysis at an Islamic boarding school in East Java. The findings reveal four critical issues: (1) declining enthusiasm for kitab turats without contextualized teaching; (2) a dominance of memorization-based methods suppressing inquiry; (3) strong interest in critical thinking among students, yet lacking structured guidance; and (4) limited intergenerational intellectual dialogue due to hierarchical norms. The implementation of Discovery Learning encouraged student participation, analytical dialogue, and interpretative engagement with the text. This model also began to shift the classroom dynamic toward a more dialogical and participatory learning environment. The study suggests that integrating Discovery Learning into traditional kitab education holds significant potential for revitalizing intellectual traditions in pesantren and cultivating reflective Islamic scholars