The Evolving Role of the University Professor Navigating the Past and the Present

Wondering about the profession of university professor, as a profession entrusted with task of producing knowledge and forming future minds that will improve the life in its complexity and aspects, requires knowing the principles on which this profession is based since its inception and tracing it in its historical development with the development of thought, universities, societies, and educational curricula. In this article, we trace the principles of this profession in the Arab-Islamic civilization, or rather its equivalent profession in the ancient era, which Al-Jahiz refers to in his treatise on teachers as “teaching or disciplining adults” through what famous scholars wrote about, such as Ibn Al-Muqaffa, Miskawayh the philosopher, and Al-Jahiz himself. We also trace this profession through the recently developed ideas by a Canadian researcher based on her field experience in the Canadian province of Quebec and in France. The goal is not only to stand on the common principles related to the educational process in which the Arab civilization meets the Western civilization, but also to stand on the constants of this profession that are not affected by time.