Teaching management has undergone a paradigm shift in the 21st century, from content-based to competency-based. The changing pedagogical landscape has posed a significant challenge to Islamic schools since many still adhere to traditional content-based instruction. To eliminate learning barriers and embrace modern education, this qualitative study investigated teaching management strategies for Islamic Education and key challenges that teachers encountered in cultivating global citizenship for learners. Data were collected from interviews focus group discussion and teaching observations with twelve school administrators and twelve Islamic education teachers, who were purposively selected from twelve schools in southern Thailand. Qualitative content analysis with data organization and classification identified that the schools employed six teaching management strategies to maneuver Islamic Education: emphasizing individual differences, integrating information and communication technology, associating off-class experiences, bridging localness with internationalness, integrating Science, and considering modern evaluation. Furthermore, the results revealed that the attitudes of the Islamic-education teachers were largely attached to conventional teaching styles, relied on subject matters that are less relevant to the needs of the global society, and developmental processes remained significantly ambiguous. Hence, these three challenges were found to be the prime obstructing factors of teaching capacities and adaptability that hindered educational cultivation for 21stcentury global citizenship. This study proposes new instructional models for private Islamic schools to transform their teaching toward 21st-century education.