Contextualising religious education in multi-religious Indonesia to achieve unity-in-religious diversity
This paper examines how religious education is delivered in the multi-religious Indonesian education system, which aims to promote piety and religiosity and strengthen the inclusive national identity. Employing multiple-case-study research, it examines how six state and private schools in Jakarta (M...
| Subtitles: | Localities and regions in religions and worldviews education |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Interlibrary Loan: | Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany) |
| Published: |
2025
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| In: |
Journal of beliefs and values
Year: 2025, Volume: 46, Issue: 3, Pages: 488-506 |
| Further subjects: | B
Contextualisation
B Religious Diversity B Religious Education B Indonesia |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | This paper examines how religious education is delivered in the multi-religious Indonesian education system, which aims to promote piety and religiosity and strengthen the inclusive national identity. Employing multiple-case-study research, it examines how six state and private schools in Jakarta (Muslim-majority) and Bali (Hindu-majority) with different mixes of student ethnicity and religiosity accommodate and negotiate the vision of religious diversity. The findings show that contextualisation of religious education was present across schools between provinces and within the same provinces, even with similar student demography. This contextualisation which involves negotiation processes between schools, both as an institution and actors (such as teachers, students, and head teachers) and local cultures can be seen as an effort to accommodate religious diversity to achieve the vision of Indonesian Unity-in-Diversity. Schools’ responses to religious education, such as through the provision of religious education and morning service arrangements, greetings and worship facilities, uniform policy, and the school ethos and policies, do not always accommodate all students’ religious needs, specifically the minority and supra-minority religious groups. This case study of Indonesia with the contextualised school responses provides insight into how religious education remains a space of complex interpretation, rather than a direct translation of the national policy. This study explores how religious education is taught in Indonesia’s multi-religious schools, which aim to promote religious devotion and a shared national identity. By examining six schools in Jakarta (a Muslim-majority area) and Bali (a Hindu-majority area), the research highlights how schools with diverse student backgrounds approach religious diversity. The findings reveal that schools adapt religious education differently based on local cultures and the needs of their communities, even within the same province. These adaptations include how schools organise religious education classes, morning prayers, greetings, worship spaces, dress codes, and broader school policies. However, not all students, especially those from minority religious groups, feel fully accommodated. This research shows that religious education in Indonesia involves complex negotiations between national policies, school practices, and local contexts. This case study of Indonesia with the contextualised school responses provides insight into how religious education remains a space of complex interpretation, rather than a direct translation of the national policy. |
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| ISSN: | 1469-9362 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Journal of beliefs and values
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1080/13617672.2025.2450958 |
