Teachers' Agency in Religio-Cultural Curriculum Making: A Case Study of Islamic Religious Education in Indonesia's Merdeka Curriculum
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.37812/fikroh.v19i2.2399Keywords:
Teacher Agency, Merdeka Curriculum, Islamic Religious Education, Religio-Cultural Curriculum Making.Abstract
Current scholarship on teacher agency in decentralized educational reforms is largely secular, overlooking how religious educators negotiate curriculum changes when sacred doctrines intersect with state mandates. This study addresses this gap by examining the agency of Islamic Religious Education teachers in implementing Indonesia’s Merdeka Curriculum. Using a qualitative case study at SMPN 2 Sukowono, Jember, data were collected through semi-structured interviews, participatory observations, and document analysis involving school leaders, Islamic Religious Education teachers, subject teachers, and students. Data were analyzed using an interpretive thematic approach. The findings indicate that teacher agency extends beyond curriculum compliance to active curriculum-making through material contextualization, value-based dialogue, collaborative Pancasila Student Profile (P5) projects, and authentic assessment practices. Teachers integrate Islamic values with civic education and students’ local cultural contexts, fostering meaningful and relevant learning experiences. Nevertheless, the enactment of teacher agency is constrained by limited planning time, administrative workloads, uneven teacher competencies, and inadequate instructional resources. This study advances the concept of teacher agency by framing it as a process of religious and cultural mediation within curriculum reform. It proposes a dual-mandate perspective in which Islamic Religious Education teachers function as cultural-theological mediators who reconcile Islamic teachings, national educational objectives, and local traditions, thereby strengthening the legitimacy and sustainability of educational reform within community-based educational settings.
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