Modify Indonesian Catholic Religious Education from Mono-Religious to Interreligous Education

Antonius Virdei Eresto Gaudiawan; Tabita Kartika Christiani; Arqom Kuswanjono

doi:10.24071/jaot.v5i1.5744

Modify Indonesian Catholic Religious Education from Mono-Religious to Interreligous Education

Antonius Virdei Eresto Gaudiawan^(1*), Tabita Kartika Christiani⁽²⁾, Arqom Kuswanjono⁽³⁾,

(1) STKIP Widya Yuwana Indonesian Consortium for Religious Studies of Graduate School of Gadjah Mada University
(2) Duta Wacana Christian University
(3) Gadjah Mada University
(*) Corresponding Author

Abstract

Catholic religious education is an educational process that helps Catholic students grasp the knowledge of the Christian life and identity. In Indonesia, national education law pushes students to learn their religion. Religious education then becomes a mono-religious education that does not suit the Indonesian plurality. It will elevate exclusivism. Indonesian Catholic religious education promotes respect, dialogue, and collaboration between religious adherents. The foundation for this effort is Catholic respect toward other religions, explicitly stated in the declaration of Nostra Aetate. Every grade has a topic that introduces different cultures and religions. It is the application of Indonesian Catholic religious education to educate students to respect other beliefs. It is a good start for multicultural education, and at the same time, it raises questions about the probability of modifying a mono-religious education into an interreligious one. This research was conducted in the diocese of Surabaya, while Jombang, Blitar, and Surabaya were chosen as the diocese's representatives. Interviews with Catholic religious teachers used a semi-structured mode. These are some findings from this research. Practices of Catholic religious education in Indonesia open the possibility of modifying a mono-religious education becomes interreligious education. It needs teachers' commitment and school policy that allows the teacher to modify the curriculum. The teachers' creativity to alter the curriculum needs the principal's goodwill. It also needs reformation from every aspect of school as a social system to support multicultural education. On the other side, the environment outside the school is hoped to give positive support for the reformation by giving broader experience. Through this process, Catholic religious education in Indonesia fulfill its destiny to cultivate faith and promote respect toward other religions.

Keywords

multicultural; interreligious; Catholic religious education

Full Text:

PDF

References

REFERENCES

Bagir, Zainal Abidin. “Interfaith Dialogue and Religious Education.” In Religious Pluralism and Religious Freedom, 174–90. Yogyakarta: CRCS, 2013.

Banks, James A. “Approaches to Multicultural Curriculum Reform.” In Multicultural Education: Issues and Perspectives, Seventh Edition., 229–58. New Jersey: Wiley, 2010.

———. “Multicultural Education: Characteristics and Goals.” In Multicultural Education: Issues and Perspectives, Ninth Edition:1–40. New Jersey: Wiley, 2016.

Banks, James A, and Banks, Cherry A. McGee, eds. Multicultural Education: Issues and Perspectives. John Willey & Sons, Inc., 2016.

Boli Kotan, Daniel, and Leo Sugiyono. Buku Guru Pendidikan Agama Katolik Dan Budi Pekerti: SMA/SMK Kelas XI. Jakarta: Kemendikbud RI, 2014.

Brown, Julie C., and Illana C. Livstrom. “Secondary Science Teachers’ Pedagogical Design Capacities for Multicultural Curriculum Design.” Journal of Science Teacher Education 31, no. 8 (November 16, 2020): 821–40. https://doi.org/10.1080/1046560X.2020.1756588.

Buku Guru Pendidikan Agama Katolik Dan Budi Pekerti: SMA/SMK Kelas XII. Jakarta: Kemendikbud RI, 2015.

Christiani, Tabita Kartika, and Handi Hadiwitanta. “Indonesian Students’ Perceptions on Doctrines, Ethics and Identity in Religious Education.” In The Bloomsbury Handbook of Religious Education in the Global South, 177–94. London: Bloomsbury, 2022. http://dx.doi.org/10.5040/9781350105850.ch-9.

Groome, Thomas H. Sharing Faith: Comprehensive Approach on Religious Education and Pastoral Ministry. Broadway: Wipf and Stock, 1998.

———. Will There Be Faith: A New Vision for Educating and Growing Disciples. San Fransisco: HarperOne, 2011.

Kementerian Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan Republik Indonesia. “Peraturan Menteri Pendidikan No. 59 Tahun 2014 tentang Kurikulum Sekolah Menengah Atas/Madrasah Aliyah.” Kemendikbud RI, 2014.

Kienstra, Natascha, Monique van Dijk-Groeneboer, and Olav Boelens. “Training for Interreligious Classroom Teaching: An Empirical Study.” Religious Education 114, no. 5 (October 20, 2019): 594–608. https://doi.org/10.1080/00344087.2019.1652878.

Kolb, Jonas. “Modes of Interreligious Learning within Pedagogical Practice. An Analysis of Interreligious Approaches in Germany and Austria.” Religious Education 116, no. 2 (March 15, 2021): 142–56. https://doi.org/10.1080/00344087.2020.1854416.

Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization. Directory for Catechesis. Washington: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, 2020.

Portera, Agostino. “Intercultural and Multicultural Education: Epistemological and Semantic Aspect.” In Intercultural and Multicultural Education: Enhancing Global Interconnectedness, 12–32. New York: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, 2011.

Riitaoja, Anna-Leena, and Fred Dervin. “Interreligious Dialogue in Schools: Beyond Asymmetry and Categorisation?” Language and Intercultural Communication 14, no. 1 (January 2, 2014): 76–90. https://doi.org/10.1080/14708477.2013.866125.

Sleeter, Christine E. Un-Standardizing Curriculum: Multicultural Teaching in The Standards-Based Classroom. Multicultural Education Series. New York: Teachers College Press, 2005.

Sofjan, Dicky. “Learning about Religions: An Indonesian Religious Literacy Program as a Multifaith Site for Mutual Learning.” Religions 11, no. 9 (September 2020): 433. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel11090433.

Suhadi, Mohamad Yusuf, Marthen Tahun, Budi Asyhari, and Sudarto. The Politics of Religious Education: The 2013 Curriculum and The Public Space of The School. Yogyakarta: CRCS, 2015.

https://crcs.ugm.ac.id/download/the-politics-of-religious-education/.

Telaumbanua, Marinus. Ilmu Kateketik: Hakikat, Metode Dan Peserta Kursus Gerejawi. Jakarta: Obor, 1999.

“Undang-Undang Republik Indonesia No. 20 Tahun 2003 Tentang Sistem Pendidikan Nasional.” Accessed July 16, 2022. https://www.regulasip.id/book/1393/read.

Vilà Baños, Ruth, Montserrat Freixa Niella, Angelina Sánchez-Martí, and María José Rubio Hurtado. “Head Teachers’ Attitudes towards Religious Diversity and Interreligious Dialogue and Their Implications for Secondary Schools in Catalonia.” British Journal of Religious Education 42, no. 2 (April 2, 2020): 180–92. https://doi.org/10.1080/01416200.2019.1584742.

Zemmrich, Eckhard. “Making Sense of Shifts in Perspectives: Perceiving and Framing Examples of Interreligious Learning in Indonesia.” Islam and Christian–Muslim Relations 31, no. 2 (April 2, 2020): 151–72. https://doi.org/10.1080/09596410.2020.1782096.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.24071/jaot.v5i1.5744