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Journal of Social Studies Education Research
Sosyal Bilgiler Eğitimi Araştırmaları Dergisi

2023:14 (2),253-274

Religious Moderation in Islamic Religious Education as a Response to Intolerance
Attitudes in Indonesian Educational Institutions

Muhaemin
1
, Rusdiansyah
2
, Mustaqim Pabbajah
3
, Hasbi
4


Abstract
Intolerance attitudes are still common in school environments, and governments must dedicate
efforts to building religious moderation attitudes in society. It is explained in this study that
intolerance cases have not been effectively reduced by religious moderation in religious and moral
education learning in public schools. A descriptive qualitative approach was applied with data
sources through observations, interviews, and textbook documents. The study objectively described
religious moderation content in textbooks, the time allocation of Islamic religious education (PAI)
learning in schools, and the supporting activities of religious moderation in schools. The content of
the textbooks on Islamic religious and moral education has not yet contained comprehensive
religious moderation indicators. It can be seen from the religious indicators’ classification, such as
national commitment, tolerance, antiviolence, and accommodation of local culture, that less time
is available for religious and moral education. Therefore, the content of religious moderation needs
to be integrated into all subjects. Likewise, extracurricular activities must be activated and filled by
strengthening religious moderation, including Islamic spiritual activities. The importance of the
understanding of teachers on religious moderation was proven by this finding because teachers are
role models for students in religious attitudes. Additionally, evaluation is needed for educational
stakeholders, such as educators, curriculum, and time allocation, to reduce intolerance cases.
School stakeholders can be role models for implementing religious moderation in and out of
schools.

Keywords: educational institutions, intolerance, moderation of religion, religious education


Introduction
Amid government efforts supported by various components of society to disseminate religious
moderation, intolerance cases have continued to appear in different Indonesian regions in recent
years (Mackey & Dolven, 2020; Sebastian & Arifianto, 2020). Intolerance cases have become a
global fact in various countries and have emerged in educational institutions through the attitudes
of students in schools (Brabeck et al., 2000; Gerlinger, 2017; Parker, 2014). In addition to the
school environment, intolerance cases also appear in other forms, including the difficulty of

1
Dr. State Islamic Institute of Palopo, Sulawesi Indonesia, Email: [email protected]
2
Dr. State Islamic Institute of Palopo, Sulawesi Indonesia, Email: [email protected]
3
Universitas Teknologi Yogyakarta, Indonesia, Email: [email protected]
4
Dr. State Islamic Institute of Palopo, Sulawesi Indonesia, Email: [email protected]

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building worship houses, the attack on worship houses, the disbandment of religious activities by
specific community organizations, juvenile delinquency, and other cases. For example, the Setara
Institute reported at least 180 incidents of disbandment of freedom of religion and worship, with
422 actions in 2020 (equivalent-institute.org). The number of intolerance cases shown in the data
is very worrying, even amid the pandemic. Adults and students dominate the perpetrators of
intolerance cases. Still, university students are susceptible to intolerant acts (Sirry, 2020). Based
on the previous data, it is necessary to review the dissemination pattern of religious moderation,
including in educational institutions, which have strategic roles in instilling reliance value
(Muhajir, 2022).
Academic researchers have not widely researched religious moderation in Islamic religious
education curricula in educational institutions to respond to intolerant actions. Three aspects tend
to be discussed in recent studies. The first study is related to religious moderation (Dodego &
Witro, 2020; Feriyanto, 2020; Ridho, 2021), where moderation is a critical attitude to build in
order not to be trapped in extreme actions. The second study regards religious moderation
dissemination through social media (Anwar & Haq, 2019; Rohman, 2020; Wibowo, 2019). It was
found in several studies that religious moderation can be disseminated through various media,
including social media. The third study regards religious moderation dynamics in several
communities (Anwar & Haq, 2019; Futaqi & Mashuri, 2021; Ramli, 2019). It was found in the
study results that religious moderation dynamics are influenced by context and culture. The study
that has been conducted provides a stimulus for this study, referring to the importance of religious
moderation revitalization in educational institutions. This is especially true in curricula, learning
time, and supporting activities for religious moderation in secondary educational institutions
(Pilotti & Al Mubarak, 2021; Suntana & Tresnawaty, 2021).
This paper attempts to respond to this study by focusing on the need for religious moderation in
the religious and moral education process. This effort was conducted by answering three questions.
First, how is the content of religious moderation in high school religious and moral education
textbooks? Religious moderation indicators in religious and moral education textbooks for grades
X, XI, and XII were examined in this question. Second, how is the time allocation for religious
and moral education in senior high schools described? Third, how are the supporting activities of
religious moderation in learning religious and moral education in high school? This question

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focused on describing the supportive activities conducted by teachers and students to internalize
religious moderation values in schools. These three questions were answered in the next section.
Additionally, this study was based on three arguments. First, the content of the religious and moral
education textbooks in senior high schools did not comprehensively contain religious moderation
indicators. These indicators were national commitment, tolerance, non-violence, and
accommodation of local culture. Second, the time allocation for religious and moral learning
activities was insufficient. Therefore, moderation content should be integrated into all subjects.
Third, activities to support religious moderation conducted by teachers or students must be
improved. The activities of students, such as the Islamic Spiritual Organization (Rohis), should
also be evaluated to contribute to instilling religious moderation values and not producing
exclusive students.
Literature Review
Religious Moderation
Religious moderation is closely related to maintaining togetherness by realizing a tolerant attitude
toward human beings and not imposing a will with violence (Akhmadi, 2019). Fahruddin et al.
(2021) emphasized that in realizing national and religious harmony, a religious moderation attitude
is necessary to limit the excesses of religious groups (not extreme) attitudes in claiming that their
religion is the only true religion. Furthermore, religious moderation is meaningless in mixing truth
and eliminating self-identity. However, this moderation was less extreme toward other
unconsentaneous beliefs (Akhmadi, 2019). Moderation theories are implemented as adaptations
and compromises focusing on the interests or ideological devices that make this moderation
happen (Somer, 2017). At the same time, Sihombing et al. (2020) proposed religious moderation
as creating inclusiveness in exploring the world and respecting truth and goodness in viewing
existing religions.
Moderation in Islam is a new paradigm for Islamic understanding by upholding values that
promote the unity and integrity of the denomination and Islam to build human civilization, such
as the importance of tasamuh, pluralism, and ukhuwah Islamiyah (Agis et al., 2018). Religious
moderation is also implemented by religious community organizations by applying Ahlussunah
Waljamaah theology, which is well established and consistent in various fields (Kanafi et al.,
2021). This diverse moderation is also manifested in the Christian interpretation of teachings,
where religious moderation becomes a perspective to mediate the extremities of Christian

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teachings. One is by interacting well with the teachings of other religions (Sutrisno, 2019). In
Hinduism, religious moderation is implemented in Puja Tri Sandhya and PancaSembah in the
Indonesian context (Agis et al., 2018).
Moreover, in Buddhism teaching, religious moderation is implemented from the enlightenment of
the Buddha Sidarta Gautama, who created four prasetyas: helping one another, rejecting worldly
desires, studying, experiencing, and trying to achieve perfect enlightenment. Religious moderation
also occurs in the Confucian religion, which is reflected in the Confucian junzi people with a Yin-
Yang life view without extreme attitudes (Sutrisno, 2019). In this case, religion has taught a
tolerant attitude, which becomes the basis for the vocalization of the religious moderation concept.

Islamic Religious Education Curriculum
The educational curriculum is one of the education components essential to achieving academic
goals and is a reference in implementing the teaching and learning process for all education levels
(Nurmadiah, 2016). There are several interrelated components in the learning curriculum to
achieve educational goals. Some of these components are the plans that will be achieved within
the scope of the school and within the range of the field of study, curriculum content, teaching
media, teaching strategies, learning processes, and evaluation (Aman, 2020).
Additionally, an adequate curriculum also contains three primary roles. The first is the
conservative role of preserving cultural value as a noble heritage associated with globalization and
advancing science and technology (Wafi, 2017). Furthermore, the curriculum is expected to reject
the negative influences that can damage the morale of students. The second is the creative role,
namely the curriculum, which is expected to address every challenge to the development and needs
of a dynamic society. The third is the critical and evaluative role of globalization (Kusmawati &
Surachman, 2019).
One of the educational curricula in Indonesia is the Islamic religious education curriculum. It deals
with religious learning in Indonesian education, which is widely discussed to overcome conflicts
and radicalism attitudes covered by religion. The religious education curriculum is essential to
instill spiritual values and tolerance in students. Hatim (2018), in his study, argued that the
curriculum in Islamic education in schools contains several aspects, such as aspects of the Qur'an
Hadith, Aqidah, Morals, Fiqh (Islamic Law), and Tarikh (history) aspects. Islamic religious
education applied in the school environment attempts to internalize Islamic teachings and values

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in students to deal with the previous statement (Wafi, 2017). Nowadays, the current studies
referring to Islamic education curriculum development are based on the thoughts of Muhaimin,
namely the development by using an academic subject approach, a humanistic approach, a
technological approach, and social reconstruction education, and by combining intelligence IQ
(intelligent quotient), EQ (emotional quotient), and SQ (spiritual quotient) (Anwar, 2016; Khakim,
2018; Muhaimin, 2014). At the same time, success in realizing the curriculum that becomes the
goal in the learning process is also greatly determined by the role of the teacher, where teachers
are expected to be able to create good learning programs with the outlined curriculum (Dhani,
2020; Juahab, 2019; Nurhasanah, 2020). It can be concluded that a successful curriculum is the
integrity of students and teachers in achieving the targets of the applied curriculum (Gunio, 2021;
Nasir, 2021; Nyamai, 2021).

Educational Institutions
Educational institutions are defined as valuable media for fostering human beings whose purpose
is to create a better future (Gazali, 2013). Educational institutions are distinguished based on
informal, formal, and non-formal. The first, informal educational institutions, refer to family
educational institutions, where education in the family is the first education accepted by children,
and the role of parents is significant in this institution (Rodríguez Illera, 2018). The second formal
educational institution refers to schools that produce individuals with intellectual abilities and
skills (Shoji et al., 2020). This institution involves the roles of teachers and students. Some of the
characteristics of formal institutions are specifically organized and divided into types and levels
that have hierarchical relationships. In the Indonesian education context, it is divided into
elementary (elementary school), junior high (junior high school), and high school (SMA) levels
(Zuchdi et al., 2014). Therefore, formal educational institutions established by the government are
intended to answer future educational needs. At the same time, the school is also an institution for
creativity development, and the development process can differ among schools. Some factors that
cause these differences are the type of school, and the teaching style students perceive (Besançon
& Lubart, 2008). Third, the existence of nonformal educational institutions in society is supposed
to acquire knowledge and relevant experience. One non-formal education is realized to reduce the
quality gap in the community (Kicherova& Efimova, 2020).

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At the same time, the radicalism movement and religious intolerance that has recently appeared
are often associated with education. A tolerant attitude toward avoiding radical thoughts in
students has been instilled by many educational institutions, such as formal schools, to deal with
this case. Schools are good educational institutions that stimulate the creative thinking skills of
students (De Alencar et al., 2017). So far, learning in schools has discussed tolerance inculcation
between religious communities from kindergarten to high school in the Indonesian context
(Djollong & Akbar, 2019; Ferdinand & Alpizar, 2021; Mandayu, 2020; Zain, 2020). Multicultural
education is also applied in the curriculum, suitable in the Indonesian context, with many tribes,
languages, races, and religions. It has the same purpose: to increase tolerance and create humanistic
values (Shannon-Baker, 2018; Zilliacus et al., 2017). Religious tolerance among students may also
be affected by the ability of teachers (in the formal education system) to convey religious material,
in which tolerance values should be instilled in this learning. The education system is believed to
raise and increase religious tolerance to achieve harmony in life (Lenssen, 2010). This tolerant
attitude will later change the way of thinking from exclusive to inclusive, strengthening the sense
of humanity, among others (Effendi, 2020). In conclusion, intolerance occurs due to the failure of
educational institutions to internalize the tolerance concept to students.

Methods
Research Design
This study used content analysis design (Zhang & Wildemuth, 2016) and applied qualitative
approach to analysis data (Creswell, 2014). Content analysis explored the meaning of text or
document dealing with themes being investigated (Zhang & Wildemuth, 2016). This research
focused on the content of religious moderation in learning Islamic religious education in senior
high school (SMA). The contents of religious moderation originated from the Book of Islamic
Religion and Moral Education issued by the Ministry of Education and Culture, the 2017 edition
for grade X and XI, and the 2018 edition for grade XII. As the intolerance issue emerged in
Indonesia, religious education learning that emphasized on the teaching values of tolerances and
the negative aspects of intolerance was shared. The themes in the textbook were identified to see
what themes appeared in the textbook and what topics were properly described in the textbook.
issued by the government. The textbook was evaluated and data were analyzed using content
analysis technique suggested by Zhang & Wildemuth (2016).

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Data and Sources of Data
Data of this study came from themes regarding tolerance matters identified from textbook used for
SMA. The themes consisted of tolerance in religious practices, values of social interactions that
required tolerance, tolerance among students, tolerance to the society that had different religion,
and tolerance in the national issues. The sources of data in this study were three textbooks on
Islamic Religion and Moral Education issued by the Ministry of Education and Culture. The
textbooks were:
1. Islamic Religion and Moral Education for grade X SMA (2017)
2. Islamic Religion and Moral Education for grade XI SMA (2017)
3. Islamic Religion and Moral Education for grade XII SMA (2018)

Informant
The informants of this study were 6 teachers and 15 students selected through purposive sampling.
Teachers were selected purposively from grade X, XI and XII. Teacher who taught Islamic
Tolerance in each grade was selected. To see the perception of students, the students were selected
5 informants in each grade. With 21 informants, saturated data when interview was done had been
achieved (Cresswell, 2014). Description of informants of this study appears in table 1.
Table 1
Informants of this study
No Informants Grade X Grade XI Grade XII Total
1 Teacher 2 2 2 6
2 Student 5 5 5 15
7 7 7 21

Data Collection Techniques
Three techniques were used to collect data in this study: document analysis, observation and
interview (Cresswell, 2014). Document analysis was done to identify themes in three textbooks
and classify what values have been defined in the textbook. To see how students and teachers
implemented the tolerance values, the researchers conducted observations in each grade. In
addition, interview was done to 21 informants. The interview was focused on teachers and students
perception on the tolerance application in daily lives both in school and at homes. Interview was
done at school where each informant was invited. Each informant needed 20-30 minutes for the
interview. Results of the interview were recorded and the results of record were transcribed
verbatim.

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Data Analysis
This study used content analysis techniques to analyze data (Zhang & Mildemuth, 2016). Overall,
data analysis from Zhang & Wildemuth (2016) were combined with theory from Cresswell (2014)
and Miles, et. al., (2014). Data obtained from documents, i.e. three textbooks on Islamic Religion
and Moral Education were mapped their themes and explored their meaning. At the indepth level,
the data were combined with data from transcripts obtained from the observation and interview
(Zhang & Wildemuth, 2016; Cresswell, 2014). Content analysis works can be summarized in four
steps as follows:
1. Data in the forms of numbers and texts are converted into narrative text so that themes are
indentified (Zhang & Wildemuth, 2016) and thematic analysis is available to make
(Cresswell, 2014).
2. After data are identified their themes amd data are formed in the transcripts the second
analysis is made. The themes are identified based on research questions (Zhang &
Wildemuth, 2016) and the themes are grouped based on its categories (Miles, et.al., 2014).
3. After data have been identified their themes and the themes are groped into their
classification and categories (Miles, et. al. 2014), coding system through numbering
techniques of each theme categories are applied to all data and when improper numbering
system appears the data are corrected (Zhang & Wildemuth (2016).
4. Data that have been numbered correctly are identified and the proper numbered data are
selected as the final data (Zhang & Wildemuth, 2016; Miles, et al 2014). Data are defined
into religious moderation indicators that see how religious moderation was practiced in
schools. Four indicators of religious moderation were used: national commitment, love for
the homeland, antiviolence, and accommodation to local culture. The values of religious
moderation content in the Islamic Religious and Morals Education textbooks were
classified based on religious moderation indicators.

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Results
Religious Moderation Content in Islamic Religious Education Textbooks of High School
Students
Islamic education textbooks in senior high schools are arranged by the government and
implemented by teachers and students in the school. The Islamic Religious Education textbooks
used as a reference in senior high schools are the Islamic Religious and Moral Education textbooks
published by the Ministry of Education and Culture (2017 and 2018 editions).
The description of the religious moderation content of the textbook was elaborated based on
religious moderation indicators. The textbook contents can be identified in Table 1. It can be seen
from the table that several religious moderation content indicators were still extremely poorly
mentioned in Islamic religious and moral education textbooks published by the Ministry of
Education and Culture.
Table 2
Religious Moderation Contents in Islamic Religious and Moral Education Textbooks
Indicators
Class
X XI XII
National commitment 2 1 1
Tolerance 4 21 12
Antiviolence 19 8 14
Accommodating to local culture - 1 1

The indicators for the national commitment content in class X textbooks were only revealed twice,
tolerance was revealed four times, and antiviolence 19 times. Meanwhile, accommodating the local
culture was not revealed at all. The indicator of national commitment in class XI was mentioned
once, tolerance was mentioned 21 times, antiviolence was mentioned eight times, and
accommodating to local culture was mentioned once. Additionally, the indicator of national
commitment was mentioned once, tolerance was mentioned 12 times, antiviolence was mentioned
14 times, and accommodating to local culture was mentioned once.

Time Allocation of Islamic Religious Education Learning in Senior High School and the
Tolerance Case
A lack of time allocation was shown in implementing Islamic religious education subjects in
classes X, XII, and XII. Based on the 2013 curriculum used in schools, the amount of time

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allocated for the PAI subject was only 3 h a week. One-hour lessons are only about 45 min long
compared to general subjects, such as Indonesian, mathematics, and English subjects. The time
allocation was 4 h a week.
Data Related to the Time Allocation of PAI Subjects in Schools were Obtained from Four
PAI Teachers from Different Schools, as Revealed by the Four Respondents

"The duration of learning for PAI subjects is only three meetings a week. One meeting
is only a one-hour lesson and takes only 45 minutes. (Interview, LA, ST, JS, HB,
2021)."

The lack of learning duration affects the lack of subject material explanation by the teacher
acquired by the students, and it has also impacted the lack of comprehensiveness of the material
of the students. One of the contents of religious learning in schools was tolerance. The tolerance
value is an essential part of building harmony among human beings. However, intolerance cases
have increasingly occurred in recent years, even in the school environment. A respondent revealed
a tolerance case in schools.
"A high school teacher in Palopo City teaches and prohibits students from participating
in Islamic events, such as Maulid Nabi and IsrajMi'raj. In addition, the teacher forbids
students from praying together in class and asks the students to use Arabic for praying
rather than Indonesian. (Interview, HB, 2021)."

The role of teachers in affecting the tolerant attitudes of students was shown in this statement. The
instructions of the teachers were listened to and copied by the students when they prohibited
students from participating in traditional religious activities. The teachers also did not allow the
students to pray together when the lesson started. Likewise, there was a rule to use Arabic instead
of Indonesian in praying. Those prohibitions affected the attitudes of students in joining the
learning process, including the online learning activities currently applied. Another confirmation
of this behavior by teachers was supported by this statement through WhatsApp:
"Some students do not want to participate in learning activities through the zoom
meeting/google meeting application. This happens because religious teachers forbid
their students from showing their faces in the media, either in photos or videos.
(Interview, SP, 2021)."

In this case, many students were reluctant to join online subjects. The understanding conveyed by
religious teachers dramatically affects student learning attitudes. Even when the students

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participated in online learning, they did not show their faces. It also developed in the school
environment, where potential intolerance ensued. Thus, religious moderation was an obstacle due
to the religious understanding of teachers.

Religious Moderation Supporting Activities
Religious moderation dissemination has been implemented in schools in various ways. The
Ministry of Religion released guidelines for implementing religious moderation and a religious
moderation pocketbook in 2019. The existence of religious teachers in schools under the
coordination of the Ministry has also received material on religious moderation. The Ministry of
Religion has also placed some educational supervisors to supervise religious teachers in schools.
Religious dissemination forms were conducted in more online media adapted to the pandemic
situation since March 2020.
In the school environment, students engage in self-development activities. These activities are
managed by school organizations, such as OSIS, Rohis, and several other student organizations.
Rohis takes over religious-related activities, and Rohis conducts several activities, such as:
a. Mabit spends the night together, starting with maghrib or Isha' and ending with fajr prayers.
b. Daurah or training, namely activities that provide training to students, such as reciting the
Qur'an (aimed at correcting the reading of the Qur'an).
c. Mentoring/halaqah activities.
Besides those activities, several others were conducted in the school environment. Religious
moderation values are supported by these activities.
From Table 2, there are four supporting activities to form a moderation attitude in schools. The
first was a national commitment containing nationalist values and love for the homeland. The
second was tolerance, reflected in the caring value and mutual understanding of others. The third
was antiviolence through mutual respect and support. The fourth was local culture accommodation
through an attitude toward maintaining local culture. These values were indicators or contents of
religious moderation. By following and implementing these activities, the students and teachers
were expected to have a religious moderation attitude.

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Discussion
Content of Religious Moderation in High School Islamic Religious Education Textbooks
Textbooks are guided books used by teachers to transfer knowledge to their students (Febrianto &
Puspitaningsih, 2020; Jannah, 2016). For some subjects, the government has arranged textbooks
to distribute to school principals and applied guided books to present their material. The contents
of the textbooks significantly affected the attitudes and actions of the students because they tried
to practice the contents of the textbooks they were studying. The rise in intolerance cases among
high school students indicated the practice of what they had learned and obtained from the school.
Knowledge of Islamic religious education (PAI) is about religion and, more importantly, the
implementation of students from what they learned in their daily lives.
Table 3
Religious Moderation Supporting Activities
No. Indicator moderation religion Activities Impact activities
1 National commitment
Flag ceremony To train discipline and love for
the homeland, nationalism
Scout activities To train nationalism and love
for the homeland
Flag hoisting troop activities To train love for the homeland
School security patrol (pks) To train courage, discipline,
and responsibility
2 Tolerance
Red cross youth activities To train the attitude of caring,
equality, and mutual
understanding
School health unit activities To train the attitude of
volunteerism, mutual
understanding
Nature lovers activities To train the attitude of
independence, universal
values, and mutual
understanding
3 Anti violence
Sports activities To practice respect,
sportsmanship, friendship
Art activities To practice respect, friendship
Scientific youth group activities To practice respect,
sportsmanship, friendship
4
Local cultural
accommodation
Mawlid commemoration To maintain traditions,
strengthen unity, increase
Islamic insight, and ukhuwah
Israjmi'raj commemoration fast
Islamic boarding school
Halal bi halal activities
Islamic new year activities

Based on the identifying indicators, results of religious moderation content in the Islamic Religious
and Moral Education textbooks for the SMA level were least categorized. Indicators of religious
moderation used as a reference in viewing the contents of the PAI books were national

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commitment, tolerance, antiviolence, and accommodation of local culture. Indicators of national
commitment, tolerance, antiviolence, and accommodating to local culture become tools for
measuring religious moderation in the education field (Basri, 2021). The lack of national
commitment content for classes X, XI, and XII was determined by the lack of discussion in the
book related to national commitment. Accommodative indicators of local culture in classes XI and
XII were discussed once. Meanwhile, books were not discussed in class X. Tolerance and
antiviolence were not discussed much. As literacy material for religious moderation, textbooks
should contain the moderation values of restraint to become a "millennial jihad" effort to expand
rahmatanLil 'Alamin (Wahyudi, 2021).
The lack of national commitment affects not loving homeland attitudes, separatist attitudes, and
attitudes against national ideology, even tending to have unstable experiences (Yudi Latif, 2020).
These attitudes will lead students to form organizations or movements to fight against the
government of the Republic of Indonesia if it keeps increasing.
The lack of tolerance will lead students to become intolerant. There have been many cases in which
students have done intolerant actions. Moreover, school intolerance has begun to emerge, such as
a teacher instructing their students in the OSIS election to choose a chairperson with the same
religion (Ikhsanudin, 2020). Additionally, in everyday interactions in school, students only
socialize with the same faith friends. However, besides students, intolerance is also practiced by
teachers or school principals. As in cases where there is a policy of wearing a hijab for all students,
both Muslim and non-Muslims, or a ban on wearing it because people can control themselves and
respect the differences or uniqueness of others without feeling threatened by their rights or beliefs
(Abror, 2020).
Furthermore, the lack of antiviolence content will impact the attitudes of students toward juvenile
delinquency, such as a quarrel among schools and others. The number of quarrels between students
from year to year has increased. The last is the accommodative content of the local culture. This
lack of content will impact the attitudes of students by not accepting the local culture associated
with religion, where each region has local cultural potency that can be used as a reference in
preventing conflict in the name of religion (Prasojo & Pabbajah, 2020). Meanwhile, the condition
of Islam in the archipelago is an Islamic acculturation with local Indonesian cultures (Kato, 2018a,
2018b). In other words, Islam and culture are in dialogue with the local culture in Indonesia
(Luthfi, 2016).

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Including the content of religious moderation in the book, Islamic Religious Education is an
absolute fact that stakeholders must do. This is because textbooks will become the material of the
teacher, and the teacher will teach, instill, and raise the values contained in the book. In Islamic
religious education, the importance of religious moderation must be enlarged so that students have
a tolerant, inclusive, antiviolent attitude and respect for diversity. Thus, the ideals of harmony in
the life of the nation may be achieved. Religious moderation values implementation or wasatiyah
Islam will increase the balance between knowledge of life and skills; as a result, they become good
human beings (Harto & Tastin, 2019).

Characteristics of PAI Learning in Schools
The existence of religious education in schools is mandated by law, so it must be implemented.
Still, it has not been able to run optimally because of minimal time and limited educator resources
in its implementation. Religious education in schools should be a medium for character and
cultural education simultaneously. According to Lyn Parker, religious education in schools is
essential to building a tolerance culture (Parker, 2014). A school is a place for students to self-
actualize, so the position of religious and moral education can be a trigger for an excellent religious
spirit. The presence of spiritual and moral education is expected to contribute positively to building
a tolerant and democratic character for educators, teaching staff, and students in schools.
Based on these conditions, optimal implementation of religious learning in school can be achieved
if there are efforts to improve learning motivation that motivates students to study and have an
excellent religious attitude. It is possible to avoid spiritual understanding, contrary to the
perspective of moderation. Religious learning is obtained through the learning process in school
and can be found instantly through online media. Consequently, more religious knowledge is
obtained virtually, dealing with the increasing religious spirit. However, it is vice versa with a
good understanding of religion (Pabbajah et al., 2021). Furthermore, more systematic guidance is
needed for religious teachers in schools so that religious education is not only formal but also
interesting and beneficial.
Strengthening supporters of religious moderation activities in schools
The Ministry of Religion implements religious moderation to maintain a moderate religious
understanding of Indonesian society, which has become part of the national culture. However,
intolerance in society has been shown in some recent research results, including among students

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and college students. Sirry emphasized that many students had been trapped in radicalism and
terrorism (Sirry, 2020). Based on these facts, religious moderation value must be valued in
religious education, character, and other subjects. Likewise, strengthening religious moderation
needs to be given to all educators, employees, and student organization coaches who interact with
students in extracurricular activities.
Religious learning, in general, and in particular in schools, requires a new paradigm that is merely
formalistic toward a contextual participatory paradigm. It should be vocalized because the
religious moderation attitude creates harmony in denomination life, develops discussion culture,
and maintains NKRI unity. In Kuwait, for example, religious education is not only in the
relationship between individuals but also in religious education, which is expected to be a social
unity in the context of the state (Alabdulhadi, 2019). It is to avoid predictions (Abdullah et al.,
2019) that future threats will create excessive egoism (self-adolescence), greed, and widespread
indifference. Thus, various perspectives are needed to face the threat of regional and global
environmental changes, where moderation attitude is one of the solutions in meeting the
increasingly fast-paced world transformation.
The discussion of the study indicates that three textbooks on religious intolerance for SMA
prepared by the government does not provide strong values to serve tolerance teaching proper to
the millennial contexts the SMA students face in this era. It implies that reorganization of the
textbook that serve actual tolerance values with appropriate contexts are required. However, this
research has showed the novelty the previous researches did not provide. The novelty is of four
religious moderation topics: national commitment, love for the homeland, antiviolence, and
accommodation to local culture, national commitment and local culture are the core values of this
research.
Conclusion
Religious learning practiced in schools has not realized the moderation attitude of students. It was
shown in this study that the Islamic Religious and Morals Education textbooks, which have
become compulsory textbooks used in schools, have not thoroughly instilled the values of religious
moderation in students. This happened because the material contained in the book was still less
comprehensive in building religious moderation based on religious moderation indicators.
Additionally, the influence of PAI teachers indicated that they had no or even opposed the
existence of religious moderation. This has caused many intolerance cases that have led to rampant

Journal of Social Studies Education Research 2023: 14(2), 253-274


intolerance in the school environment. Likewise, extracurricular activities to support the formation
of student moderation attitudes have not been employed optimally. Thus, the religious moderation
attitude in schools can be realized by accommodating three aspects: the content of the material,
the teacher as a knowledge transfer, and the use of extracurricular activities.
A religious moderation approach to religion was applied in this study as a conceptual basis for
observing the Islamic learning process. The concept is used either to answer the problems of this
study or to respond to the emergence of intolerant attitudes among students. It was also possible
to find the classification of religious moderation attitudes of students continuously undertaken
through educational institutions. The revision of Islamic Religious and Moral Education textbooks
published by the Ministry of Education and Culture for grades X, XI, and XII SMA levels is
recommended by this study, considering that the content of religious moderation is still deficient.
Additionally, the results of this study can become a reference for authorities to consider the
background of teachers who will teach Islamic religious education subjects. In this case, teachers
responsible for teaching Islamic religious education subjects should understand religious
moderation well because teachers are role models for their students. The novelty of this study lies
on themes of national commitment and local culture are the core values of this research.
This research is still limited to small data sources because the school-level research is only at the
high school level. Additionally, the responses of students regarding PAI learning in schools have
not been explored in this study, and only the perspective of the teacher was considered. Therefore,
it is still possible to conduct further research with more comprehensive data sources. Likewise, a
comparative analysis is also needed, considering that the number of schools spread across
Indonesia with various community backgrounds may affect the religious attitudes of students.
Therefore, this study allows further research to thoroughly explore religious moderation at the
elementary, junior high, high school, and university levels.

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