Multicultural Islamic Education at Public Elementary School 27 Cakranegara: Strategies for Fostering Children’s Critical Reasoning and Tolerance

Abstract

Multicultural Islamic education has the potential to develop both students’ critical reasoning and tolerance, yet these outcomes are often examined separately in elementary education. This study investigated how multicultural Islamic education was implemented at Public Elementary School 27 Cakranegara and how its pedagogical strategies fostered students’ critical reasoning and tolerance. A qualitative case study was conducted involving 23 participants: five Islamic Religious Education teachers, 15 students, and three parents. Data were collected through eight participatory observations, semi-structured interviews, and analysis of five lesson plans, teaching materials, and student work. The data were analyzed thematically using inductive–deductive coding with NVivo 12, supported by source and method triangulation, member checking, peer review, and an audit trail. The findings showed that multicultural integration remained uneven. Three of five lesson plans did not explicitly formulate multicultural objectives, while classroom activities were frequently teacher-centered and textbook-based. However, open-ended questioning, teacher scaffolding, social-media analysis, show-and-tell activities, role-play, collaborative projects, and reflection on Islamic values created stronger opportunities for perspective-taking, critical evaluation, and respectful interaction. Students demonstrated increased willingness to develop cross-religious friendships and greater empathy toward minority peers, while some students also critically examined incomplete media information and inconsistencies between religious principles and social practices. The study proposes a critical-relational perspective in which Islamic values provide ethical orientation, multicultural encounters provide contextual experience, teacher scaffolding enables critical inquiry, and respectful interaction supports tolerance. Future research should examine this framework longitudinally and across more diverse school contexts.