As for multicultural education itself, there are various definitions formulated by various academics from various perspectives. According to Levinson, the goals and objectives of multicultural education tend to differ between educational philosophers and liberal political theorists. Therefore, it is interesting to study how the dynamics of the social and cultural life of the people of Yogyakarta are related to educational practices, especially multicultural education.
This study aims to answer two questions: (1) How primary school teachers understand multicultural education in the learning process related to the issue of religious tolerance and intolerance and (2) how primary school teachers implement multicultural education in daily life regarding the practicing religious tolerance and intolerance in Yogyakarta. This study uses a qualitative approach and asks about the experiences of primary school (SD) teachers in understanding multicultural education. Based on their understanding and knowledge, the attitudes of the primary school teachers regarding the implementation of multicultural education in learning activities at school and the community in their daily lives are essential.
In the same way, the understanding of the concept of multicultural education by primary school teachers has always been an important factor to see how they implement it in educational activities, not only in the school environment, but also in society as a socio-cultural environment where religious tolerance is relevant is. . The type of school influences teachers' understanding of the concept of multicultural education when formulating their understanding of what multicultural education is. Muhammadiyah primary school teachers understand that multicultural education refers to the values of kemuhammadiyahan, which are rooted in Islamic teachings, namely aqidah and muamalah.
In my elementary school, multicultural education was in the realm of muamalah because it was related to human relations or habluminannas.
Implementation of Multicultural Education
In response to different Javanese cultural traditions, primary school teachers differ according to understanding when referring to the canons of each religion. Navi43, a primary school teacher at Kanisius Mangunan, said that in his school he strongly recommends respecting local traditions, especially Javanese cultural traditions. Meanwhile, multicultural education in relation to religious tolerance is an issue and there is a tendency for primary school teachers to be less tolerant.
Meanwhile, there are no worship spaces available for non-Muslims in any public elementary school in Yogyakarta. Obedience to Islamic worship has always been a dominant discourse in the behavior of state primary school teachers. Accordingly, all pupils of BOPKRI Primary School are obliged to attend Christian religious education taught by Christian religious teachers.
Although this elementary school still uses the name Kanisius, it is not institutionally closely related to the Christian Protestant Foundation Kanisius. Kanisius Gowongan Primary School provides teachers of Islam, Hinduism and Catholic Christianity because the students are diverse. Since 2017, our primary school provides religious teachers according to the wishes of the students, as institutionally we are no longer under a Christian foundation, although we still use the name Kanizijev primary school.
Since then, the students at our primary school have become more diverse, and there are more and more Muslims. As Kanisius Gowongan Elementary School provides religious teachers according to the students' needs, more and more students come from different religious backgrounds. Ari said that since 2003, Kanisius Gowongan Elementary School has lost track of students, although only Christian residents tend to send their children to the school.
According to Ari, this primary school is in the middle of Gowongan village, where most of its citizens are Muslim. Kanisius Gowongan Primary School's work to be more inclusive has been positively received by the people of Yogyakarta, especially in Gowongan Village. According to Linda, what Kanisius Elementary School did was a form of true multiculturalism and religious tolerance education, providing religious teachers according to what the students embraced.
Meanwhile, according to Linda, there has never been a primary school managed by an Islamic-related foundation because she taught at a Muhammadiyah primary school in Yogyakarta. This elementary school only teaches character to its students; there are no school uniforms, no fences and no religious instruction.
Local Cultural Factors
The principle of balance and harmony shows that Mangunan Primary School emphasizes content more than formalism in the development of multicultural education in relation to religious tolerance. Meanwhile, teachers at Mangunan Experimental Primary School and Kanisius Gowongan Primary School understand multicultural education as more constructivist or, in the term used by Barker51, anti-essentialist. The configuration of primary school teachers' identity construction influences the characteristics of these primary school teachers' practice of multicultural education related to religious tolerance.
Most of the people of Yogyakarta are Muslim, so the teachers and primary school students are also mostly Muslim. Meanwhile, primary school teachers among the Christian foundations realized that as minority groups they wanted an atmosphere of equal education and developed their culture. However, when considered in detail, there are variants among the views of primary school teachers referring to their religious teachings.
The views of teachers of Muhammadiyah Primary School and of course Islam Terpadu Primary School still want to have an interactive cultural type of society. While the NU Primary School teachers want an accommodating type of multicultural society, the Christian Primary School teachers want an automatic type of multicultural society. This fact, when viewed through the lens of Levinson's theory55, indicates that the goals of multicultural education set by the primary school teachers are generally in line with the views of educational philosophers.
Seen from this perspective, the objectives of multicultural education to be achieved by primary school teachers have generally not yet reached this level. Even in everyday life, primary school teachers admit that intolerant attitudes and practices, especially religious intolerance, still exist in Yogyakarta. However, some primary school teachers are trying to achieve the goal of multicultural education, following the arguments of liberal political theorists, as was done at Kanisius Experimental Elementary School, Mangunan and Kanisius Gowongan Elementary School.
Mangunan Primary School does not include religious subjects in its curriculum, instead replacing them with religious communication subjects. One of the factors that differentiates the content of religious tolerance and intolerance among primary school teachers is their attitude and actions towards the principles of Javanese culture. Mangunan Primary School and Kanisius Gowongan Primary School are more accommodating and appreciate the Javanese cultural tradition.
Concluding Remarks
However, when looked at in detail, there are variations between the views of primary school teachers referring to their religious teaching. The views of the teachers of Muhammadiyah Primary School, and of course Islam Terpadu Primary School, are related to an interactive society. Changes in such typological variants also affect the attitudes and actions of religious tolerance and intolerance in social relations in Yogyakarta.
Primary school teachers, in order to understand and implement multicultural education, have a goal to achieve, which is to celebrate differences both in the school environment and in the Yogyakarta community at large. Most primary school teachers admit that in practice there is still religious intolerance among some residents of Yogyakarta. With such a reality, the attitudes and actions of elementary school teachers are consciously and unconsciously transferred into acts of religious intolerance.
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