Translating Islamic Values into Multicultural Practice: PAI Teachers’ Strategies in a Diverse Indonesian Public School

Abstract

Increasing social, cultural, and religious diversity has made multicultural value formation an important concern in Islamic Religious Education (PAI). However, limited attention has been given to how PAI teachers translate multicultural values into everyday pedagogical practices within heterogeneous public schools. This study explores the strategies used by PAI teachers to instill multicultural values among students at SMP Negeri 4 Parepare and examines the supporting and constraining conditions surrounding their implementation. Using a qualitative descriptive design, data were collected through observations, in-depth interviews, and document analysis and examined through iterative coding, categorization, thematic development, and verification. The findings identify three dimensions of multicultural values—democratic, plural, and humanistic—which are cultivated through four interconnected strategies: appropriate teaching modules, teacher modelling (uswah), heterogeneous grouping, and motivation, advice, and personal guidance. Teacher engagement, the school environment, and the wider school community support implementation, while differences in students’ character and understanding, external social influences, limited instructional time, and digital media present challenges. The study contributes an empirically grounded understanding of multicultural value formation as a contextually negotiated pedagogical process linking Islamic values, teacher practice, peer interaction, and school ecology.