The narratives of citizenship education teachers in Indonesian Islamic schools

Abstract

This article explores the narratives of three teachers in teaching citizenship education (CE) in Islamic schools in Indonesia to understand their teaching experiences, personal stories of becoming teachers, tensions and challenges they have faced. Utilizing a narrative inquiry as the research method, this article is also tailored to see how Islamic ideology intersects, interferes and/or influences the teaching of citizenship. This study found that, to some extent, the teachers have experienced ambiguity and dilemma in presenting citizenship topics in the CE classes due to their personal interpretation of Islam vs. the state’s interests and ideology. This study suggests that CE in these Islamic schools could lead to an orientation different from what the state wants to achieve.