A whole-school approach : a proposal for education for tolerance in Indonesia

Education is a primary way to equip children with the knowledge, skills, and competences necessary to live a life of harmonious relationships with diverse human beings. The escalating violence in the name of religion and ethnicity in Indonesia and other parts of the world is worrying, and one potential long-term solution is to educate school students in tolerance values. In the literature on tolerance education, proposed solutions have been mainly restricted to the analysis of curriculum content and instructional textbooks. This article argues that tolerance education should be approached holistically. This means that research and practices in this area should be directed to looking at the whole school, not just particular parts of the teaching and learning in a school. What is meant by a whole-school approach includes the school's policies and vision, the quality of the curriculum and teaching, leadership and management, culture, student activities, and collaboration with the wider community, which all together contribute to the promotion and nurturance of tolerance within the school community. This article proposes a whole-school approach to education for tolerance in Indonesia, a country with rich ethnic and religious diversity. [Author abstract]