Teacher Meeting Room to Get to Know Other Religions

Therefore, 35 teachers from several regions in East Java gathered at a hotel in Surabaya on May 3-5, 2024.

The educators come from public schools, Christian religious schools, and madrasahs, covering early childhood education, primary schools, junior high schools (SMP), and senior high/vocational schools (SMA/SMK).

They have taken part in online training cross-cultural religious literacy (LKLB) initiated by the Leimena Institute. Then they received reinforcement in the LKLB Upgrading Workshop "Program Development and Learning Implementation Plans to Strengthen Religious Freedom and the Rule of Law".

Also read: Encounter Spaces That Break Down Prejudice

The meeting space for teachers of different religions, cultures, and subjects is far from prejudice. Teachers express their experiences and views on religious and belief freedom and the rule of law, including how to behave towards those who do not believe in God or atheists.

Not only learning in hotel rooms, teachers were also invited to visit places of worship. When visiting the Abdiel Gloria Christian Church, many Muslim teachers entered a church for the first time.

A female teacher wearing a hijab was seen confidently stepping into a church, including entering the place of worship and taking a photo in front of a large crucifix as the background.

Meet and dialogue

Teachers are divided into small groups to have a dialogue with the pastor. They can ask anything, including sensitive issues. In LKLB, asking directly to religious figures is different from opening up a space for meeting and understanding the religion of others from their own followers.

This aims to build comparative or comparing competencies so that we can understand and appreciate other religious beliefs.

A fikih teacher at a state-run Islamic junior high school in Surabaya, Khusnul Khotimah, asked how Christians teach young children to understand religion. In Islam, children are taught to recite the Quran since they are young.

Reverend Sien Liong warmly explained to one group of teachers that there is a Sunday school service for children held at the church. Then, there are services for teenagers, young adults, and adults.

It is also revealed that Christians pray without time constraints, they can pray anytime. Whereas in Islam, there are five designated prayer times.

Also read: Teachers' awareness of diversity is strengthened

The discussion continued, including a discussion on the doctrines or beliefs of Christianity. Andika Ikhwan Syaifullah, the Islamic Religious Education teacher at SMA Muhammadiyah 1 Surabaya, did not hesitate to ask about the connection between the crucified Jesus Christ and the redemption of sins for Christian believers.

On the contrary, when visiting the Sudirman General Mosque, Christian teachers without hesitation step into the hall and place of worship. Christian female teachers then wear a hijab to respect the rules for women while in the mosque.

The discussion was held accompanied by Islamic religious figures. Deprianus Gulo, a Christian Religious Education teacher at Gloria Christian High School, felt that the answers helped him understand Islam better. Various misunderstandings he had were answered during the direct dialogue with Islamic religious leaders.

"I asked about the pillars of Islam, one of which is the Hajj pilgrimage. What about the poor who already struggle to make ends meet, but one of the pillars of Islam requires them to go for Hajj, which can be expensive? I was directly explained that those who are not capable are not obligated to go for Hajj," he said.

Another Christian teacher questioned why some Muslims currently debate whether it is permissible or not to say Merry Christmas to Christians. There are also those who ask why there are Muslims who refuse to shake hands with people of different genders.

However, from their past experiences in childhood, his Muslim friends were fine with saying Merry Christmas or shaking hands with male Muslim friends.

Abdul Rozak, Vice Chairman of the Muhammadiyah Branch in Mubeng, responded that this provision is within Islamic teachings. However, in order to build peaceful social relationships with others around them who have different beliefs, Muslims also say congratulations on the religious holidays of others.

Bring it to the classroom

After participating in an activity promoting the spirit of LKLB, freedom of religion and belief, as well as the supremacy of law, the teachers were invited to implement it in the classroom.

Not only religious teachers can teach religious literacy and respect for diversity. Teachers can also teach these things in other subjects.

The hotel hall, which was a place for teachers to study and reflect on the last day, was transformed into a classroom. Microteaching activities are exercises for teachers from different subjects to inspire learning in the classroom according to the designed Learning Implementation Plan (RPP).

Integrated Social Science (IPS) Teacher at Gloria Christian Junior High School, Kristiani Gintarti, teaches community empowerment, especially in financial management. Students are invited to express their opinions on financial management in various religions to empower residents.

Another teacher was asked to act as a student and move to the front of the class, sticking a piece of paper with their opinion on the blackboard. The terms zakat, wakaf, and infak emerged from the perspective of Islam. From the perspective of Christianity, the term tithe appeared.

Islamic Education teacher at SMA Muhammadiyah 1 in Gresik, Eka Rohmatun Naziah, used the theme of musyawarah to invite students to understand differences and accept diversity, leading to collaboration. The class began by displaying a picture of a mosque, a sheep, and people fighting.

"In a village where the majority are Muhammadiyah Muslims, there is already a mosque. Then, there is a Nahdlatul Ulama group as newcomers who also want to build a mosque in the village," said Eka.

Then the majority group cannot agree, resulting in debates and physical altercations. "What is your opinion on how to solve this problem? The group is divided into those who are in favor and those who are against," he said.

God created humans to be different and all of that is good.

In a Playgroup-Kindergarten group, Prisca Tatuningtyas, a teacher at Gloria Christian School Surabaya, uses learning materials focused on "Myself, My Family" to teach diversity. Bilingual classes begin by playing a YouTube video featuring a Sunday School song called "Butter and Bread."

The teachers who act as students are asked to stand and sing together while following the movements modeled by the teacher in front of the class. ”You are my friend, I am your friend, we are always together, like butter and bread... like pants and clothes…” the students sang happily.

Class activities varied, ranging from discussions, seeking opinions from students, to drawing. When a friend called another friend "fat," Prisca gently reminded the students not to bully their peers based on physical differences.

"God created humans to be different and all of that is good," Prisca said when closing the class.

Leimena Institute Alumni Program Coordinator Daniel Adipranata said that the LKLB training had been carried out since 2021 and was attended by more than 8,000 teachers from a number of regions. In several cities, one of which is Surabaya, strengthening workshops have been carried out, which have entered their 13th generation.

"The enthusiasm of the teachers for learning is extraordinary. They are not instructed, but participate on their own based on information provided by foundations or schools. This program is not just theoretical, there is also dialogue and guidance from facilitators for teachers so that they are able to create lesson plans that can be applied to various subjects," he said.

Teachers play an important role in introducing diversity to students. The experience of interacting with people of different religions with the values taught in LKLB is expected to enable teachers to teach diversity in any subject.

Meanwhile, Director of Leimena Institute, Matius Ho, explained that through LKLB, teachers are invited to understand inclusive religious literacy, not only delving into their own religion, but also opening up to understanding other religions from their followers. Thus, it is hoped that tolerance and collaborative abilities can be built.

Religious literacy does not focus on just one religion to build trust so that prejudices towards other religious groups can be discussed with different religious figures. "Starting from Islam and Christianity, then gradually expanding to other religious groups," he explained.

Matthew added that LKLB was implemented by strengthening personal competence, namely understanding one's own religion, especially relationships with different people.

There is also comparative competence to understand other religions from one's own followers, as well as collaborative competence to understand how to work together or collaborate while respecting differences.

The strengthening of the Character Building Education in the teacher community is also supported by the Ministry of Law and Human Rights. The Director of Cooperation of Human Rights at the Ministry of Law and Human Rights, Harniati, welcomes the program for teachers through Character Building Education.

This aims to enhance understanding of freedom of religion and belief in the perspective of law and human rights among educators. The right to freedom of religion is guaranteed by the constitution, thus it becomes the state's duty to protect the freedom of every person to practice their religion and perform religious worship.

"The understanding of the importance of the relationship between the supremacy of law and freedom of religion as protected by the constitution is vital for the progress of the Indonesian nation," said Harniati.