Implementation of the Islamic Religious Education Curriculum in Strengthening Religious Moderation and the Love-Based Curriculum (LBC) at Madrasah Aliyah in Central Java

Research Novelty

This study introduces the TICKS Model an original analytical framework for measuring and classifying the depth of Love-Based Curriculum (LBC) and Religious Moderation implementation in Madrasah Aliyah, comprising five dimensions: Theological Rootedness (T), Institutional Culture Integration (I), Curricular Embodiment (C), Knowledge-Action Nexus (K), and Sustainability System (S). The TICKS Model constitutes the first response in the Indonesian Islamic education literature to a critical methodological gap: the absence of an evaluative instrument capable of capturing how the national LBC value framework is authentically transformed across institutionally distinct contexts from heterogeneous state madrasahs to Salafi-oriented pesantrens and community-based NU madrasahs. The model contributes to: (1) contextual Islamic curriculum theory; (2) evidence-based LBC policy design; and (3) adaptive madrasah evaluation methodology.

1. Introduction

The global resurgence of religious intolerance and the dehumanisation of education place Indonesian madrasahs in a uniquely strategic double position: they are the institutions most directly confronted with the fragmentation of religious identity, and simultaneously the spaces most capable of delivering an education that genuinely humanises. The Ministry of Religious Affairs (Kemenag RI) has responded to this challenge through two complementary policy frameworks: the Religious Moderation programme (Kemenag RI, 2019) and the Love-Based Curriculum (LBC), formalised through Decree of the Director General of Islamic Education No. 6077/2025. Both frameworks rest on the premise that authentic value education is born from the depth of relationships between teacher and student, between the individual and the community, and between theological heritage and contemporary challenge.

A paradox that remains unresolved in the existing literature is whether a uniform curriculum policy can generate authentic value internalisation across institutions whose typologies differ radically. This study addresses that paradox through a comparative inquiry involving three Madrasah Aliyah that represent the full spectrum of Indonesian Islamic educational identity: MAN 1 Banjarnegara, with its remarkable intra-Islamic heterogeneity (Nahdlatul Ulama, Muhammadiyah, LDII, and Persis); MA Wathaniyah Islamiyah Kebarongan Banyumas, with its Salafi tradition centred on the Fath al-Majid text; and MA El Bayan Majenang Cilacap, the largest NU-based private madrasah in Cilacap Regency. These three institutions are not merely research sites — they are natural laboratories that test the elasticity of the LBC and Religious Moderation as educational paradigms.

The principal contribution of this study is the formulation of the TICKS Model an original analytical framework that enables scholars, policymakers, and educational practitioners to measure, compare, and systematically develop LBC implementation. The model fills a critical methodological void: to date, no evaluative framework exists in the Indonesian Islamic education literature capable of capturing the qualitative dimensions of value transformation across institutionally diverse contexts (Suprapto, 2020; Melisa et al., 2025; Ramadani et al., 2025).

2. Literature Review

2.1 PAI Curriculum, Religious Moderation, and the Methodological Gap

The integration of Religious Moderation into the PAI curriculum has attracted intensive scholarly attention since 2019 (Kemenag RI, 2019; Suprapto, 2020; Melisa et al., 2025). The nine core moderation values tawassuth (centrism), tawazun (balance), i'tidal (uprightness), tasamuh (tolerance), musawah (equality), syura (consultation), ishlah (reform), al-muhafazhah (preservation), and tathawwur (development) have become standard references for madrasah curriculum development. However, a critical review by Muhaemin et al. (2020) revealed that most prior studies measure moderation only at the level of curriculum documents (the written curriculum), neglecting how these values are actually lived within institutional practice (the enacted curriculum). A comparative study by Yunus (2021) further demonstrated that institutional typology significantly determines the depth of internalisation, yet offered no systematic framework for evaluating those differences.

2.2 The Love-Based Curriculum (LBC): From Policy Document to Practice

The LBC (Director General Decree No. 6077/2025) is a paradigm grounded in Rogers's (1994) humanistic curriculum theory and Noddings's (2013) ethics of care. Its 4D structure (Discovery, Dream, Design, Destiny) and five Panca Cinta (Five Loves) dimensions conceptualise education as a process of relationship formation, not merely knowledge transmission. Durlak et al. (2022) have demonstrated that Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) approaches which underpin the Self-Love and Love of Others dimensions produce significant character outcomes, but only when implemented with sufficient depth. The greatest challenge for LBC, which remains unanalysed in the existing literature, is how that 'depth' is defined, measured, and developed differently across institutions with distinct theological identities.

2.3 Research Gaps and the Novelty Position of the TICKS Model

Three critical gaps emerge from the literature mapping above. First, no comparative study has brought together a heterogeneous-pluralist state madrasah, a Salafi pesantren, and a community-based NU madrasah within a single analytical framework. Second, no evaluative instrument exists to measure the depth of LBC implementation in a multidimensional manner. Third, the theoretical construct of 'lived curriculum' has never been operationalised within the context of Indonesian Islamic education. This study fills all three gaps through the TICKS Model as an original academic contribution

3. Research Methodology

3.1 Research Design and Sites

This study employs a qualitative multi-site case study design (Yin, 2018; Miles et al., 2014). Three research sites were selected purposively to maximise typological variation: MAN 1 Banjarnegara (state, heterogeneous), MA Wathaniyah Islamiyah Kebarongan (pesantren, Salafi-oriented), and MA El Bayan Majenang Cilacap (private, NU community-based). Data were collected through semi-structured in-depth interviews (n = 36 informants: 3 madrasah principals, 9 PAI teachers, 6 curriculum coordinators, 12 students, and 6 parents/guardians); non-participatory observation (45 school days); and document analysis (school curriculum plans / KOSP, teaching modules, activity reports). The research period spanned January to May 2025.

3.2 Data Analysis and Trustworthiness

Data analysis followed the interactive model of Miles et al. (2014): condensation, display, and verification. The TICKS Model was employed as a cross-site analytical framework after being inductively developed from initial fieldwork findings. Trustworthiness was established through source triangulation, method triangulation, member checking, and peer debriefing. Researcher reflexivity was maintained through consistent field journaling throughout the study period.

4. Research Novelty: The Ticks Model As An Original Theoretical Contribution

On the basis of cross-site analysis of the three madrasahs, this study formulates the TICKS Model — a five-dimensional evaluative framework for measuring the authentic depth of LBC and Religious Moderation implementation in Islamic educational institutions. The model rests on the premise that value curriculum implementation cannot be assessed solely from formal documents; it must be traced through five interrelated dimensions:

The TICKS Model operates across three implementation levels that form a depth gradient. Level 1 represents surface-level, formally administrative implementation. Level 2 represents systemic implementation that is integrated yet dependent on key individuals. Level 3 the apex of the model represents transformative implementation, in which LBC and Religious Moderation values have become inseparable from the institutional DNA: what this study terms the 'lived curriculum.' It is this Level 3 that is found, in partial form, across all three madrasahs each with a distinct dimensional profile.

5. Findings And Discussion

5.1 MAN 1 Banjarnegara: Intra-Islamic Pluralism as a Living Laboratory

MAN 1 Banjarnegara is, to the best of the researchers' knowledge, the only state Madrasah Aliyah in Indonesia that demonstrably maintains active students from four distinct Islamic mass organisations within a single, integrated community. This demographic uniqueness is not accidental; it is the product of a deliberate admissions policy sustained over more than two decades. The school principal stated clearly: "We do not regard difference as a problem, but as an asset. When students from NU, Muhammadiyah, LDII, and Persis sit together in the same classroom, they learn moderation not from a textbook, but from life itself."

Two ritual practices form the heart of MAN 1 Banjarnegara's lived curriculum. The first is the congregational Dhuhr prayer, attended by all members of the madrasah community without exception. Prayer rows are not segregated by organisational affiliation; the role of imam is rotated among teachers and senior students from various affiliations; and the madrasah deliberately adopts prayer practices that are mutually accepted, avoiding disputes over qunut or hand position. This is not a theological compromise it is a daily embodied practice of tawfiq (harmonisation), taught through the body rather than merely through the mind.

The second is the singing of the national anthem Indonesia Raya at precisely 10:00 a.m. each school day, accompanied by a brief moment of tafakkur (reflection). This practice which the researchers term "reflective nationalism ritual" simultaneously operationalises the Love of the Homeland (LBC Panca Cinta) and the principle of Love of Nation within Religious Moderation. Students do not merely sing; they are asked to reflect on the meaning of citizenship from the perspective of faith: "Loving Indonesia is part of our faith. The Prophet taught love of homeland as an expression of iman" (student informant, interview 2025).

At the level of the formal curriculum, MAN 1 Banjarnegara has developed what can be termed a compassion-centred comparative fiqh pedagogy: a PAI approach that teaches masa'il khilafiyyah (contested jurisprudential issues) not to determine who is correct, but to cultivate intellectual tolerance, the capacity for tarjih (weighing competing scholarly opinions), and empathy toward the diversity of ijtihad methodologies. The "Jumat Berkah" (Blessed Friday) programme which weekly brings together students from all four affiliations in a single integrated event covering social service, environmental stewardship, religious study, and cultural arts represents the crystallisation point of all five Panca Cinta dimensions within a single activity.

5.2 MA Wathaniyah Islamiyah Kebarongan: Salafi Moderation Firm in Doctrine, Gentle in Social Conduct

MA Wathaniyah Islamiyah Kebarongan presents the most theoretically sophisticated challenge — and solution in this study. The text Fath al-Majid Sharh Kitab al-Tawhid by Abdurrahman ibn Hasan ibn Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab the central curriculum text of this institution is frequently identified in popular discourse with theological exclusivism. Fieldwork findings, however, reveal a considerably more nuanced reality: this pesantren operationalises what this study terms "Bifurcated Salafi Moderation" a model of moderation that draws a sharp distinction between the domain of aqidah (in which doctrinal firmness is maintained) and the domain of mu'amalah (in which social inclusivism is actively practised).

The founding kyai articulated the philosophical core of this approach: "We are firm in aqidah, but gentle in mu'amalah. Kitab Fathul Majid teaches us pure tawhid but pure tawhid is precisely what produces a pure heart: a heart full of love for Allah and love for fellow human beings." This statement discloses a profound theological insight: within an authentic Salafi tradition, perfect tawhid ought to engender universal love, not social isolation. In other words, Fath al-Majid itself contains the seed of Love of Others it merely requires the appropriate pedagogical reframing.

This reframing is achieved through two curricular innovations. First, the concept of al-wala' wa al-bara' is taught not as social exclusion but as a value commitment accompanied by responsible civic engagement. Second and this represents the most original innovation among the three madrasahs is the integration of Fath al-Majid halaqah sessions with weekly LBC reflection journals. Students are required to write reflections connecting the tawhid content studied to their actual lived experience of the five Panca Cinta. The result is a living bridge between classical theology and contemporary pedagogy a methodological contribution worthy of development as a national model.

The Salafi-LBC synthesis that emerges demonstrates that Panca Cinta is not only compatible with Salafi theology it can be read as the logical consequence of perfect tawhid: Love of God is the pinnacle of tawhid (Fath al-Majid, Chapter I); Love of Knowledge is the obligation of thalab al-'ilm; Love of Nature is the trust of khilafah; Love of Others is the embodiment of the hadith "la yu'minu ahadukum hatta yuhibba li-akhihi ma yuhibbu li-nafsih"; and Love of the Homeland is a reflection of the Prophet's love for Mecca and Madinah.

5.3 MA El Bayan Majenang: Nahdliyyin Tradition as a Living Archive of Panca Cinta

MA El Bayan Majenang Cilacap, with 1,800 students, is the largest private madrasah in Cilacap Regency and the institution that is, in many respects, most naturally aligned with the spirit of the LBC because its Nahdliyyin practices, sustained long before the LBC was formally articulated, already constitute a living curriculum of love. The weekly Tahlil and Yasin recitation, integrated as a formal co-curricular activity, is not merely devotional ritual; it is a communal pedagogical technology that simultaneously works all five Panca Cinta dimensions within a single practice.

A senior PAI teacher offered one of the richest insights generated by this research: "Tahlil is not merely a ritual. It is a living curriculum that teaches love of God, love of fellow human beings, and love of our own culture long before the LBC was ever formulated." This statement reveals that MA El Bayan has not been implementing the LBC it already was the LBC before the name existed. The madrasah's task now is to render the implicit explicit: to articulate why Tahlil teaches Love of God, why Yasin develops Love of Knowledge, why the Moderation Pesantren Programme builds Love of the Homeland.

The "Gerakan Cinta Sesama" (Movement of Love for Others) programme in which students visit elderly residents, support children with special needs, and organise community cleanliness campaigns in Majenang constitutes the most concrete manifestation of the Knowledge-Action Nexus (K in the TICKS Model): the value of love is not only taught and felt, but enacted in measurable actions with tangible community impact.

5.4 Cross-Site Analysis: Three Pathways toward One Goal

From the TICKS analysis of all three madrasahs, a broad pattern emerges: despite significantly divergent TICKS strength profiles, all three institutions are converging toward the same destination communities bound by love and shaped by moderation. The differences reflect the richness of resources, not weakness; and the commonalities demonstrate the universality of the LBC and Religious Moderation aspirations, transcending theological boundaries.

The three pathways toward this shared goal may be formulated as follows. MAN 1 Banjarnegara follows the "constitutive pluralism pathway" in which diversity itself becomes the curriculum. MA Wathaniyah Islamiyah follows the "theological depth pathway" in which authentic tawhid becomes the gateway to universal love. MA El Bayan follows the "traditional wealth pathway" in which the Nahdliyyin cultural heritage is re-interpreted as a living archive of Panca Cinta. In the terminology of the TICKS Model, each pathway represents a different entry point, yet all are moving toward the same TICKS Level 3 profile.

6. Theoretical Discussion

6.1 The TICKS Model and Contextual Islamic Curriculum Theory

The TICKS Model contributes to contextual Islamic curriculum theory by introducing the concept of contextual fidelity: fidelity to the spirit of a policy's goals, achieved precisely through creative adaptation to institutional resources. This concept advances beyond Suprapto's (2020) "selective adaptation" which merely describes what happens by providing a normative framework for how adaptation ought to be evaluated. Within the TICKS Model, an adaptation that achieves Level 3 across all dimensions is one that merits the designation "transformative" rather than merely "accommodative."

6.2 Lived Curriculum as a New Theoretical Construct

The "lived curriculum" proposed by this study refers to a condition in which LBC and Religious Moderation values no longer require formal instruction to be enacted, because they have become part of the breath of the institution lived through ritual, expressed through tradition, and transmitted through relationship. This concept is in productive dialogue with Noddings's (2013) ethics of care and Fullan's (2007) reculturing, but is more specific in requiring the integrity of all five TICKS dimensions simultaneously. The lived curriculum is the condition in which T + I + C + K + S all reach Level 3 an ideal condition that constitutes the long-term goal of LBC implementation.

6.3 Implications for LBC Policy Design

The findings of this study carry direct implications for post-2025 LBC policy design. First, the Director General's Decree should be supplemented with differentiated implementation modules based on institutional typology not a single guide for all, but pathway-based guidelines that recognise three distinct entry points. Second, LBC monitoring and evaluation instruments need to incorporate all five TICKS dimensions as the evaluative framework, ensuring that monitoring reports assess depth of transformation, not merely document compliance. Third, the allocation of technical support must be prioritised toward Dimension S (Sustainability System), which is the shared vulnerability of all three madrasahs.

7. Conclusion

This comparative study yields four mutually reinforcing principal conclusions. First, all three madrasahs demonstrate that contextual fidelity rather than implementation uniformity is the key to LBC success. MAN 1 Banjarnegara, MA Wathaniyah Islamiyah, and MA El Bayan each follow different yet equally authentic pathways in integrating Panca Cinta and Religious Moderation.

Second, the concept of the "lived curriculum" formulated in this study a condition in which LBC values are lived through ritual, tradition, and school culture represents the highest goal of implementation, transcending mere document compliance. All three madrasahs have demonstrated elements of lived curriculum, albeit with distinct profiles.

Third, the study's principal novelty the TICKS Model provides an evaluative framework that can be operationally employed by researchers, policymakers, and practitioners to measure, compare, and systematically develop the depth of LBC implementation in an evidence-based manner.

Fourth, the institutional uniqueness of the three madrasahs organisational heterogeneity, Salafi doctrinal depth, and Nahdliyyin traditional richness constitutes a pedagogical asset to be preserved and developed, not standardised away. A wise LBC policy is one that celebrates the diversity of pathways while maintaining the unity of purpose.

Acknowledgements

The authors extend their deepest gratitude to the principals and all members of the madrasah communities of MAN 1 Banjarnegara, MA Wathaniyah Islamiyah Kebarongan Banyumas, and MA El Bayan Majenang Cilacap, for their openness and trust throughout the research process. This study was supported by a Research Grant from LP2M UIN Prof. K.H. Saifuddin Zuhri Purwokerto, Reference No. B-1234/Un.07.1/PP.00.9/07/2025. Acknowledgement is also due to the Directorate General of Islamic Education, Ministry of Religious Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia, for access to LBC policy documentation.