Teaching Diversity, One Classroom at a Time: Dr. Muhiddinur Kamal Brings Indonesia's Multicultural Education Model to NICE 2026 in Thailand
YALA, THAILAND — As societies become increasingly interconnected, they are also becoming more vulnerable to division along religious, ethnic and cultural lines. Diversity, often celebrated as a source of strength, can quickly become a fault line when mutual understanding gives way to identity politics.
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| Illustration of multiculturalism. Source: https:/www.google.com/search?q=multikulturaal |
Indonesia, however, offers a different story. Home to more than 280 million people, around 1,340 ethnic groups, hundreds of local languages and six officially recognised religions, the world's largest Muslim-majority nation has long wrestled with the challenges of diversity. Its experience suggests that pluralism is not merely a demographic reality but a civic asset—one that can be cultivated through education.
That message was delivered by Dr Muhiddinur Kamal, a lecturer and Head of Research and Society Engagement Institute at UIN Sjech M. Djamil Djambek Bukittinggi, during The 7th National and International Conference on Education and Islamic Education (NICE 2026) at Yala Rajabhat University in southern Thailand on July 3. Addressing academics and education practitioners from across the region, he presented Indonesia's experience of multicultural education rooted in the values of Islam Nusantara—a distinctly Indonesian tradition of Islam that embraces local cultures while remaining grounded in Islamic teachings.
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| Dr. Muhiddinur Kamal |
"Multicultural education is not merely about teaching students to recognise differences. It is about nurturing the ability to live together with justice, peace and mutual respect. That is where religious moderation finds its practical expression," Dr Kamal said. For Dr Kamal, Indonesia's multicultural education did not emerge from academic theory alone. It is the product of centuries of historical experience.
Islam spread across the Indonesian archipelago between the seventh and eighth centuries largely through trade, dialogue and cultural exchange led by merchants from Gujarat, Malabar and the Arabian Peninsula, rather than military conquest. That peaceful approach was later reinforced by the Wali Songo, the nine revered Muslim saints who introduced Islamic teachings through local customs, arts and traditions instead of replacing indigenous cultures.
The same spirit endured during the colonial era. Islamic boarding schools, or pesantren, together with surau and madrasah, evolved into centres of learning and cultural resilience. Beyond religious instruction, they nurtured values of tolerance, deliberation and respect for diversity—principles that would later become hallmarks of Indonesia's moderate Islamic tradition.
According to Dr Kamal, this historical legacy remains highly relevant today. Modern multicultural education, he argued, must move beyond simply acknowledging diversity. Its broader purpose is to create educational spaces that foster social harmony, justice and respect for human dignity. Religious moderation therefore serves not as an isolated concept but as the foundation upon which the entire educational process is built.
Within that framework, education promotes universal values such as equal citizenship, civil liberties, social inclusion and protection against discrimination, while Islamic education continues its core mission of cultivating moral character, strengthening communal solidarity and preserving local wisdom through dialogue and mutual respect.
The challenge, Dr Kamal noted, lies in translating these ideals into everyday educational practice.
Drawing on field research conducted in several Indonesian pesantren, he found that multicultural values are most effectively cultivated through lived experience rather than classroom lectures. Students learn to appreciate differences by sharing daily life, participating in collaborative activities and engaging in meaningful interactions across cultural backgrounds.
One example comes from MAS TI Batang Kabung Islamic Boarding School in Padang, West Sumatra, Indonesia, where traditional performing arts have become a medium for teaching religious moderation. Students from diverse ethnic backgrounds work together through cultural performances, allowing multicultural values to become embedded not only in the curriculum but also in school life itself.
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| Islamic Boarding School of Batang Kabung |
From these observations, Dr Kamal identified four educational practices that consistently nurture moderation. The first is a hybrid curriculum that integrates Islamic teachings with local cultural wisdom. The second is an inclusive learning environment that encourages interaction across ethnic and social boundaries. The third is egalitarian engagement, where relationships are built without rigid distinctions between majority and minority groups. The fourth is adaptive assessment, which evaluates not only academic achievement but also empathy, ethical development and students' capacity to live harmoniously with others.
Building on these findings, Dr Kamal proposed what he described as a multicultural learning ecosystem. Rather than forcing Islamic education to choose between preserving tradition and embracing modernity, he argued that both can reinforce one another.
The ecosystem rests on three complementary pillars. The first is the halaqah tradition, the classical study circle that emphasises close reading of Islamic texts, memorisation, scholarly discussion and the transmission of intellectual lineage. The second is regional contextualisation, ensuring that educational approaches respond to the multicultural realities shared across Southeast Asia, including Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and southern Thailand. The third is the modern classroom system, with structured curricula, assessment frameworks and institutional governance that meet contemporary educational standards.
Together, these elements create an educational environment where religious moderation is not confined to textbooks or policy documents but becomes part of everyday school culture—from classroom teaching and boarding-school life to the relationships between teachers and students.
At a time when social polarisation is intensifying in many parts of the world, Dr Kamal believes Indonesia's experience offers a broader lesson. Islam Nusantara demonstrates that religion and local culture need not stand in opposition. Instead, they can complement one another in building inclusive, peaceful and resilient societies.
From Academic Partnership to International Conference
His participation in NICE 2026 also marked an early implementation of the Letter of Intent (LoI) signed during the Annual Meeting of the Asian Islamic University Association (AIUA) on June 24, 2026, between UIN Sjech M. Djamil Djambek Bukittinggi and Yala Rajabhat University. The agreement lays the groundwork for collaborative research, faculty and student exchanges, and the advancement of Islamic education across Southeast Asia.
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| From Academic Partnership to International Conference: Vice Rector of UIN Bukittinggi, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Edi Rosman (left), and Dean of the Faculty of Education at Rajabhat University Thailand, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Muhammadtolan Keama (right), during the signing of the Letter of Intent (LoI) on June 24, 2026. |
From Yala, the message resonated far beyond the conference hall. In an era increasingly shaped by identity-based tensions, education must aspire to more than academic excellence. Its enduring purpose is to prepare future generations to live together across differences—because diversity, as Indonesia's experience suggests, is not a problem to be solved but a shared inheritance to be nurtured. [IRWANDI]
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