From Self to Others: Contextual Learning and Students’ Multicultural Perspective Development in Islamic Higher Education

Abstract

Abstrak

Pendidikan multikultural membutuhkan lebih dari sekadar pengenalan konsep keberagaman; diperlukan proses pembelajaran yang membantu mahasiswa menafsirkan pengalaman hidup mereka secara reflektif. Penelitian ini mengeksplorasi bagaimana Contextual Teaching and Learning (CTL) memfasilitasi perkembangan perspektif multikultural dalam satu mata kuliah Pendidikan Multikultural di perguruan tinggi Islam Indonesia. Dengan desain studi kasus kualitatif, lima kasus kaya informasi ditelusuri melalui jawaban UTS dan UAS, angket sebagai data pendukung, serta wawancara semi-terstruktur setelah perkuliahan. Analisis tematik refleksif dilakukan melalui pembacaan dalam kasus dan perbandingan lintas kasus. Temuan menunjukkan bahwa mahasiswa telah mengalami keberagaman sebelum perkuliahan, tetapi tidak selalu memaknainya sebagai pengalaman multikultural. Tugas kontekstual, refleksi, dan dialog membantu mereka menafsirkan kembali pengalaman tersebut dalam empat bentuk perkembangan yang terdiferensiasi: recognition, reconstruction, reinforcement, dan perspective broadening. Dari analisis kasus ini, penelitian mengusulkan From Self to Others sebagai kerangka analitis untuk memahami alur dari pengalaman hidup menuju pemaknaan multikultural reflektif dan respons pendidikan inklusif. Kerangka ini merupakan proposisi analitis yang kontekstual, bukan model yang telah divalidasi secara luas; temuan dibatasi oleh satu mata kuliah dan lima kasus.

Kata Kunci: Pembelajaran Kontekstual; Pendidikan Multikultural; Perkembangan Perspektif; Pengalaman Hidup; Pendidikan Tinggi Islam.

Abstract

Multicultural education requires more than introducing concepts of diversity; it requires learning processes that help students interpret lived experience reflectively. This study explores how Contextual Teaching and Learning (CTL) facilitates the development of multicultural perspectives in a Multicultural Education course at an Indonesian Islamic higher education institution. Using a qualitative case study design, five information-rich cases were traced across midterm and final examination responses, a supporting questionnaire, and semi-structured follow-up interviews. Reflexive thematic analysis combined within-case reading with cross-case comparison. The findings show that students had encountered diversity before the course but did not always interpret those encounters as multicultural experiences. Contextual tasks, reflection, and classroom dialogue helped students reinterpret prior experience through four differentiated forms of perspective development: recognition, reconstruction, reinforcement, and perspective broadening. Emerging from the qualitative case analysis, the study proposes From Self to Others as an analytical framework for understanding movement from lived diversity toward reflective multicultural meaning-making and inclusive educational responses. The framework is a context-bound analytical proposition rather than a broadly validated model, and the findings are limited to one course and five information-rich cases.

Keywords: Contextual Learning; Multicultural Education; Perspective Development; Lived Experience; Islamic Higher Education