Envisioning School Autonomy to Leverage Culturally Responsive Learning: Evidence from East Java and East Nusa Tenggara
Authors
Sharfina Indrayadi
Riyandi Saras Anggita
Indonesia’s socio-cultural and geographical diversity necessitates a decentralized education
system, which has been in effect since the late 1990s. This decentralization enables schools to
tailor education practices to local contexts, emphasizing culturally responsive learning (CRL) to
accommodate diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds.
School autonomy, as reinforced by Law No. 20/2003 and Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and
Technology Regulation No. 47/2023, grants schools authority and flexibility in terms of curriculum
development, teacher management, and community engagement, which ensures education remains
inclusive and contextually relevant. Policies such as the Merdeka Curriculum support CRL by granting
regional policies the flexibility to facilitate local context learning across curricular and co-curricular
activities. Local governments can operationalize this by developing targeted regulations concerning
local content, teaching approaches, materials, and implementation strategies.
Yulia Esti Utami
