The Development of Multiculturalism Values in Indonesian History Textbook

Abstract

History textbook is primary source of learning for students. It is expected to have a didactic-educative value for the formation of national identity and an ability to unify the collective experiences of a multicultural nation. Therefore, it is necessary to develop multiculturalism values in a history textbook. This study is aimed to develop models of an Indonesian history textbook that multiculturalism values. The study employed a Research and Development design at some high schools in West Java, Indonesia. Results reveal that multiculturalism-based history textbooks incorporate multiculturalism values (the diversity of historical characters and events; and the occurrence of historical, cultural and ethnic, religious and gender-related events) in accordance with competencies in the curriculum, principles of the preparation of textbook reference materials, language and readability and graphics. The book outline includes title of chapter, introduction, map of concepts and keywords. The materials presentation includes fact-concepts, principles and procedures-values of multiculturalism, competence, summary, reflection, authentic assessment, feedback and follow-up activities. The understanding of material and the development of multiculturalism values of learners can be categorized as very good.