Antonius Iman Prasetya/444230
After reading this chapter, it can be said that the majority of the
Islamic schools in Indonesia are not held down by traditions, unlike
“Ngruki”(a reference used by the writer). To a certain degree they fit
the title of “Islam with a smiling face”, a title used by international
magazines to describe the form of Islam in Indonesia, in the sense that
they welcome knowledge from sources other than Islam and continue
to increase their students’ rationality and autonomy through their
mission, curriculum, and pedagogy.
However, there is still an absence in religious pluralism, strong
rationality, and strong autonomy. Without these three control beliefs of
an educative tradition, there is no guarantee that one can prevent
indoctrination from being sown inside the Islamic schools. In other
words, the inclusion of non-religious subjects, adoption of studentcentered pedagogies, and provision of a wide choice activities is not
sufficient enough for these schools to reside securely in educative
traditions.
To effectively avoid indoctrination, the tradition of Islamic
schools must be rooted in the control beliefs of religious pluralism,
strong rationality, and strong autonomy. To sum everything up there
are a few questions that can be asked :
 Are the students of Islamic schools given the opportunity to engage
in a genuine understanding and active engagement with other
Islamic and non-Islamic traditions?
 Are the students invited to ask and seriously consider both internal
and external questions? Are they equipped and empowered to
reflectively examine their own traditions, critically consider other
traditions, and be motivated to order their lives after such an
examination?
The answers to these questions will determine how far Islamic schools
in Indoneisa have progressed, and the extent to which the Islamic
schools in Indonesia are grounded in educative traditions.