Overcoming Ethnic Conflict through Multicultural Education: The Case of West Kalimantan, Indonesia

Abstract

This study examined the effectiveness of multicultural education provided after the ethnic conflict (1996–2001) in West Kalimantan, Indonesia. Research included textbook analysis, observation of practice, interviews with teachers and NGOs, and surveys of junior high school students’ social identity. Multicultural education was found to help students understand the past and the multicultural situation in the present. However, two problems were identified: stakeholders’ trauma and anxiety regarding teaching the negative past and critical thinking weaknesses, especially in terms of (re)producing prejudice and conflicts. Based on social identity analysis, this study recommends that multicultural education should be implemented under transformative citizenship education.