Portraying Multicultural Education in Local History Learning: Science and Technology in History Education

Abstract

Multicultural education is an educational concept that recognizes differences and diversity within a framework of cohesion and equality. The concept of multicultural education is important for a country with cultural diversity like Indonesia. Education is a powerful tool for developing multiculturalism. History education is one of the educational concepts whose goal is to build a democratic and nationalistic attitude as well as multicultural awareness. The historical unit that examines the heterogeneity of Indonesian society is the local history of Indonesia, which grew up with diversity in language, religion, ethnicity, race, customs, and culture. This diversity is inseparable from the narrative continuity process. Learning based on the values of diversity is important in the midst of Indonesian cultural pluralism and the impact of globalization. Growing multicultural values and meanings through learning history is the right and fundamental step to strengthen a sense of nationhood. The purpose of this article was to explore the role of local history education in building multicultural awareness and the concept of effective local history teaching to develop multicultural awareness. Local history studies can provide awareness to students about the history of community diversity. Multicultural awareness can be built by studying the past differences of each society. Local history can be delivered using five models, including learning from previous experiences, case studies of various differences, the development of learning strategies, curriculum developments, and the incorporation of local history learning into national history materials.