Multicultural Education in Indonesia: The Case Study of Philippines Students in Hati Persada School Aceh

Abstract

The Hati Persada School in the Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam province is one of the few educational institutions in Indonesia that implementing the peace education in Indonesia. The peace-based curriculum is practiced both in the classroom and the outside activity. Furthermore, this school got an opportunity to accept students from Philippines as their first batch of foreign students. However, the interaction between the Philippines students with local students and teachers faced many difficulties in regard of the cultural and value differences despite the peace-based principles. This research describes the interaction and learning process experienced by students from Philippines in the Hati Persada School and also from the local students and teachers. This article uses qualitative methods with the multicultural education approach and intercultural communication concepts to analyze the adaptation process and the primary data form the interviews and observation within the school environment. One of the findings from this research is that cultural factors often become a barrier to adaptation both for Philippines students and their local counterparts because the lack of experience in the multicultural interactions.