Curriculum Development and Accreditation Standards in the Traditional Islamic Schools in Indonesia

Abstract

This research aims at describing qualitatively the reality of curriculum, instruction, and academic tradition development in madrasahs (traditional Islamic schools) based on the school/madrasah accreditation standards in Indonesia. The findings from this research show that madrasahs in Indonesia generally have met the standards of curriculum development and the model of Education Unit Level Curriculum in terms of mechanism, document completeness and involvement of external parties in its development. The aspects of planning, learning document availability, instructional book, learning load and study group generally have met the standards of national accreditation. The weaknesses lie in the aspects of development, contents, strategy, study resources, media, model, approach and learning method that support the strengthening of students' Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS). The creation of academic atmosphere is weak when it comes to 1) conditioning students to become true life-long learners, 2) enhancing students' skill to think creatively, productively, and critically, 3) applying scientific approaches such as study tours, practices in the laboratory, seminars, demonstrations, and exhibitions and 4) strengthening students' skill to act individually, collaboratively, and communicatively.