Schools’ support in the implementation of the Emancipated Curriculum in secondary schools in Indonesia

Abstract

In the context of Indonesian secondary schools, the transition to the Emancipated Curriculum, known as Kurikulum Merdeka, represents a profound shift in teaching paradigms necessitated by the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. This paper investigates the extent and nature of support offered by secondary schools to English teachers in implementing the Emancipated Curriculum, a critical yet underexplored facet of educational reform. Utilizing a mixed-methods approach, data was gathered through a questionnaire responded by 170 English teachers across Indonesia. The study examined demographic information, school policies, teacher training, financial assistance, resource allocation, and community involvement in the context of the Emancipated Curriculum. Additionally, focus group discussions and interviews were conducted with teachers and school leaders in East Java and West Nusa Tenggara. The findings revealed that while some schools did not implement the Emancipated Curriculum, the majority of participating teachers experienced confusion despite accessing government-provided platforms and external seminars. Furthermore, schools often had to self-finance curriculum changes, placing significant stress on school management and teachers. Emotional support systems for teachers during this transition also remained unexplored. This study underscores the importance of government funding and targeted training to ease the transition and improve educational outcomes. Future research should explore stakeholder engagement and emotional support mechanisms to further enhance curriculum implementation in Indonesian schools.

Keywords:

• Emancipated curriculum (Kurikulum Merdeka)
• English teachers
• ELT
• school’s support
• secondary school

REVIEWING EDITOR:

• John Chiang, Communication and Media, State University of New York, Oneonta, NY, USA

SUBJECTS:

• Teaching & Learning; English; Curriculum Studies

1. Introduction

Schools’ support is crucial in the implementation of a new curriculum. In order to successfully implement a new curriculum, schools must have strong support structures in place in addition to a fundamental shift in teaching approaches. Teachers in all regions of Indonesia are now concentrating on preparing to facilitate teaching and learning using the Kurikulum Merdeka (henceforth, the Emancipated Curriculum). Shifting from an old curriculum to a new curriculum is not an easy task for teachers; they need sufficient support from schools and the government. To sustain positive relationships and support in the socialization of the Emancipated Curriculum implementation, schools need to provide thorough support mechanisms to enable the proper implementation of the Emancipated Curriculum to respond to the educational revolution (Irawati et al., 2022; Nugrohadi et al., 2022; Rizki & Fahkrunisa, 2022).

Modifications to a curriculum are frequent in educational systems throughout the world, including Indonesia. Contrary to the most recent curriculum in Indonesia, the Emancipated Curriculum is implemented with the primary consideration of restoring Indonesia’s educational system after the COVID-19 pandemic (Irawati et al., 2022; Marisa, 2021; Meke et al., 2021; Nugraha, 2022; Supartinah et al., 2023; Yarrow et al., 2020). The distress brought on by school closures resulting from the pandemic was felt in almost every country in the world. Learning loss experienced by students due to the COVID-19 pandemic (Donnelly & Patrinos, 2022) results in the fall or setback in educational success, knowledge acquisition, and skill development that follows. The Indonesian government has responded to the COVID-19 pandemic, which was an education disaster that could become a serious threat (Meke et al., 2021), by launching the Emancipated Curriculum.

By using a more adaptable curriculum that responds to the current circumstances of students, the government expects to be able to aid their academic progress (Ratten, 2023). In light of the previous studies on learning loss and curriculum, Liguori and Winkler (2020) contend that it is essential to create a curriculum that gives the greatest amount of flexibility, allowing for the accommodation of educational institutions and students in situations of school closures. Comprehensive and coordinated measures are required to address Indonesia’s learning issue. One of these attempts is the Emancipated Curriculum policy, which was put forth by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology in an effort to overcome the learning crisis in Indonesia due to the Covid-19 pandemic and transform the Indonesian education system to suit the post-pandemic situation and developments (Irawati et al., 2022).

In order to reflect a paradigmatic shift in education, the Emancipated Curriculum was introduced. It encourages student-centered learning, critical thinking, creativity, problem-solving abilities, and holistic development. It seeks to raise a generation of independent learners who can meet the demands of the world that is becoming more complicated and dynamic (Herwanti et al., 2022; Nursaputri & Sabat, 2023; Supartinah et al., 2023). In accordance with the Minister of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology’s Decree Number 56 of 2022, the full implementation of this curriculum is scheduled for all educational institutions in 2024. The Merdeka Belajar (independent learning/emancipated learning) program, launched on 11 December 2019, is the foundation of this curriculum. Twenty-two episodes of emancipated learning have been released as of September 2022. Notably, a number of platforms have been introduced in terms of digital infrastructure, for instance, 19 eposides of the Rapor Pendidikan (school report) platform, 12 episodes of the SiPLah platform, and 15 episodes of the emancipated teaching platform (Herwanti et al., 2022; Novita et al., 2022).

The deployment of an emergency curriculum during a pandemic served as the basis for the development of the new curriculum, specifically through curriculum simplicity that lets students concentrate on key skills. Supartinah et al. (2023) reported that the implementation of the emergency curriculum may considerably lessen signs of learning loss after the pandemic, especially, in terms of literacy and numerical skills. Later improvements of the Emancipated Curriculum also emphasize contextualized instruction that adjusts to the needs and growth of the students (Irawati et al., 2022).

The advantages of the emancipated curriculum include a greater emphasis on core subjects such as literacy and numerical skills and adaptability for teachers to adapt the lesson plans based on the needs of individual students. Project-based learning also helps students build up their soft skills and personalities based on the Pancasila Students Profile. The principles of the Pancasila Students Profile are applicable to the requirements of the workforce. It is comprehensive, contextual, student-centered, and inquisitive (Rizki & Fahkrunisa, 2022). The primary goals of the Pancasila Students Profile are to uphold the nation’s high morals and values, to prepare people to become global citizens, to embody social justice, and to develop 21st-century skills (Anjarwati et al., 2023; Marlina et al., 2023; Nugrohadi & Anwar, 2022; Rizki & Fahkrunisa, 2022).

The transition to the Emancipated Curriculum marks a departure from traditional approaches to education. It demands a significant change in classroom dynamics, assessment procedures, and instructional strategies. Schools are essential in fostering a culture that supports the curriculum’s guiding principles and ensuring that teachers and students get the help they need to succeed in this new system (Pratikno et al., 2022; Supartinah et al., 2023; Sutaris, 2022).

Recently, some studies have been conducted to investigate the implementation of the Emancipated Curriculum that focused on support provided by schools in the Emancipated Curriculum implementation, such as the availability of training programs in implementing the curriculum (Irbah et al., 2022; Pratikno et al., 2022; Rizki & Fahkrunisa, 2022; Sumiat, 2022; Sutaris, 2022), financial support (Fathurrahman et al., 2022; Novita et al., 2022; Malik & Sholichah, 2023; Satiti & Falikhatun, 2022), and facilities and infrastructure provision (Irawati et al., 2022; Sutaris, 2022; Jamilah et al., 2023; Nuryana et al., 2023; Rohmah et al., 2023; Supartinah et al., 2023). Miladiah et al. (2023), for instance, conducted research on the analysis of the Emancipated Curriculum implementation in one of the junior high schools in Indonesia. The results of the study showed that school support in the form of partnerships with parents and school partners may assist curriculum development in the schools.

Other research on school management and educational administration in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic conducted in the UK and USA conducted by Beauchamp et al. (2021) and Brelsford et al. (2020) also found that schools should provide a communication forum for schools’ stakeholders as an effort to foster cooperation in implementing some adjustments due to Covid-19. Furthermore, a large number of respondents in a study conducted in the Philippines on school support during the COVID-19 pandemic reported receiving enough help from their institutions in the areas of skill development, technological knowledge, data security, disseminating information systems, and online education administration. The provision of financial and emotional support systems, however, needs to be improved (Bautista et al., 2021) as emotional distress is considered to be higher in teachers who have low efficacy (Nagase et al., 2021).

In summary, there have been several studies that explore schools’ support provided to implement new curriculums in Indonesia and in some other countries to mark the end of distance learning education due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, there is little to no research focusing on schools’ support for the Emancipated Curriculum implementation provided for English teachers in secondary schools in Indonesia. As the importance of English language subjects is acknowledged by the government and is prioritized in the new curriculum, support for English teachers is equally crucial. Therefore, the current research was conducted to fill the gap.

The current study explores various support provided by schools in implementing the Emancipated Curriculum, such as teacher training programs, financial assistance, infrastructure improvements, and community involvement. For this reason, the researcher looks into the question; ‘to what extent and in what ways do secondary schools in Indonesia support the implementation of the Emancipated Curriculum?’. This study provides an overview of how Indonesian secondary schools currently support English teachers in the implementation of the Emancipated Curriculum which can be used by stakeholders in education, including policymakers, to provide better support needed by the English teachers in implementing the new curriculum. In addition, the researchers hope that such information will be beneficial to improve school support systems and ensure that the Emancipated Curriculum can be successfully implemented in secondary schools which may open the path to empower and transform education for better Indonesian students.

2. Review of literature

Several studies have been conducted to look into how the Emancipated Curriculum is being implemented, including how schools provide support to it in terms of the availability of training programs in implementing the new curriculum, financial support, infrastructure provision, and community engagement.

2.1. Training programs in emancipated curriculum implementation

Following the pandemic, there have been numerous discussions in the Indonesian educational field, including schools’ readiness for the Emancipated Curriculum which includes teacher preparation and skill development to improve student achievement (Irbah et al., 2022). Therefore, training programs in implementing the Emancipated Curriculum are really necessary. However, the Ministry of Education and Culture mainly provides and facilitates training for Mover Schools or Sekolah Penggerak. Schools that autonomously implement the Emancipated Curriculum are required to support themselves independently, without financial support from the government. They are not provided with in-house training, assistance from proficient trainers, or even mentoring initiatives (Rizki & Fahkrunisa, 2022; Sumarsih et al., 2022). Sumiat (2022) reported that schools implementing the Emancipated Curriculum independently must make changes to the school activity plan and budget application or ARKAS to support the implementation of the Emancipated Curriculum, while for training, the government facilitates independent training through the Merdeka Mengajar Platform (PMM, henceforth, emancipated teaching platform). Furthermore, Sutaris (2022) added that schools that implement the Emancipated Curriculum independently usually look for seminars or training conducted by non-governmental groups or other institutions rather than waiting for training from the government which was not available for them.

2.2. Financial support

One of the key elements affecting how prepared and successful schools are in implementing an Emancipated Curriculum is financial support. Emancipated Curriculum must be implemented with enough funding provided by the schools. In the context of financial assistance in implementing the Emancipated Curriculum, only Mover Schools receive financial support from the government through BOS funds (Fathurrahman et al., 2022; Satiti & Falikhatun, 2022). Schools that implement the Emancipated Curriculum independently look for support autonomously. In addition, several changes can be made in ARKAS or the application for the school activity plan and budget (Novita et al., 2022).

One of the reasons why it is challenging to implement the Emancipated Curriculum in schools is a lack of funding. To overcome this problem, schools were to seek other sources of funding from stakeholders and the community through conducive and harmonious collaboration between schools and the community (Malik & Sholichah, 2023). Alternative solutions to this problem were through several sources of funding, such as local government, education operational funds (Regular and performance BOP), education development and construction funds (BP3) from students’ parents, and donor funds from the community.

2.3. Facilities and infrastructure provision

The success of the implementation of any curriculum in schools is considerably determined by the availability of facilities and infrastructure. Complete facilities and infrastructure, particularly the availability of IT tools, greatly support the implementation of Emancipated Curriculum in schools (Supartinah et al., 2023; Rohmah et al., 2023). Schools are required to provide teaching materials, guidance for creating lesson plans, buildings or rooms with adequate equipment to support student learning convenience, access to internet networks, and IT-supporting devices (Rahayu et al., 2022).

Schools participating in the program of Sekolah Penggerak provide facilities and infrastructure to support the implementation of the Emancipated Curriculum with financial assistance from the government through BOS funds (Rahayu et al., 2022). The government also provides books and learning resources needed, teachers just need to develop them. Sekolah Penggerak is the starting point of the move toward school digitization, it is inevitable that it will integrate a variety of learning platforms as learning media in its implementation. However, the research conducted by Irawati et al. (2022) and Sutaris (2022) showed that most schools in Indonesia have not been able to provide adequate facilities and infrastructure for implementing the Independent Curriculum. In addition, complete instructions for creating teaching modules are still unavailable, sourcebooks are not yet available, and there are still very few internet networks and IT; hence, the facilities and infrastructures are very limited.

2.4. Community engagement

A successful implementation of the new curriculum depends largely on cooperation between schools, parents, and the local community which is crucial in order to develop a comprehensive learning environment that extends outside of the classroom. The Emancipated Curriculum can be implemented with the help of strong bonds and productive collaboration between parents and schools. This effective collaboration can assist in resolving some of the issues that may come up in relation to the costs of putting this more flexible curriculum into practice (Rosmana et al., 2023). In their research related to the implementation of the Emancipated Curriculum in a junior high school in Indonesia, Miladiah et al. (2023) reported that school support in providing socialization of the Emancipated Curriculum to parents of students can support the implementation of the Emancipated Curriculum in schools in the forms of cost transparency, donation and sponsorship, participation in school activities, and constructive feedback related to the implementation of the Emancipated Curriculum in schools.

In short, the existing research has shown that adjustments to the curriculum are needed. To guarantee that the shift to the new curriculum can better facilitate the students’ learning, sufficient support is needed by teachers. However, the existing studies focusing on school support to implement the Emancipated Curriculum have not touched the English teachers’ perceptions of the school support provided for them to implement the new curriculum. Therefore, the current study tries to explore how English teachers in secondary schools perceive the support provided for them in implementing the new curriculum.

3. Methods

The current research was part of a larger study on teachers’ self-efficacy in implementing the Kurikulum Merdeka. Combining quantitative and qualitative analysis, following the explanatory sequential mixed-method design suggested by Creswell (2009), the current study collected data through a questionnaire distributed to English teachers in Indonesia via a Google form followed by FGDS and interviews with school leaders. The questionnaire was responded to by 170 English teachers at secondary schools from all over Indonesia shown in Table 1.

Table 1. Questionnaires participants’ demographic information.

Provinces	Number of participants
East Java	122
West Nusa Tenggara	22
Central Java	10
East Kalimantan	9
South Kalimantan	2
West Sumatera	2
Bali	1
Lampung	1
East Nusa Tenggara	1
Papua	1
South Sulawesi	1

In addition to collecting data on demographic information, the questionnaire also includes 10 items to collect data regarding support for English teachers provided by schools, policies made by the schools to support teachers, support in designing and evaluating curriculum, support in providing training, funds, resources, and facilities, and support in stakeholders’ involvement. Each item was tested using SPSS Correlations to assess validity and SPSS Reliability Statistics to evaluate reliability. The overall results suggest that the total of the Pearson Correlation of the questionnaire items is 1, which shows that the items are highly correlated. Meanwhile, the reliability statistics Cronbach’s Alpha shows the number 0.883, which means that the questionnaire items are reliable as they exceed 0.60.

Informed written consent was obtained from all participants prior to the commencement of the study, ensuring their voluntary and informed participation in the research. Participants were also notified about how the data would be collected and used in the manuscript. Prior to responding to the questionnaire, the participants gave their written consent to join the research and agreed that their data would be used for the research.

Data were also collected through FGDs with teacher groups in Malang and Mataram since the biggest respondents were from both provinces, that is, 122 teachers are from East Java, and 22 teachers are West Nusa Tenggara. The FGDs involved 27 secondary school teachers from East Java, 32 teachers of secondary school from West Nusa Tenggara to discuss more detailed issues related to the implementation of the Emancipated Curriculum. The FGDs were organized to get more clarification from the teachers orally on certain issues surfaced in the questionnaire. In addition to questionnaires and FGDS, the data were also collected by interviewing school leaders individually in West Nusa Tenggara and East Java to further clarify support provided by schools in implementing the Emancipated Curriculum.

Data from the questionnaire distributed through the Google form were quantitatively analyzed automatically by Google and the researchers just used the results displayed in the Google form to understand the different kinds of support the teachers have obtained from their schools. Besides, the data from the FGDs were coded and analyzed using thematic analysis resulting in the extent the schools provide support for their English teachers. The FGD excerpts were analyzed using open coding inspired by various sources, see, for example, Bautista et al. (2021), Gouëdard et al. (2020), Rahayu et al. (2022), Rosmana et al. (2023), Sumiat (2022). Table 2 shows codes coming out from the data analysis.

Table 2. FGD participants’ coding theme.

Theme	Code
General Support	GS
Support in Designing Curriculum	SC
Support in Evaluating Curriculum	EC
Support in Providing Training	ET
Support in Funds	SFu
Support in Resources	SR
Support in Facilities	SFa
Support in Involving Parents in Curriculum Design	SP
Support in Involving Students in Curriculum Design	SS

Once the data analysis using open coding finished, the data were ready to be displayed using further coding, for example, ‘MLG, SMA, 17’ which means the data were from an FGD in Malang spoken by a senior high school (SMA) teacher and the data are located on page 17. More coding used in the data dispay are as follows:

Table

Code	Meaning
MLG	Malang, East Java
MTR	Mataram, West Nusa Tenggara
SMA	Teacher of Senior High School
SMK	Teacher of Vocational Senior High School
SMP	Teacher of Junior High School
MTs	Teacher of Islamic Junior High School
Waka SMA	Vice Principal of Senior High School

4. Results

In this part, the findings on schools’ support in the implementation of the new curriculum are materialized in the forms of general support, support in designing and evaluating curriculum, support in providing training, funds, resources, and facilities, as well as support in involving stakeholders in the curriculum designing process and are illustrated as follows.

In general, the support and policy provided by schools is excellent. This can be seen from the interviews with the principals, responses to the questionnaire as well as data from the FGDs. One of the school principals says, ‘Yes. The school is very supportive (for the development of the English curriculum through the Teachers’ Support Group). That’s one of the main forums to help teachers prepare for the implementation of the new curriculum. So, maybe the English Teachers’ Support Group in the city has been working with that, and there is also competency mapping for learning outcomes, learning objectives, and syllabus.’ Furthermore, Figure 1 highlights this by informing that the majority of the teachers acknowledge the support provided by their schools (87%) and the policy made by the schools to implement the new curriculum (85%).

Figure 1. Schools’ general support and policy.

Teachers’ statements in the FGDs highlight the big support provided by their schools. As exemplified in Excerpt 1a, an SMA teacher convinces the researchers and the FGD participants by mentioning the support not only once. She repeats her mention of the support at least five times using the words ‘facilitates,’ ‘full support,’ ‘support,’ ‘very supportive,’ and ‘really supportive.’ Similarly, as apparent in Excerpt 1b, another teacher from another senior high school in Malang elaborates on the example of support from her school in the form of realignment of the school vision with the new curriculum. The vision is transformed into the realization of superior human beings who are excellent in character, intelligent, competitive in the global era, and environmentally cultured. In fact, the changes in the new vision and other efforts to support the implementation of the new curriculum are responded to very positively by all school community members. Similar to the senior high school teachers, the junior high school teachers also feel the support offered by their schools is high as exemplified in Excerpt 1c.

Excerpt 1:

1. In my school, God willing, it really facilitates that. So whatever decision you make, the school really has full support. And give them time to present what they planned beforehand. It’s true that there are certain times when we decide on that. … So when it comes to support, the school is very supportive. … Yes. So, thank God, our school is really supportive. Thank You (MLG, SMA, 17).

2. I think all school principals would have supported the implementation of the Merdeka Curriculum. Here I want to tell you a little about the form of support from the school principal. At the beginning of the Merdeka Curriculum, we changed our school’s vision. We will try to implement the Independent Curriculum, we will first put it into our vision. … So, thank God, this support received an extraordinary response from the school community. Not only teachers, students, employees, but also all school residents at SMA …, including cleaning staff, the security guards, and so on (MLG, SMA, 20-21).

3. Thank God, our leader, ma’am, means the principal is very accommodating and facilitating (MLG, SMP, 17)

There is only a very small number of teachers who are not sure or ignorant of the school’s support and policy of the IKM. From the FGDs, it is uncovered that these teachers are from non-public senior high schools, while both teachers exemplified above are from public schools considered as favorite schools. Different from the favorite schools, the non-public schools abovementioned have not applied the new curriculum; therefore, the teachers do not know or are not sure about the level of support provided by the schools, ‘I'm Yt from … (a religious private school). The problem with the Emancipated Curriculum is that it has not been implemented at all. We don’t know the knowledge about that, yet’ (MTR, MTs, 1).

With regard to more detailed support in designing the curriculum for the schools and evaluating its implementation, a slightly lower acknowledgment is given by the teachers as displayed in Figure 1 compared to the schools’ support in general previously mentioned. Figure 2 shows that the support felt by the teachers in designing the curriculum is higher than the schools’ support in evaluating the implementation of the curriculum. This might show that the schools are still in the phase of putting more focus on curriculum development, and not on the evaluation.

Figure 2. Support in designing and evaluating curriculum.

With regard to curriculum development, the schools guide the teachers to conduct needs analysis as mentioned by a vice school principal, ‘Now we do that process by analyzing the efficacy of teachers by doing a needs analysis, analyzing the availability of facilities and infrastructure, and so on. It turns out that there has been a slight change from the 2013 Curriculum to the Emancipated Curriculum because there is a project and so on.’ This kind of statement is in line with the teachers’ explanation that they are guided by the schools in creating the curriculum as apparent in some examples below

Excerpt 2:

Look, sir, which sources are suitable (take them), Don’t get tied to one book, the important thing is to stay involved in the theme, what the theme is, don’t leave it, sir. The government has already set passing standards, and you have even got out of the standards. Oh that’s wrong, you have to follow them, but you’ve been given the freedom to look for other sources. I myself have never used the Handbook, ma’am (MLG, SMP, 12).

However, teachers from Vocational high schools do not feel enough support from the schools. They feel difficulties in translating the learning objectives into modules. They think the learning objectives formulated by the government are only suitable for general senior high schools, not for vocational schools. Although, the vice principal is an instructor for all schools in Mataram, the English teacher is still confused about the Emancipated Curriculum. Quite probably this is because of differences in courses they have. A non-English instructor might not be able to facilitate the English teacher on more specific topics on how to translate the learning objectives into a good English syllabus.

Excerpt 3:

Incidentally, our Deputy Head of Curriculum is the instructor for all schools in Mataram, I think. And even though he is our person and we are close to him every day, that doesn’t mean that we have understood the Merdeka Curriculum as a curriculum. Especially in English subject, Ma’am. … The first one is the most striking because we are said to be independent learners, right, so we have to make it ourselves. Do it yourself, I mean here for general subjects like in high school, I think English won’t have a problem. There’s already a CP there. … The problem is that my question was not answered, I mean, if English is more specific for vocational schools, it is in accordance with the core of each school, that’s how it is. … So how we develop CP which does not match the specifications for technology schools or schools with different cores? And that’s the problem (MTR, SMK, 3–4).

In terms of curriculum evaluation, the school principals evaluate the implementation of the curriculum in their schools by responding to the school efficacy questionnaire provided by the ministry.

Excerpt 4:

From the last analysis at the end of the academic year, we were given again (a questionnaire) to be allowed to continue or to be allowed to stay with what was set in the first year, but based on a questionnaire from the Ministry. Worth it or not, to stay or continue. … The school principal (responded to the questionnaire). We are guided by the curriculum. Yes, it contains the process that has been carried out (in the first year). … This means that we will complete the deficiencies from the first year in the second year and we will improve them in the second year (MTR, Waka SMA, 2–4).

While the school principal finds no problem with the evaluation process of the curriculum, the teachers understand it differently. The English teachers find many things are not coherent and they are still confused, which shows they are not well supported by the schools in this matter.

Excerpt 5:

1. The evaluation is that the guidelines don’t match, ma’am. This explains this but where do they go, there is no meeting point. (MLG, SMP, 11)

2. We can’t do it enough, we can’t reflect too much, because, a little vent, ma’am, the supervisor, our school superintendent was completely ignorant, ma’am. Really ignorant during the past year. This is true. What is this lacking? like that. Yes, he does not know; … (MLG, SMP, 16)

The ignorance of the superintendent in the curriculum evaluation perceived by the English teachers might be caused by the same source, that is, the incongruity of the field of the superintendent and the English teachers. Since the superintendent is not an English teacher, he does not know more details related to English teaching. Therefore, he cannot provide effective suggestions and guidance to the English teachers.

In short, while the general support is given by the schools and is perceived positively by the English teachers, the more detailed support related to the designing of the school curriculum and the evaluation of the implementation of the curriculum expressed by the school leaders is not felt by the English teachers. More detailed support for the English teachers is visualized in Figure 3.

Figure 3. Support in providing training, funds, resources, and facilities.

The school support acknowledged by the teachers in the questionnaire is explained by the school principal as follows:

Excerpt 6:

… through workshops organized by schools. And we invite experts who are reliable and competent, one of which is BPMP or Balai Guru Penggerak. … Yes, most of us are online, but we still communicate with friends

This is also recognized by the English teachers in the Ministry of Education and Culture shown in the excerpt below:

Excerpt 7:

1. We are a state school so automatically, from the Education and Culture Department, as far as I know, there is training for this course, ma’am, but only as a basis for the schools to prepare it themselves, but there is always training there as we approach the new school year (MLG, SMP, 19).

2. For the preparation of the Emancipated Curriculum, we invited the driving teacher, of whom he is an instructor, to provide guidance for the implementation of the curriculum in our school, to all teachers starting from grades 7, 8, 9, by explaining the schematic differences, what the Emancipated Curriculum consists of (MLG, SMP, 9).

3. Again, our school wants what is implemented, initiated, by the government, where he is trying as hard as possible to follow the direction of the Ministry, like that, to be able to facilitate us, such as by bringing in driving teachers, then bringing in lecturers who are also related to the implementation of IT applications. (MLG, SMP, 17).

4. For the Emancipated Curriculum, in our school the average is for MTs in Malang City, you know, later the answer might be the same: the Emancipated Curriculum has not been implemented this year because the Ministry of Religion is talking about it only this year. So it’s the same, we have not had the training either, so we don’t know what the effects are on the students. But, for training, thank God, we have practiced several times for MGMP. Twice, if I'm not mistaken, ma’am. Three times with teachers from SMP Negeri 6 Malang (MLG, MTs, 4).

The English teachers who have not had adequate training from the schools are those from the Ministry of Religious Affairs who opted to start the implementation of the new curriculum next year. Therefore, they have not had any support from the school to have adequate training to prepare for it.

Although the questionnaire shows that those who acknowledge to have financial support from schools, the data from the FGD show that the support is minimal. Therefore, those who choose to respond to the questionnaire with ‘not sure’ is higher (34%) than the above-mentioned support. The interviewed vice principal explains that there is no specific funding provided for the implementation of the new curriculum as shown in the following:

Excerpt 8:

Yes, not significant. Because they have each been identified. Because at BPP it is also seen too. We were there in high school. And also arranged too. It is actually in accordance with the needs being processed. I don’t think the change is too significant (funding for the previous and the new curriculum). … So, that’s what I don’t know, but what I heard is that driving schools are special, right? It’s a driving school. For us, this school still has adequate funding. But if we look at it, there are no significant changes, because those needs are stated there (MTR, SMA, 7)

Hence, the school does not receive any grants from the central government for IKM, because it is not a driving school. The statement is in line with the teachers’ confession as follows:

Excerpt 9:

1. Because the Emancipated Curriculum will definitely fall within P5 (Pancasila Student Profile), it will cost money, right? In my personal opinion, for P5 it will be adjusted to the culture in each school. Like me, ma’am, the funding is definitely very minimal. So we as teachers are thinking of how to make this P5 can be collaborated with other subjects, taking into account the financial issues. (MLG, MTs, 20)

2. Regarding financing, of course, because it is in a public school, it is very limited, it must be free. (MLG, SMP, 13)

In fact, only certain schools chosen by the government are provided with financial support to develop their curriculum. With this adequate support, they are able to conduct training and develop their curriculum more easily as explained by a teacher from a vocational school as follows.

Excerpt 10:

We conduct the training (with financial support) from the central government because we go to SMKPK (Sekolah Menengah Kejuruan Program Keunggulan), a chosen Vocational school to be prepared for the center of excellence, so there is indeed funding from the central government. The training model from the central government was also online in Indonesia at that time. Then there is dissemination or impact to all school members. So we have a learning committee, after that the learning committee takes part in training for 10 days, then it is disseminated to the entire school community for 10 days too (MLG, SMK, 3).

However, support provided by general schools that are not chosen by the government is limited. When asked about the support the school provides in terms of resources, the vice principal in a Mataram school mentions that it is limited to giving permission to some teachers to join special training to implement the Kurikulum Merdeka which enables them to become instructors for the Implementation of Kurikulum Merdeka (IKM). It is expected that the instructors then will be able to disseminate the information to other teachers.

Excerpt 11:

Support provided by our school is in the form of human Resources, ie in terms of human resources, the school already has 4 driving teachers: there are 2 Indonesian language teachers (batch 6), English teacher (progressing in batch 9), and a Physics teacher (MTR, KS SMA, 3).

Support in the forms of books or other resources are obtained by the English teachers not from schools but from other sources, especially from the Internet such as platforms provided by the Ministry of Education and Culture and other internet sources as conveyed in the following statement in the FGD.

Excerpt 12:

1. So I don’t have this device, ma’am. Even in this public school, we cannot make it mandatory to buy books, nor can we recommend buying worksheets of a certain brand. So we prepare our own worksheets. There are lots of sources out there, we just download them and copy them to become teaching materials (MLG, SMP, SR, 13).

2. The point is, we share what we have created. We have shared the same as what is on the platform, too. … So we share it not only in our own school but throughout Indonesia because we use the platform ((MLG, SMA, 4).

3. Yes, the independent teaching platform already has examples of school reports and education reports. So from there, globally, for example, teachers and principals, even parents and students, can see …. (MLG, SMA, 16).

As explicated in Excerpts 12b and c, the teachers obtain learning resources to learn about the Kurikulum Merdeka from the platform provided by the central government where some independent schools also contribute to the platform. Hence, weaker schools are assisted by stronger schools through the teaching platform provided by the government.

With regard to facilities, some teachers acknowledge that the facilities provided by the schools have been adequate and there is no problem with learning facilities to implement the Merdeka Curriculum (Excerpt 13a). However, some other teachers from private schools represented by a teacher from a private vocational school in West Nusa Tenggara reported that the school facilities need improvement. Moreover, they have problems with basic school facilities like chairs and the like (Excerpt 13b).

Excerpt 13:

1. But at my school, more or less digitalized activities are already underway. For my school, coincidentally, in terms of facilities, God willing, there will be no problems. (MLG, MTS, 19).

2. It’s very easy if, for example, audio-visual like that is displayed in class, for example in the automotive engineering section, we describe it, the text is descriptive, that’s easy, right? But the room must also be ready, I think, should be standard first, not like this. It’s not, it’s just the chair that’s in shambles, the chairs are broken (MTR, SMK, 4).

The last issue worth considering is the schools’ support in the form of stakeholders’ involvement in the process of curriculum design. Figure 4 shows the level of schools’ support by involving parents and students in the implementation of the Kurikulum Merdeka.

Figure 4. Support in Stakeholders’ involvement.

Most schools involve parents and students in the IKM. This is also acknowledged by a vice principal in Mataram as follows, ‘We involve all aspects starting from parents, then mapping the students’ ability through aptitude tests, and based on the learners’ academic achievement scores (we design the implementation of the curriculum). That has been all going on, really.’ In addition, parents’ involvement in the school curriculum development was expressed by a private junior high school teacher in Malang as follows.

Excerpt 14:

The role of the family is very important in the Independent Learning Curriculum. Most of what we deal with are broken home families, ma’am. So, if we direct those students there, it will be a problem, sir. So, unlike state schools, we are a private school, especially since we are a small school, even to accept new students, we have to do home visits, door to door. So you can be sure that the input we got was very different, sir. Well, that’s where the role of family is very important, isn’t it? Family relationships, if we look at it, if the family is in normal good condition, yes, it is clear that the achievements in the Independent Learning Curriculum are very, very reliable, ma’am. But if in a family, for example, there is a family with a broken home, below the poverty line, then there are several more whose children have to work during the school age period, it is very, very difficult, ma’am, especially for curriculum problems like this. Even for daily life, they still have difficulties (MLG, SMP, 14).

A school with students from less fortunate families should struggle not only in the IKM but also in daily activities in the classrooms. This assessment of the family situation influences the kinds of syllabi and teaching materials offered to students.

Students as stakeholders are also considered by the school principal and teachers in determining the learning objectives intended to be achieved by the students at the end of their learning program. Schools with students from low economic levels tend to have students with low levels of ability. This makes the teacher lower their expectation of the students, too.

Excerpt 15:

1. Regarding financing, of course, because it is in a government school it is very limited, it must be free. This really limits our choices, really. So when it comes to considering students’ learning styles, just like what I experienced, sometimes I only divide students into high, medium, and low abilities. Well, if the child is not interested in school work, it just happens that I myself am not the one who forces the students to write. So, it’s true that even if I read, I invite students to read, ma’am. I found a simple text, 5 to 10 sentences, I asked them to count, how many words do you want? Please, read it. So that the students won’t feel that ‘Oh English is not only about that one is written as one,’ that ‘one’ read as ‘one’ written as ‘one.’ (MLG, SMP, 13).

2. So now we only get 2 hours a week, while my school is a high school, especially now that it’s the zoning era, ma’am. So yeah, it’s a bit confusing. So if you have to follow CP, TP, and use it as a road map and so on, I'm sorry, ma’am, based on my experience, the important thing is that the students understand the materials.

In Excerpt 15 abovementioned, the teacher has tried to conform the formulation of the learning objectives with the student’s level of ability. This is how the teachers accommodate the students’ factor in their curriculum design and implementation.

5. Discussion and conclusion

The findings display that only a small number of teachers do not feel the schools’ support. This especially happens to the schools that opt for not implementing the new curriculum in 2023 and before. This is still in line with the policy launched by the Ministry of Education giving freedom to schools to choose to implement the new curriculum or not until 2024. However, the biggest number of teachers implementing the new curriculum still find a lot of confusion about how to implement it, although they have participated in implementing the Emancipated Curriculum by learning from the platforms provided by the government and seminars or training conducted by non-governmental groups or other institutions similar to that reported by Sutaris (2022) that schools implementing the Emancipated Curriculum independently seek shelter from non-governmental groups or other institutions to better understand the new curriculum. They could not put high expectations on the government’s plan to provide training for them. Therefore, it is not strange if some teachers have never had any training in the new curriculum or felt no efforts made by their schools to implement the new curriculum. The data also show that more involvement from the government by giving more face-to-face training for teachers is expected to eliminate the teachers’ confusion. The English teachers’ eagerness to learn the new curriculum and their availability to embrace new skills and responsibilities resulting from the implementation of the new curriculum (Comas-Quinn, 2011) should be seen as positive factors that will greatly affect the success of transitions from traditional to more differentiated learning (Lo & To, 2023).

Therefore, the government should not limit the provision of teacher training and financial support to implement the new curriculum only to Mover Schools, Mover Organizations, and Mover Teachers. If this practice is prolonged in the future, the term Emancipated Curriculum will might be seen as an excuse for the government to transfer the responsibility of managing and providing education for Indonesian citizens to other parties—schools, private institutions, and teachers. This is against what has been mandated to the government in Articles 31 and 32 of the 1945 Constitution which state: (1) Every citizen has the right to education (Article 31). (2) Every citizen is obliged to attend basic education and the government is obliged to finance it (Article 32). Therefore, as the institution responsible for the implementation of educational services to its people, the government should provide financial support to prepare all teachers and all schools to implement the new curriculum. Otherwise, ignorance and confusion about the new curriculum will persist among teachers, and improvement in students’ learning and quality will be difficult to achieve. The government needs to provide better support to schools since schools play a vital role in warranting that teachers and learners get adequate aid to accomplish their roles in the new system (Pratikno et al., 2022; Supartinah et al., 2023; Sutaris, 2022)

The data also indicate that to implement the new curriculum, most schools have to finance themselves by making relevant changes to the school plan and budget such as that mentioned by Novita et al. (2022) and they have to seek financial support from stakeholders and the community which is similar to that found out by Malik and Sholichah (2023). This has the tendency of multiplying the levels of challenges posed by the new curriculum; designing a specific curriculum suitable for their own schools and finding financial support to implement the new curriculum. This might result in high stress levels on the part of education providers at the school level—school management and teachers. It is correct that schools should provide a communication forum for schools’ stakeholders as an attempt to promote cooperation in implementing some adjustments in the new curriculum as elaborated by Beauchamp et al. (2021) and Brelsford et al. (2020), but the government also needs to improve the provision of financial and emotional support systems (Bautista et al., 2021). While the first one has been provided for Mover Schools, Mover Organizations, and Mover Teachers, the second has never been introduced by the government.

With regard to the availability of instructors to facilitate and guide schools in implementing the Kurikulum Merdeka through in-house training (IHT), it might help with school management, but not with subject teachers, especially, the English subject teachers. A subject-specific instructor and/or mentor should be available to facilitate the subject teachers in implementing the Emancipated Curriculum. Content-specific and course-based continuing professional development has long been considered vital to shaping the standard for teacher development and competence upturn, in addition to the newly recognized ICT-related skills needed in the post-COVID-19 era (Lo & To, 2023).

As admitted by a participant, teachers from Mover Schools selected to receive funding from the government to conduct in-house training on the Emancipated Curriculum and develop their own curriculum have better self-efficacy in implementing the curriculum. Hence, if the government intends to require all schools to implement the new curriculum, adequate funding should be provided for all schools. Otherwise, the implementation of the new curriculum will only result in confusion, not enough English teachers’ self-efficacy, and a lack of access to adequate educational resources and assistance (Bertoletti et al., 2023; Hevia et al., 2022; Vit, 2023). The funding provided by the government should cover the funding for the socialization of the curriculum, the development process of the curriculum as well and funding for the implementation of the curriculum which requires the students to do projects. To have special and great projects, adequate funding is very crucial.

There is an involvement of stakeholders in the implementation of the Emancipated Curriculum, however, the data did not give clear information regarding the availability of a specific forum for schools’ stakeholders. Future research may focus on stakeholders’ engagement in implementing the Emancipating Curriculum. Another limitation of this study is that it does not delve into the availability of emotional support systems for English teachers at their workplaces. As this is vital to support teachers in undergoing a transition period, future studies need to explore more detailed information on teachers’ expectations of what kind of emotional support system they need to aid them to succeed in the process of implementing the new curriculum.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Universitas Brawijaya, Indonesia, under Professor Grant No. [1749.1/UN10.F12/PN/2023].

Notes on contributors

Zuliati Rohmah

Zuliati Rohmah is a professor of English Language Studies at Universitas Brawijaya. She is the past President of the Linguistics and Literature Association (LITA, 2019-2021), and is currently a Regional Coordinator of East Java for TEFLIN Association. Her research interests are linguistic landscape, materials development, teacher professional development, and multimodal literacy.

Hamamah Hamamah

Hamamah Hamamah is an Associate Professor of English Language Studies at Universitas Brawijaya. Her research interest are Applied Linguistics, Academic Writing, English as Foreign Language and Academic Publishing, English and Internalization of Higher Education. Hamamah is currently the Vice Coordinator of TEFLIN in East Java Region.

Esti Junining

Esti Junining is a lecturer at Universitas Brawijaya has specialist in English Language Teaching, and interest in Applied Linguistics, Translation and Critical Thinking Skills.

Agnia Ilma

Agnia Ilma is a Master of Linguistics student at Universitas Brawijaya. Her research interests are English language teaching, teacher competency development, and educational linguistics.

Laras Ati Rochastuti

Laras Ati Rochastuti is a Master of Linguistics student at Universitas Brawijaya. Her research interests include EFL Teaching and Applied Linguistics in Education.