Preservice Teachers’ Skill to Design Lesson Plans in the Merdeka Curriculum

A new curriculum, namely the Merdeka Curriculum, was implemented to overcome the learning loss due to the pandemic. Teachers are responsible for developing lesson plans to meet the curriculum objectives. Preparing lesson plans is vital for preservice teachers as it helps them with their teaching practice. This study examines pre-teachers’ competence in designing lesson plans in the Merdeka Curriculum. This research is descriptive qualitative research. Fifty students at Sarjanawiyata Tamansiswa University participated in this study. Data were collected through document analysis and interviews. Data analysis is done through data condensation, data display, and verification. Three main components are evaluated: general information, core components, and supplementary components. The findings show that 52% of respondents are competent in making good lesson plans, 44% of respondents can design fairly, and 4% still design lesson plans poorly. Merdeka Curriculum has several elements that have become its character: phases, diagnostic assessments, stimulate query, prior competencies, Pancasila learners’ profiles, and differentiated learning. The findings of this study prove that behind the importance of preparing teaching modules for learning, many prospective teachers still have difficulty compiling them due to curriculum changes. The findings of this study prove that behind the importance of lesson plans for learning, many preservice teachers still have difficulty compiling them due to curriculum changes. Therefore, universities must provide ongoing mentoring for pre-service teachers to improve their education quality and prepare them for their role as educators.