Teaching Tolerance through Literature: A Study in English Language Classrooms in Indonesian Islamic Higher Education (sertifikat hak cipta)

This research explored how religious tolerance is integrated into EFL classroom practices through the use of literature. It analyzed the relationship between teachers’ beliefs and their instructional and interactional activities and how these practices align or diverge from existing policies. By focusing on the teacher as the key actor who translates policies into practice, the research examines the interplay at different tiers: the macro (state level), the meso (institutional level), and the micro (individual teacher level). Using the integrated paradigm of Critical Pedagogy and Linguistic Ethnography, this embedded single-case study was conducted in 2022 in the Inferential Reading course at one of the Indonesian Islamic higher education institutions. The data were collected through interviews, classroom observations, and documentary evidence. The results of the analysis reveal some significant findings. First, to some extent, the lecturers play an active role in introducing religious tolerance, though this role manifests in individualized practices and varying degrees of ‘active-ness,’ shaped by their understanding of the policies and their beliefs. However, the translation of the beliefs into practices is not always congruent. Paradoxes between what the lecturers believe and what they practice emerge frequently. At the institutional level, the policy vacuum provides insufficient support for the operationalization of value-based EFL teaching. Meanwhile, at the individual level, teacher agency is constantly shaped by such dimensions as beliefs, biographies, experiences, and pedagogical preferences. Second, the lecturers employ a variety of teaching approaches to introduce religious tolerance. The effectiveness of a specific approach lies in its ability to lead students to link the materials with (religious) tolerance and create a classroom environment that genuinely reflects this value. However, the materials were often not intentionally selected for their potential to promote the value but are primarily guided by practical considerations such as students’ proficiency. Third, the use of literature to instill religious tolerance is context-dependent. While the syllabus requirements serve as the impetus for incorporating literature, its success in promoting tolerance is shaped by the availability of relevant literary texts, students’ linguistic capacities, and the lecturers’ literary competence. Their instructional and interactional strategies to topicalize religious tolerance also influence how the classroom dynamics could trigger the discussion of religious tolerance issues. Finally, the incorporation of religious tolerance in EFL literature classrooms is influenced by a complex interplay of several factors, including institutional policies, the lecturer’s individual features, and contextual elements, such as students’ language proficiency and their interest in literature.