IMPLEMENTATION OF THE INDEPENDENT CURRICULUM ON STUDENT CREATIVITY IN PJOK LEARNING AT ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS

This study aims to analyze the effect of the Merdeka Curriculum implementation on the development of students' creativity in Physical Education, Sports, and Health (PJOK) learning at elementary schools in Gelumbang District. The study employed a descriptive qualitative approach with participants consisting of PJOK teachers and six fifth-grade students from SDN 6 and SDN 9 Gelumbang. Data were collected through observation, interviews, questionnaires, and documentation, and analyzed using Miles and Huberman's model through data reduction, data display, and verification. The results indicate that the implementation of the Merdeka Curriculum can enhance students’ creativity in the indicators of fluency, flexibility, originality, and elaboration, with students from SDN 6 achieving 77–91%, higher than SDN 9, which ranged from 61–83%. Supporting factors include school support and students’ learning motivation, while obstacles involve limited facilities and teachers’ understanding of differentiated learning. This study recommends improving infrastructure, providing teacher training, and expanding further research to optimally support the development of students' creativity.