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Abstract

Purpose: This quasi-experimental study examined the association between Indonesia's Kurikulum Merdeka, as a macro-level social intervention, and discrimination-related outcomes in schools, specifically its links to teacher attitudes toward students with disabilities and school tolerance climate. Method: Using nationally representative data from 333,489 elementary schools, a comparative static-group design was employed, with school socioeconomic status, school status, and regional location included as covariates. Results: Schools implementing the Kurikulum Merdeka were associated with significantly higher disability attitude scores (Cohen's d = 0.88) and tolerance climate scores (d = 1.05) compared to Kurikulum 2013 schools. Mediation analysis indicated that school tolerance climate significantly mediated the curriculum attitude relationship, accounting for 30.82% of the total association. Discussion: These findings provide evidence consistent with the view that values-driven curriculum reform is linked to meaningful reductions in school-based discrimination at scale, with implications for school social work practice in advancing inclusive education and social justice.

Keywords

Disability attitudes school climate curriculum reform inclusive education and macro social work practice

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Reducing Discrimination in Schools: Social Work Outcomes of Competency Based Curriculum Reform

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