The aim of this study is to examine how the historical genealogy of Islamic educational tradition, particularly the tradition of teaching and learning, has contributed to the development of Islamic education in Indonesia. By drawing together in an analytic way a historically based description of the social and political circumstances surrounding Indonesian Islamic education, the study discusses some significant issues concerning the religious base, knowledge base, structural form, and the pedagogical approach of Indonesian Islamic education, all of which are important to the development of a modern form of Islamic education. The argument of the thesis is that the existing values of the Islamic tradition in education, particularly evident in Madrasah schools, provide a valuable basis for further developing and reconstructing an effective Islamic education system in Indonesia. However, there is also a strong need to construct an Islamic education curriculum in Indonesia that can meet the challenge posed by the circumstances generally understood as 'modernity'. The quality of teaching and learning in the Madrasah are very much influenced by the quality of the wider Islamic education programme. Any change in the curriculum of Islamic education will thus have significant effects on the quality of the Madrasah schools in Indonesia. This thesis will thus conclude by suggesting some implications for further development of Islamic education that arise from the study. This is a qualitative study using an historical genealogical approach to discover, understand and analyze the challenges currently facing Islamic education In Indonesia. The techniques for collecting data involved, primarily, a critical reading of historical and contemporary policy documents. Primary and secondary sources were also collected, studied and subjected to a critical reading in the production of this account of Indonesian Islamic education.

This study aims at investigating similarities and differences in the curriculum development processes in two selected pesantrens in South Kalimantan, Indonesia. The research explores the involvement of key stakeholders in the curriculum development processes and the curriculum itself. The study is a qualitative approach, which, in collecting the data, employs in-depth interviews with the kyais (leaders), ustadzs (teachers), and santris (students); observation on the pesantrens’ daily life and classroom activities; and relevant documentation. The findings suggest that there are similarities and differences in both pesantrens in the curriculum development processes. Both pesantrens can be classified as Site-Based Managed Schools in which all interactions of the members are permeated with some values. However, Pesantren A has a rather collaborative and goal-oriented curriculum development process, while Pesantren B tended to conduct a single-handed and content-oriented one. The curriculum of Pesantren A is a subject-based curriculum accommodating both religious and non-religious disciplines in relatively the same proportion, whereas that of Pesantren B is a kitab (book)-based curriculum accommodating largely religious disciplines. Overall, it was found that both pesantrens need to conduct more collaborative and systematic curriculum processes. To do so, since ustadzs have a significant influence on the curriculum, there is a need for well-directed and organised professional development programs focusing on pedagogical issues. There is also a need to set some indicators for curriculum evaluation based on the context of Islamic education and immediate societal demands.