The portrait of gender justice and injustice in the Islamic teaching text-book and Muhammadiyah teachers’ responses
Authors: Nurwanto Nurwanto 
Published: July 2015

The paper investigates the textbook on Islamic teaching officially published for<br />Muhammadiyah Senior Secondary Schools. It examines whether the textbook<br />promotes gender justice or injustice. In addition, how the teachers think about<br />the gender discourse is also explored. The study seems important to carry out by<br />taking account of whether the trend of gender discourses which has taken place<br />for some decades in the public is substantially accommodated in the Muhammadiyah<br />schools’ curriculum. Moreover, the teachers’ responses to the existing gender<br />issues as included in the textbook may be crucial to shape since they are transla-tors of the text offered. To clarify this issue, the paper uses content analysis of<br />the textbook and analyses the result of interview with several Muhammadiyah<br />senior secondary schools’ teachers in Yogyakarta. The result of this study shows<br />that even if the content of the official textbook generally emphasizes gender<br />justice, in some cases, it promotes gender injustice and stereotypes. The expla-nation of men’s social roles in the whole Muslims’ history tends to be widely<br />explored whereas that of the possibility of women’s roles is paid less attention.<br />On the other hand, in other parts of the textbook, there is an explanation of  the The paper investigates the textbook on Islamic teaching officially published for<br />Muhammadiyah Senior Secondary Schools. It examines whether the textbook<br />promotes gender justice or injustice. In addition, how the teachers think about<br />the gender discourse is also explored. The study seems important to carry out by<br />taking account of whether the trend of gender discourses which has taken place<br />for some decades in the public is substantially accommodated in the Muhammadiyah<br />schools’ curriculum. Moreover, the teachers’ responses to the existing gender<br />issues as included in the textbook may be crucial to shape since they are transla-tors of the text offered. To clarify this issue, the paper uses content analysis of<br />the textbook and analyses the result of interview with several Muhammadiyah<br />senior secondary schools’ teachers in Yogyakarta. The result of this study shows<br />that even if the content of the official textbook generally emphasizes gender<br />justice, in some cases, it promotes gender injustice and stereotypes. The expla-nation of men’s social roles in the whole Muslims’ history tends to be widely<br />explored whereas that of the possibility of women’s roles is paid less attention.<br />On the other hand, in other parts of the textbook, there is an explanation of  the<br />IJIMS, Indonesian Journal of Islam and Muslim Societies, Volume 3, Number 1, June  2012: 149-173<br />150<br />importance of democratic attitudes for Muslims in the framework of societal re-lations. In the sense, the elaboration of the possibility of men and women to<br />participate in the public is theologically explained. With regard to the teachers’<br />responses, the writing indicates that they generally agree with the notion of the<br />need for women and men to share and possibly contribute in the public as long<br />as the women in particular do not deny their domestic roles. They seem trying to<br />examine the content of the textbook ranging from rational up to theological con-siderations. To conclude, the textbook  contains gender justice and injustice ori-entations which have been responded variously by the teachers.<br />Kajian ini menelaah buku teks tentang ajaran Islam yang resmi diterbitkan untuk<br />Sekolah Menengah Atas Muhammadiyah. Kajian ini menguji apakah buku teks<br />tersebut mempromosikan keadilan atau ketidakadilan gender. Di samping itu,<br />kajian ini mengeksplorasi bagaimana para guru berpikir mengenai wacana gen-der. Kajian ini penting untuk mempertimbangkan apakah kecenderungan wacana<br />gender yang telah terjadi beberapa dekade ini secara substantif diakomodasi<br />oleh kurikulum sekolah-sekolah Muhammadiyah. Lebih jauh, respon para guru<br />terhadap persoalan-persoalan gender yang ada sebagaimana termuat dalam<br />buku teks menjadi penting karena mereka merupaka para penerjemah dari buku<br />teks tersebut. Untuk mencapai itu semua, kajian ini menggunakan analisis isi<br />atas buku teks dan menelaah hasil wawancara dengan beberapa guru Sekolah<br />Menengah Atas Muhammadiyah di Yogyakarta. Hasil kajian ini menunjukkan bahwa<br />meskipun secara umum muatan buku teks resmi menekankan keadilan gender,<br />dalam beberapa hal, juga mempromosikan ketidakadilan gender dan prasangka.<br />Penjelasan  mengenai  peran  sosial  lelaki  dalam  keseluruhan  sejarah  Muslim<br />cenderung memperoleh paparan luas, sementara peran sosial perempuan kurang<br />memperoleh perhatian. Di sisi lain, sebagian buku teks juga menjelaskan tentang<br />pentingnya sikap demokratis bagi Muslim dalam kerangka hubungan-hubungan<br />sosial. Dalam  hal ini, elaborasi mengenai peluang lelaki dan perempuan untuk<br />berpartisipasi  dalam  ruang  publik  telah  dijelaskan  secara  teologis.  Dengan<br />memperhatikan respon paraguru, kajian ini menunjukkan bahwa mereka umumnya<br />sepakat dengan paham mengenai erlunya perempuan dan lelaki berbagi dan<br />mungkin berkontribusi  dalam ruang publik sejauh perempuan tidak menolak<br />peran domestik mereka. Mereka agaknya mencoba menguji muatan buku teks<br />melalui pertimbangan rasional hingga teologis. Akhrinya, buku teks bermuatan orientasi keadilan ketidakadilan gender yang telah direspon secara berbeda oleh<br />para guru.