The Development of Elementary School Students' Multicultural Attitudes through the Saturday Culture Program: A Case Study

Abstract

Indonesia's high level of cultural and religious diversity makes the development of multicultural attitudes among elementary school students an urgent educational priority, yet multicultural education in elementary schools is still often oriented toward cognitive and symbolic transfer of tolerance values rather than lived social experience. This research aims to examine how the Saturday Culture Program contributes to the development of students' multicultural attitudes at SDN 5 Ampenan, Mataram City. The study uses a qualitative approach with a case study design. Data were collected through observation, semi-structured interviews, and documentation involving the principal, program coordinator, teachers, and students from diverse cultural and religious backgrounds. Data were analyzed through the stages of data reduction, coding, categorization, data display, and conclusion drawing, while data validity was strengthened through source triangulation, technique triangulation, and member checking. The findings show that the program contributes to the development of five multicultural attitude indicators: awareness and appreciation of diversity, anti-prejudice attitudes, commitment to justice and equality, critical perspective-taking ability, and participation in an inclusive school culture. These attitudes develop through three interrelated mechanisms: direct experience of diversity, repeated cross-cultural social interaction, and an inclusive school culture. Notably, these mechanisms were found in a local wisdom-based program originally oriented toward cultural preservation rather than a specifically designed multicultural education program. These findings provide empirical support for intergroup contact theory and Banks' multicultural education framework in the Indonesian elementary school context, while also demonstrating that consistently implemented local wisdom-based programs can function as relevant multicultural education media in culturally and religiously diverse school settings.