Fostering tolerance in diverse classrooms: The impact of multi-ethno-religious project-based learning on student attitudes
Abstract
The prevalence of intolerance among students, especially in ethnically and religiously diverse societies, underscores the need for innovative multicultural learning models. Grounded in Banks’ multicultural education framework, culturally responsive teaching principles, and project-based learning, this study examined the effectiveness of an ethno-religious project-based learning (E-R PjBL) model in fostering tolerance attitudes among elementary school students in social studies classrooms. The study was conducted in a predominantly Islamic and Javanese context in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, so its findings should be interpreted within this specific cultural setting. A quasi-experimental pretest–posttest nonequivalent control group design was employed with 166 fourth-grade students from public elementary schools in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. The experimental group (n = 84) received instruction through the E-R PjBL model, whereas the control group (n = 82) followed conventional project-based learning. The intervention spanned 12 sessions addressing local wisdom, traditions, and attitudes toward cultural diversity, and tolerance was measured with a validated 28-item instrument capturing the peace, respect and appreciation, and acceptance dimensions. Baseline equivalence was confirmed (t = 0.541, p = .589). Posttest comparison indicated significantly greater tolerance attitudes in the experimental group (t(164) = 4.49, p < .001, 95% CI [2.80, 7.20], Cohen’s d = 0.697), indicating a moderate effect size, a result corroborated by an analysis of covariance controlling for pretest scores (F(1, 163) = 18.72, p < .001, partial η² = .103). Normalized gain analysis revealed the greatest improvements in the respect and appreciation dimension (N-Gain = 0.74) and the acceptance dimension (N-Gain = 0.74), both in the high category. Because the sample was largely homogeneous, the moderate effect size may partly reflect limited intergroup heterogeneity. These findings suggest that integrating culturally responsive, ethno-religious content within project-based learning serves as a viable multicultural pedagogy for cultivating tolerance in similarly diverse elementary settings.