DIRECTION OF ISLAMIC RELIGIOUS EDUCATION CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT FOR STUDENT CHARACTER FORMATION: LITERATURE STUDY

Abstract

Islamic Religious Education (IRE) curriculum development needs to address not only religious knowledge but also student character formation in response to social change and technological development. This study aims to examine the direction of IRE curriculum development for student character formation through a qualitative literature study. The literature was regularly identified through Publish or Perish using the Google Scholar database and selected through a PRISMA-based screening process , covering publications from 2017 to 2025. Of the 213 articles identified in the initial search, 11 articles met the selection criteria and were included in the final analysis . The selected studies were analyzed using qualitative content analysis to identify recurring themes, findings, and limitations related to IRE curriculum development. The findings indicate that previous studies consistently position character formation, religious values, and moral development as important directions of IRE curriculum development. However, the existing literature remains fragmented across curriculum implementation, conceptual models, curriculum objectives, and learning strategies. Viewed through Tyler's curriculum rationale, the main gap lies in the limited alignment among educational objectives, learning experiences, their organization, and evaluation. Furthermore, digitalization, sociocultural diversity, and religious moderation have not yet been sufficiently integrated into IRE curriculum design. The study concludes that future IRE curriculum development should be oriented toward a value-based, contextual, integrative, and adaptive curriculum . This direction provides a conceptual foundation for developing and empirically testing IRE curriculum models that are more responsive to students' needs and contemporary educational challenges.