Embracing Diversity: Preparing Future Teachers to Foster Religious Tolerance

This book presents a detailed discussion of Indonesian future teachers’ experience of religious diversity, tolerance and intolerance, their level of intellectual humility, and intentions to foster religious tolerance. Drawing from large-scale mixed methods research conducted in Indonesian universities involving over one thousand three hundred future teachers from diverse religious backgrounds, this book demonstrates that religion and religious beliefs can, and do, shape the way future teachers view their teaching practices and pedagogies. The book sheds light into the under-researched yet prominent issue of integrating tolerance into teacher education preparation. It is set in the largest Muslim-majority country in the world which, in recent years, has seen a gradual degradation of secularity while religion becomes more dominant across all levels and sectors of society. This novel and timely book is of interest to researchers, scholars, and students in religious studies, education, social sciences, and Asian studies, as well as anyone interested in the interplay between religion and education in the 21st century.

Anne Suryani, Ph.D., is Founder of Leading to Improve Future Teachers (LIFT) Studies and Senior Research Fellow in the Faculty of Education, Monash University, Australia. She has extensive experience working in a range of educational research in the Asia-Pacific Region. Anne has received a number of awards throughout her academic journey, including a Mollie Holman Medal for the best doctoral thesis in education from Monash University and the Australia-Indonesia Institute Studies and Cultural Leadership Award from the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Her research interests include teacher motivation, teacher education, teacher professional development, and educational policy.
Ahmad Bukhori Muslim, Ph.D., serves as Professor of Educational Linguistics at the Department of English Education within the Faculty of Languages and Literature Education, Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia. Additionally, he holds the position of Director of International Affairs at the same university. Dr. Muslim has been recognized with prestigious awards such as the Fulbright and Kelly Elizabeth Stephens Awards. His extensive research portfolio encompasses various areas, including educational linguistics, language and identity, international education, global childhood, and foreign language teaching within Islamic institutions. He has made significant contributions to these fields and has a robust publication record, reflecting his commitment to advancing knowledge and understanding in the academic community.