Between Curriculum Documents and Pedagogical Practice: A Review of Music Education in Indonesia

Music Education in Indonesia

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to analyze the construction of pedagogy in Indonesian music education through the relationship of curriculum documents and teaching practice. More specifically, this study aims to understand the interpretation, implementation, and adjustment of music education curricula in the formal, non-formal, and informal learning contexts. Using an interpretative literature review method, this study reviews and synthesizes selected literature, mainly published between the years 2020 and 2025, related to curriculum and pedagogy, teaching practice, and the cultural aspects of music education in Indonesia. The study demonstrates the ongoing disjunction between the curriculum as policy and music education pedagogy as practice. Although the curriculum documents can be policy, structure, and level documents, in the practice of teaching music, a major part is determined by the teacher, the context, and the cultural activity. Participants in the study described the important role of non-formal education, extra-curricular activities, and cultural activities in implementing the curriculum, which is often beyond the guidelines of the curriculum document. The study suggests that the explicit description of the curriculum is not enough in teaching music. More is needed from a curriculum that demonstrates an understanding of the pedagogy involved, the variety of contexts, and the relationship of policy and practice