Gender equality in society is to strengthen the community itself (Agarwal 2018; Heymann et al. 2019). One of the efforts to support gender equality is women’s empowerment (Glas, Spierings & Scheepers 2018; Sen 2019). However, women’s empowerment is not a stand-alone goal (Topal 2019). Apart from being an integral part of the religious visions (Graff, Kapur & Walters 2019), empowerment is an effort to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger (Tang 2022), achieve universal primary education (Masuda & Yamauchi 2020), reduce child and maternal mortality (Santoso et al. 2019), and maintain public health (O’Hara & Clement 2018). In addition, women’s empowerment is also a driving force for sound environmental management (Doss et al. 2018) and world order (Eichenberg 2019).

Empowering women through gender equality education, thus, continues to be necessary (Perempuan & Tahunan 2020; Psaki, McCarthy & Mensch 2018). Because the awareness to develop all sections of society must be instilled from an early age (Heath, Sommerfield & Von Ungern-Sternberg 2020; Wulansari 2017), at the school level, the students will later be the ones who build the community itself (Fiock 2020). From within their teachings, religions in Indonesia have responded to this phenomenon (Dadi 2021), including Islam, Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Confucianism (Prihatini 2020; Pasaribu 2021). Catholic teaching itself views developing a gender-just society (Davis 2019). Therefore, in Indonesia, the religious leaders recommend that the instructions of these religions be included in the National Curriculum. In this case, Catholic leaders in Indonesia conceptualised Catholic Education and Ethics Curriculum 2013 (PAK Kurtilas).

Gender is a concept that examines the differences between men and women due to the formation of personalities from society (prevailing social conditions, customs, and culture). In this sense, gender is a form of social engineering. Gender is not something natural (Roded 2015:61). The term ‘gender’ was first introduced by Stoller (1964:4) to separate human characteristics based on definitions, both socio-cultural and those derived from biological, and physical attributes.

Regarding the content of multicultural values that will be analysed from the PAK Kurtilas textbook as an object of research, Ameny-Dixon (2004:1–12) outlines the position of texts in the frame of the concept of global ideas about multicultural values. Ameny-Dixon states that textbook analysis in research falls into the worldwide idea of multiculturalism, particularly in ‘detecting bias in texts and media’. In other words, this global frame map of multiculturalism provides a place for textbook analysis in his research. The study shows the actual condition of the text and the message it conveys. This analysis reveals several things that need to be completed as recommendations so that PAK Kurtilas’ role becomes more strategic in mainstreaming gender equality.

This study uses critical discourse analysis (CDA) (Fairclough 2003). This strategy was chosen with the notion that each communication from the text as the object of study is contextual. Here, at one stage of analysis, the concerns expressed by the text become related discourses and have the potential to have implicit relationships with other discourses (Fairclough 2003:11). These discourses are also related to specific constructions of global and national space-time, which can be seen from the same perspective. Halliday (1975:18) explains that text is an example of linguistic interaction where people use language, whatever is said or written. In other words, the text is related to what is done, interpreted, and told by the community in real situations.

Text analysis is the initial stage in understanding the use of language in the text. The use of language is closely related to the context of the situation. Fairclough (2003) explained that this context is included in the production process and interpretation of the text. Furthermore, the cultural context becomes the socio-cultural practice of the discourse. The final stage explains the form of a message called the interrelationship between text and context. This research uses this analysis flow. This type of research is qualitative research with data collected in qualitative data, namely data presented in spoken words instead of numbers (Muhadjir 1996:196). The analysis used is critical discourse analysis. The following is the data analysed to converge into the study results.

This section will discuss the following issues: gender mainstreaming in education, the 2013 Curriculum, and gender equality in the school curriculum.

In its textbook, PAK Kurtilas describes Basic Competencies into themes. The use of learning pieces (as a subject) can integrate several Basic Competencies at once. The integration carried out includes two things: First, integrating attitudes, skills, and knowledge in learning. Second is integrating various related basic concepts (Daryanto 2014:81). Citing the Thematic Learning Guidelines published by the Ministry of National Education’s Curriculum R & D Center, Mujimin (2006:34–35) explains that learning themes can provide many advantages in learning practices.

Based on Mujimin WM’s opinion, the discussion using the themes in the PAK Kurtilas textbook becomes a way for students to achieve Basic Competencies containing multicultural values described in Table 2 with multicultural (core) values as an indicator. The following is the distribution of multicultural themes contained in PAK Kurtilas.

The PAK Kurtilas textbook has 48 sections containing multicultural values according to its indicators, namely four core multicultural values. The most varied themes of the four multicultural core values cultivate a sense of responsibility for cultural diversity in the world community with eight themes. Based on the themes of teaching materials, Table 2 shows that the theme of ‘equality of men and women’ and the theme of ‘the integrity of the environment created by God’ appeared the most. The theme of ‘equality of men and women’ was discussed in Class I, Class IV, Class V, Class VII, and Class X. The theme ‘the integrity of the environment created by God’ was discussed in Class I, Class III, Class V , Class IX, and Class XII. With few themes amid many themes, gender awareness in these school books does not talk much about different types of gender. So, gender here is only the traditional two gender, namely male and female only. Follow-up discussions do not appear to be taught in Catholic schools in Indonesia.

The analysis reveals that the theme of equality of men and women (gender equality) is essential in the PAK Kurtilas. Five classes from three levels of education provide understanding to students according to their age development needs. This theme is contained in the PAK textbooks for Class I, Class IV, Class V, and Class VII. Class I PAK textbook puts this theme in the subject of ‘God created man’. The Class IV of the PAK textbook emphasizes equality of men and women in Chapter I, entitled ‘Personal and my environment’. The Class V of the PAK textbook explains that the more a child develops according to the traditions or customs he/she lives, the more diverse his/her duties and responsibilities become. The Class VII of the PAK textbook discusses the theme of equality of men and women in a separate chapter entitled ‘I am proud as a woman or man’ (KWI 2019:40–58).

In particular, the PAK Class IV textbook discusses the theme of men and women being treated equally in the sub-title, ‘The environment helps develop myself as a woman or a man’. The sub-title explains that everyone lives in an environment. The environment in question can be in the form of a natural environment or community environment. The natural and community settings influence each person’s formation and personal development. There is a good influence. There are also bad influences. In particular, the community or socio-cultural environment, such as customs, participates in developing one’s identity as a woman or a man (KWI 2019:15).

By carrying out duties and responsibilities, a person can further build his character as a man or woman. In society, it can be seen that men and women have different duties or jobs. Physical conditions very much influence the duties and employment of men and women. Because of their physical condition, men tend to choose jobs and roles that are somewhat hard and require physical labor. On the other hand, due to their delicate, gentle, and graceful physique, women often choose the more refined types of work.

With the times and the equality of men and women (gender), there are jobs and roles that men and women also like. For example, women become bus or truck drivers, masons, and construction workers. Likewise, men become nurses, cooks, laundrymen, and babysitters (KWI 2019:15). The Class V of the PAK textbook explains that adult society views men and women with the same dignity and degree. Men and women have the same rights and opportunities to achieve their dreams and develop their abilities. Therefore, men and women might engage in similar behaviors and activities and be natural. For example, they play soccer, serve in the army, work as a bus driver, or work as mechanics. So, occupation or activity is no longer solely a man’s domain. On the other hand, men can also care for babies, cook, wash clothes, sew clothes, etc. The choice of teenage girls to become members of the cheerleading team and boys as soccer players is more due to social perceptions than internal desires (Harrison & Lynch 2005:227–36).

This phenomenon shows that men and women have the same degree, even though some activities cannot be changed, namely practices and actions related to being male or female. In breastfeeding a baby, for example, only women can do this. Men cannot do this (KWI 2019:20). On the other hand, men can fertilize eggs, while women cannot. This description received confirmation from Mosse (1993:2). The difference between sex and gender can be described in the Table 3.

Here, being male or female is a gift. However, the path that makes humans’ social role of being masculine or feminine is a combination of basic biological structures and biological interpretations formed from culture. Natural things for women and men are not biologically interchangeable. Whereas in social position, everything can be exchanged according to the community’s needs (Rahman 2018:58).

To help understand the equality of men and women, the Class I of the PAK textbook provides materials with invitations to show prayers and sing songs. The prayers and songs are filled with gratitude because God has created humans as women and men and made them live in harmony and respect for each other (KWI 2019:52–53) (see Figure 1 and Figure 2).

The teacher leads the students to summarize this topic (KWI 2019:58). (1) The first human beings on earth were Adam and Eve. (2) God created Adam from a formed lump of earth. (3) Eve was created from a rib from Adam. (4) Adam and Eve lived in the garden of Eden. (5) Adam and Eve were in charge of caring for all of God’s creations. (6) We thank God who created Adam and Eve and all of us. The analysis of the terms women and men complements and confirms the equality of women and men mentioned in the same book in the previous section. The last section is a narrative episode on the text of Genesis 1:26–31. This episode is the narrative of the creation of the first version. The creation of man is introduced more impressively than any preceding work by the announcement of a divine resolution, ‘Let us make a man’. God participates more intimately and intensively in this than in the earlier works of creation. Therefore, the Hebrew word ’ādām (‘man’) is a collective and is never used in the plural. It literally means both man and woman. So, it is clear that since the first narrative episode of the creation story in Genesis, man and woman is said together as creations that have the same position.

But, maybe that meaning is not clear enough to explain the togetherness. So, the narrative episode opens itself to self-criticism or God’s evaluation of His work (Gn 1:27). The subject of criticism is humans. In this narrative episode of the creation of man in the Priesterkodex Tradition, God calls the man a creation in His image. Furthermore, the closing of the narrative episode (Gn 1:31) affirms that humans are the perfect creation among other creatures, God expresses His satisfaction. The expression of God’s satisfaction can be seen from the expression that everything He made was perfect on that day. The two verses reveal and, simultaneously, emphasize that humans are the most excellent as God’s creation. That perfection includes both females and males as creations. Here, equality between women and men is evident (Bhanu Viktorahadi 2022:108–109).

The description of the theme of equality between men and women in the PAK Kurtilas textbook is summarized in the following matrix Table 4.

The description of the theme of equality of men and women was deepened with explanations. The Class VII PAK textbook uses four articles from the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) to explain that the Catholic Church pays considerable attention to fighting for equality between men and women. The four articles from the CCC are article 369, article 371, article 372, and article 2335 (Church 1994):

As a conclusion to the discussion of this theme, the textbook PAK Class VII provides a summary of the explanation of the equality of men and women (KWI 2019:51): (1) The superiority of human dignity is not determined by a person’s sexual, whether male or female. Men and women are God’s glorious creation. Therefore, insulting a person is the same as insulting his/her Creator. (2) Men and women are equal. Both respect each other and do not consider the opposite sex a rival. (3) God created mankind, both female and male, in His image. Therefore, the call for human beings to develop themselves, whether as women or men, is mainly so that human beings can display and radiate the image of God.

Meanwhile, to explain the characteristics of women and men from the point of view of the scripture, the PAK textbook Classes I, IV, and V uses the text of the Book of Genesis (Gn 2):

This text is the narrative of the creation of man and woman. The narrative explains two meanings of the story of human creation. The first meaning presents human as the final creation of the creation of the universe. There is no hierarchy or inequality between the sexes that human beings possess in that creation.

This assumption that there is a hierarchy gives rise to gender inequality. Gender differences have given rise to patterns of injustice. The pattern emerges in marginalization, subordination, stereotyping, negative labeling, violence, and a more significant workload (Mustam 2015:137). The existence of injustice against women appears in the marginalization and stereotyping of society toward women. For example, the perception that women should perform sexual attraction should be willing to experience sexual harassment and be aware of men’s aggressive behavior. All the images are in the mass media coverage (Dawson & Chivers 2014:212). This erroneous view breeds subordination, double burden, and violence against women.

The second meaning of the creation story illustrates that women were created from men. In this sense, God assigns different roles between men and women. The narrative explicitly states that the part of women is as helpers of men (Gomola 2014:78). The role of this helper also shows that the degree of women is equal to that of men.

The first part of the text of Genesis 2:18 reveals God’s self-criticism of the human beings He has created.

Bibelgesellschaft (1967):

The autocritical explains that solitude is not good (lō-tōḇ hēyōt). God created humans to live together to socialize. God saw that it would be beneficial if other created beings could be helpers to free a human from loneliness. Therefore, God planned to make a ‘helper for him’ (k^eneḡdō). The word k^eneḡdō can mean ‘suitable or fitting for him’. This word expresses the meaning of similarity or alignment. The term also simultaneously contains the meaning of supplementation or addition to be complete. In other words, this helper is a parallel creation that provides completeness and physical and mental support (Von Rad 1961:82).

Furthermore, God formed (also) from the ground all kinds of land animals and birds in the air to find helpers for human beings. God provided all that to be a helper for man. However, this time God’s creation did not succeed. Other creatures in the existence of animals do help humans. However, they are not suitable helpers for human beings. God formed the helper not from the ground like the animals but the man himself to match and align. God made the helper from one of man’s ribs when man slept soundly (Gn 2:22). Here a woman is also a helper (ezer) to the man. To this, the position of helper does not infer inferiority. So, woman and man are equal.

Furthermore, Genesis 2:23 from the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgarttensia describes how God made a suitable helper for humanity.

Biblia Hebraica Stuttgarttensia (1967):

God has provided a helper himself and a match for him (k^eneḡdō). The text reveals that man directly responds to God’s creation for himself in the form of a corresponding helper. The response also indicates an inter-gender interest that directs the two’s permanent relationship to God-ordained maintenance (Davies 1998; Whybray 1995:38). The human answer is to give a name to the helper. Here it appears that naming is an authentic expression of appreciation worthy of human’s enthusiasm, thanks to his alignment with the helper (Von Rad 1961:82). The text uses the Hebrew word ‘iššāh to name‘ the corresponding helper’. This word can mean ‘wife’. The word comes from the root word ‘iš. The word ‘iš means ‘husband’. Both words can also mean ‘son’ (‘iš) and ‘daughter’ (‘iššāh). These two words are very similar in both form and sound. Here there seems to be a linguistic harmony, both the form and the sound. This alignment also indicates the existence of alignment. This narrative and linguistic realities reveal the meaning that human beings in the description of creation are two (man and woman). This reality shows that the two are parallel (LaCocque & Ricoeur 2003:41; Ricoeur 2013).

The analysis of the terms women and men complements and confirms the equality of women and men mentioned in the same book in the previous section. The last section is a narrative episode on the text of Genesis 1:27–31. This episode is the narrative of the creation of the first version. The narrative episode opens itself up to a kind of self-criticism or God’s evaluation of his own work (Gn 1:27). The subject of criticism is humans. In this episode of the narrative of the creation of man in the Priesterkodex Tradition, God calls man a creation in his image.

Furthermore, the closing of the narrative episode (Gn 1:31) affirms that humans are the perfect creation among other creatures, God expresses His satisfaction. The expression of God’s satisfaction can be seen from the expression that everything He made was perfect on that day. The two verses reveal and, simultaneously, emphasize that humans are the most excellent as God’s creation. That perfection includes both females and males as creations. Here, the degree of equality between women and men is obvious (Bhanu Viktorahadi 2022).

Apart from that theoretical and interpretive explanation, students and teachers have experienced the parallels between these women and men in their daily life experiences, whether at home, at school, or in other public places. In other words, the interpretation of the text repeats several details of those human experiences. The relationship between human experience and the text or interpretation is formulated in the keyword mimesis (IJsseling 1990:9). Ricœur translates the keyword as ‘creative imitation’. This creative imitation transforms the human experience that occurs thanks to the influence of the text or interpretation on the text that is read or heard (Ricoeur 1981:52–87). Thus, the explanation and interpretation of the text of the book of Genesis (Gn 2: 18–23) is not just cognitive information but also from the student’s own life experience. Furthermore, the explanation receives compliments or enhances the lives of students when they meet or interact with individuals outside of themselves, both women and men, with a transformed understanding.

The discussion on equality between men and women in the PAK Kurtilas textbook is summarized in the following matrix in Table 5.

The description and discussion of gender equality in PAK Kurtilas include two aspects, namely normative and historical. It is in line with the opinion of Mulia (2019). According to her, gender in Indonesia’s education world touches on two aspects. First, normatively. Several texts govern the existence, function, and relationship of men and women, both domestic and public. Second, historically (Enginer 1994:55). What is meant is that the texts are understood, interpreted, and practiced in various lives in a non-monolithic socio-cultural setting. Historically, there has been male dominance in all walks of life, where women were considered inferior to men. From here, the doctrine of inequality between men and women emerged.

Furthermore, what must be paid attention to is the extent to which the material on gender equality in the frame of multicultural education presented by PAK Kurtilas is in line with the established indicators. In this case, the Government of Indonesia, through the Ministry of Education and Culture (MOEC) has established indicators of gender equality education, especially the standard content of the material in Table 6.

Referring to these indicators, the analysis shows that the PAK Kurtilas textbook contains and applies these indicators in the material on gender equality quite comprehensively. Gender equality materials have been integrated into the learning components and materials.

For students to understand gender equality well, schools, especially teachers, must find appropriate approaches and methods. To provide gender justice in education, Indonesia’s Analytical and Capacity Development Partnership (ACPD) has provided references (ACDP, 2013). According to Indonesia’s ACDP, the learning approach must be gender-responsive. The teaching approach and methods used in teaching, assessing, and interacting with students must find and observe the psychological tendencies. Female pupils, for example, quickly lose motivation when they are underperforming.

In contrast, male students did not experience similar conditions. A sense of failure can drive male students to achieve better (Vollmer & Almas 1974:312). On the other hand, female students are more concerned with pleasing others, such as parents and teachers (Alper 1977:295; Wong et al. 2005). As a result, they tend to be more accepted by adults because they are more obedient. Proximity to educators is cited as one of the keys to motivation in achieving high values (Steinmayr & Spinath 2008:187).

Understanding gender equality is essential for students. The urgency in providing comprehensive education on formal gender equality is so that there is awareness to strengthen the community. Regarding this phenomenon, PAK Kurtilas (Catholic Education and Ethics Curriculum 2013) shows its strategic role as a guide to the values of gender equality in educating multiculturalism. The material presented in the curriculum requires students to be grateful to God who created humans, and so that everyone, by recognizing the social or socio-cultural environment, can develop themselves in their identity as women or men, also realizing that men and women have equal rights and opportunities to achieve their goals and develop their capacities.

PAK Kurtilas is based on official teachings, namely the holy book (Bible) and Church traditions (Catechism of the Catholic Church). These teaching sources emphasize the three consciousnesses. First, the narrative explicitly states that the role of women is as male assistants. This helper role also shows that women are equal to men (Gn 2:18–23). Second, the Church’s tradition completes the identity of a boy who matures into a fully responsible adult man with all of his duties (Lk 2:41–52). Third, the Catholic Church pays excellent attention to fighting for equality between women and men (CCC article 369, article 371, article 372, and article 2335). The gender equality material in the multicultural education framework delivered by PAK Kurtilas aligns with the gender equality education indicators issued by the Ministry of Education and Culture of the Republic of Indonesia.

To understand gender equality well, schools, especially teachers, must find the right approach and method. The teaching approaches and techniques used in teaching, assessing, and interacting with students must discover and observe the psychological tendencies of those around them. This research can be continued by exploring the effect of teaching gender equality in schools on students’ behavior.