This study uses an embedded multiple-case exploratory design (Yin 2017) involving lecturers’ and students’analysis units. This article uses a qualitative approach that allows to focus on understanding the meaning of a person or group about material objects and the environment (Polkinghorne 2010); furthermore, this research discusses about the views of students and lecturers on the objectives of learning religious moderation, what needs to be taught (content), and how to teach it (method).

This research uses a case study because it can provide a deep understanding of how lecturers and students experience IRE learning, where this course has contributed to cultivating the value of religious moderation. In other words, this research will also explore how religious moderation is taught through IRE courses. This multicase research will give us more robust insight because it is obtained from the perspectives of lecturers and students at various universities in Indonesia, including both public and Islamic religious universities.

Data were collected from lecturers and students from public and Islamic universities in Indonesia, in which they shared their experiences in teaching religious moderation. The lecturer participants comprised eight people from eight different universities (with 88% male and more than 10 years of teaching experience): three professors of IRE and five senior lecturers are concerned with religious moderation, including the head of the centre for religious moderation and the initiator of national character education. With regard to demographics (four different islands, namely Java, Sumatra, Kalimantan, and Sulawesi, more than 50% are universities in big cities) represent Indonesia.

Meanwhile, the students comprised 15 students from 6 different universities, 2–3 students with almost all women. The selected students actively participate in religious communities and religious tolerance campaigns on their campuses. Thus, the technique used is purposive sampling (Robinson 2014). Lecturers and students are considered knowledgeable people, that is, people who have experience with the topic of religious moderation and thus can contribute to this topic. Every lecturer and student is considered a case who is expected to provide opportunities to get a variety of perspectives. For coding, the first lecturer and student will be coded D1 and M1, followed by the name’s initials.

We used a semi-structured interview method to gain in-depth insight into the perceptions of lecturers and students about learning religious moderation. This exploratory interview is often used for qualitative research purposes in educational research (Magaldi & Berler 2020). All participants had previously received a copy of the interview protocol. The interview protocol was divided into three parts, namely objectives, strategies, and methods. The main questions posed to the lecturers are presented in Table 1.

The questions asked to students have the same thing, but in different words, ask the method, namely the experience of learning religious moderation that helps you on campus and in your social life.

Interviews were conducted through Zoom video conferencing that took 45–60 min for each participant. Before the interview began, the interviewer ensured that the participants were ready and comfortable that their interview to be recorded. Three leading researchers conducted the interviews. As part of the interview, participants were asked to share information freely about the activities carried out by sharing screens during the interview session. These interviews were then transcribed verbatim in detail. Initially, we had five transcripts from lecturer interviews and 10 from students. Then, we continued the interview with 8 lecturers and 15 students to achieve data saturation. Saturation is a methodological principle in qualitative research when no more categories or themes are generated (Saunders et al. 2018).

The content analysis method was chosen because it is accessible and powerful and can provide results for improving educational practice (Kleinheksel et al. 2020). Content analysis has the potential to be a helpful method in religious education because it can offer potential value for guiding targeted religious moderation teaching processes. Content analysis can do more than providing a necessary and provocative description of essential components (Slater 2013), including the study of religious moderation. The approach chosen is the inductive coding process (Miles, Huberman & Saldaña 2013) with two main processes. Firstly, the two principal investigators read the initial transcripts repeatedly and coded them openly. Researchers provide codes to form categories and themes. Secondly, researchers met and discussed the resulting types and themes to reach an agreement.

The following steps were taken to establish reliability and validity in this study. Firstly, the initial interview protocol was reviewed and revised based on expert comments and suggestions. Thus, content validity is predetermined (Brod, Pohlman & Tesler Waldman 2014). Secondly, the two leading researchers involved in the coding process met regularly to discuss differences in coding results and to reach a consensus (De Raadt et al. 2021). Consistency in the coding quality of these data was ensured with Cohen’s Kappa for intra- and inter-observer reliability above 0.90. Thirdly, member checking was carried out by providing the results of data analysis to participants (Catanzaro 1988) to confirm whether the results obtained are not different from those conveyed during the data collection process. In other words, the data have accuracy and resonance with the participants’ experiences (Birt et al. 2016).

Before data collection began, ethical approval was requested from the Association of Indonesian IRE Lecturers. Ethical approval was also requested from the State University of Malang Research Ethics Committee which was granted, in order to conduct this study (KEPK/047/UM/VI/2023) with a recommendation from the Association of Indonesian IRE Lecturers. After we got several names, we asked for their participation via email and explained the research’s intent and purpose in detail. After completing this process, the participants gave their informed consent to the research team. Confidentiality of the information provided by the participants during the interviews was maintained, and only the primary research team had access to this data. Data collection was carried out in accordance with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki.

The perspectives of lecturers and students regarding the learning objectives of religious moderation can at least be grouped into three, namely to be religion wisely, to respond to the phenomenon of division between religious communities, and to strengthen the commitment to Pancasila, which is the national ideology of Indonesia.

In line with the objectives of learning religious moderation, participants agreed that three primary values must be conveyed in religious moderation learning: internal harmony between religious communities, inter-religious harmony, and inter-religious harmony with the government in the form of a commitment to Pancasila.

Participants explained three strategies that lecturers can use to inculcate the values of religious moderation in students in the universities: IRE courses, integrated courses, and campus culture.

Based on the reviews submitted by participants, there are at least three objectives of learning religious moderation. Firstly, this study offers a context in which each student needs to strengthen their faith and ability to worship. Religious competence means theoretically understanding worship procedures and practising them properly and correctly. Students must be able to articulate themselves as Muslims practise traditions, norms, and religious beliefs, including how we read and interpret the Qur’an (Ho 2021). In other words, the first goal is for personal fulfilment through the Islamic faith and building a mono-religious space.

Secondly, religious moderation learning is intended to promote ethical and moral values in the context of dealing with people of different religious backgrounds. This goal is based on the theory of personal formation (von Brömssen, Ivkovits & Nixon 2020), where students need to be aware of their background, that is, understand that they exist and grow in a plural and diverse society. If viewed from a sociocultural perspective, religious moderation learning emphasises how students can develop their identity as Muslims and Indonesians who are known to have high religious tolerance. In this second goal, social issues and religious education diversity are also necessary (Viinikka, Ubani & Lipiäinen 2022).

Thirdly, the objective is to develop religious literacy by considering aspects of morality in the context of nationality. Religious moderation learning is expected to be able to promote students as part of a society that loves the nation more and is committed to Pancasila. This goal is to provide opportunities for students to develop themselves related to their religious teachings, traditions, culture, and the practice of Pancasila values. Thus, religious moderation is a civic competence to help create informed and engaged citizens (Walker, Chan & McEver 2021). Religion is shown here as a ‘behaviour’ that can harmonise their views on religion and non-religion.

Based on the statements of the lecturers and students, the content put forward in learning religious moderation is harmony and tolerance between religious communities. The current situation can challenge the range of religious moderation because it is embedded in the understanding of the word ‘different’ both in religion, tradition, and procedures so that there is no assumption that other people’s religion is wrong and that one’s religion is the most correct or vice versa. This is also related to the inculcation of Pancasila values, which must be studied as an ethical model and mentioned about religion. In Indonesia, the acknowledgement of the freedom to embrace religion and practise religion or belief is clearly stated in the constitution. It emphasised a mandate of law that every citizen must carry out. Thus, universities are responsible for offering constitutional-friendly learning of religious moderation (Walker et al. 2021).

Finally, the participants also emphasised that the content of internal harmony among religious people is fundamental to harmony among Muslims and is essential to respect other religious groups.This harmony can be taught by introducing schools of schools and religious organisations in Indonesia. The hallmark of Indonesian Islam is the importance of mass organisations with tens of millions of followers (Lukens-Bull & Woodward 2020). This also impacts teaching a contextual interpretation of the Qur’an and hadith for deradicalisation (Hanafi et al. 2022a). In line with the statement (Seiple & Hoover 2021) that our understanding of ourselves is often under-emphasised as a starting point in religious literacy education, whereas how we perceive the world and other people is shaped by the values instilled by our community. Thus, religious moderation can be achieved by starting with oneself and how it is applied globally with others in the context of the nation and state (Seiple 2018).

Most participants stated that religious moderation was taught in IRE courses. The methods that are often used to create a dialogue space between students are case studies and presentation discussions. Case studies can help students to contextualise and criticise information based on the paradigms of world religions (Marcus 2021). Meanwhile, discussion can provide support for students to manage class dialogue and students’ interest in exploring differences (O’Grady & Jackson 2020). These methods are expected to help students connect meaning-making in IRE by fostering respect and tolerance for people of other religions (Unstad & Fjørtoft 2021). To what extent these methods can be successful is determined by certain factors, namely teacher instructions, types of activities, and lecturer dialogue strategies (Vrikki et al. 2019).

Another strategy carried out by the participants was that IRE courses were integrated with other courses on Pancasila, citizenship, and the Indonesian language. Participants call for action to incorporate civic education with religion on campus. Educators should offer citizenship classes on world religions and integrate religious literacy education in many relevant subjects (Walker et al. 2021). In other words, the dilution of confessional religious teachings in the general education system (e.g. citizenship and Indonesian) can be used to tolerate student behaviour (Ilie 2018).

Many universities still need to carry out the implementation of religious moderation through campus culture. As stated by the participants, campus culture can be created by creating discussion spaces between students of different religions and other campuses. This effort can be made with the support of national policies and how campuses can see the concept of cultural and religious plurality in their area (Akkari & Radhouane 2022). The university must have a vision and mission aware of diversity by emphasising three things: acting with conscience, respecting pluralism, and harmoniously juxtaposing religion and state (Chauvigné 2017).