Colonial Narratives and “Narrative Colonization”: Analysis of Junior High School Social Studies Textbooks (2004-2023)

Electronic Journal of Education, Social Economics and Technology Vol. 6, No. 2, (2025), pp. 1~10, Article ID: 1131 ISSN 2723-6250 (online) DOI: https://doi.org/10.33122/ejeset.v6i2.1131 Research Article Colonial Narratives and “Narrative Colonization”: Analysis of Junior High School Social Studies Textbooks (2004-2023) Mohamad Rezki Daud*, Amika Wardana, Budiman Department of Social Science Education, Universitas Negeri Yogyakarta, Yogyakarta, Indonesia, 52281 *Corresponding Author: | Phone: +6285337707331 ABSTRACT The theme of colonization is a crucial subject in the teaching of Social Studies at the junior high school level. The process represents a dynamic phase, as colonial domination occurred differently across regions of Indonesia. These variations affect the historical narratives presented in textbooks. This study aims to analyze the narratives of colonization in Social Studies textbooks and their regional representations. The method employed is qualitative content analysis. Data validity and reliability were ensured through four criteria: credibility, transferability, dependability, and confirmability. Data analysis followed the stages of formulating research questions, defining categories, coding data, rechecking, and interpreting the findings. The study examined 27 textbooks, consisting of 7 (seven) from the Competency-Based Curriculum, 10 (ten) from the School-Based Curriculum, 5 (five) from the 2013 Curriculum, and 5 (five) from the Merdeka Curriculum. The findings reveal that, regionally, the complexity of colonial history demonstrates the dominance of certain areas in the narratives of Social Studies textbooks. Java and Sumatra dominate the accounts. The narratives of these regions are more diverse because of their roles as centers of resistance and colonial policy. Conversely, other regions, particularly Papua, are minimally represented despite having their own colonial experiences. This imbalance indicates uneven regional representation of colonial history in the textbooks. Moreover, the analysis shows that colonial narratives often reflect ambiguities in interpreting Indonesian history, especially concerning division, manipulation, and the dual impacts experienced during and after colonization. Keywords: Textbook; Colonial Narratives; Narrative Colonization; Regional Representation 1. INTRODUCTION The objectives of learning Social Sciences (IPS) in schools cannot be separated from aspects of citizenship. This has a historical background and is the main root of the presence of this subject as the civic upheaval that occurred in England due to the Industrial Revolution or the case in America which was caused by racial differences (Birsyada, 2016), and in Indonesia due to the G30 S/PKI rebellion (Hidayat, 2020). The shocks of these changes (technological developments, racism and rebellion) are formulated in the framework of educational policy through social studies/IPS subjects. The aim is to form good citizenship and be able to respond to change. In the above context, the issue of colonization in Indonesia is connected to the issue of citizenship in the past, because this is what makes it important in social studies learning. However, the mission of social studies education which emphasizes the growth of citizenship values, morals, state ideology and religion (Soemantri, 2001), has serious challenges. The reason is, social studies subjects in Junior High Schools (SMP) contain a number of disciplines: Sociology, Geography, Economics and History which have different levels of difficulty. In the field of history, among the materials taught to students include topics about colonization. However, the colonial period was an important period in the long journey of Indonesian history. Upheavals occurred in many fields such as politics, economics, education, culture and religion. Conceptually, referring to the Oxford English Dictionary (OED), colonization comes from the Roman word "Colonia" which means agricultural land or settlement and refers to Romans who settled in other countries but still maintained their citizenship. Initially, the colonization process was driven by economic and trade interests that were not obtained in their own territory and over time the targets expanded and led to political interests (Miftakhudin, 2019). In the process, colonization and policies implemented by Western nations had a double effect (positive and negative). In the negative effects, the people experienced oppression, slavery, and other inhumane treatment. They became the land of total exploitation in order to enrich the colonial country (Aman, 2013). However, the arrival of the colonizers cannot be viewed from one perspective. The colonial legacy has many aspects, there are also bad impacts, but it is precisely from these impacts that Indonesia was able to become independent as a nation (Zed, 2017). In fact, the process of "becoming Indonesia", both territorially and in ideas, cannot be separated from the colonial period (Elson, 2008). Page 1 of 10 Daud et al. Electronic Journal of Education, Social Economic and Technology, Vol. 6, No. 2, (2025), pp.1~10, Article ID: 1131 The above conditions show that the history of colonialism in Indonesia is very complex. The argument is based on the long and unequal process of colonization. In fact, each region in Indonesia has its own history. The reality of the complexity of this colonial history can be a colonization of history if the proportion of narrative and context is not represented in textbooks. As a result, the goal of making students Children of All Nations while also gaining knowledge through teaching colonial history in social studies subjects will not be implemented properly (Toer, 2002). In fact, the old criticism addressed to Indonesian history because it is very Java-centric (G. F. Kurniawan et al., 2019). Likewise with the curriculum, materials, methods, more specifically textbooks at the school level which have not shown significant changes and even seem biased (Purwanta, 2012). This condition provides an important sign to observe the actual situation in textbooks. The goal is to obtain knowledge about the condition of textbooks used in the learning process. So far, textbook studies related to national history in Indonesia are dominated by High School History textbooks. The main focus includes: issues of national identity discourse, reflective narratives of history, reproduction of ideology, narratives of nationalism, analysis of moral values and national identity in comparative studies. This study requires followup in the form of a new approach to the narrative of colonization, especially using books at different levels (Junior High School) (Nawalinsi et al., 2024). Specifically, social studies textbooks have not been adequately studied, especially elements related to their historical dimensions. The studies that have been present so far emphasize the issues of character values, multiculturalism, local w (...truncated)