Interdisciplinary Learning of Islamic Religious Education in Vocational High School

Abstract

Islamic religious education in vocational schools faces the challenge of connecting religious knowledge with students’ everyday experiences and vocational learning. Teaching therefore needs to move beyond content delivery toward approaches that help students understand the relevance of religious values across different contexts. This study aims to examine the interdisciplinary approach to Islamic religious education and describe its implementation in schools. It employs a qualitative approach using observation and interviews to collect data. The findings identify two main points. First, an interdisciplinary approach connects concepts and perspectives from different disciplines to address educational problems. In Islamic religious education, this approach provides a basis for linking religious content with other areas of learning rather than presenting it as isolated knowledge. Second, interdisciplinary learning offers opportunities to make Islamic religious education more relevant and meaningful to students by relating religious values to their daily lives. The study concludes that interdisciplinary integration offers a useful direction for strengthening the contextual relevance of Islamic religious education in vocational schools. Its contribution lies in emphasizing connections between religious understanding and everyday experience. However, these findings describe the potential and perceived relevance of the approach rather than demonstrate measured improvements in students’ religious practices or learning outcomes.