Centering Ethics and Integrity in Teachers Instructional Innovation within the Merdeka Curriculum Implementation: A Multi Case Study in Bukittinggi

DOI

10.2991/978-2-38476-567-6_22How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Centering Ethic; Teacher Instructional; Merdeka curriculum

Abstract

The global landscape of educational innovation requires not only instructional effectiveness but also strong commitments to research ethics and teacher professional integrity. This qualitative multi-case study explores how teachers at two junior high schools in Bukittinggi (SMPN 1 and SMPN 3) implement the Merdeka Curriculum through the Platform Merdeka Mengajar (PMM). Data were collected from four participants—principals and vice principals for curriculum— through one-hour semi-structured interviews, classroom observations, and document analysis. Thematic analysis was conducted using the 4I framework (ideation, incubation, implementation, iteration/diffusion) combined with an ethical lens. Findings reveal that innovation ideation is constrained by lecture-based routines and sporadic ICT use, while diffusion is weakened by fragile collaboration and entrenched seniority norms. Ethical risks include performative policy compliance, unequal access to professional development, and insecure management of digital assessment data. At the same time, practices reflecting professional integrity were identified, such as psychologically safe reflection routines, adaptive micro-training, proper attribution in PMM content curation, and transparent formative digital assessments. The study underscores the importance of ethics-by-design in curriculum innovation, highlighting the strategic role of the Platform Merdeka Mengajar as an enabler, accelerator, connector, and monitor. These insights contribute not only to strengthening the implementation of the Merdeka Curriculum in Indonesia but also to the global discourse on professional integrity, digital ethics, and AI-driven teacher development.

Copyright

© 2026 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Ulya Amelia
AU  - Jaka Nugraha
AU  - Feri Dwi Jayanti
AU  - Anastasia Arta Uli
AU  - Fenny Ayu Monia
AU  - Cynthia Mayang Sari
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/04/23
TI  - Centering Ethics and Integrity in Teachers Instructional Innovation within the Merdeka Curriculum Implementation: A Multi Case Study in Bukittinggi
BT  - Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Environmental Learning and Educational Technologies (3rd ICELET 2025)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 184
EP  - 195
SN  - 2352-5398
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-2-38476-567-6_22
DO  - 10.2991/978-2-38476-567-6_22
ID  - Amelia2026
ER  -