Vol. 1 No. 2 (2026): Issue 2: Educational Theories to Practices

Volume 1 Issue 2 of ISNUJOU: Journal of Education presents the theme Educational Theories to Practices as an academic platform for examining the dynamic relationship between educational thought and the realities of pedagogical implementation. This issue affirms that educational theory should not remain confined to abstract conceptual discourse; rather, it must function as an analytical and practical framework capable of responding to changing social contexts, learners’ evolving needs, teachers’ professional agency, institutional transformation, and the broader moral purposes of education.

The articles published in this issue collectively demonstrate that education takes place within complex and interconnected ecologies. Learning is not limited to formal classroom settings, but is also shaped by cultural traditions, digital environments, teacher–student relationships, curricular policies, institutional governance, and the lived religious experiences of communities. Accordingly, the contributions in this issue do not merely revisit theoretical debates; they offer empirical findings, conceptual models, and practical reflections that enrich the development of Islamic education and educational studies more broadly.

The article on Tabot Bengkulu expands the discussion by positioning local cultural heritage as an ecology of da’wah communication and Islamic learning. Rather than treating Tabot merely as a cultural performance or visual attraction, the study interprets it as a symbolic communicative space that connects historical memory, cultural literacy, civic participation, and the resonance of da’wah. Its findings highlight the importance of symbolic literacy in ensuring that cultural practices are understood ethically, historically, and pedagogically.

The article on the relevance of Islamic Religious Education for Indonesia’s Generation Z demonstrates that PAI learning must engage directly with students’ digital lifeworlds. Digital religious literacy, safe spaces for questioning, teacher curation of religious resources, and the connection between religious knowledge and everyday ethical dilemmas emerge as essential components of meaningful learning engagement. This contribution reminds us that the relevance of religious education is determined not only by the substance of its content, but also by the way that content is contextualized within students’ lived experiences.

This issue also features a study on the Love Curriculum in Islamic Religious Education, which places compassion, empathy, moderation, relational ethics, and psychosocial safety at the center of pedagogical practice. The article makes an important contribution by showing that curriculum implementation cannot rely solely on normative dissemination. Instead, it requires teachers’ pedagogical understanding, institutional support, professional efficacy, and sustained classroom-based mentoring. In this sense, educational policy becomes meaningful only when it is translated into practice through teacher agency and a supportive school ecosystem.

The article on dialogic-ethical activation in Islamic Religious Education at the higher education level further extends this pedagogical conversation. It emphasizes the significance of voice safety, problem-based religious reasoning, and joyful belonging as conditions for active and reflective student participation. Religious education in universities, therefore, should not be reduced to passive transmission or formal compliance. It should cultivate critical reasoning, dialogical sensitivity, ethical awareness, and intellectual courage within a learning environment that is both academically rigorous and emotionally supportive.

Complementing these pedagogical discussions, the article on the digitalization of ASN governance in State Islamic Higher Education Institutions offers an important institutional perspective. Educational transformation depends not only on classroom innovation, but also on the quality of governance, human resource capacity, digital infrastructure, organizational culture, regulatory support, and data-driven administrative systems. The article underscores digital governance as a strategic opportunity to strengthen efficiency, transparency, accountability, and institutional responsiveness within Islamic higher education.

Taken together, the articles in Volume 1 Issue 2 show that Educational Theories to Practices should not be understood as a linear movement from theory to application. Rather, practice itself becomes a site where theory is tested, negotiated, enriched, and renewed. From Tabot Bengkulu and Generation Z’s digital religious literacy to the Love Curriculum, dialogic PAI learning in higher education, and the digitalization of ASN governance, this issue presents education as a living, contextual, and transformative process.

Through this issue, ISNUJOU: Journal of Education seeks to strengthen scholarly engagement with educational research that is reflective, empirical, contextual, and socially meaningful. It is our hope that the articles published in Volume 1 Issue 2 will contribute to academic discourse, inspire educators and researchers, and encourage the development of educational practices that are more relevant, humane, dialogical, and transformative.

Editor-in-Chief

Prof. Dr. Idi Warsah, M.Pd.I