The Role of Merdeka Curriculum in Developing Critical Thinking Skills of Primary School Students: Systematic Literature Review

Abstract

Critical thinking skills are very important for students at the elementary school level as a foundation for students in understanding academic concepts and developing a more critical way of thinking. The form of efforts made by the government to develop these critical thinking skills is by implementing the Merdeka Curriculum. In the Merdeka Curriculum, students are encouraged to be more active in the learning process, students not only receive information, but also dig and explore the material in more depth. So that the teacher's role in the Merdeka Curriculum is a facilitator who helps students in the exploration process. The research was conducted with a qualitative approach, using the qualitative descriptive method. This article analyzes 25 primary references from national and international journals through a qualitative approach. The results of the literature state that the Merdeka Curriculum has a theoretical framework that supports the development of critical thinking skills of elementary school students. The Merdeka Curriculum assists in the development of the Pancasila Learner Profile, which includes critical thinking, creativity, independence, and mutual cooperation. One of the pillars of the Merdeka Curriculum is project-based learning (PjBL). In addition, differentiated learning is also emphasized in the Merdeka Curriculum, providing flexibility for teachers to adapt learning to student needs. In its implementation, of course, there are challenges that must be faced, but there are efforts that can be made so that the Merdeka Curriculum can be implemented optimally and is also able to develop students' critical thinking skills.