Global Trends and Methodological Gaps in Culture-Based Education Research: A Systematic Literature Review
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.29407/77xvqc06Abstract
Research into culture-based education has seen significant development over the past decade, in line with growing global attention to cultural diversity, inclusive education and intercultural competence. However, this research still exhibits various methodological gaps and theoretical fragmentation. This study aims to analyse global trends, methodological patterns, dominant themes and research gaps in the field of culture-based education through a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) approach. Research data were obtained from the Scopus database using keywords related to culture-based education, multicultural education, intercultural education and culturally responsive education for the period 2016–2025. The article selection process followed the PRISMA guidelines, resulting in 2,023 articles meeting the inclusion criteria. The findings indicate that publications on culture-based education have increased significantly over the past decade, culminating in 2025, and are dominated by countries such as the United States, Spain, Indonesia, the United Kingdom, and South Korea. Thematically, the research was dominated by education, the humanities, and cultural diversity, whilst studies on multicultural education, intercultural education, and multiculturalism remained relatively limited. From a methodological perspective, qualitative designs represent the dominant research paradigm (62.4%), primarily utilizing case studies and phenomenological approaches, while structured questionnaires serve as the most prevalent empirical instrument within the quantitative subset (24.1%). Conversely, experimental, longitudinal, and mixed-methods designs were still rarely employed. Furthermore, this research also reveals theoretical fragmentation due to a lack of integration of consistent theoretical frameworks. This study highlights the need to strengthen methodological rigor, integrate theory, and broaden the research focus to support the development of a more inclusive and sustainable culture-based education
Keywords:
culture-based education, intercultural education, multicultural education, systematic literature review, methodological gapsDownloads
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Copyright (c) 2026 M. Zainudin, Rahmatika Dewi , Mario Damanik , Muhammad Rijal , Hakis , M. Ali Ghufron , Thorida Nur Asih (Author)
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