ENGLISH TEACHERS’ STRATEGIES IN IMPLEMENTING MERDEKA CURRICULUM: A CASE STUDY OF ENGLISH TEACHERS AT SMPN 2 PRAYA

The Merdeka curriculum is a new curriculum implemented in Indonesia. In implementing the Merdeka curriculum, teachers use teaching strategies to help students' learning process and provide suitable learning outcomes. This research aims to describe, investigate and analyze the types of strategies used by English teachers in implementing the Merdeka curriculum and to find out the extent of the implementation of the Merdeka curriculum at SMPN 2 PRAYA. The research method used is a qualitative descriptive method. Three English teachers at SMPN 2 PRAYA were selected as samples in this study. The instruments in this research are classroom observations, interviews, and documentation. The data collected was analyzed using data reduction, data display, and conclusion. The results of this research show that English teachers use three strategies in teaching in the classroom. These strategies include learning strategies to improve thinking skills, contextual learning strategies, and cooperative learning strategies. From the results of interviews and teacher observations, the teaching strategies they use depend on the students' conditions in the classroom. The implementation of the Merdeka curriculum at SMPN 2 PRAYA has been going well, and teachers are continuing to study the Merdeka curriculum in dept