Interfaith values love-based curriculum: Reimagining early childhood education in the digital age

Abstract

Early childhood education (ECE) is increasingly recognized as a foundation for building inclusive and sustainable societies. Global frameworks, such as UNESCO’s vision of education for global citizenship and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 4.7), emphasize the need for learning that fosters empathy, tolerance, and social responsibility. Yet in practice, many faith-based early childhood institutions remain exclusive to a single tradition, offering little space for interfaith encounters. At the same time, young children grow up immersed in digital environments where algorithm-driven content often amplifies intolerance, apathy, and disconnection from social and ecological realities. This paper, utilizing qualitative conceptual synthesis and document analysis, proposes the Love-Based Curriculum (KBC), a conceptual framework structured around five integrated core values, for integrating interfaith values into early childhood education. By rooting early learning in shared ethical and spiritual principles across religious traditions, this approach aims to nurture empathy, care, and ecological awareness while countering risks of intolerance in the digital era. This contribution highlights the potential of culturally grounded yet globally relevant pedagogy to prepare young children for an increasingly complex and diverse world.