<![CDATA[Religious moderation is often presented in Indonesian Islamic education as a normative ideal, but less is known about how elementary-school children actually acquire moderation-oriented dispositions through everyday social experience. This study examines how social-cognitive processes within Islamic learning contribute to the formation of religious moderation among elementary-school students in Madura, East Java, Indonesia. A qualitative case-study design was used across selected elementary schools and Madrasah Ibtidaiyah representing public, private Islamic, and pesantren-based settings. Data were generated through semi-structured interviews, participant observation, and document analysis involving Islamic Religious Education teachers, homeroom teachers, school principals, students in Grades 4–6, and parents. The data were analysed thematically, with attention to observational learning, reciprocal interaction, social reinforcement, self-regulation, and contextual cultural meaning. Four interrelated mechanisms emerged: teacher exemplification, peer reinforcement, an inclusive school culture with religious habituation, and culturally grounded meaning-making. The findings indicate that children did not primarily articulate moderation as an abstract ideological concept; rather, they recognised it through observable practices such as respectful communication, helping peers, avoiding ridicule, accepting differences, and resolving disagreement without humiliation or violence. On this basis, the study develops the Social Cognitive Religious Moderation Internalization (SCRMI) framework, which conceptualises moderation as a socially learned and contextually reinforced disposition rather than a product of cognitive transmission alone. The contribution of the study lies in linking Social Cognitive Theory with culturally situated Islamic pedagogy and in specifying mechanisms through which moderation may become embedded in everyday school life.]]>
