This study aims to systematically examine and synthesize the influence of multicultural education on students' social skills and learning outcomes at the elementary school level. Employing the Systematic Literature Review (SLR) method guided by the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) protocol, a comprehensive search was conducted across three major academic databases—Google Scholar, Garuda (Garba Rujukan Digital), and Scopus—covering publications from 2020 to 2026. From an initial pool of 312 articles identified, a rigorous screening process yielded 45 articles that met the inclusion criteria for final analysis. The synthesis results indicate that multicultural education implementation has a significant positive influence on students' social skills, particularly in the dimensions of tolerance, empathy, and prosocial behavior, with an average improvement rate of 72.4% across reviewed studies. Furthermore, students in multicultural learning environments demonstrated improved cognitive and affective learning outcomes, with a mean effect size of d = 0.74 (large effect), according to Cohen's (1988) classification. Among the models reviewed, Project-Based Learning aligned with P5 (Projek Penguatan Profil Pelajar Pancasila), local wisdom-based e-modules, and Social Reconstruction models emerged as the most effective pedagogical approaches. These findings underscore the urgent need for systematic integration of multicultural education within the Merdeka Curriculum framework at elementary schools across Indonesia.
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