<![CDATA[This comparative case study examines how two early childhood institutions in Banda Aceh, Indonesia, a public Islamic kindergarten (TKIT SAR) and a religious-affiliated Raudhatul Athfal (RA P), implement the faith-based Beyond Centers and Circle Time (BCCT) learning model. Despite RA P’s explicit Islamic mandate, TKIT SAR demonstrated significantly higher implementation fidelity across all four BCCT scaffolding stages (environmental, pre‑play, during‑play, and post‑play), with an overall score of 3.9 (out of 4) compared to RA P’s 1.5. Data from observations, interviews, and document analysis reveal that TKIT SAR’s success stems from sustained professional development under the Sekolah Penggerak program, which enabled teachers to construct a pedagogical “third space” that hybridises Western constructivist tools with Islamic semantics. In contrast, RA P’s partial adoption reflects “symbolic compliance,” where religious activities are added to conventional teaching without transforming pedagogy. The findings challenge the assumption that institutional affiliation with the Ministry of Religious Affairs guarantees superior faith‑based education; instead, pedagogical competence, institutional support, and deliberate scaffolding are decisive. The study offers practical implications for teacher training, cross-ministerial policy coordination, and designing authentic assessment instruments for spiritual development in early childhood settings.]]>
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