Beyond School Reach: Character Education in Three Schools in Yogyakarta, Indonesia

Abstract

The ability of Indonesian schools related to the character education of students is still far from the expectations and mandate of the law. Based on the qualitative research conducted in the three schools in Indonesia, the current study shows that the educational process only introduce students to the standardized concepts with no involvement in social process and practices, which will give them experience and opportunities to adopt the character values. The school curriculum only forms the ideal type of character, does not stimulate the active involvement of students in the community. Students only learn the character, based on dominant values constrained by the state, i.e.: having loyalty, defending the country, and loving homeland. In addition to narrowing the character space values to the interests of the state, the character education also does not accommodate the wealth of ethnic and religious cultures in Indonesia. This paper proposes the need for changes in school autonomy from an extension of the government, leading to provision of a conducive climate for the emergence of various approaches to improve character education. Character education stems from differences in school ideology and Indonesian cultural diversity. The education system should release itself from the text orientation to better fit in with the dynamic cultural context as a source of character learning.

Believe in Literature: Character Education for Indonesia's Youth

“…Third, this study of character education reaffirms that the current education system is isolated from the social environment (Abdullah et al, 2019). Although students are capable of identifying desirable values and understanding the messages of prose and poetry, there is limited space for the text and context to interact.…”

“…Many studies have attempted to explore the issue of character education, focusing on the use of religious, cultural, and national values as elements of character-building (Ainiyah, Suarmini et al, 2016). Studies have also explored the influence of various academic disciplines on character education (Wening, 2012; Putri, 2013; Anshori, 2014; Dianti, 2016) certain disciplines have been found minimally effective, focusing more on students' cognitive achievements than their character development (Dianti, 2016;Abdullah et al, 2019). Few studies, however, have explored literature's ability to shape students' character.…”

Student demoralization in education:The industrialization of university curriculum in 4.0.Era Indonesia

“…In this regard, universities have been used as media for shaping the workforce. This has deleteriously affected students' culture, ethics, and character (Abdullah, Hudayana, Kutanegara, & Indiyanto, 2019). Students no longer have the obeisance, nor the respect, expected of them.…”

Text and Context: Exploring Values of Character in "Al-Qiro'ah Al-Rosyidah" Text

“…In any case the inculcation of these character values only reaches standard concepts without social procedures and practices, the results will be far from expectations because one will not get the experience and opportunity to adopt the character values. (Abdullah et al, 2019;Umami, Gani, & Waskito, 2019) In the above case, significant potential development needs to be applied to individuals as citizens who have the position of inheriting the nation's character values. (Umami et al, 2019) This character value is closely related to noble habits and behavior, which, according to Umami et al (2019), align with universal values and religious traditions of the nation.…”