How is the Education Character Implemented? The Case Study in Indonesian Elementary School

Abstract

Today, the attitudes and behavior of Indonesian students are declining. Schools as a component of character building have an important task in inculcating morals, ethical values, noble character, and strong and tough characters. This study was conducted to analyze the implementation of character education in Indonesia. The qualitative research using an ethnographic approach was used in this study on the implementation of character education in elementary schools. A total of 115 participants were interviewed at the school, including principals, teachers, extracurricular coaches, parents, and students. Observation, interviews, and documentation were used as the research instrument. From the results of this study, it was found that character education was very much needed in learning. The character education that was implemented in the elementary school sample includes religion; discipline; responsibility; leadership; tolerance; cooperation; love cleanliness; neatness; courtesy; perseverance; bravery; self-confidence; economical; independence; honesty; acceptance diversity; nationalism; Justice; creativity; and reward achievement. This study also described the character education strategies applied in elementary schools, namely, exemplary; habituation; school climate conditioning; integration in learning across all subjects; and integration through extracurricular activities.   Received: 2 September 2021 / Accepted: 30 October 2021 / Published: 3 January 2022