CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION
C. Curriculum 2013
2. Character Education in Curriculum 2013
The Ministry of National Education has established 18 character education values that must be implemented and integrated into the teaching and learning process. These values are derived from religion, Pancasila, culture, and national education goals.51 It becomes important for the implementation of Curriculum
49 Fahmy et al., “Measuring Student Perceptions to Personal Characters Building in Education,” 851.
50 Jalal, Ramly, and Harianti, Panduan Pelaksanaan Pendidikan Karakter, 8.
51 Jalal, Ramly, and Harianti, 8.
2013 as the fundamental for educational progress. Here is a list of the eighteen character education values established by the Ministry of National Education, which must be integrated into all lessons, including English lessons:
a. Religiosity
Religion, according to Ngainun Naim, is a guide of human behaviour in life to establish a pious human being based on belief in their God. In the context of character building, religiosity is a deeper manifestation of religion.52 It refers to a person’s attitude and submissive behaviour in carrying out their religion’s beliefs, expressing tolerance for the practice of other religions, and living peacefully in society.53
Building the religious character needs to be done maximally. It is the responsibility of all stakeholders, both family and education. In the family, parents must be role models for their children. Whereas in schools, religious education is not only limited to aspects of knowledge, but also aspects of the formation of attitudes, behaviour, and religious experiences. Thus, it becomes clear that religious values are one of the most important character-building values.
b. Honesty
Honesty means being truthful in words and actions and able to be trusted.54 It is an important value that everyone should have. The honesty value is important to be developed as a character because nowadays honesty is getting eroded. It can be seen that there are a lot of corruption, collusion,
52 Ngainun Naim, Character Building: Optimalisasi Peran Pendidikan Dalam Pengembangan Ilmu & Pembentukan Karakter Bangsa, I (Depok, Sleman, Jogjakarta: AR-RUZZ MEDIA, 2012), 124.
53 Syamsul Kurniawan, Pendidikan Karakter: Konsepsi & Implementasi Secara Terpadu Di Lingkungan Keluarga, Sekolah, Perguruan Tiggi, & Masyarakat (STAIN Pontianak, n.d.), 129.
54 Kurniawan, 131.
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nepotism, violence, and fraud behaviours that is caused by dishonesty. It will destroy the future of the nation.55 Therefore, the importance of developing honest character must be continuously implemented.
c. Tolerance
Tolerance is an attitude that is important to be implemented especially in Indonesia which has a high diversity. Tolerance means attitudes and actions that respect differences in opinions, beliefs, ethnicities, attitudes, and actions of others.56 Tolerance is born of high self-esteem. The key is how everyone perceives themselves and others. If the perception is greater on the negative dimension and less appreciative of others, then the attitude of tolerance will be weak or even non-existent. Meanwhile, if the perceptions of self and others are positive, then a tolerant attitude will arise in dealing with diversity.
d. Discipline
In terms of the origin of the word, the word discipline comes from the Latin discere which means learning. From discere, it comes to the word disciplina which means teaching or training. Along with the development of time, the word discipline also has the development of meaning. Discipline is an attitude of obeying the rules and regulations.57 Discipline also means obedience to the rules, self-control over the use of time, responsibility for the tasks assigned, and seriousness in what s/he is doing. It aims to build a better quality of life.
55 Naim, Character Building: Optimalisasi Peran Pendidikan Dalam Pengembangan Ilmu & Pembentukan Karakter Bangsa, 132.
56 Naim, 138.
57 Naim, 143.
Discipline cannot be created instantly. It takes a long process so that discipline becomes a habit that is firmly bounded to a child. If discipline is taught from an early age, they will make it a habit and part of themselves.
e. Hard work
Hard work represents persistence and seriousness in realizing goals.
No success can be achieved without hard work. Hard work means behaviours that indicate an earnest effort to overcome the obstacles and challenges as well as possible.58
Nowadays, life is offering much easiness. Children now live in fast- paced and full of facilities era. There are not a few children who have an instant mentality. They are more concerned with the results than the process.59 It becomes a challenge for parents and educators to provide understanding to children that everything must be achieved through a process and hard work.
f. Creative
The word creative intrinsically contains a dynamic character. Creative people are people who always try to find new things from things that already exist.60 Creative character is very important for progress. Progress will be more easily realized by people who are always thinking and looking for new things that are useful for life.
The important aspect is how each child gets much opportunity to develop their creativity. Through the Curriculum 2013 based on character
58 Kurniawan, Pendidikan Karakter: Konsepsi & Implementasi Secara Terpadu Di Lingkungan Keluarga, Sekolah, Perguruan Tiggi, & Masyarakat, 138.
59 Naim, Character Building: Optimalisasi Peran Pendidikan Dalam Pengembangan Ilmu & Pembentukan Karakter Bangsa, 148.
60 Naim, 152.
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education, it is hoped that a creative young generation will be born in the future.
g. Independent
Modern humans are independent humans and do not easily depend on others.61 In this context, being independent does not mean not caring and not relating to others. An independent attitude will be even better if it is developed with high concern for others.
The importance of independence must be instilled in children from an early age. Successful individuals usually have had independence since childhood. They used to face obstacles and challenges. Their independent attitude allows them to be courageous in facing various challenges so that they finally get the success.
h. Democratic
In the context of character building, there are several principles that can be developed to instil the spirit of democracy.62 First, respect the opinions of others. Second, be kind to other people’s opinions. And the last one is fair attitude to the other’s opinion. In short, the value of democracy is belief in freedom and political equality.
This democratic value is important to be instilled in students to understand that there should be no intimidation of opinion. As long as other people have the right to an opinion, differences of opinion are consequences that are impossible to avoid. So the possible attitude is to build agreement from various forms of differences opinion. This is called as democracy.
61 Naim, 163.
62 Naim, 168.
i. Curiosity
Humans are creatures that have intellect. Intellect is an advantage for humans than other creatures. It encourages curiosity about all things. It shows that humans will not be satisfied with the phenomena that appear around them. There is always a desire to understand something in greater depth and detail. Thus, the attitude of curiosity is attitudes and behaviours that are continually trying to learn more and expand on what he has learned, seen, or heard.63
Curiosity must be developed, strengthened, and given the right answers, because the issue of various destructive behaviours in the younger generation mostly comes from curiosity that does not get the right answer.
j. The spirit of nationality
The spirit of nationalism is an important value in character building because it confirms the meaning of being a citizen. The spirit of nationalism is defined as an attitude that prioritizing the interests of the nation and country above personal interests.64
There are several steps that can be taken to increase the spirit of nationalism.65 First, increase the level of education. Education fosters the ability to select foreign cultures and information. Second, ensure the younger generation can gather as much information as possible. Because by expanding the comparative perspective between the various elements of world culture that complement each other, it makes a person wiser in selecting useful
63 Naim, 171.
64 Kurniawan, Pendidikan Karakter: Konsepsi & Implementasi Secara Terpadu Di Lingkungan Keluarga, Sekolah, Perguruan Tiggi, & Masyarakat, 149.
65 Naim, Character Building: Optimalisasi Peran Pendidikan Dalam Pengembangan Ilmu & Pembentukan Karakter Bangsa, 173.
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information. Third, strengthen faith and religious experience. It provides resilience in facing the various changes and diversity of information. By doing these ways, it is hoped that a sense of nationality can improve the character of each child and student.
k. Patriotism
Nowadays, the value of patriotism should be more instilled in the midst of the rapids of globalization which is getting out of control. Patriotism value is defined as an attempt to profess loyalty and concern for the social, economic and political conditions of a country.66 In addition, patriotism is also defined as how to raise the dignity of this nation in global competition.
l. Achievement appreciation
In the midst of competitive and pragmatic life, educators must teach their students that achievement is important. It is important to instil the achievement appreciation value in students because in today’s climate, competition is getting tougher. The value of achievement appreciation means that attitudes and actions encourage him to produce something that is beneficial to society and is happy for the success of others. By instilling this value, each student is expected to be able to appreciate the others’
achievements and feel motivated to achieve success as well.
m. Friendly/communicative
Friendly/Communicative is defined as a gentle and generous attitude towards others; actions show pleasure in talking, associating, and cooperating with others.67 In terms of character building, this character value must get
66 Naim, 178.
67 Naim, 181.
serious attention. Do not let our students grow up as arrogant human beings because humans need the presence of others.
n. Peacefulness
Peacefulness means efforts to help maintain peace and preventing violence.68 The value of peacefulness must be continuously instilled in various aspects of life. Education as an empowerment process is expected to be able to empower students to become intelligent, knowledgeable, and educated humans. Through education, peacefulness value can be instilled through the learning process, the training process, the process of gaining experience, and other activities.
o. Reading interest
In the context of character building, it is important to build reading interest. Humans with character are humans who are always persistent in seeking knowledge. They are highly educated; knowledgeable through having read extensively.69 There are many ways to gain knowledge; one of them is by reading. Through reading, the readers can develop their empathic ability to feel what other people feel, enter social spaces and interact with new wider worlds, sharpen problem solving skills, encourage planning to take productive actions, and raise curiosity for exploration and experimentation.
p. Environmental awareness
In the context of character building, environmental awareness is an important value to be instilled. Humans with character are humans who have a concern for the environment, both the social environment and the physical
68 Naim, 189.
69 Naim, 191.
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environment. S/he has the awareness that s/he is an inseparable part of the environment. S/he also seeks to protect the natural environment from loss and pollution and save the earth’s resources for the future.70
Schools are one of the most effective environments for building environmental awareness and concern. Schools are expected to be able to develop effective methods because environmental education helps students understand why the environment is important and provides them with the building blocks they need to live eco-friendly and sustainable lives.
q. Social awareness
The value of social awareness is attitudes and actionsthat always seek to help other individuals and communities in need.71 Caring for others must be done selflessly. S/he does not expect anything when doing activities as a form of social awareness because true caring is unconditional.
r. Responsibility
One of the most important things teachers can teach to the students is a sense of responsibility. It is described as taking care of responsibilities, being trustworthy, and accountable when having things to do to God, self, and society.72 Students show responsibility by taking charge of their life and realizing their authority to choose what they believe (including attitudes and mind-sets) as well as their accountability for the consequences of their decisions.
70 Naim, 200.
71 Naim, 212.
72 Rohinah M Noor, Mengembangkan Karakter Anak Secara Efektif Di Sekolah Dan Di Rumah, I (Jogjakarta: PT.
Pustaka Insan Madani, 2012), 104.
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CHAPTER III