Definition of Moral Education, Scope, Elements, Substance, and Methods of Cultivating Moral Character
The competency-based curriculum currently being developed still places character education as education that is integrated with other subjects in learning. Integrating a learning content is not an easy job for most teachers. Therefore, certain strategies are needed so that the learning of character education runs effectively.
Conceptually, character education is a conscious effort to prepare students to become fully human beings with noble character in all their present and future roles. In addition, character education is an effort to form, develop, improve, maintain and improve the behavior of students so that they are willing and able to carry out their life tasks in a harmonious, harmonious and balanced manner.
Operationally, character education is an effort to equip students through guidance, teaching and training activities during their growth and development as provisions for their future. The goal is that they have a clean conscience, have good character, and maintain decency in carrying out their obligations to God and to fellow creatures.
It is feared that with improper integration, character education in learning will experience a silting of meaning, at least a silting of concepts. It could be that the learning of manners becomes no more than an education of ethics or manners. In fact, actually ethics or manners are only part of character education.
Nowadays, people often use the term etiquette or ethics, which means the same as manners, ungguh, and subasita. These three terms are always associated with polite attitudes and behavior. In this context, ethics is associated with the norms of courtesy, procedures for behaving, social relations, and good behavior.
The integration of character education in learning needs to be clarified in its form. Among other things, the implementation of character education should not only be in the cognitive domain, but must have a positive impact on the affective and psychomotor domains in the form of attitudes and behavior of students in everyday life.
1.2 Problem Formulation
1. What are the scope of material and substance of Character Education?
2. What are the elements of Character Education?
3. How is the cultivation of ethical values at the formal education level?
1.3 Purpose of Writing
1. To find out the scope of material and substance of Character Education.
2. To know the elements of Character Education.
3. To know the values of character at the level of formal education.
CHAPTER II
DISCUSSION
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2.1 Scope of Material and Substance of Character Education
Etymologically, the term mind, or in Javanese it is called mind, is interpreted as mind, meaning thought, and pakerti, meaning action. Thus, ethics can be interpreted as actions that are guided by the mind; actions which are the realization of the contents of the mind; or mind-controlled actions.
Ethics contains the values of human behavior which will be measured according to the goodness and badness through the size of religious norms, legal norms, manners and manners, cultural norms/customs of society. Character education will identify positive behaviors that are expected to manifest in the actions, words, thoughts, attitudes, feelings, and personality of students. Noble character can create an attitude of courtesy, an attitude and action that shows respect, reverence, order according to good customs that shows civilized behavior.
According to Milan Rianto, (2001: 4-10) the scope of moral material can be broadly grouped into three moral values, namely as follows.
1. Morals towards God Almighty
1) God as Creator
Humans, animals, plants, and all the things around us are creatures created by Almighty God. We must believe in the God who created this universe, which means we must acknowledge and believe that the Almighty God exists.
We must have faith and fear Him with confidence and be obedient and obedient in carrying out all the commands and staying away from all His prohibitions. All religions have an understanding of piety, in general piety means obeying orders and staying away from all His prohibitions. So we must remember and be alert and careful not to disobey His commands.
2) God as Giver (loving, merciful)
God Almighty is the most giving, loving, and compassionate. As long as we believe in his existence, in his power and greatness, God will give us whatever we ask for. In religious teachings it is stated "Ask Me, I will surely give it". Therefore, let's not get tired of praying and begging, nor do we give up quickly, but we must keep trying with all our might. Every time you are going to do a job, don't forget to read God's sentence "Bismillahirahmanirahhim" in order to get good, satisfying and safe results. When finished, convey our gratitude, for example by saying "Alhamdulillahirabilalamin"
3) God as the Giver of Rewards (good and bad)
Apart from God being the Giver, He will also always reward us for what we do wherever and whenever. If we do good, surely God will repay us with goodness and multiple rewards, but conversely if we do bad or evil, God will repay us with torment and sin.
According to religious norms, if we disobey God's commands, we will get punishment from God because we are sinners. Therefore, let us do good and worship according to the teachings of our respective religions. This attitude is very good for the life of society, nation and state.
The state of community life will be better when all religious people implement their religious teachings with full awareness, piety and sincerity.
2. Morals towards fellow human beings
1) Against Yourself
Every human being must have an identity. With identity, a person is able to respect himself, know his abilities, strengths and weaknesses.
2) Against Parents
Parents are persons assigned by God to give birth, raise, nurture, and educate. So it is fitting for a child to respect and love his parents and obey and obey him. Some attitudes and what we need to pay attention to and do to parents are as follows.
(1) Asking permission, greeting when going to and from school, even better if kissing his hand.
(2) Tell us if we are going somewhere and for how long.
(3) Use and maintain furniture or items in our homes.
(4) Don't ask for excessive money and don't be extravagant.
(5) Helping with work at home, for example cleaning the house, cooking and taking care of the plants.
3) Against older people
Be respectful, appreciative, and ask for his advice, opinions, directions, and guidance. Because people who are older than us, knowledge, experience, and abilities are more than us. Wherever we meet, give greetings and come to people who are older than us. If we have suggestions and opinions, convey them in a calm, orderly manner, and not offend them.
4) Against Others
Doing karma with peers is rather difficult because they are equal friends and we meet on a daily basis so we often forget to treat them according to good manners and manners. Attitudes to note include the following:
(1) Greet when met
(2) Not making fun of it beyond the limits
(3) Not prejudiced
(4) Don't offend him
(5) Do not slander without evidence
(6) Always keep his good name
(7) Help him if he gets into trouble
In addition, we also have to get along with all friends regardless of origin, ethnicity, religion, or social status.
5) Against other people who are younger
Do not because we are older then we just treat younger friends. Precisely we who are older should protect, guard, and guide him. Give them good instructions, advice or suggestions/opinions so that they will be useful for their future lives. Fight the bad ones and don't show bad traits/behavior to people younger than us, for fear that they will emulate that behavior.
3. Morals towards the Environment
a. Alam
(1) Flora
It is impossible for humans to survive without the support of an appropriate, harmonious natural environment as needed. For this reason, we must comply with rules and norms in order to maintain the sustainability and harmony of the relationship between humans and the natural surroundings. Plants (flora) are very useful for human life, such as vegetables, fruits, and rice.
Not even a few plants that can be used for medicine. Forests must be preserved because many products are obtained from forests, for example wood, rattan, and others. Not a few plantations also produce the prosperity and welfare of the population, for example tea, coffee, oil palm, cocoa, and others.
(2) Fauna
Earth Indonesia has been blessed by God with various fauna. This enriches the beauty and prosperity of the population. Some of the animals are kept, farmed, some are still wild. Animal husbandry that produces a lot and is profitable, for example cows, buffaloes, goats.
b. Social-Society-Groups
Humans as social beings cannot live without the help of others. However his circumstances or abilities definitely need the help of others. The relationship between humans and humans in society or groups must be harmonious, harmonious and balanced. We must respect, appreciate, and help each other to achieve goodness.
2.2 Elements of Character Education
The emphasis on character education and knowledge in schools must be balanced, namely placing more emphasis on the needs and aspects of human development. To help see this, it is necessary to look at cognitive development and moral development. By looking at the stages of moral development and cognitive development, one can see the balance of emphasis on character education and knowledge. Basic education should be emphasized and prioritized on instilling values compared to teaching.
Basic values such as respect for others, religiosity, sociality, gender, justice, democracy, honesty, independence, fighting spirit, responsibility, respect for the environment, must be given according to the child's level of understanding.
The higher the level of formal education, the greater the portion of academic teaching. At low levels of education, basic values are introduced, and the process of instilling them is repeated continuously up to the high school level. Step by step it is increased and must be able to lead children to the process of awareness of appreciation and formation of life values. The more teachers introduce values and high scientific awareness, the more convinced that what the teacher adheres to and believes is something good, valuable, and worth always fighting for. These values are both life values and academic (scientific) values. In addition to paying attention to children's cognitive development, it is also necessary to pay attention to the aspects of empathy and emotional intelligence of children. Specifically, the four elements are:
1. Piaget's Cognitive Development
Piaget divides a person's cognitive development into four stages, namely sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, and formal operational.
In simple terms, in the development of the thought stage, several things can be seen that can influence value education, namely;
1) Child development from imitating, and reflex, to conscious self-doing.
2) Development from concrete to abstract thinking.
3) The development of egocentric thinking to social.
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2. Kohlberg's Level of Moral Development
Lawrence Kohlberg, an expert and practitioner in moral education, bases his views on research conducted in stages with a group of children over 12 years. From this research, it can be said briefly that human moral development occurs in stages that move forward and the level is getting higher. Kohlberg divides a person's moral development into three levels, namely the pre-conventional level, the conventional level, and the post-conventional level.
3. Empathy
Empathy is the ability to know and be able to feel the circumstances experienced by others. The basis of empathy is awareness. This understanding is important as part of the process of cultivating life values. With empathy, people are able to explore and understand other people's feelings even though that doesn't mean they agree. To arrive at the ability to empathize, people must first have awareness and understanding of their own feelings.
Interpersonal relations get better because of the appreciation of other people's feelings. Empathy will move a person so that he is emotionally involved without leaving the rational element of life's values.
4. Emotional Intelligence
Emotional intelligence (emotional quotient) is a combination of emotional and social abilities. Someone who has emotional intelligence will be able to deal with problems that occur in life because usually people who have emotional intelligence are aware of their emotions.
Able to grow motivation in himself because he is always moved to do activities well and wants to achieve the goals he wants, and can express feelings well and have very strong self-control.
2.3 The inculcation of ethical values at the level of formal education
Good character is the values of human life that are truly implemented not just because of habit, but based on self-understanding and awareness to be good. Values that are realized and implemented as manners can only be obtained through a process that runs throughout human life. Manners are obtained through the internalization process of what he knows, which takes time so that good character is formed in human life.
Bearing in mind that instilling attitudes and values in life is a process, this can be provided through formal education that is planned and carefully designed. Planned and designed about the values to be introduced, the methods and activities that can be used to offer and instill these values. The values offered and instilled in students must be carried out in stages according to the child's psychological development tasks.
In the early stages of the process of cultivating values, children are introduced to the order of living together. The order of life in society is not always in line with the order in the family. In the early stages, children are introduced to their reasoning, step by step. The higher the level of children's education, the deeper the elements of understanding, argumentation, and reasoning. The values of life that are introduced and instilled are the realities that exist in our society.
Here are some values that can be selected and offered to children through formal education. The values offered are considered based on an understanding of the needs and problems that exist in today's society.
a) The need for the existence of values and issues of unity to address the tendency of division.
b) Gender values and issues are the need to respect women as creatures and parts of society that are equal to men.
c) Environmental values and issues to answer the need to appreciate, protect, love and develop the natural environment which tends to be exploited without paying attention to the balance for life.
d) Concern for truth and justice that appears to be far from the expectations of people's lives. This does not mean that this is the only thing that includes the value of life, but from all that is offered, it is still open to other values. The values of life offered according to Paul Suparno, et al., (2002:63-93) are as follows.
1) Religiosity
a. Appreciate life and believe in God.
b. Tolerance.
c. Deepen religious teachings.
2) Sociality
a. Appreciation for the order of living together positively.
b. True and good solidarity.
c. True friendship.
d. Organized properly and correctly.
e. Make events healthy and useful.
3) Gender
a. Respect for women.
b. Wider activity opportunities for women.
c. Appreciate female leadership.
4) Justice
a. True appreciation and other people fundamentally.
b. Using rights and carrying out obligations correctly and in a balanced manner.
c. Justice based on conscience.
5) Democracy
a. Appreciate and accept differences in living together with mutual respect.
b. Dare to accept the reality of victory or defeat.
6) Honesty
a. State the truth as respect for others.
7) Independence
a. Courage to make clear and correct decisions in togetherness.
b. Know your own abilities.
c. Build confidence.
d. Accept your uniqueness.
8) Fighting power
a. Cultivate the will to achieve goals.
b. Do not give up easily.
9) Responsibility
a. Dare to face the consequences of life choices.
b. Develop a balance between rights and obligations.
c. Develop a positive life together.
10) Respect for the natural environment
a. Use nature according to needs in a reasonable and balanced manner.
b. Love life.
c. Recognize the natural environment and its applications.
CHAPTER III
CLOSING
3.1 Conclusion
Instilling life values to form good character in human life can be done through formal education. The vehicle for instilling values in formal education can be carried out through various fields of study, both integrated and separated, not always a burden and carried out by Religious Education and Civics. Each field of study can play a role in the process of cultivating values to form good character. In addition, activities outside the field of study such as extracurricular activities (excurricular activities) are also open to the process of instilling values.
The formation and inculcation of life values in learning activities requires the involvement and cooperation of all parties. Especially for a teacher or educator for the matching process. Exemplary in the consistency of thinking and behaving in everyday life. This demand does not mean that a teacher or must be an angel or a perfect human being, but rather a human being who has a consistent attitude in his attitude of life, meaning that he is open to improvement, open to receiving criticism and input. Exemplary to want to develop.
3.2 Suggestions
Regarding the contents of the values to be instilled, a teacher who also acts as an educator is required to be creative. Creative finds the possibility to offer life values to students. Creative and initiative to diligently manage existing developments and demands without leaving the core teachings of life. This also means that a teacher must continuously learn about the meaning of life itself.
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