IMPLEMENTING CHARACTER VALUES AT AN ISLAMIC ELEMENTARY SCHOOL IN ACEH BESAR

Abstract

Characters or attitude should be trained for children since the very young age. It is also taught at schools but the process of personal attitude should be started by parents since one is given birth. Their willingness to queue in public, ability to listen and respects others, and disciplines are examples of characters education which are impossible for children to do without self-habituation from children environment. This self-habituation is not an instant process and many youths are now losing good attitude. To overcome this, an Islamic school located in Aceh Besar was established in 2012 and adopts the word ‘Character’ as the name of the school. This study tries to investigate the process of characters building implemented at that school. The data were collected through direct observation and interview with the principal. The results show that the school uses seven characters abbreviated as ‘Dahsyat’.  Each word represents one character and indicators were set for each character. Various activities are done inside and outside school. The process of teaching and learning runs successfully. However, some weaknesses are also found such as this school accepts so many new students every year, thus, the school needs quality control towards both teachers and students.

Keywords: Character, School, Character Education, Islamic Teaching