Implementation of Character Education in Primary Schools Through

Strengthening the Implementation of the Curriculum

Abstract: Nowadays we should be proud because the more Indonesian students have succeeded
in International Science Olympic. The Indonesian student team was even once to be overall
champion in the International Conference of Young Scientists with participant from 19 countries
held in Bali on April 12th-7th 2010. On the other hand, some other Indonesian students have shown
their disrespectful attitude to public, they like to brawl or fight with the student from other school,
get drunk, drugs or narcotic addiction, wild races along the crowded traffic. The phenomenon is
then to be the reason for government to conduct “Piloting Project” in 125 schools in 16
districts/cities in within 16 provinces since September 2010. The Objectives of conducting the
“Piloting Projects” is to implement the values of character to the students so they can turn their
attitude to the positive one. The implementation of character education does not need to be the
typical subject nor additional standard of competence but this is, however, integrated into the
existing subject or through the self-development and school culture as well as local content.
Key words: education, character, integrated, self-development, school culture, and local content.
Introduction
Who does not stroke his chest to see students who have no manners, like brawls, drink
liquor, drunk, like narcotics, and like to stay up late and speed up riding motorbikes on the
highway? This is the most common type of student delinquency, while other delinquents include
cheating, copying other people's work, sabotaging, vandalizing library book pages, skipping
school, stealing, gambling, and more.
However, there are also students to be proud of, such as those who won the science Olympiad,
both at national and international levels. In fact, Indonesian students are overall champions in the
International Conference of Young Scientists (ICYS) or the International Conference of World
Young Scientists, which are attended by hundreds of high school students from 19 countries in
Bali on 12-17 April 2010. Cheating has become the culture of our educational institutions. This is
not only related
with individual weaknesses per individual, but has formed a school culture that does not
respect honesty. The massive behavior of dishonesty has penetrated students, educators and
members of the school community. Character building and character education are a necessity
because education does not only make students smarter, also has character and manners, so that
their existence as members of the community becomes meaningful to both themselves and others.
The easiest character building is when children are still in elementary school. That is why the
government prioritizes character education in elementary schools. It does not mean that other
levels of education do not get attention, but the portions are different (Mendiknas, 2010).
schooling is not taught in special subjects. However, it is carried out through daily learning that
has been running at school. Deputy Minister of Education, Fasli Jalal, said that government-driven
character education to be implemented in schools would not burden teachers and students.
Because, the values contained in character education already exist in the curriculum, but so far it
has not been put forward and explicitly taught. We ask the teacher so that the values contained in
the subjects and in extra-curricular activities are clearly conveyed to the students. Character
education can be integrated as well as a school culture. So, character education that will be applied
nationally does not burden the current curriculum. Character education developed is one that can
build national insight and encourage innovation and student creation. In addition, the values that
need to be built within the nation's next generation, namely honesty, hard work, respect for
diversity, cooperation, tolerance, and discipline. Schools are free to choose and apply the values
they want to build in students. Even the government encourages the emergence of diversity for the
implementation of character education. Programs in schools such as scouts, honesty canteens,
green schools,
science and art olympiad, and traditional arts, for example, have been loaded with character
education. It remains the teacher who must bring up the values in the program as part of character
education at school (Fasli Jalal, 2010a). To implement character education, all school members
must have an agreement about the character values that will be developed in their school (Anita
Lie, 2010b).
wa character education is not a stand-alone subject, but must be integrated in the curriculum,
meaning to be an reinforcement of the existing curriculum, namely by implementing it in the
subjects and daily lives of students. Biology subjects, for example, students are invited to plant
plants directly, given an understanding of their benefits, are associated with environmental
damage, and so on. In art subjects, students are invited to recognize and practice various cultural
artifacts that are local content, cultural philosophy, and their benefits. The problem. The majority
of teachers do not have the will to do that. Awareness already exists, it's just that it hasn't yet been
realized into a real action. This is due to the fact that education in Indonesia is still focused on
cognitive or academic aspects, while the soft skills or non-academic aspects which are the main
elements of character education have still received little attention. Based on the background of the
above problems, the problems examined here can be formulated as follows: "What is the
implementation of national character education in elementary schools? The purpose of article
writing is intended to provide a general description of the implementation of national character
education in elementary schools so that it can be used as a reference for readers, especially teachers
and principals when implementing character education in their respective schools.
Literature Review and Discussion of Education and Competence Objectives:
Graduates in Law Number 20 of 2003 concerning the National Education System are mentioned
that National Education based on Pancasila and the 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia
(Article 2), functions to develop capabilities and shape dignified national character and civilization
in order to educate the nation's life, aiming at developing potential students to become believers
and pious to God Almighty, noble, healthy, knowledgeable, capable, creative, independent, and a
democratic and responsible citizen (Article 3)
National Education Number 23 of 2006 concerning Graduates' Competency Standards stated that
Basic Education aims to lay the foundation for intelligence, knowledge, personality, noble
character, and skills to live independently and follow further education. Then explained that the
Competency Standards of Elementary School Graduates are: 1) Carrying out religious teachings
that are adopted according to the stage of child development; 2) Know your own weaknesses and
strengths; 3) Comply with the social rules that apply in their environment; 4) Respect the diversity
of religion, culture, ethnicity, race, and socio-economic groups in the surrounding environment; 5)
Using information about the environment logically, critically, and creatively; 6) Demonstrate the
ability to think logically, critically, and creatively; with teacher / educator guidance; 7)
Demonstrate high curiosity and realize its potential; 8) Demonstrate the ability to solve simple
problems in daily life; 9) Demonstrate the ability to recognize natural and social symptoms in the
surrounding environment; 10) Demonstrate love and concern for the environment; 11)
Demonstrate love and pride in the nation, state and country of Indonesia; 12) Demonstrate the
ability to carry out local arts and cultural activities; 13) Demonstrating clean, healthy, fit, safe, and
utilizing leisure habits; 14) Communicate clearly and politely; 15) Working together in groups,
help, and take care of yourself in a family and peer environment; 16) Shows the penchant for
reading and writing; and 17)
Demonstrate listening, speaking, reading, writing and counting skills. Looking at national
education goals, basic education goals, and competency standards for elementary school graduates,
all are loaded with character values (compare with Table 1. Values and Descriptions of Character
Education Values), but unfortunately most schools have not implemented them. Because this is a
mandate from legislation, there is no reason not to implement character education in every school.
Character Education:
The term character comes from the Greek "charassein" which means to carve. Forming characters
is likened to carving gemstones or hard metal surfaces. Then further develops the notion of
character which is interpreted as a special sign or pattern of behavior (Bohlin, Farmer, & Ryan,
2001). In the Indonesian Language Dictionary (2008) character is defined as psychiatric, moral, or
character traits that distinguish a person from others. Whereas according to Philips (2008)
character is a collection of values that lead to a system, which underlies the thoughts, attitudes,
and behaviors that are displayed. From the definition of experts, Fasli Jalal, in the National
Character Building Development Policy (2010a) formulated the definition of character as good-
value values (know goodness, willingness to do good, real good life, and good impact on the
environment) imprinted self and manifest in behavior.
n yang mengem-bangkan nilai-nilai karakter pada diri peserta didik sehingga mereka memiliki
nilai dan karakter sebagai karakter dirinya, menerapkan nilai-nilai tersebut dalam kehidupan
dirinya, sebagai anggota masyarakat dan warganegara yang religius, nasionalis, produktif, dan
kreatif (Pusat Kurikulum, 2010). Fungsi pendidikan karakter adalah: 1) pengembangan; 2)
perbaikan; dan 3) penyaring. Pengembangan, yakni pengembangan potensi peserta didik untuk
menjadi pribadi berperilaku baik, terutama bagi peserta didik yang telah
have attitudes and behaviors that reflect national character. Improvement, which is to strengthen
the national education engagement to be responsible for developing the potential of more dignified
students. Filter, which is to select one's own national culture and other national cultures that are
not in accordance with dignified character values. The objectives of character education are: 1)
develop the potential of the heart / conscience / affective of students as human beings and citizens
who have national character values; 2) develop the habits and behavior of students who are
commendable and in line with universal values and religious cultural traditions of the nation; 3)
instilling leadership spirit and responsibility of students as the next generation of the nation; 4)
developing the ability of students to become independent, creative, national-minded human beings;
and 5) developing the school life environment as a safe, honest learning environment, full of
creativity and friendship, and with a high and powerful sense of nationality. The values developed
in character education come from: 1) Religion, 2) Pancasila, 3) Culture, and 4) National Education
Objectives (Curriculum Center, 2010).
Religion: Indonesian people are religious communities. Therefore, the lives of individuals,
communities and nations are always based on the teachings of their religion and beliefs. Politically,
state life is based on values derived from religion. On the basis of these considerations, the values
of character education must be based on values and rules derived from religion. Pancasila: the
unitary state of the Republic of Indonesia is upheld on the principles of nationality and statehood
called Pancasila. Pancasila is found in the Preamble of the 1945 Constitution and further elaborated
in the articles contained in the 1945 Constitution. This means that the values contained in Pancasila
are values that govern political, legal, economic, social, cultural and artistic life. Cultural and
national character education aims to prepare students to become more citizens baik, yaitu warga
negara yang memiliki kemampuan, kemauan, dan menerapkan nilai-nilai Pancasila dalam
kehidupannya sebagai warga negara.
There are people who live in a society that is not based on cultural values that are recognized by
the community. Cultural values are used as a basis in giving meaning to a concept and meaning in
communication between community members. The cultural position that is so important in
people's lives requires that culture be a source of value in cultural education and national character.
The National Education Objective: as a formulation of quality that must be possessed by every
Indonesian citizen, developed by various educational units at various levels and paths. The national
education goals contain various human values that Indonesian citizens must have. Therefore, the
goal of national education is the most operational source in the development of cultural education
and national character. Based on the four sources of values, a number of values were identified for
national character education as follows (Curriculum Center, 2010). Schools are free to choose and
apply which values they want to build in students. Even the government encourages the emergence
of diversity for the implementation of character education (Fasli Jalal, 2010a). In school A can
only prioritize religious values, school B prioritizes honesty values, school C prioritizes tolerance
values, while in school D has implemented religious values, honesty, tolerance, and discipline.
However, it is better to apply character education, all school members must have an agreement
about the character values that will be developed in their school (Anita Lie, 2010a). If the character
values that have been agreed to be developed have been implemented then further added with other
character values to be implemented, and so on, until one day all character values have been
implemented at school and outside of school.

Table 1. Values and Description of Character Education Values

NO Value Description

1 Religious Attitudes and behaviors that are obedient in carrying out the teachings
of the religion they adhere to, are tolerant of the conduct of worship
of other religions, and live in harmony with those of other faiths.

2 Honest Behavior that is based on efforts to make himself a person who can
always be trusted in words, actions, and work.

3 Tolerance Attitudes and actions that respect differences in religion, ethnicity,

ethnicity, opinions, attitudes, and actions of others are different from
his.

4 discipline Actions that show orderly behavior and adhere to various provisions
and regulations.

5 hard work Behavior that shows genuine effort in overcoming various learning
obstacles and tasks, and completing tasks as well as possible.

6 creative Think and do something to produce new ways or results from

something you already have.

7 independent Attitudes and behaviors that are not easily dependent on others in
completing tasks.

8 democratic How to think, behave, and act that assesses the rights and obligations
of himself and others.

9 curiosity Attitudes and actions that always strive to find out more deeply and
extensively from what they have learned, seen, and heard.

10 spirit of he way of thinking, acting, and having insight that places the interests
nationality of the nation and the state above the interests of themselves and their
groups.

11 Love the country How to think, behave, and act that shows loyalty, caring, and high
appreciation for the language, physical, social, cultural, economic and
political environment of the nation
 12 appreciate Attitudes and actions that encourage themselves to produce something
achievement that is useful for the community, and recognize, and respect the
success of others

13 Friendly / Actions that show pleasure in talking, associating, and working with
Communicative others.

14 Love peace Attitudes, words, and actions that cause others to feel happy and safe
for their presence

15 Like to read The habit of providing time to read various readings that give virtue
to him. 16. Care for the Environment Attitudes and actions that always
strive

16 Environmental Attitudes and actions that always strive to prevent damage to the
care surrounding natural environment, and develop efforts to repair natural
damage that has occurred

17 Social care Attitudes and actions that always want to help others and the people
in need.

18 responsibility The attitude and behavior of a person to carry out his duties and
obligations, which he should do, towards oneself, society,
environment (nature, social and culture), state and God Almighty

Principles and Approaches to the Development of Character Education

Character education is not a new subject that stands alone, nor is it included as a new standard of
competence and competence, but is integrated into existing subjects, self-development, and school
culture (Curriculum Center, 2010), as well as local content (Widyastono , 2010). Therefore,
teachers and schools need to integrate the values developed in character education into the
Education Unit Level Curriculum (KTSP), Syllabus, and Learning Program Plans (RPP) that
already exist. Principles used in the development of character education (Curriculum Center,
2010): 1) Sustainable; implies that the process of developing character values is a process that does
not stop, starting from the beginning of students entering to completion of an educational unit,
even after graduating and entering the community; 2) Through all subjects, self-development, and
school culture, as well as local content; requires that the process of developing character values be
carried out through each subject, as well as in every curricular and extracurricular activity; 3)
Values are not taught but developed and implemented; implies that the material of character values
is not used as a subject as well as when teaching a concept, theory, procedure, or fact in religious
subjects, Indonesian, Civics, Science, Social Sciences, mathematics, physical education and
health, art, and skills, or other subjects. The teacher does not need to change the existing subject
matter, but uses the subject matter to develop national character values. Also, teachers do not have
to develop specific learning processes to develop values. One thing that must always be
remembered is that one learning activity can be used to develop abilities in the cognitive, affective,
and psychomotor domains; 4) The process of education is carried out by students actively and
pleasantly; this principle states that the education process of character values is carried out by
students not by teachers. The teacher applies the principle "tut wuri handayani "in every behavior
shown by students. This principle also states that the educational process is carried out in a learning
environment that creates pleasure and is not indoctrinative. Beginning with an introduction to the
notion of value being developed, the teacher guides students to be active. This is done without the
teacher telling the students that they must be active, but the teacher plans learning activities that
cause active students to form questions, find sources of information, and gather information from
sources, process information that they already have, reconstruct data, facts, or values , presenting
the results of reconstruction or the process of developing values, fostering cultural values and
character in themselves through various learning activities that occur in class, school, and tasks
outside of school.
Character Education Development Planning
The planning and implementation of character education is carried out by principals, teachers,
education staff (counselors) together as an educator community and applied to the curriculum
through the following matters. First, integration in subjects. The development of national character
education values is integrated in each subject of each subject.
These values are included in the syllabus and lesson plan. The development of these
values in the syllabus is pursued through ways: (a) reviewing the Standards of Competency (SK)
and Basic Competence (KD) in the Content Standards (SI) to determine whether the values of the
national characters listed are included in them; (b) use table 1 which shows the relationship
between SK and KD with values and indicators to determine the value to be developed; (c) include
the cultural values and national character in table 1 into the syllabus; (d) include the values stated
in the syllabus into the RPP; (e) develop the learning process of students actively which allows
students to have the opportunity to do nternalize values and show them in appropriate behavior;
and (f) provide assistance to students, both those who have difficulty to internalize values and to
show them in behavior
grams of self-development, planning and implementation of character education are
carried out through the integration into the daily activities of the school through things: a) Regular
school activities. Routine activities are activities carried out by students continuously and
consistently at all times. Examples of these activities are ceremonies on public holidays, body
hygiene checks (nails, ears, hair, etc.) every Monday, worship together or pray with each dhuhur
(for those who are Muslim), pray when starting and finishing the lesson, greetings when meeting
a teacher, education staff or friend; (b) Spontaneous activities. Spontaneous activity is an activity
carried out spontaneously at that time. This activity is usually carried out when the teacher and
other education staff know that there is a bad deed from the students that must be corrected at that
time. If the teacher knows the existence of behavior and attitudes that are not good then at that
time the teacher must make corrections so that students will not take actions that are not good.
Examples of these activities are: throwing garbage out of place, yelling so as to disturb other
parties, fighting, humiliating, impolite, stealing, indecent dressing. Spontaneous activity applies to
the behavior and attitudes of students who are not good and who are good so it needs to be praised,
for example: getting high grades, helping others, obtaining achievements in sports or the arts,
daring to oppose or correct a friend's behavior that is not commendable
 Third, exemplary. Exemplary is the behavior and attitudes of teachers and other
educational personnel in providing examples of good actions so that it is expected to be a role
model for students to follow. If the teacher and other education personnel want students to behave
and behave according to values

the culture and character of the nation so that teachers and other education personnel are the first
and foremost to give examples of behaving and behaving in accordance with those values. For
example, neatly dressed, come on time, work hard, speak polite, compassion, attention to students,
honest, maintain cleanliness. Fourth, conditioning. To support the implementation of character
education the school must be conditioned as a supporter of the activity. Schools must reflect the
desired life of cultural values and national character. For example, toilets are always clean, garbage
bins are in various places and always cleaned, schools look neat and learning tools are placed
regularly.
Local content
Local content is a curricular activity to develop competencies tailored to regional
characteristics and potential, including regional excellence, whose material is not suitable to be
part of other subjects and or too much so it must be a separate subject. The substance of local
content is determined by educational units, not limited to skills subjects (BSNP, 2006). In relation
to character education, local content can be in the form of Regional Arts, Regional Songs, Regional
Languages, Customs and Regional Culture. As stated by Anita Lie (2010a) on regional arts
subjects, students are invited to recognize and practice a variety of local cultural art relics, cultural
philosophies, and their benefits.
School Culture
School culture is the atmosphere of school life where students interact with each other,
teachers with teachers, counselors with each other, administrative staff with each other, and among
members of school community groups. Group internal and intergroup interactions are bound by
various rules, norms, morals and shared ethics that apply in a school. Leadership, exemplary,
friendliness, tolerance, hard work, discipline, social care, environmental care, taste nationality, and
responsibility are values developed in school culture. The development of character education
values in the school culture includes activities carried out by principals, teachers, counselors,
administrative staff when communicating with students and using school facilities.
Development of the Learning Process
Character education learning uses the learning process approach of students actively and
centered on children; carried out through various activities in class, school and community. Class
Activities, development of certain values such as hard work, honesty, tolerance, discipline,
independence, national spirit, love for the country, and love to read can be through learning
activities that are usually done by teachers. For the development of several other values such as
caring for the social, caring for the environment, curiosity, and creativity requires conditioning
efforts so that students have the opportunity to emerge behaviors that show those values. School
activities, through activities that can be included in the school program are inter-class vocal group
competitions about songs with the theme of homeland love, art performances, cultural and national
character-themed speech competitions, cultural and national character-themed performances,
sports competitions between classes, art competitions between classes, an exhibition of the work
of participants students with the theme of culture and character of the nation, photo exhibition of
the work of students with the theme of culture and national character, writing competition,
composing songs, interviewing figures related to the culture and character of the nation, inviting
various speakers for discussion, speech, or lecturing related to national culture and character.
Activities outside of school, through extracurricular activities and other activities attended by all
or part of the students, designed from the beginning of the school year, and included in the
Academic Calendar. For example, visits to places that foster a sense of love for the homeland,
foster a spirit of nationality, do community service to foster social care and solidarity (help those
affected by floods, repair or clean public places, help clean or organize goods in certain places of
worship).
School and Class Indicators.
School and class indicators are markers used by principals, teachers, and school
personnel in planning, implementing, and evaluating schools as implementing institutions for
character education. To find out that a school has implemented character education, school and
class indicators are established, among others, as follows:

Table 2. Indicators of School and Class Success in Implementation of Character Education

Value description school indicator class indicator

Religious Attitudes and  Celebrating  Pray before and

behaviors that are religious holidays. after the lesson.
obedient in carrying  Having facilities  Provide
out the teachings of that can be used for opportunities for all
the religion they worship.  Provide students to worship.
adhere to, are tolerant opportunities for all
of the conduct of students to worship
worship of other
religions, and live in
harmony with those
of other faiths.

knot
Based on the problem, literature review, and discussion above, the following conclusions
can be formulated: 1) Education in Indonesia is still focused on cognitive or academic aspects,
while the soft skills or non-academic aspects which are the main elements of character education
are still lacking get attention; 2) Character education is interpreted as education that develops
character values in students so that they have values and character as their character, apply those
values in their lives, as members of society and citizens who are religious, nationalist, productive,
and creative; 3) The objectives of character education are: (a) to develop the heart / conscience /
affective potential of students as human beings and citizens who have national character values,
(b) develop student habits and behaviors that are commendable and in line with universal values
and religious culture, (c) instilling leadership and the responsibility of students as the next
generation; (d) developing the ability of students to become independent, creative, nationally
minded human beings; and (e) developing the environment school life as a learning environment
that is safe, honest, full of creativity and friendship, and with a high and powerful sense of
nationality; and 4) Implementation of character education in elementary schools can be integrated
into existing subjects, local content, self-development, and school culture
recommendation

Based on the conclusions above, several suggestions are formulated: 1) Learning in

schools should not only emphasize cognitive or academic aspects, but also must emphasize soft
skills or non-academic (affective and psychomotor) which are the main elements of character
education; 2) Graduation of students should not only be determined by the assessment of cognitive
aspects, but also the assessment of affective and psychomotor; and 3) the Ministry of National
Education Research and Development Curriculum Center, which is the leading sector for the
development of character education within the Ministry of National Education should immediately
conduct character education training for teachers, principals, school supervisors, district / city
education service officials, provincial education office officials, and national education ministry
officials and other relevant stakeholders.