“Infusing Character Education in English Class Assisted by ICT

(ICT optional)”

1. Overview of what is Character Education in Indonesia.

Character education in Indonesia refers to the intentional cultivation of values and moral
principles within the education system. It is a response to social concerns and aims to bring about
social change. Rooted in the Pancasila ideology, character education requires teachers, including
English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers, to incorporate specific values into their lessons.
The policy emphasizes 18 stipulated values, such as religiosity, honesty, tolerance, and discipline,
while allowing schools to prioritize and add additional values. Implementation involves a balance
between secular and religious moral education, with EFL teachers navigating the complexities of
integrating these values alongside language learning. The goal is to promote moral development,
social cohesion, and responsible citizenship, recognizing education's role in shaping individuals'
character and values.
Character education in Indonesia is a deliberate and systematic process aimed at instilling
positive values, attitudes, and behaviors in students to shape their character and promote moral
development. It serves as a proactive approach to address issues like bullying and create a positive
and inclusive school environment.

2. The Issues
(Puspitasari et al., 2021) state The morality and character of the Indonesian nation have
been decreasing. This decline is evidenced by various issues such as Smoking, cheating in
classroom, violence, sexuality, drugs, cybercrime, and bullying. One of the big issues in Indonesia
is bullying cases. (Ariyanti et al., 2024).

3. The importance of CE
Character education holds significant importance in Indonesian state schools as it addresses
social concerns and aims to bring about social change. By integrating a set of values derived from
Indonesia's Pancasila ideology, character education seeks to promote religiosity, honesty,
tolerance, discipline, and other moral values. It serves as a means of moral inculcation, helping to
foster social cohesion and unity in the face of growing social diversity. EFL teachers play a crucial
role in recontextualizing the character education policy and incorporating the nominated values
into their language learning activities, navigating the interface between the target culture and
students' home culture. Overall, character education in Indonesia strives to instill moral values,
promote social cohesion, and facilitate positive societal transformation.
The significance of character education (CE) in CE is highlighted as a key solution, aiming
to shape students' positive attitudes, values, and behaviors. By promoting traits like honesty,
responsibility, cooperation, and tolerance, CE helps students understand the negative impact of
bullying and fosters a respectful and inclusive school environment. Factors influencing bullying,
such as personality, environment, and media, are considered, with CE seen as a crucial tool to
counteract them. Collaboration among teachers, school parties, and parents is essential for
effective and sustainable implementation of CE. By involving all stakeholders, consistent support
is provided to students both at school and home. The long-term impact of bullying on students'
well-being is recognized, and CE is seen as a means to mitigate these effects and promote healthier
social interactions. In summary, CE is vital in Indonesia to address bullying and create a safe and
inclusive learning environment for students.

4. Integration of CE in Class (Bahas dari Curriculum)

To integrate character education (CE) in the classroom, teachers can start by familiarizing
themselves with the CE policy and identifying relevant values for their subject, such as English as
a Foreign Language (EFL). By aligning lesson plans with the chosen CE values, modifying
activities to promote those values, and creating a positive classroom environment that fosters
respectful behavior, teachers can effectively integrate CE into their teaching. They can incorporate
real-life examples and encourage critical thinking to help students understand the practical
application of these values. Collaboration with colleagues, involving parents and the community,
and providing assessments and feedback are additional strategies to reinforce CE in the classroom.
These steps, adapted to the specific educational context, can facilitate the inculcation of character
education within the daily teaching and learning experiences.
5. How to prevent the issue with integration of character education.
Teacher can teach and demonstrate positive character traits such as honesty, responsibility,
cooperation, and tolerance. Creating a supportive classroom environment that values kindness and
respect is crucial. Teachers can promote teamwork and fairness through cooperative learning
activities. Effective communication skills, including active listening and respectful expression,
should be emphasized. Character education can be integrated into various subjects by discussing
moral dilemmas and ethical choices. Encouraging reflective discussions helps students think
critically about their behavior and its impact. Collaboration with parents and the community
reinforces character education, and providing positive reinforcement and recognition for acts of
kindness and empathy helps foster a positive classroom culture. By implementing these strategies,
teachers can nurture positive character development and prevent bullying behavior in the
classroom.
In The use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is seen as a valuable tool
in implementing character education especially in elementary schools. The use of ICT, specifically
Hot Potatoes and short educational videos, as learning tools. The integration of ICT in the
classroom aims to motivate students, make learning more engaging and interactive, and facilitate
the expression of students' opinions (Sulistyo et al., 2018).

There are others tools such as YouTube, WhatsApp, the Internet, and mobile phones was
found to instill character values of independence, creativity, teamwork, activeness, and criticality.
It can be used to students perceived these learning media can influence them to commit cheating
or become less concentrated during group discussions in classroom issues (Triarisanti et al., 2022).
The role of teachers in designing learning activities oriented towards developing students' English
language skills and character. It suggests that teachers should create a student-centered, contextual,
community-integrated, and technology-enhanced learning environment to foster character
education effectively.
 References

Ariyanti, D. P., Sutriyani, W., Nichla, S., Attalina, C., Islam, U., & Ulama, N. (2024). Jurnal
Cakrawala Pendas THE ROLE OF CHARACTER EDUCATION IN PREVENTING
VERBAL BULLYING BEHAVIOR BETWEEN STUDENTS AT ELEMENTARY. 10(1), 22–
32.

Puspitasari, D., Puji, H., Widyaningrum, L., & Allamnakhrah, A. (2021). Studies in Educational
Evaluation How do primary school English textbooks teach moral values ? A critical
discourse analysis. Studies in Educational Evaluation, 70(February 2020), 101044.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.stueduc.2021.101044

Sulistyo, T., Widiastuti, O., & Soleh, A. (2018). the Roles of Ict in Cultivating the Character of
Elementary School Students. Jurnal Sosial Humaniora, 11(1), 1.
https://doi.org/10.12962/j24433527.v11i1.3160

Triarisanti, R., Lubis, A. H., & Ansas, V. N. (2022). Can Technology-Enhanced Flipped
Learning Instill Character Education? Indonesian Undergraduate Efl Students’ Perceptions.
English Review: Journal of English Education, 10(3), 771–782.
https://doi.org/10.25134/erjee.v10i3.4687