The Character-Building through Character Education
Education is a very important factor in determining the progress of a nation. Good quality education will produce superior and quality human resources, especially in the era of globalization with the current very rapid development of technology and information. In line with that statement, the government and all parties involved in the world of education should be more sensitive and responsive to developments. happening in society. Is character education a new thing in education in Indonesia? The answer is no. The Father of Indonesian Education, Ki Hajar Dewantara stated that education is an effort to cultivate character (character), mind (intellect), and the child's body. These three things really need to be needed and needed for the nation's generation, which will continue the struggle for the Indonesian nation.
At this time, the quality of education is not only the main focus in the success of the world of Indonesian education, but the decline in the character of the nation, especially teenagers who become the nation's successors. This problem can be seen in various incidents in big cities. Such as cases of teenage acquaintances, student brawls, student crimes, and students who have problems with the law. this is due to the lack of seriousness of the government and educators (teachers) in carrying out and carrying out control and evaluation in the implementation of character education which is applied in various schools in Indonesia.
Education as an agent of change must be able to change the character of students who are not good to be good, and develop noble characters into even better characters. Character education should be applied from an early age or what psychologists call the golden age, because this age has been proven to greatly determine a child's ability to develop his potential. Character education should start from within the family, which is the first environment for the growth of a child's character. Therefore, character education also needs to be given when children enter the school environment, especially since kindergarten. This is where the role of the teacher is very important because the teacher is the spearhead in the classroom, dealing directly with students. However, at the level of practice, it can often happen in its application. But as an effort, character education must be a program whose achievements are measurable. The teaching staff (teachers) can determine indicators if students have good behavior when the teacher explains, for example, they listen carefully, are not noisy, and have complete notes.
In order to strengthen character education, 18 values have been identified sourced from religion, Pancasila, culture, and national education goals, namely: (1) Religious, (2)Honest, (3) Tolerance, (4) Discipline, (5) Hard work,(6) Creative, (7) Independent, (8) Democratic, (9) TasteCurious, (10) National Spirit, (11) Love Homeland, (12) Appreciating Achievements, (13)Friendly/Communicative, (14) Peaceful Love, (15)Loves to Read, (16) Cares for the Environment, (17)Social Care, & (18) Responsibility (Center Curriculum, 2009: 9-10). The character education process is based on psychological totality that includes all potential individual human (cognitive, affective, psychomotor) and the function of the sociocultural totality in context interactions within the family, educational unit, and Public.
Value categorization is based on the consideration that in essence the behavior of a person who characters is the embodiment of the totality function psychological aspect that cover the full potential of the individual human (cognitive, affective, and psychomotor) and the function of the socio-cultural totality in (context) interaction (within the family, educational unit, and society) and lasts a lifetime. Character configuration in the context of the totality of the process psychological and socio-cultural can be grouped in:
1) Exercise the heart (spiritual & emotional development)
2) Thought (intellectual development)
3) Sports and kinesthetic (physical & kinesthetic development)
4) Processing taste and intention (affective and creativity development).
The process is holistic and coherents are (coherent) interrelated and complementary and each conceptually is a group of noble values in which contains some values.
Forming students with character is not an easy and quick effort. It requires continuous effort and deep reflection to make a series of morality choices (moral decisions) that must be followed up with real action, so that it becomes practical and reflective. It takes a certain amount of time to make all of that a habit and form a person's character or character. Character education is certainly intended to be one of the answers to the nation's various problems regarding the failure of education in applying moral values to its students. Many things can be done to realize character education in schools. Start by learning to obey school rules, and enforce them in a disciplined manner. Schools must make character education a value system that is well developed in schools which are manifested in real examples and appeals displayed by educators and education staff in schools in daily activities at school.
Therefore, if you want to realize quality character education, the key is the training system method. This means that there are appropriate measuring tools so that there is an evaluation and rebuilding of partnerships and educational networks among the three closest stakeholders in the school environment, namely teachers, families, and communities to realize character education in real terms. Based on the description above, it can be emphasized that character education efforts are designed and implemented systems to help students understand the values of human behavior related to God Almighty, oneself, fellow humans, the environment, and nationality which are manifested in the mind. , attitudes, feelings, words, and actions based on religious norms, laws, etiquette, culture, and customs. Students need standards and skills to achieve them. They need to see themselves as students engaged in the ongoing pursuit of excellence. These standards of excellence in work and school behavior will encourage students to develop qualities such as perseverance and determination, and these virtues will influence every aspect of students' lives as they mature. Hopefully, the values, moral influences, and important characteristics we exemplify and discuss will outlast academic facts and figures. Thus, we can leave students with a legacy that will remain constant throughout life: knowing the good, loving the good , and doing the good.
Character education is basically aimed at form a strong, competitive nation, noble, moral, tolerant, patriotic spirit, dynamic development, science and technology-oriented everything is inspired by faith and piety to God Almighty based on Pancasila.
Character education functions (1) to develop the basic potential of students to be kind,good-minded, and well-behaved; (2)strengthen and build a nation's behavior that multicultural; (3) improve the nation's civilization competitive in the social world. In character education in schools, all components (educational stakeholders) must be involved, including the components of education itself, namely the content of the curriculum, the process of learning and assessment, handling or subject management, school management, implementation of extra-curricular activities or activities, empowerment of infrastructure, funding, and the work ethic of all school members. This is where character education becomes the system of inculcating the values of citizens' character school which includes components of knowledge, awareness or will, and action to implement these values.
The strategy of building character education can be by revitalizing the role of parents, strengthening character education in schools, and building a character environment. This is what is then called the education center, namely the family (parents), schools and the community. The three education centers must be in line and always go hand in hand in carrying out the educational process. In other words, the vision and mission of the three must be the same, or at least be harmonized and synergized so that one another can monitor, control, and evaluate each other's activities.“Character Education is a deliberate effort to help people understand, care, and act on core ethical values. When we think about the kind of character we want for us children, it is clear that we want them to be able to judge what is right, care deeply about what is right, and then do what they believe right, even in the face of pressure from outside and temptation from within. This statement means education character as an effort aimed at helping humans to understand and care for each other towards others, at the same time acting based on moral values. It is further explained if we instill character values in students us, indirectly we have educated them to be able to understand, sort and do good and right.