CHARACTER EDUCATION IN INDONESIA: HOW IS IT INTERNALIZED AND IMPLEMENTED IN VIRTUAL LEARNING?

Abstract

Character education is an essential component in directing students to become complete human beings, namely human beings who are cognitively smart, emotionally intelligent, and able to actualize the values of goodness in social life. As currently learning is done virtually, character education is facing obstacles. This research uses mixed methods with sequential mixed methods strategy and sequential explanatory techniques. The research data were obtained through questionnaires filled out by elementary, middle, and high school teachers who participated in the e-workshop on developing the internalization of character values. 576 teachers filled out the research questionnaire. The collected data were then tabulated and analyzed to get a profile picture of the internalization and implementation of character education carried out by the teachers. The results showed that off the three ways used by to implement character education; habituation, integration, and emulation, only one of them is applied by teachers in schools. In addition, teachers experience difficulties in internalizing and implementing character values when learning is done virtually. This is due to the absence of physical meetings between teachers and students. In fact, it is understood that the internalization process plays an important role in the implementation of character values.