Strengthening National Character through Learning Indonesian as a Compulsory Subject in Higher Education

Abstract

Strengthening student character is an important foundation in learning Indonesian in tertiary institutions in the era of educational disruption. This study aims to describe the results of strengthening student character through Indonesian language courses in tertiary institutions. This research method used in this research is descriptive qualitative. The subjects in this study included students and lecturers supporting the Indonesian language as the national curriculum subject for all level of education and all Indonesia students, called MKWK, at UIN Raden Mas Said Surakarta. The informants in this study were the coordinators of the MKWK at UIN RMS Surakarta (the study program coordinators were taken in part from the number spread across five faculties). Collecting data in this study using documentation methods, in-depth interviews, and observation. Data analysis in this study used an interactive model which consisted of four stages, namely data collection, data reduction, data display, and drawing conclusions. The results of this study indicate the strengthening of student characters through Indonesian language courses including: discipline, honesty, communicativeness, curiosity, responsibility, creativity, independence, tolerance, hard work, democratic, and religiosity. This shows that Indonesian language courses strengthen the various student characters. This study recommends that the values of character buildings can be developed effectively through the implementation of Indonesian language learning in tertiary institutions.