The Integration of Character Values in the Teaching of Economics: A Case of Selected High Schools in Banjarmasin

Abstract

Character education is currently an international issue and schools are deeply involved in its dissemination. In Indonesia, teachers have been introduced to various methods and techniques of how to integrate character values with subject-matter content during teaching-learning processes. Since teaching character values together with subject matter content is a new aspect for the Indonesian schools, there is limited research on how Indonesian schools have performed in this line. Thus, the present study aimed to discover how teachers integrate character values with other subject matter during classroom sessions (i.e., during teaching and learning). The respondents were economics teachers from a few selected high schools in Banjarmasin. A qualitative method was used for data collection and analysis, while interviews and classroom observations were used as major techniques for the data collection. The findings revealed that teachers were capable of identifying character values appropriate for integration with subject matter; however, the studied respondents appeared to be limited in skills, and were hesitant in applying the correct methods during the teaching-learning processes. Following such findings, it is recommended that this study is used as a reference in the teaching of character values, mostly by economics teachers in schools across Indonesia. This is fundamental because character education is essential to the current Indonesian education system. To integrate character values while teaching subject matter content is one of the roles a teacher should perform in building quality and trusted human resource.