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Many people question whether or not character (moral) education initiated by Ki Hadjar Dewantara is similar with that proposed by Lickona. They ask, whether both concepts contribute to the 2013 Curriculum. The literature review of this study reveals that both concepts are similar. Ki Hadjar Dewantara defines character as an effort to empower the mind (thoughts, feelings, and will) so, that good character can be realized, but not merely as a noble vision. Ki Hadjar Dewantara is greatly influenced by the convergent theory which likens children to a fully-written piece of paper; however, refering to such writings as being vague. The responsibility for educators is to thicken the good writings to make them easier to read, while keeping the negative writings unclear. Ki Hadjar Dewantara’s thoughts are more inclined toward philosophy, but with time, the concept has shifted closer to religious education. It is as if, the religious-based character education has gained more public acceptance, for instance in Muhammadiyah schools, compared to character education.
The popular books on character nowadays generally stem from Thomas Lickona, who categorizes character into moral knowing, moral feeling, and moral action. Nearly all of Lickona’s thoughts are science-based, particularly in educational psychology. However, far before we heard about Lickona’s ideas, Ki Hadjar Dewantara had proposed the Tri Nga philosophy; Ngerti (Knowing/Comprehending), Ngerasa (Feeling), and Ngelakoni (Doing/Acting), and several other famous sayings followed by the Javanese people.
Currently, the 2013 Curriculum is comprized of character education which is based on religious values (religious character) and social behavior (attitudes), as stated in its Core Competencies (KI-1 and KI-2). KI-1 (Core Competency 1) is the Core Competency about Religious Attitude and KI-2 is the Core Competency about social behavior. It requires critical thinking to accept the curriculum changes aimed toward development. |
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