The Power of Educational Values for Shaping the Character of University Students in the Disruption Era: Exploring Local Culture

Abstract

The development of a strong character should be rooted in a high-quality educational process that incorporates the practical application of educational values within the learning. However, the educational potential embedded within Indonesian local culture has yet to be fully harnessed due to a dearth of understanding regarding the effective integration of cultural elements into the pedagogical framework. The current study utilized a concurrent embedded strategy to investigate the educational values contained in three local cultures Indonesia. The primary objective of this research was to examine how these values can serve as a fundamental basis for developing university students’ character. This study also attempted to elucidate university students’ and lecturers’ comprehension of cultural elements. The primary data of this research pertained to the educational values embedded within three distinct cultural systems found in three Indonesian provinces. These data were acquired via interviews, observation, and documentation, and subsequently subjected to data reduction, data display, and conclusion drawing. Meanwhile, the secondary data were gathered via a survey to ascertain lecturers’ and students’ comprehension of the pedagogical significance of local culture. The current research unveiled that, spiritual educational values, honesty, courage and work ethic, as well as collaboration are the main values used in forming other derived characters in the culture of Siri', Randai, and Kemidi Rudat. The survey results indicated a deficiency in the students’ and lecturers’ comprehension of the educational principles embedded within the three cultural systems.

Received: 21 September 2023 / Accepted: 19 October 2023 / Published: 5 November 2023