Building Students’ Social Caring Character through Service-Learning Program

To support children in understanding and having social caring attitudes


INTRODUCTION
To support children having a capacity for thinking critically and reaching maturity, character education was needed to be emphasized in the educational process (Mufidah 2018).Imparting positive characters could be done if a social interaction happened (Salamah et al. 2020) since the students' characters were shaped through the process of communication in the learning process (Safiq and Salamah 2019).One of the significant values that required to be built in the learning activities was social caring attitudes.
Building children's social caring characters should be all parties' concern, both for parents and educational institutions.However, the facts showed that some schools still prioritized the process of delivering learning materials rather than imparting the students' social values.The students only became the teachers' listeners in the learning process and passively waited for the teachers' instruction.They only received learning experiences from the classroom activities.As a result, children easily got bored when they participated in the learning programs.They only mastered the materials based on the teachers' explanation.Furthermore, they could not develop their potential, unable to solve some problems that occurred in daily life, and did not care about the social problems for the reason that they were not habituated to confront real-life situations (Soekarno and Mujiwati Sri 2015).
To shape children's social caring attitude towards others, the character was significant to be applied regularly.A caring attitude was defined as having a willingness to help others' problems.The essence of the social caring character was shown by conducting concrete actions to assist people, not only by saying "pity" when seeing others in distress.Students having a social care attitude had a high empathy and would like to sacrifice for others.Social care became one of the educational character values developed by the Ministry of Education and Culture.According to Listyarti, social care was revealed by the desire to serve others when required (Listyarti 2012).Moreover, the Indonesian dictionary defined social care as an attitude of paying attention to happening events in society (Bahasa 2008).

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E-mail address: raisyaroni@gmail.com,fidah_cholil@yahoo.co.The forms of social caring attitude could be distinguished based on the individual's social environment where they lived and interacted with other people.Social settings affected the students' development (Maryana 2010) since they communicated with other people at that place (Elly 2012).Adopted Buchari's theory, Alma divided social caring characters to be some categories based on the social environment factors (Alma 2010).The first was the students' family background.The family became the first setting for children to have social interactions with others for their learning process.In a home, social interactions could occur because the communication was shaped by the family members (Elly 2012).The students' family circle was influential to develop their social care principles.In addition, the family atmosphere also affected children's sympathy like what their mother and father showed when they educated, cared for, and loved the children.
This sympathy attitude should be maintained and accustomed to improve the children's attitude of care, love, and affection towards their parents, brothers, sisters, and other family members.The less sense of social caring characters in the family circle could be one of the causes for having an inharmonious family, getting divorce parents, and happening domestic violence.Supposedly, a caring attitude towards family members could be preserved by reminding kindness each other, for example keeping the importance of building brotherhood ties.For that reason, it can be concluded that maintaining a harmonious family was vital.In a pleasant home, children grew and developed optimally, and more importantly, their sense of caring would improve.
The second social environment affecting children's behavior was society.After having a close interaction with the family circle, children were exposed to have communication with the public.The social setting that still had strong social awareness was in the settlement area, proved by the social phenomena like when some people were building houses; others had a high willingness to assist unconditionally.In the village, numerous social groups were also formed, for example, youth organizations, mosque youth, and farmer communities.Those social groups became a significant element for implementing education that shaped matured civilization (Ahmadi and Uhbiyati 2001).
Moreover, the school turned out to be the third social setting influencing children's social attitude (Alma 2010).School developed to be a place to learn social life values for children because they networked with all school members starting from teachers, other students, security, and canteen guards.The school did not only grow into a place for improving students' intelligence but also shaping and developing their social attitudes.
To understand and have a social care character, the students need to be taught and adapted to being exposed to facing real situations and conditions (UNY 2009).The habituation was expected to form a sense of care presented by the students' real actions for providing assistance to others.Having a good interaction became a significant element in creating a good social life that was in line with the goals of character education which were building a nation with good moral and having a young generation with noble characters, high tolerance, and cares with others because of their faith and piety to Allah SWT.A child with strong character could develop to have a strong mentality that eventually shaped them to have unyielding nature, braveness to process, and caring to others (Koesoema 2007).Based on the problems described above, an approach combining the learning process with community service as an effort to figure out the students' social care character was needed.The service-learning model integrated classroom materials with real-life context to serve people.In other words, this model enabled children to learn directly about various problems in society.Children were challenged to implement a service program to help society in overcoming numerous difficulties using several theories that had been received during the classroom learning process (Handoyo D. 2015).Children were expected to get used to solving problems and finding out creative solutions.Since children interacted with society, their social caring characters were expected to be improved.
Based on preliminary research done by observation and interview, the setting of this research was determined.The research settings were the Darussalam Kencong Kediri and Al Urwatul Wutsqo Jombang Islamic Boarding Schools.Those two Islamic boarding schools had their own uniqueness.Pondok Pesantren Darussalam Kencong Kediri was the largest Islamic boarding school in East Java, especially in Kediri Regency.One of its flagship programs was the da'wah safari conducted by sending children to several villages for the sake of preaching and practicing their knowledge in the community.
Meanwhile, Pondok Pesantren al Urwatul Wutsqo Jombang developed its educational curriculum based on Sufism.This was much influenced by the caregiver's principal who became Mursyid Thoriqoh Syadiliyah al Mas'udiyah.Moreover, it also launched a service program for second and final grade students in odd semesters at al Urwatul Wutsqo Islamic senior high school.The service was a routine program implemented by all students.The program was also carried out in other educational institution levels such as primary and secondary schools.These service activities consisted of teaching the Qur'an, helping the school administration, assisting picket teachers, and cleaning the educational institutions.

RESEARCH METHOD
This research was a case study since it aimed to examine specific and limited problems that happened in a real-life (Maimun 2020).A case study design was chosen because this inquiry focused on investigating the service-learning model in shaping the students' social caring characters.Furthermore, the design used was a multi-site model.A multi-site study linked and connected several sites and had research subjects assumed to have the same specifications (Bogdan, R., & Biklen 1998).A multi-site study designed was utilized for the reason that the locus used for the research site had the same condition.The data were collected using three techniques, namely observation, interview, and documentation.The observation was done through focusing attention on particular things using all the senses, not only the eyes but also the smells, hearing, touches, and taste (Creswell 2010).The observation was carried out by observing all happening activities (Sukmadinata 2006).A data analysis technique was used to compile, group and look for models or themes to understand the meaning of something.The data analysis technique used in this study was an interactive model from Miles, Huberman, and Saldana which covered data collection, condensation, and presentation and drawing a conclusion (Miles, M 1992).In this study, the data were collected by interviewing several informants, then observing the research settings and documenting some information related to the implementation of the service-learning model to shape students' social caring characters.Moreover, data condensation was carried out after the data was collected based on field notes, interview transcripts, and documentation regarding the implementation of the service-learning model.The third stage was presenting the data.Additionally, the fourth step was drawing a conclusion and verifying the data.The conclusion was credible if it was made in the early stages, supported by valid evidence and the researchers' consistency to recollect the data in the research settings.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Based on the research results, the service-learning model had effectively shaped students' social caring values.The character was improved through several activities during the service-learning practice.Based on the process, the forming of students' social caring principles had been done through several ways as follow:

Habituation
The habit was an activity carried out continuously and eventually shaped particular characters (Mulyasa 2013).According to Akbar (2011), implementing positive habituation to improve students' characters could be done routinely or programmed.The habituation activities carried out at the Al Urwatul Wutsqo Jombang and Darussalam Kediri Islamic boarding schools were as follow: a. Deliberation and discussion activities to determine the service place involving children to form an attitude of mutual respect towards others' opinions and understanding differences.b.The activities of the tarbiyatul mubalighin shaped the students' respect for others and learned to become a good listener.c.During the service and preaching safari, the students always lived, ate, and slept together with their friends.Finally, it developed a kinship.So, if any of their friends got sick, they immediately took care of them.d.Facing all conditions or problems during the service.Some have to walk or ride a bicycle to reach the service place.This improved the students' patience and unyielding attitudes.e. Arriving on time at the service place.It developed students' discipline of time.Discipline proved that someone thought others' feelings since if a teacher was undisciplined and came to the school late; the students should wait for a long time.Finally, the learning process could not begin on time.f.Being accustomed to living and socializing with society.It improved the students' attitude of respecting older people, speaking politely, and using appropriate language.g.Teaching activities as a form of dedication.This agenda supported the students to be more respectful towards teachers as they could experience the difficulties of being a teacher.It was expected that they had a feeling of guilt if they didn't respect and listen to the teachers' explanations during the learning process.
Through habituation activities during service-learning above, the students were shaped to have positive abilities and traits manifested in their behavior in daily life (Bastaman 2005).Therefore, to form a social care attitude, the students should always get used to apply, try, and practice the character continuously until the value was formed.This habituation model was believed as the most appropriate method in shaping the students' social caring character (Mansur 2016).
According to Ivan Petrovich Pavlov's theory, habituation required the presence of a stimulus repeatedly to bring out a response.With the accustomed stimulus, a familiarized response would be presented (Mansur 2016).As happened in the Al Urwatul Wutsqo Jombang and Darussalam Kediri Islamic boarding schools, when children were given a stimulus by conducting deliberation activities in the service-learning program, they showed a positive response by respecting others' beliefs.In short, the process of habituating positive activities was vital to do in shaping children's social caring attitudes.

Introspection (Muhasabah)
The next model for shaping the students' social caring attitude was through introspection (muhasabah).At Al Urwatul Wutsqo Jombang and Darussalam Kediri Islamic Boarding Schools, muhasabah activities were performed by reflecting on what had been done and given by the students to the society, and what experiences obtained during the service program.Muhasabah reinforced the students' attitude for thinking about other people's conditions and being sensitive to happening problems around them.Muhasabah means an act that considered whether something was negative or positive (Richard, 2011).In psychology, muhasabah was also called introspection, self-correction, and thinking more deeply for the sake of being a better person in speaking and acting to others as well as Allah SWT (Hadziq 2005).
Based on the time, muhasabah was divided into two categories, namely, muhasabah carried out before and after doing actions (Al- 'Ulyawi 2007).Muhasabah before actions was done by thinking more about everything before behaving and saying something to make sure that the activities or words would bring positive impacts for others.Then, muhasabah after doing activities was defined to do self-introspection of what had been done.From the introspection process, an action was identified to be continued or left, for example, related to worship.The students analyzed whether they had worshiped according to Allah's instruction or not.It was aimed to create a life full of caution and calculation.The concept of muhasabah applied by the al Urwatul Wutsqo Jombang and Darussalam Kediri Islamic boarding schools in implementing the service-learning program was relevant to the theories described above.This was proven by the existence of discussion activities during the service or da'wah safari programs.In the dialogue process, several questions were given regarding the students' contribution to society, and experiences obtained during the agenda.This model effectively shaped the children's characters to be unselfish so that they thought and cared about others' conditions and became sensitive to what happening problem around them.
The result also supported the theory related to the scope of muhasabah.One of three areas of muhasabah was the social life aspect (Wehr 1971).Social life was related to the relationship between muamalah, morals to other humans, social relations, attitudes and behavior towards others, as well as buying and selling or transaction process.The point showed that regular muhasabah in social life activity was needed to be more careful in speaking, and acting.

Modeling
The next process of forming a social caring attitude was done through modeling.The students of Al Urwatul Wutsqo Jombang and Darussalam Kediri Islamic Boarding Schools were taught to have a socially caring attitude through interacting with the community, both in social and religious activities.The students were taken to imitate or emulate their religious and community leaders' positive characters, for example, copying how to preach, say good words and teach well.
As a method, modeling can be used to achieve educational goals by giving positive examples to children for helping them to develop psychologically, mentally, and physically, and have good and correct characters (Armai 2002).Modeling greatly contributed to the development of education, especially related to worship, morals, and manners.For example, in an Islamic boarding school, a Kyai was a central person being a model for the students.The students hopefully did their best to copy the Kyai both in terms of morals, and worship.
When the students carried out the service at the Al Urwatul Wutsqo Jombang and Darussalam Kediri Islamic Boarding Schools, they used several religious leaders to be their role models related to worship practices, speaking good words, and living in society.Thus, a reciprocal relationship emerged between children and the public since the students regularly had interaction with people and learned from them.Albert Bandura explained that a person's personality developed through a process of observation (modeling).The students learned through observing others' behavior, especially learning from people who were considered to have better moral values than others (Bandura 1997).
Humans needed to have an example obtained from their deep instinct (gharizah), namely taqlid (imitation).Taqlid gharizi was children's encouragement to imitate older and more mature individuals or leaders (Qutb n.d.).Children had a desire to copy admired people, in their way of speaking, walking, writing, and socializing.Therefore, parents and teachers should keep the children using good people as their role models.Modeling was vital as a means to achieve the goals of Islamic education.Older people should be careful to act negatively and commit immorality for being imitated by children for the reason that they would get sins when others imitated their bad actions or words.Thus, positive modeling was needed to be used for building students' characters, especially for improving students' social caring values.From the description above, the process of building students' social caring characters could be seen as follow: The