Thematic Subject Specific Pedagogy Based on Local Wisdom as a

Means to Improve Primary School Students' Character

M. Tolkhah Adityas

English Education Study Program, Ahmad Dahlan University, Yogyakarta, Indonesia

Keywords: Subject Specific Pedagogy (SSP), Character, Thematic, Local Wisdom.

Abstract: This research aims at generating a feasible thematic Subject Specific Pedagogy (SSP) based on local wisdom

and investigating teachers’ and students’ perceptions of the developed product in preliminary field testing.

This is a research and development adapted from Borg & Gall and conducted up to the fifth stage; they are

information gathering, planning, developing preliminary product, preliminary field testing, and revising the

main product. The subjects involved were a small group of first graders of SD Muhammadiyah Bodon and

SD Muhammadiyah Sidoarum Yogyakarta, with 10 students for each group. The data were gathered using

product validation sheets, character observation sheets, and teacher assessment sheets. The SSP product of

this research covers syllabus, lesson plans, teaching materials, worksheets and validation results. The media,

materials, and evaluation of are categorized good by learning experts. First grade teacher scores the syllabus

and lesson plans good, while the worksheets and evaluation are categorized very good. The results from the

students responses to the textbooks is 67, which is in good category, while the students worksheets are 78

which was in excellent category. Therefore, the thematic Subject Specific Pedagogy based on local wisdom

which is developed can be declared appropriate for use in learning.

1 INTRODUCTION

Education problems in Indonesia have arisen from

both internal and external factors. Education system

in Indonesia has long been characterized by a heavy

emphasis on memorization in a decontextualized

learning (Abidinsyah and Budimansyah, 2012). As a

result, students often fail to apply their knowledge

when dealing with real-life-situations. The success

indicators in education also focus more on the ability

of students to answer exam questions, instead of the

realization of student’s character and morals. In

addition, the influence of external factors such as easy

access to the internet, online games, television, and

TV shows, may also prompt students to gradually

leave culture and values of the nation, which can

result in ill-mannered behaviours.

Strong characters are highly essential in building

a civilization. Therefore, characters need to be taught

as early as possible. According to Freud the failure in

internalizing accepted values in children will impact

on their adulthood life (Muslih, 2011). To many

experts, early childhood is a critical period for the

character establishment. Moreover, early childhood is

considered as the golden age, which is the best phase

of children’s physic and brain development.

Parents and stakeholders should take part for the

success of character education. (Battistich, 2008)

Explain character education as a careful

implementations of all school aspects to enhance

maximum development. Character education is

implemented by involving school components such

as curriculum, learning process, interpersonal

relationship, teaching procedure, and school

management. Primary school as the first formal

educational institution does have a strategic role in

the cultivation of students' characters and culture.

Much effort has been done by the government to

revive character education, one of which is by

changing the KTSP (School Curriculum) into 2013

Curriculum. 2013 Curriculum emphasizes more on

active learning with contextualized materials, and

balanced competencies in terms of knowledge, skills

and attitudes.

Curriculum 2013 deviates the previous

curriculum in the form of teacher book and student

books. The books guide teachers in implementing the

teaching process with a thematic approach. They

contain list of competencies, materials, lesson plans,

Adityas, M.

Thematic Subject Speciﬁc Pedagogy Based on Local Wisdom as a Means to Improve Primary School Students’ Character.

DOI: 10.5220/0008410402350240

In Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Learning Innovation (ICLI 2018), pages 235-240

ISBN: 978-989-758-391-9

235

and evaluation. Curriculum 2013 has not been long

held, but it encounters a number of obstacles. A

research conducted by (Krissandi and Rusmawan,

2015), reveals the five obstacles in the

implementation of the 2013 curriculum; they are

governments, institutions, teachers, parents, and

students. Obstacles faced by government include

books distribution, evaluation sheets, bureaucracy,

time allocations, and implementation guidelines.

Obstacles faced by institutions include school facility,

and teacher’s schedule. Next, Obstacles faced by the

teachers were mainly on the understanding and

implementation of the curriculum. Finally, parents

and students perceive the report books and adaptation

to the thematic learning as the main obstacles.

This is aroused from preliminary study in a

number of elementary schools in Yogyakarta, that the

researcher obtained the following information: 1) a

lot of classroom teachers are not able to implement

the thematic learning 2), some of the teachers find

number of mistakes and inappropriate materials in the

book, 3) teachers find it hard in assessing the K13, 4)

teachers find troubles in time allocation.

Muhammadiyah Primary School Bodon is one that

has implemented the 2013 curriculum. Based on the

interviews with classroom teachers, they have been

using teacher book and student’s books in learning,

but the materials are not in line with the real situation.

In addition, it was also revealed that character

education was not clearly elaborated. The research

conducted by (Zuchdi et al., 2014) also explains that

character education in primary schools in Yogyakarta

Province has been well planned. However, based on

the analysis of lesson plans created by teachers, there

were some which did not contain the target values.

Many teachers still find difficulties in constructing

the lesson plans.

On the other hands, based on the observation on

the students in grade I the researcher discovered many

students were unable to show positive attitudes. For

example, mocking among students, using ngoko

(low-class Javanese language) when talking to the

teacher, not saying thank you or please, sitting on the

table, and being inattentive during lesson. To be

easily accepted, the values integrated in the materials

should originate from local wisdom in each region.

According (Wagiran, 2013), exploring the values of

local knowledge is an effort to build nation character

in modern era. Education based on local wisdom

teaches learners to always engage themselves to the

real situations. Therefore, it becomes an underlying

reason for developing thematic SSP based on local

wisdom for primary school.

Based on the problems, the researcher aims at

developing SSP based on local wisdom which is

tailored to students’ needs, by integrating the values

with a comprehensive components. They are: 1)

syllabus, 2) lesson plan, 3) materials, 4) Students

Worksheet, and 5) assessment form. It is expected to

display coherent and cohesive learning plan starting

from the analysis of basic competence to the

assessment forms.

2 LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Subject Specific Pedagogy

Subject Specific Pedagogy (SSP) was first introduced

by Shulman as PCK (Pedagogical Content

Knowledge). Shulman explains that a professional

teacher should have correct knowledge of

Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) (Anwar,

Rustaman and Widodo, 2012). As agents of change,

teachers should continue developing teaching process

and improve their abilities in designing the learning,

one of which is by the PCK. Pedagogical Content

Knowledge is knowledge about alternative concept to

be understood by teachers and prospective teachers.

It also guides them to organize, compile, and access

the subject matter, which are all summarized in PCK

(Shulman, 1986).

PCK enables teachers to transform materials into

contextual learning activities. (Van Driel, Verloop

and de Vos, 1988) also defines Pedagogical Content

Knowledge as comprehensive knowledge signifying

teacher’s wisdom which is in line with teaching

practices and other elements such as pedagogy,

materials, and curriculum. PCK is divided into two

parts namely Content Knowledge (CK) and

Pedagogical Knowledge (PK). Content knowledge

(CK) is related to subject matter, while Pedagogical

knowledge (PK) is related to educational processes

and practices.

Generally, PCK focuses on teacher’s abilities to

create effective and meaningful learning process. In

other words, learning must be well-designed, fun in

approach and strategies, and adapted to the

characteristics of students. In other words, learning

should be well designed using certain approaches,

strategies or principles, and materials that are

customized to student’s characteristics.

SSP is a medium for pouring ideas and organizing

steps on how learning should be conducted

effectively. SSP which includes all learning

components is designed to assist teachers in teaching-

learning process. The components used are adopted

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from BSNP (National Education Standard Board) and

cover five main components namely 1) syllabus

related to Competency Standard, Basic

Competencies, and Indicator, 2) Lesson Plans, 3)

Teaching Materials, 4) Students Worksheets and

Keys, and 5) Evaluation Sheets.

2.2 Local Wisdom

(Ani, 2013)explains that local wisdom is the truth that

has been a tradition in an area. Local wisdom is a past

cultural product that is continuously used as life

guidance. Although the value is local, it can be

implemented globally. (Wagiran, 2013) says, within

the scope of DIY (Yogyakarta Special Regency),

local wisdom is generated from the philosophy of the

cultural values including: Trees, Buildings,

Government, Power Concepts, Leadership, Animal

Symbols, Vegetation Symbols, and Weapon

Symbols. In addition, from the cultural side, it can be

comprehensively observed from the Yogyakarta

cultural values which include: (1) Religio-spiritual,

(2) moral, (3) community, (4) customs and traditions,

(5) education and knowledge, 6) technology, (7)

architecture, (8) way of life, (9) arts, (10) language,

(11) cultural heritage, (12) leadership and

government, (13) nationality, and (14) The distinctive

spirit of Yogyakarta.

According (Tobroni, 2011) parents, hometown,

language, religion, culture, social system, state and

nation are the sources of local wisdom and should

become the formation basis of children’s

personalities. A wide variety of local wisdom

becomes potential development of education based

on local wisdom; therefore, it still needs to be well

designed. Local wisdom promotes humanistic

character education (Wagiran, 2013). Local

knowledge is formation capital of noble character.

Noble character is the national character which

always acts with full awareness and self-control.

Local wisdom has always contributed in the efforts in

minimizing conflicts.

3 METHOD

This is a research and development developed by

(Borg and Gall, 1983) which has stages: 1) Research

and information collecting, 2) Planning, 3)

Developing preliminary product, 4) Preliminary field

testing, 5) Main product revision, 6) Main field

testing, 7) Operational product revision, 8)

Operational field testing, 9) Final product revision,

10) Dissemination and implementation. The

development procedures in this study was up to the

fifth stage.

The test design in this study was conducted in two

ways; they are expert’s validation and preliminary

field testing. The subjects of testing were teachers and

students of Muhammadiyah Primary School of

Bodon, while the subjects of assessment testing were

teachers and the first graders of Muhammadiyah

Primary School of Sidoarum. Data collection

instrument in this study was validation sheets

(syllabus, lesson plans, Instructional Materials,

worksheets, and Assessment set), teacher evaluation

sheets, and questionnaires for students. Data analysis

technique was conducted using the following steps:

1) Tabulating all data obtained from the validators, 2)

Converting actual total scores into five-point scale

quantitative data (Sukardjo, 2005).

Table 1: Score conversion to five scale

Students Score

Weight

Criteria

X > Mi + 1,8 SB

Very Good

Mi + 0,6 SB

< X ≤Mi

+ 1,8 Sbi

Good

Mi-0,6 SB

< X ≤Mi +

0,6 Sbi

Fair

Mi -1,8 SB

< X ≤Mi

— 0,6 Sbi

Bad

X ≤ Mi — 1,8 SB

Very Bad

4 RESULT AND DISCUSSION

The developed SSP products were syllabus, lesson

plans, textbooks, worksheets, and a set of assessment

tool based on local wisdom for elementary school

students. The theme developed was “My Interest” by

sub-theme “Singing and Dancing” which consist of 6

lessons. Experts of curriculum, experts of subject

matters, expert of evaluation, and expert of Javanese

language validated the appropriateness of the

developed products. SSP validation are displayed in

Table 2.

Thematic Subject Speciﬁc Pedagogy Based on Local Wisdom as a Means to Improve Primary School Students’ Character

237

Table 2: SSP validation result by experts.

Validator

SSP Product bases on Local Wisdom

Syllabus

Lesson Plan

Textbook

Student Worksheets

Evaluation

Curriculum Expert

(Good)

106

(Good)

Media Expert

(Good)

Materials Expert

(Good)

Evaluation Expert

(Very Good)

It can be seen from table 2 that validation score

was in good and excellent categories. For the details,

syllabus according to the curriculum experts was in

good category, lesson plan was categorized good, and

according to media and materials expert, the textbook

was also considered good, worksheets and materials

were categorized good, while assessment tools were

in very good category. To view the appropriateness of

language used in textbooks, a Javanese linguist also

validated can be seen in Table 3.

In September, the researcher conducted primary

field testing in two different Muhammadiyah primary

schools to examine teachers and students perceptions.

Table 3: Validation result on textbook by Javanese

language experts.

Before Validation

After Validation

Mentok

Menthok

Dondong

Dhondhong

Duku

Dhuku

Adik

Adhik

Nderek

Ndherek

Mesti

Mesthi

Mundut

Mundhut

Tak encupe

Takencupe

Mrono-mrene

Mrana mrene

Suarane

Swarane

Table 4: Teachers perception towards SSP in preliminary

field testing.

No.

Product

Actual

Score

Maximum

Score

Category

Textbook

Good

Worksheets

Very Good

Based on table 5, SSP product was in good and

very good category. Local wisdom in the SSP is

constructed by integrating words of wisdom, advice,

and values used as living guidelines in the society.

This is in line with (Setiyadi and Bambang, 2013),

who describes that local wisdom are found in many

elements in a society including songs, wise words,

proverbs, advice, and books. It enables learners to

love their own culture. The explanation of local

wisdom development in each SSP is described as

follows.

4.1 Syllabus

The syllabus components consist of subject identity

(unit, class / semester, sub-themes, learning order,

character, time allotment, core competencies) and 8

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columns containing subjects, basic competencies, and

indicators, learning activities, local wisdom,

assessment techniques, assessment instruments,

resources, and learning tools. The syllabus includes

forms of local wisdom which are developed in more

detail in the lesson plans.

4.2 Lesson Plans

The lesson plans consist of six learning sessions with

the theme Fond of Singing and Dancing. The lesson

plans cover identity (schools, subthemes, class /

semester, learning order, character values, and time

allotment), core competencies, basic competencies,

indicators, learning objectives, learning subject

matter, teaching approaches and methods, learning

activities, media, tools, material resources, and

assessment. The indicators are adapted to the basic

competencies. Next, The formulation of objectives is

tailored to the indicators and basic competencies, and

the tools and materials are adjusted to the students'

needs. Learning resources used are the textbooks, and

the lesson plans are well equipped with instrument for

measuring cognitive, affective, and psychomotor

domains.

4.3 Teaching Materials

The teaching materials consist of cover, preface, table

of contents, the introduction (basic competencies and

indicators, learning objectives, subject matter), the

core (material descriptions, activities), and

bibliography. Materials in the book are designed as

attractive as possible to motivate students. This is in

accordance with Williams in (Ariyani and Wangid,

2016) who explains that the teaching materials are

designed to attract learners motivation. Textbook

should also contain words that attract students to

implement local wisdom values as described in the

following song:

dhondhong apa salak

dondong apa salak

duku cilik cilik

andhong apa mbecak

mlaku thimik thimik

adik nderek ibu

tindak menyang pasar

ora pareng rewel

ora pareng nakal

mengko ibu mesti

mundut oleh-oleh

kacang karo roti

adik diparingi

The character values in the song show that every

person is created unique like the sweet salak fruit and

the sour kedondong fruit; both are fruits. The message

of the song is that people have to respect one another.

4.4 Students Worksheets

Local wisdom developed in the student worksheets

and with sub-themes of “Joy of Singing and Dancing”

are traditional games, dances, and music instruments,

which are all local wisdom in Yogyakarta Province.

The materials and learning resources integrated in the

student worksheets incorporate existing local

wisdom. For example, the third materials

accommodate salak pondoh, a typical fruit in Sleman

Yogyakarta.

4.5 Assessments Tools

Assessment tools developed cover questions

dissemination, questions, answer key and scoring

rubric which explores character. Assessment tools

were developed based on local wisdom so that the

students can thoroughly accept the learning

experiences. The tool also includes all assessment

aspects on affective, cognitive, and psychomotor

domains.

5 CONCLUSIONS

The developed thematic SSP products based on local

wisdom consist of syllabus, lesson plans, materials,

worksheets, and evaluation. Based on the assessment

of experts, the SSP is in good and very good

categories. In addition, it is also perceived in very

good category by the teachers and students.

Therefore, it can be declared that the thematic SSP is

appropriate for use in learning.

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