Education and Sustainability: A Case Study on Environmental Care

for Early Childhood at Cikeas Nature School Bogor

Siti Kholilah

and Hamdani Anwar

Universitas Islam Negeri Syarif Hidayatullah, Jl. Kertamukti No. 5, Kota Tangerang Selatan, Banten 15419

Keywords: Education, Environmental Care, Early Childhood, Cikeas Nature School

Abstract: This study discusses on the best practice of Cikeas Nature School (Sekolah Alam) in applying an

environmental care program for early childhood classes at Cikeas Bogor. This study is important because

Cikeas Nature School has been considered as one of the similar school which is successful in carrying out this

program. As far as I have searched, I do not find yet another researcher focused his or her study on this issue

at the this site. Deploying descriptive-analytic method, this study discusses on how Cikeas Nature School

came to this level of best practice in developing an environmental care program. The study finds is an

educational institution that focuses on character building. Character building in Cikeas Nature School starts

from an early age by implementing habituation programs. Environmental care program early on is seen as an

effective and efficient strategy to shape children's character. The eco-friendly culture that has become a habit

and is consistent with the Cikeas Nature School has become a positive value that continues to be developed

by the school. The development carried out by Cikeas Nature School is by fostering empathy for the

environment taught from an early age. Early on children have been trained to care for the environment by

building habits from the smallest things such as conducting ant operations, sorting garbage, and prohibiting

the use of food packages made from materials that are difficult to decompose. This is an important agenda for

the Cikeas Nature school in an effort to preserve nature so that it becomes a trendsetter in various fields and

is able to inspire others.

1 INTRODUCTION

Indonesian Act Number 23 Year 1997 Article 1 states

that the environment is the unity of space with all

objects, power, circumstances, and living things,

including humans and their behavior which affects

the survival of life and welfare and other living

things.

Environment is defined as a surrounding situation

that influences human development and behavior.

Concern for the environment is a psychological state

of a person in the form of attention, awareness, and

responsibility for environmental management, both

the physical environment, the biological

environment, and the social environment. currently in

the international world issues regarding the

environment have become the main focus. This is

triggered by the behavior of people who are less

concerned about the preservation of their

environment so that the environment becomes

increasingly alarming. According to (Wiyani, 2012)

stated that one of the efforts to improve the quality of

human resources was the emergence of the idea of

character education in the world of education in

Indonesia. The importance of character education

carried out in the world especially Indonesia aims to

foster a caring attitude towards the environment since

an early age. Educational institutions in Indonesia

immediately build and foster the mindset of their

students to be able to maintain and preserve the

environment. Concern for the environment is the

nature of humans created as leaders in the world that

can benefit the environment and not only consist of

humans but also animals, plants, rivers, air and so on.

Human behavior can affect the surrounding

environment. Positive behavior can cause the

environment to remain sustainable and negative

behavior can cause damage to the natural

environment. This integrity causes every human

being to have a role and responsibility to behave well

in the surrounding environment. (Mulyana, 2009)

states that natural damage that occurs such as floods,

landslides, illegal logging, mounting plastic waste,

and pollution of factory waste is a result of human

2502

Kholilah, S. and Anwar, H.

Education and Sustainability: A Case Study on Enviromental Care for Early Chidhood at Cikeas Nature School Bogor.

DOI: 10.5220/0009945525022507

In Proceedings of the 1st International Conference on Recent Innovations (ICRI 2018), pages 2502-2507

ISBN: 978-989-758-458-9

actions. This started because of the lack of awareness

of each individual in maintaining ecosystems and the

sustainability of natural life. Given the state of the

environment or nature is now in a critical condition

that causes disasters and changes that occur

everywhere. Regarding human behavior towards the

condition of natural resources and the environment

that tends to be ignorant, changing behavior is a top

priority in overcoming the environmental crisis.

overcoming the environmental crisis.

The Ministry of Environment in 2005 stated that

"environmentally friendly or caring behavior has

become our commitment, given the very clear

correlation between the sustainability and welfare of

human life with the quality of its environment". the

meaning contained in the statement is that if the

quality of the environment is getting better, the

welfare and life expectancy of humans will be better

too. However, on the contrary if the quality of the

environment gets worse then the less guaranteed the

welfare of human life on this earth. This is what must

be instilled in every student in educational institutions

both formal and non-formal so that being equipped

with attitude and behavior towards the environment

will have a positive impact on later adulthood.

The attitude of not caring about the preservation of

the natural environment must get a serious response

from all parties. Especially for educational

institutions, starting from the kindergarten level to

higher education institutions must be called and play

an active role in the environment care movement. The

efforts taken are to foster an environmentally caring

character in all levels of education in order to create a

continuity and sustainability of the environmentally

conscious cultural movement. The role of the school

which is the place where education takes place has a

function to shape character and one of them in the

formation of caring behaviors. Environmental care

behavior is something that must be instilled

continuously through habituation. Environmental

care aspects developed in the school include the habit

of maintaining cleanliness and preservation of the

school environment, available waste disposal sites,

making habit of separating types of organic and

inorganic waste, providing cleaning equipment, and

programming clean environment. The awareness and

awareness of students about the importance of

protecting the environment will create a healthy and

comfortable school environment. A healthy and

comfortable school environment can improve the

achievement and creativity of students.

2 LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Education and Sustainability

In the large Indonesian dictionary (2002) states that

the process carried out to foster awareness of the

importance of natural sustainability is through

education. (Djumransyah, 2004) states that Education

is a human endeavor to grow and develop the

potentials of carrying out, both physically and

spiritually according to the values that exist in society

and culture. efforts made to instill these values and

norms, and pass them on to the next generation to be

developed in life and life that occur in an educational

process. Therefore, however, a society's civilization,

in which it takes place and an educational process

takes place as a human effort to preserve its life. (Ki

Hadjar Dewantara, 1987) said that education is a

cultural endeavor that intends to provide guidance in

the life of the growth of the child's body so that in his

personal nature and environmental influences, they

gain inner and outer progress toward the human

civilization. According to (Novan Ardy Wiyani,

2018) Education in an Islamic perspective is

universal, namely divinity, humanity and the whole

as a whole and integrative. In other words, education

must be objectively (human and natural) paradigm of

transcendence (divinity) in an integrated manner.

(Arifin, 1984) Said that education is fostering

personality (personality) and instilling a sense of

responsibility. (Ahmad, 1989) provides a definition

of education is guidance or leadership consciously by

the educator on the physical and spiritual

development of the educated towards the main

personality.

Thus the main purpose of education is to form

noble students. Character education that is carried out

optimally can give birth to children of character.

Early childhood education is the right period to instill

the importance of awareness in maintaining natural

preservation. This period is the initial foundation for

character building, this period is also the best

absorption period for children because it has a unique

capacity that is extraordinarily great for learning

some skills. (Yusuf, 2012) stated that childhood

experiences have a strong influence on subsequent

developments. In a sense, if good experience and

understanding of the environment are introduced

from an early age, it will have a positive impact and

will shape the character of the students'

environmental care in the future.

Lickona defines people who have character as a

person's nature in responding to moral situations that

are manifested in real action through good behavior,

Education and Sustainability: A Case Study on Enviromental Care for Early Chidhood at Cikeas Nature School Bogor

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honesty, responsibility, respect for others and other

noble characters. Character education according to

Thomas Lickona can be described through the

following concept maps:

Figure 1: Thomas Lickona's Character Theory of Educatio

From the picture above it can be concluded that

good character is the right behavior when dealing

with other people and with yourself. Good character

consists of knowing goodness, wanting goodness, and

doing good (habits of mind, habits of heart, and habits

of action). Teaching moral values needs to be done to

realize the three character dimensions above through

the process of character education.

2.2 Enviromental Care

(Hamzah, 2013) explained that environmental

awareness is a manifestation of the individual's

mental attitude reflected in his behavior.

Environmental education is an inevitable need to

realize civil society as aspired. Environmental

education has a mission to shape this human character

in relation to its environment which is useful for the

benefit of humanity on earth.

(Jumadil, Kahar Mustari, Alimuddin Hamzah,

2015) in his study explained that the cognitive,

affective and psychomotor abilities of students in

Adiwiyata schools were higher than those of schools

that were not yet adiwiyata. This is the collaboration

of all school members, so that the character and

environment-friendly culture for the school

community are formed everywhere. According to

(Barlia, 2008) specifically the objectives of

environmental education are as follows: Awareness,

Attitude, Skills, and Participation. The Ministry of

Environment in 2006 developed an environmental

education program at the elementary and secondary

education levels through the Adiwiyata program.

Adiwiyata is one of the programs of the State

Ministry of Environment in order to encourage the

creation of knowledge and awareness of school

residents so that it becomes a character of

environmental care in efforts to preserve the

environment. Initially this program was implemented

in 10 schools in Java as a model school involving

universities and NGOs engaged in the field of

environmental education (Cooperation between the

Ministry of Environment and the Ministry of

Education and Culture, 2011: 2) (Mulyana, 2009)

with the Title of Planting Environmental Ethics

Through Care and Environmental Culture Schools,

which was published through he found that

environmental education carried out in caring and

cultured schools was considered effective in instilling

care for the preservation of natural and environmental

resources.

Based on the explanation above, it can be

concluded that the importance of environmental care

character education needs to be instilled in students

from an early age with daily habits.

2.3 Early Childhood

Undang Undang No. 20 of 2003 concerning the

National Education System Article 1 point 14

explains that early childhood education is an effort

aimed at providing guidance to children from birth to

the age of six years, by providing educational stimuli

to help growth and physical and spiritual

development so that children have preparation in

entering further education. Early age is an important

period in one's character education. Early age is the

initial foundation for character formation. Maria

Montessori (2016) mentions that this period is also

the best absorption period for children because it has

a unique capacity that is extraordinarily great for

learning some skills. If the early childhood has been

built in a healthy soul according to psychological

conditions, it will affect the appreciation and practice

of characters throughout his life. Education and

psychology experts argue that the early stages of a

child's life is a very important time to lay the

foundations of personality that will give color to

adults later. At this age it is necessary to establish the

Pendidikan

Karakter

Internalisasi

Nilai Moral

10 Strategi

Internalisasi

Nilai

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basic sensing, thinking, and growth standards of

religious values and morals as the initial achievement

of a child's identity. Zubaedi (2017) The attitudes,

habits and behaviors that are formed in the early years

of a child's life greatly determine how far he has

succeeded in adjusting to life as an adult.

According to Nashih Ulwan (1997) Every child

who was created, that is, since they were born in the

world, has fulfilled pure tauhid, namely a straight

religion, having faith in Allah.

2.4 Cikeas Nature School

Alam Cikeas School is a nature-based school, which

has the vision to become a leading school that prints

the generation of leaders and noble characters, and

has a mission to build a natural-based education

system with international standard learning while also

conserving nature in the surrounding environment.

Anshori (2008) states that substantially nature-based

schools are school systems that offer how to invite

students to be more familiar with nature, while

making it a spirit to carry out teaching and learning

activities. Cikeas Nature School has a high

biodiversity. Flora and fauna can live in a sustainable

ecosystem environment. Ecosystems managed in

Cikeas natural schools are learning media and

environmental learning media for students in the

learning process. One of the efforts made by Cikeas

Nature School is to educate students, facilitators,

parents of students and residents around the school

about the importance of protecting the environment

and its ecosystem for the survival of the biodiversity

contained.

The habituation program instilled in the Cikeas

Nature School in fostering concern for the

environment is by building empathy for the

environment. According to Kunti Indra Karmadewi

(2016) who served as director of the Cikeas Nature

School explained that there were three points in

building empathy for the environment. First, from an

early age, every individual needs to be invested as

part of an environment that interacts with each other,

needs each other and benefits each other. Second,

from the very beginning, they must be trained so that

they care about the environment from the smallest

things. In the Cikeas Nature School, they are used to

carrying out ant operations, sorting waste such as

plastic bottles of drinks and bottle caps is saved in the

waste bank that has been provided, and the

prohibition on using food wrap from materials that

are difficult to decompose. Third, a consistent

example from parents at home.

Picture 1: Recyling Garden Cikeas Nature School

From the picture above it can be seen that the

Cikeas Nature School trains school residents

(students, facilitators / teachers, school guards,

gardeners and parents) to reduce the use of plastic

waste which is very difficult to decipher by recycling

used items to be creative and innovative so that the

establishment of a recyling garden in the Cikeas

Nature School which can be enjoyed by all school

members. Schools do not focus on achieving value

alone, but the most important thing is to encourage the

formation of an environment of leadership that is

environmentally sound. The learning process

approach that uses a direct line between educators and

students creates a positive correlation in character

formation.

Education and Sustainability: A Case Study on Enviromental Care for Early Chidhood at Cikeas Nature School Bogor

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Picture 2: Purified and Sterilized Drinking Water

Cikeas Nature School is one of the schools that

managed to get an award from the Ministry of

Environment and Forestry as a National-level

Adiwiyata school on December 13, 2016. The

adiwiyata school is an award for schools that are

already cultured. The habit of environmentally

friendly learning carried out by students in the Cikeas

Nature School became an advantage as a school that

is culturally cultured.

3 METHODOLOGY

This study uses a qualitative research approach,

which is arranged in descriptive analytical form. The

location of this study is the Cikeas Nature School

Bogor which is a nature-based school as a learning

facility and is an Adiwiyata status school. The subject

of this research was specifically focused on early

childhood. By using primary data sources and

secondary data. The primary data source is empirical

data about environmental care character education for

early childhood in the Alam Cikeas School, which is

obtained through observation, interviews, documents,

manuscripts, archives, and so on. While secondary

data sources are journals, papers, seminars, articles,

school bulletins. for early childhood at the Alam

Cikeas School, which is obtained through

observation, interviews, documents, manuscripts,

archives, and so on.

4 RESULT

Experience is the best school, this is the basic motto

of the Cikeas Nature School, namely experience and

nature. One method used in learning activities at the

Cikeas Nature School is:

1. Experiential learning is a method of

learning by doing where there is a process of meaning

or reflection on what has been done. So, whatever

learning activities at school, facilitators always reflect

with their students.

2. Nature. In the Sekolah AlamCikeas, use the

universe as the best learning media. Experience with

nature is a form of positive collaboration full of

learning.

3. Alam Cikeas School was one of the schools

that had won an award from the Ministry of

Environment and Forestry as Adiwiyata School on

December 13, 2016. The Adiwiyata School was an

award for schools that were already cultured.

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www.sacikeas.com

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