Beyond School Reach: Character Education in Three Schools in Yogyakarta, Indonesia

The ability of Indonesian schools related to the character education of students is still far from the expectations and mandate of the law. Based on the qualitative research conducted in the three schools in Indonesia, the current study shows that the educational process only introduce students to the standardized concepts with no involvement in social process and practices, which will give them experience and opportunities to adopt the character values. The school curriculum only forms the ideal type of character, does not stimulate the active involvement of students in the community. Students only learn the character, based on dominant values constrained by the state, i.e.: having loyalty, defending the country, and loving homeland. In addition to narrowing the character space values to the interests of the state, the character education also does not accommodate the wealth of ethnic and religious cultures in Indonesia. This paper proposes the need for changes in school autonomy from an extension of the government, leading to provision of a conducive climate for the emergence of various approaches to improve character education. Character education stems from differences in school ideology and Indonesian cultural diversity. The education system should release itself from the text orientation to better fit in with the dynamic cultural context as a source of character learning.