The Role of Islamic Religious Education Teachers in Fostering Students’ Character: A Case Study at SDS Terpadu Raudlatul Jannah, Gayo Lues

Muhammad  Riza; Sari  Fitri

doi:10.54604/tdb.v15i1.496

Authors

Muhammad Riza Institut Agama Islam Negeri Takengon
Sari Fitri SDS Terpadu Raudlatul Jannah

https://doi.org/10.54604/tdb.v15i1.496

Abstract

The erosion of moral coherence among children amid digital saturation and shifting social norms has renewed attention to the teacher as a decisive agent of character formation, yet the mechanisms through which Islamic Religious Education (IRE) teachers shape character in small private faith schools remain thinly documented. This study examines how IRE teachers foster students’ character at SDS Terpadu Raudlatul Jannah, a private integrated Islamic elementary school in Gayo Lues, Aceh. Adopting a qualitative single-case design informed by Lickona’s components of good character, data were generated through semi-structured interviews with twelve participants (IRE teachers, the principal, homeroom teachers, and students), sustained non-participant classroom observation, and document analysis over three months. Thematic analysis was conducted with NVivo 14, and trustworthiness was secured through triangulation, member checking, and an audit trail. Findings indicate that IRE teachers foster character not primarily through instruction but through four intertwined roles exemplary modelling, structured habituation, moral mentoring, and school–family bridging that jointly cultivate moral knowing, moral feeling, and moral action, evidenced in students’ honesty, discipline, and empathy. The study’s novelty lies in reframing the IRE teacher as a relational orchestrator of a moral ecology rather than a transmitter of doctrine, and in documenting this dynamic within an under-studied small private school in a rural, strongly religious region. Practically, the findings offer school leaders and teacher-education programs a transferable model for strengthening character formation where resources are limited but communal faith is robust.

Keywords:

Islamic Religious Education teachers, character education; role modelling, moral formation, private Islamic elementary school

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