The Implementation of Religious Extracurricular Activities in Developing Students’ Spiritual Values at SMP Negeri 1 Kuta Panjang

Sarlinda Sarlinda

doi:10.54604/tdb.v15i1.497

Authors

Sarlinda Sarlinda SMP Negeri 1 Kuta Panjang

https://doi.org/10.54604/tdb.v15i1.497

Abstract

Adolescent spiritual formation has become a pressing concern as globalization, digital saturation, and value pluralism erode the moral anchors of secondary-school students worldwide. Although religious extracurricular activities are widely promoted as a remedy, most evidence originates from Islamic private schools or urban madrasahs, leaving the mechanisms operating within rural public schools poorly understood. This study examines how religious extracurricular activities are implemented and how they cultivate spiritual values among students at SMP Negeri 1 Kutapanjang, a rural state junior high school in Gayo Lues, Aceh. Employing a qualitative single-case study design, data were generated through semi-structured interviews with fifteen participants (the principal, religious educators, activity coaches, and students), non-participant observation across a four-month period, and document analysis. Thematic analysis was conducted with the assistance of NVivo 14, and trustworthiness was secured through triangulation, member checking, and an audit trail. Findings reveal that implementation unfolds through four interlocking processes structured habituation, exemplary modelling, graduated responsibility, and reflective reinforcement that jointly transform routine religious practice into internalized spiritual dispositions encompassing devotional consistency, gratitude, empathy, and honesty. The study’s novelty lies in reconceptualizing extracurricular religiosity as a situated habituation ecology rather than a program of discrete activities, and in evidencing this dynamic within an under-researched rural public-school setting where resources are constrained yet communal religiosity is strong. Practically, the findings offer school leaders a transferable model for embedding spiritual development into limited-resource environments and inform district-level policy on character-education provision beyond formal instruction.

Keywords:

religious extracurricular activities, spiritual values, character education, habituation, rural, public school, qualitative case study, adolescent development

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