Storytelling through “Wayang Golek” puppet show: Practical ways in incorporating character education in early childhood

Abstract

Although moral or character education has been widely documented in early childhood education curriculum, the inclusion of character education through storytelling is scarcely undertaken. To fill the void, the present participatory action research aimed at developing practical steps to empower children character in Indonesian kindergarten schooling framed through storytelling with “Wayang Golek” puppet media. Two kindergarten teachers were recruited and 12 kindergarten students ranging from 5 to 6 years old participated in this study. Data of this study were collected primarily from both in and out of classroom observation, classroom interaction record, and photograph analysis. The data of the research were analyzed and interpreted qualitatively through critical discourse analysis as a tool. The findings showcase that practical learning steps including the introduction of themes and character stories, figures of Wayang Golek, storytelling, conversations about character education depicted in the content of the story, actualization of character education through either indoor or outdoor play, and reflection on the character development of children were effective in instilling moral values to generate positive responses from children. Thus, the study suggests that storytelling mediated puppet as a pedagogical approach engages students in communicative activities and character building in the early childhood education context.

Keywords:

• character education
• early childhood education
• storytelling mediated puppet

PUBLIC INTEREST STATEMENT

Integrating character education into learning has been widely implemented since early childhood education to develop pupils’ character. This participatory action research aims to empower pupils to internalize the character education mediated by a local puppetry media called Wayang Golek. This research focuses on developing character education values such as responsibility, creativity, healthy behavior, and caring. The data were garnered from the teacher’s observation note, classroom interaction record, and visual artifacts. This research reveals that Wayang Golek was effective in helping pupils internalize character education. Performing Wayang Golek also helps promote meaningful interaction in the classroom and beyond. Finally, engaging pupils in storytelling using Wayang Golek encourages pupils to implement character education in their daily life.

Acknowledgements

The study was conducted as a national competency grant with the scheme a national strategic research held for 3 years started from 2015 to 2017. This study was the result of the first-year trial in order to test the big skill model of situating the character values in early years. The researchers would like to thank the Ministry of Research Technology and Higher Education (Kemenristekdikti).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Kementerian Riset Teknologi Dan Pendidikan Tinggi Republik Indonesia [4826/UN40/KM/2017].

Notes on contributors

Leli Halimah

Leli Halimah is currently an Associate Professor of early childhood teacher education curriculum in the Study Program of Early Childhood Teacher Education, Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia, Kampus Cibiru, Bandung—West Java, Indonesia. Her primary research interests include Curriculum Development, Early Childhood Education, and Teaching & Learning Studies.

Robandi R. M. Arifin

Robandi R. M. Arifin is a retired senior lecturer in Early Childhood Teacher Education, Kampus Cibiru, Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia. His research area is sports readiness in children and youth.

Margaretha S. Yuliariatiningsih

Margaretha S. Yuliariatiningsih is an associate professor in Early Childhood Teacher Education, Kampus Cibiru, Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia. Her research interest is teacher education and training.

Fauzi Abdillah

Fauzi Abdillah is an assistant professor in Pancasila and Civic Education, Faculty of Social Sciences, Universitas Negeri Jakarta. His research area involving Philosophy of education, Character Development, and Civic & citizenship education.

Ai Sutini

Ai Sutini is an assistant professor in Early Childhood Teacher Education, Kampus Cibiru, Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia. Her research interest is character development in early childhood education.