According to Indonesian pedagogue Ki Hajar Dewantara, education is, in essence, a demand inherent to life itself, growing in step with the development of children. Its purpose is to guide all the innate potential within children, so that as human beings and members of society, they may attain the highest possible degree of safety and happiness.
Ki Hajar Dewantara’s vision speaks to the fundamental urgency of education and learning. He examined the essence of education to demonstrate just how noble this dimension truly is for what he sought through the world of education was the formation of children capable of developing into individuals of genuine excellence. Mohammad Yamin, for his part, went so far as to describe a true educator as a “Prophet of National Awakening” one capable of instilling deep nationalism and patriotism, teaching how this nation ought to be defended rather than sacrificed for personal or factional interest.
The aspirations of both Ki Hajar Dewantara and Yamin are, in fact, clearly reflected in Article 1, Point 1 of Law No. 20 of 2003 on the National Education System, which defines education as a conscious and planned effort to create a learning atmosphere and educational process through which students actively develop their potential to possess spiritual and religious strength, self-control, character, intelligence, noble morals, and the skills required by themselves, society, the nation, and the state.
The ideals enshrined within this Education Law clearly serve as a mandate ensuring that all those entrusted with the responsibility of education do not err in implementing a learning process grounded in the formation, development, and reinforcement of students as individuals, equipping them with a meaningful sense of purpose for themselves, their communities, and their nation.
Wahid et al., in their book Pendidikan Kebinekaan Dalam Perspektif Islam (Diversity Education from an Islamic Perspective), affirm that education and learning are inherently tied to human potential, and that education must therefore serve as a means of uncovering and cultivating the innate talents of learners. This argument finds further reinforcement in the perspective of Carter V. Good, who described education as the process through which an individual’s competencies develop in terms of social attitudes and behaviour, a social process in which a person is shaped by an organised environment, such as the home or school, enabling them to achieve both personal growth and social competence.
This understanding clearly points to the existence of measurable outcomes from every educational process undertaken. Within this process, students serve as the subjects being shaped, ultimately maturing in accordance with the objectives set by education providers.
More specifically, the essence of Islamic education or learning is directed toward the formation of character and the refinement of mental attitudes that unite faith (iman) with righteous deeds (amal saleh), with both the individual and society as its intended beneficiaries or, put differently, the internalisation of Islamic teachings in shaping human beings who embody the ideals of Islam, oriented toward both this world and the hereafter.
Drawing on the perspective of Islamic scholar Yusuf al-Qaradawi, Islamic education is described as the education of the whole human being encompassing intellect and heart, spirit and body, character and skill. Islamic education thus prepares individuals to live well in times of peace, while equally preparing them to face society in all its goodness and wrongdoing, its sweetness and bitterness alike.
On this basis, students or learners are not born instantly into goodness or greatness; rather, they are shaped through an educative process built on mutual understanding, in which both educator and learner strive to achieve the best possible outcomes for their lives. Among the values that must be transformed and internalised within them is the right to freedom of learning and to diversity itself. (*)
*) By: Rio Era Deka, S.Pd., M.M., Postgraduate Student, Islamic University of Malang.
*) This column is the sole responsibility of its author, and was also published at timesindonesia.co.id
