Re-Humanizing Digital Education Through the Integration of Islamic Values and Nature-Based Pedagogy in Indonesia
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.37680/scaffolding.v8i2.8848Keywords:
Character Building, Islamic Pedagogy, Humanist-Religious Education, Nature School, Triadic InternalizationAbstract
This study addresses the dehumanizing effects of modern digital-age education by examining how Nature Schools (Sekolah Alam) in Indonesia integrate Islamic values with nature-based pedagogy to foster holistic human development. Employing a qualitative multi-site case study design, the research investigated three distinct Nature Schools in East Kalimantan: Balikpapan, Samarinda, and Sangatta. Data were collected through participatory observation, in-depth interviews with principals, teachers, and parents, and documentary analysis of curricula and student portfolios. Analysis followed the interactive model of Miles, Huberman, and Saldaña. The findings reveal three pivotal outcomes. First, the schools successfully deconstruct the science-religion dichotomy by positioning nature as a spiritual laboratory (Ayat Kauniyah) within an integrative curriculum. Second, the internalization of values follows a “Triadic Cycle” comprising transformation (cognitive framing), transaction (dialogical role-modeling), and trans-internalization (reflexive habituation). Third, while this model effectively nurtures holistic student character (Insan Kamil) that values process over mere academic results, a significant external barrier termed the “Laundry Mentality” among parents—a transactional delegation of moral education to the school—creates cognitive dissonance in students and hinders consistent value embodiment. The study concludes that the synthesis of nature-based pedagogy and Islamic values presents a viable, non-dichotomous model for re-humanizing education. However, its success is contingent upon overcoming sociological barriers through active family-school partnership, suggesting that educational transformation must extend beyond school walls to include the domestic ecosystem.
References
Al Faruqi, I., & Al Faruqi, L. (1986). The Cultural Atlas of Islam. American Journal of Islam and Society, 3(1). https://doi.org/10.35632/ajis.v3i1.2768
Al-Attas, S. M. N. (1980). “ The Concept of Education in Islam.” In (Malaysia: International Institute of Islamic Thought and Civilization (Istac), (Vol. 1, Number 1).
Al-Attas, S. M. N. (1991). The Concept of Islamic Education in Islam: a framework for an Islam philosophy of education. In ISTAC.
Azra, A., & Azra, A. (2019). Cultural Pluralism in Indonesia: Continuous Reinventing of Indonesian Islam in Local, National, and Global Contexts. Asia-Pacific Journal on Religion and Society, 2(2), 56–60. https://doi.org/10.24014/APJRS.V2I2.6399
Ball, S. J. (2003). The teacher’s soul and the terrors of performativity. Journal of Education Policy, 18(2), 215–228. https://doi.org/10.1080/0268093022000043065
Bandura, A. (1997). Self-Efficacy: The Exercise of Control. W H Freeman/Times Books/ Henry Holt & Co. https://psycnet.apa.org/record/1997-08589-000
Biesta, G. J. J. (2015). Good education in an age of measurement: Ethics, politics, democracy. Good Education in an Age of Measurement: Ethics, Politics, Democracy, 1–150. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315634319
Bourdieu, P., & Nice, R. (1977). Outline of a Theory of Practice. Outline of a Theory of Practice. https://doi.org/10.1017/cbo9780511812507
Bronfenbrenner, U. (1979). The Ecology of Human Development. Harvard University Press.
Chawla, L. (2020). Childhood Nature Connection and Constructive Hope: A Review of Research on Connecting with Nature and Coping with Environmental Loss. People and Nature, 2(3), 619–642. https://doi.org/10.1002/pan3.10128
Chen, G., Zhang, J., Chan, C. K. K., Michaels, S., Resnick, L. Β., & Huang, X. (2020). The Link Between Student‐perceived Teacher Talk and Student Enjoyment, Anxiety, and Discursive Engagement in the Classroom. British Educational Research Journal, 46(3), 631–652. https://doi.org/10.1002/berj.3600
Citrawati, T., Supriyanto, T., Suminar, T., & Haryadi, H. (2024). Nature School as a Manifestation of Child-Friendly Schools in Madura Elementary Schools. In International Conference on Science, Education and Technology (Vol. 10).
Creswell, J. W., & Plano Clark, V. L. (2018). Designing and conducting mixed methods research (3rd ed.). SAGE Publications.
Desforges, C., & Abouchaar, A. (n.d.). The Impact of Parental Involvement, Parental Support and Family Education on Pupil Achievements and Adjustment: A Literature Review RESEARCH.
Dewey, J. (1938). Dewey’s Philosophy on Experience and Education. In Experience and Education.
Ekawardhani, Y. A., Subandi, D., & Kurniadi, B. H. (2023). Animation Video Design as Promotion for Nature School as Habituation of A Green Lifestyle. Journal of Eastern European and Central Asian Research, 10(4). https://doi.org/10.15549/jeecar.v10i4.1361
Epstein, I. (1991). Comparative and International Education: Bibliography (1990). Comparative Education Review. https://doi.org/10.1086/447064
Festinger, L. (1957). A Theory of Cognitive Dissonance. Stanford University Press. https://psycnet.apa.org/record/1993-97948-000
Freire, P. (2024). Pedagogy of the Oppressed. In Encyclopedia of Heroism Studies (pp. 1529–1529). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-48129-1_301348
Goodall, J., & Montgomery, C. (2014). Parental Involvement to Parental Engagement: A Continuum. Educational Review, 66(4), 399–410. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131911.2013.781576
Halstead, J. M. (2004). An Islamic Concept of Education. Comparative Education, 40(4), 517–529. https://doi.org/10.1080/0305006042000284510;ISSUE:ISSUE:DOI
Hermawansyah, H. (2025). Eco-Pesantren-Based Islamic Education Management. Fitrah: Jurnal Studi Pendidikan, 16(1), 102–114. https://doi.org/10.47625/fitrah.v16i1.982
Hornby, G., & Lafaele, R. (2011). Barriers to Parental Involvement in Education: An Explanatory Model. Educational Review, 63(1), 37–52. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131911.2010.488049
Jeronen, E., Jeronen, J., & Raustia, H. (2009). Environmental Education in Finland - A Case Study of Environmental Education in Nature Schools. International Journal of Environmental and Science Education, 4(1).
Judijanto, L., & Yusniar, Y. (2025). Integration of Islamic Values in STEM Teaching (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics). West Science Islamic Studies, 3(01), 26–31. https://doi.org/10.58812/wsiss.v3i01.1613
Kaplan, S. (1995). The Restorative Benefits of Nature: Toward an Integrative Framework. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 15(3), 169–182. https://doi.org/10.1016/0272-4944(95)90001-2
Kolb, D. A. (1984). Experiential Learning: Experience as the Source of Learning and Development. Prentice Hall.
Kuo, M., Barnes, M., & Jordan, C. (2019). Do Experiences with Nature Promote Learning? Converging Evidence of a Cause-and-Effect Relationship. Frontiers in Psychology, 10(FEB). https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00305
Lincoln, Y., & Guba, E. G. (1985). Qualitative Research Guidelines Project | Lincoln & Guba | Lincoln and Guba’s Evaluative Criteria. Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
Maslow, A. H. (1943). A Theory of Human Motivation. Psychological Review, 50(4), 370–396. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0054346
Meghdari, S., & Yousefi, M. (2022). Critical Discourse Analysis of Educational Texts in Nature Schools: An Ecolinguistics Perspective. Language Related Research, 13(1). https://doi.org/10.52547/LRR.13.1.4
Miles, M. B., Huberman, A. M., & Saldaña, J. (2014). Qualitative data analysis: A methods sourcebook. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Naibaho, D., Widiastuti, M., Hasugian, J. M., & Nababan, B. D. (2024). The Integration of Spirituality and Technology: The Role of Christian Education in the Digitalization Era. Edukasia Jurnal Pendidikan dan Pembelajaran, 5(2), 411–424. https://doi.org/10.62775/edukasia.v5i2.1604
Patton, M. (2003). Qualitative Evaluation Checklist. Evaluation Checklists Project (September).
Piaget, J. (1964). Part I: Cognitive development in children: Piaget development and learning. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 2(3), 176–186. https://doi.org/10.1002/tea.3660020306
Pujianto, W. E., Larassaty, A. L., Novie, M., Muzdalifah, L., & Rosyidah, E. (2021). Eco-Pesantren: Islamic Boarding School Transformation Program to Support Natural Sustainability And Sustainable Development. Proceedings of the International Conference on Industrial & Mechanical Engineering and Operations Management, 2(1), 873–885.
Salimi, M., Dardiri, A., & Sujarwo. (2021a). The Profile of Students’ Social Skills at Bengawan Solo Elementary School. European Journal of Educational Research, 10(1), 211–226. https://doi.org/10.12973/EU-JER.10.1.211
Salimi, M., Dardiri, A., & Sujarwo, S. (2021b). The Profile of Students’ Eco-Literacy at Nature Primary School. Cypriot Journal of Educational Sciences, 16(4), 1450–1470. https://doi.org/10.18844/cjes.v16i4.5999
Saputra, A. D., Ginting, D. O. B., Pramadhanti, D. F., Muftihah, N., & Ssaddhono, K. (2023). Indonesian Language Learning Based on Ecological Intelligence: A Case of Bengawan Solo Nature School. Research Journal in Advanced Humanities, 4(3), 124–138. https://doi.org/10.58256/rjah.v4i3.1276
Sobel, D. (2004). Place-Based Education: Connecting Classrooms and Communities Closing the Achievement Gap: The Seer Report. Orion Society. www.orionmagazine.org
Strong-Wilson, T., & Ellis, J. (2007). Children and Place: Reggio Emilia’s Environment as Third Teacher. Theory Into Practice, 46(1), 40–47. https://doi.org/10.1080/00405840709336547
Supriyoko, Nisa, A. F., Uktolseja, N. F., & Prasetyo, Z. K. (2022). The Nature-Based School Curriculum: A Solution to Learning-Teaching that Promotes Students’ Freedom. Cakrawala Pendidikan, 41(3). https://doi.org/10.21831/cp.v41i3.47903
Suyatno, P., D. I., A., G., W., & Ningrum, M. V. R. (2020). Factors affecting the meaning in life of teachers. Pedagogika, 139(3), 52–72. https://doi.org/10.15823/p.2020.139.3
Tan, C. (2012). Islamic education and indoctrination: The case in Indonesia. In Islamic Education and Indoctrination: The Case in Indonesia. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203817766Wood, D., Bruner, J. S., & Ross, G. (1976).
The Role of Tutoring in Problem Solving. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 17(2), 89–100. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7610.1976.tb00381.Yin K. Robert, & Campbell T. Donald. (2018). Case Study Research and Design and Methods. In (No Title) (Vol. 5). Sage Publications. Files/79/Yin - 2018 - Case Study Research and Applications Design and Methods.pdf
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Iskandar Yusuf
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work.
